I just bought a small ozone generator for my clothes before my hunts. I have a few questions that I’ve seen some answers to online but wanted to ask some more nuanced ones
1. Will ozone damage gear like my hunting knife, head light, or range finder that I keep in my Fannie pack? Should I take them out before I run it? 2. Will ozone damage my safety harness? this is pretty important so any insight is appreciated 3. Should I leave the lid to my bin completely closed while it’s running or opened slightly to let some of the gas out?
If you have any other “things you wish you knew” before you started using ozone please feel free to drop it below! Thanks!
I started by testing this out on my son's hockey gear (he's 15 and stinky). Now, if you're not familiar with the terrible stench that comes from that sport, I have to say, there isn't much worse. His gear was dry on the rack we have, so I stuck it back into his hockey bag and put the OZ inside the bag, zipped it shut and let it run (boost cycle setting, which means 3 cycles at 30 minutes each). I checked on it later and it still stunk, just not as bad. I guess you could say that I was mildly impressed but not convinced. It's at that point that I noticed that parts of his hockey bag were mesh/vented. So, I decided to give it another whirl. I happened to have a big plastic bin with some pool toys in it (haven't gotten that put away for the year yet). I dumped that out, threw all of his hockey gear in the bin, put the lid on it and fired it off again. When I came back later, honest to god the hockey gear didn't smell at all! You could smell the ozone still for a little while. Once the air circulated a bit; the ozone mixed with the air (needs oxygen) the ozone smell went away. This may sound odd, but I was able to put my nose into his skate and breathe in deeply - no smell at all! NOW I WAS IMPRESSED!
While all of this was going on, I did my traditional wash and dry of all of my hunting clothes. Afterwards, I stuck the OZ into a bin with that stuff (lid closed) and ran it just because I can.
Then came another test - I had just bought a pair of rubber boots. Brand new rubber has that strong odor. So I figured, "what the heck". I took my gear out of the bin, put it into smaller bins that I transport it to/from my property in. I dumped the contents of my hunting bag into the bottom of the big plastic bin, put my hunting bag in there and the new boots. Kicked off the OZ, put the lid on the bin and walked away. When I came back later - no more "new boot" smell. I'm hooked.
This model that I bought says it can also work in tents, cabins, etc. I have a cabin at my property that always has the scent of "cabin charm". It has more or less always killed my scent protection capabilities when I walk in, dry stuff out near the fire, etc. This year while I'm out hunting, I plan to kick off that OZ (someone above mentioned you don't want to breathe that stuff in - that's right). When I come back, let the place get some fresh air and hopefully I can eliminate some of that musty cabin smell too. If I can't, I can still use the OZ in the bins with my gear once it's dry.
I've already read that you still should use elimination sprays on your boots. So I will. Plus I have an ATV, so I may also spray down to get rid of any odors form that.
I did read that zone can, over time, effect rubber. So I won't make a habit out of hitting anything crucial that has rubber (harness, calls, gloves, range finder has a button on it, binos, etc.)
My wife, son and I were standing in the garage last night while he was packing his bag. My wife smelled his gloves last night and was shocked. You could still smell a little of the ozone as I had just treated them in the bin again, but it definitely kills off the bacteria and subsequently the odor.
A customer and friend of Pnuma wrote a leading scent control brand and inquired about the impact of their Ozone product line on hunting apparel. Here was their response:
From: XXXXXXXXX
Date: September 7, 2017 at 10:02:48 AM CDT To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Pnuma clothing vs ozone
Don,
Thank you for your inquiry. I'm not aware of any testing we have done on that clothing specifically. Ozone can eat away at rubber and elastic over time, so we do caution you on using any items with rubber or elastic on them with ozone.
We have previously attempted to distinguish between products with differing levels of rubber or elastic that responded differently to our testing. However, we have continued to test the impact of ozone on common hunting garments and are recommending that you not use Scent Crusher products with significant elastic or rubber content. While it is possible that some garments will not be impacted, we prefer to err on the side of caution.
Thank you,
XXXXXXXXX MoJack Distributors LLC https://scentcrusher.com/faq/
To put this in perspective... My cabin is wood construction. It was made by my father and grandfather 55 years ago (or so). It's probably 12 x 24. It has a drywall ceiling but paneled walls. There are no rugs (we took them out because they seemed to hold the musty smell). I have 2 sets of bunk beds (a 2-man rack and a 3-man rack) plus a double bed and a recliner. All of these are scent traps in my opinion.
I will probably run this set each time just to help stay on top of things, but it made a big difference. My allergies didn't act up and I definitely didn't smell the closed-in cabin.
If you want to save some money, don’t buy the name brand hunting ozone generators. There are plenty others available at 1/2 the price for twice the output.
Scott
That said my outer garments go into a waterproof sack with plants, leaves, dirt from my hunt area. The under layer comes off into a plastic bag ready for hand wash in unscented soap. Not only is this a good scent control technique but reduces the chance of getting odors from inside your vehicle any place else you go before being in the woods, and less chance of ticks hitchhiking back into your vehicle or house with you..
