"High Tech Fabrics
for the Hunt"

By Wade Nolan

     I remember wearing old hand-me-downs for my first deer hunt when I was 14. The smelly old faded green army coat, which my dad hadn’t worn for 10 years, must have weighted 15-pounds. Under it I had on white cotton waffle long johns, a cotton plaid shirt and a hooded cotton sweatshirt. I walked for about two hours in the 35 degree weather and I couldn’t have gotten wetter if I fallen into a lake. I was a sweaty mess. Next I sat down to watch for deer and nearly froze to death. That was nearly 40 years ago.

     Today clothing has gone technical and there is no excuse to be uncomfortable… regardless of the weather. My eyes were first opened 26 years ago. It was 1980 when I began guiding wilderness kayak expeditions north of the Arctic Circle in the Brooks Range. This allowed me to rub elbows with a new group of outdoorsmen that didn’t hunt. They were the mountain climbers and expedition types who had a leg up on us hunters. They knew about layering and a new fabric called polypropylene.

     I quickly bought some of this miracle fabric in the form of underwear and jackets and learned that it could wick away perspiration and keep me dry. After a hike or two my polypro smelled like a sweaty horse, but I was dryer than ever before. I quickly introduced this miracle fabric to my guide buddies and they loved it.

      Time passed and the ski industry became the testing ground for these new polyester fabrics with trickle down technology to we hunters. Then a company based out of North Carolina by the name of Longworth Industries stepped into the game. This US based group was driven by university research and a dedicated team of fiber scientists began to make giant strides in “Tech Fabrics.”

      Rather than source common grades of polypro out of China, they teamed with a dedicated US based fiber plant and developed micro-fleece technology that allowed them to capture a large portion of the ski/expedition and now the military market. Their strategy was to solve the problems and to take first place in the Tech Fabric market with their proprietary manufacturing techniques.

Hunters Come of Age

     Hunters seem to get hand-me-downs from the other industries. There is a right time for everything and we now have an educated audience concerning scent and scent management. This topic has gotten a lot of flash over the last ten years and some of it may have been mostly flash.

      Lately I have been talking to people in the know about these expensive carbon suits. Marketing is a powerful thing! I mortgaged the house and bought one. Then I began to learn some things that have made me think. Carbon suits were first used in 1917. Did you know that the military carbon suits are discarded when they are 24 hours out of their sealed bag because they are fully loaded...like a wet diaper with odors?

     Did you know that they are manufactured in a “Clean Room with positive air pressure and masked workers?”
     Did you ever think that your carbon suit may have started out in a far away land busy absorbing odors in some China based factory with no air conditioning and 300 sweaty Asian ladies?
     Did you know that “recharging the carbon” in a dryer may not be possible as directed and that carbon particles glued onto fabric is largely clogged by glue or adhesives?

      I feel a little like Andy Rooney, but asking hard questions is good for our education. Just when the word is coming out on carbon, which is WW1 technology, we have a choice from the 21st century.

      21st Century Solutions for HuntersLongworth Industries has developed a SCENT PREVENT technology and X-STATIC silver-nylon that uses pure silver fibers that are woven into their garments. This anti-microbial strategy stops scent where it begins…on the skin. The XGO Technical base layers are made to fit snug and capture those smelly skin cells that leave a trail where we travel. It doesn’t need “recharged. ”

      It’s odor control that makes logical sense. X-STATIC inhibits growth of bacteria and fungi thus neutralizing odor causing ammonia-denatured proteins that cause you to stink. It’s killing body odor where it begins. Their acclimate dry micro-fleece system has wicking ability as much a 4X that of their competitors.      The micro-fleece sucks moisture from our skin and the anti-microbial X-STATIC kills the bacteria…that’s a novel idea, attack the root problem!

      Longworth has decided to transfer over the “best of the best” fabric technology to hunters by offering the same line that passed rigorous military testing and competition standards. Their line of “XGO” technical base layers, which is now the choice of the US military, is available to hunters. This sounds like technology I can hunt with.

      I have been field testing these new base layers since last October and they are everything they claim to be. The new XGO line makes my comfort level during hunts a pleasure. The superior wicking combined with anti-microbial strategies make for a sound bowhunting plan.

      Whether I’m hanging treestands for whitetails, climbing around the Missouri Breaks after a 6 x 6, or climbing in the icy winds of the Chugach after Dall rams; I rely on the 2006 technology that my XGO base layers with “acclimate dry,” SCENT PREVENT and X-STATIC offer.

      If it’s good enough for our special forces, it’s good enough for me. It’s about time we hunters get technical.

 www.polarmax.com

     For more science that will make you a better whitetail bowhunter go to:    www.whitetailu.com