My wife and I are on an extremely tight budget, I was looking on the ASAT website this afternoon, and saw that they have paintball camo that is less than half the price of their regular camo. Would you guys think that if I purchased some UV Killer and sprayed the garments down with that it would be effective? After all, I am hunting whitetail deer, not aliens lol
The concept of deer eyes picking up the blue light that is given off by UV brighteners is true.
....It's not UV light that is the problem..it's the fact that UV brighteners in the fabric fluoresce a blue light when UV light hits it.
That blue light combines with the off white (yellow) light that is seen when looking at most white fabrics. These two colors combined make the "white" fabric appear whiter.
By blocking the UV light you keep the brighteners from fluorescing the blue light that deer easily see.
...all that said,,I have not been impressed with the UV killer product at all.
I've applied it to quite a few fabrics and checked it with UV lights after.
The stuff basically doesn't work.
If you're looking at the leafy stuff....
I have some OLD leafy stuff, not asat, but same type of material.
UV killer did NOT work on that.
Well that's a bummer! Thought I might be able to save a little bit!
I thought the same way you are thinking, bought several pairs of the paintball pants and sprayed them. They now have a really funny smell that lots of washing and hanging outside has failed to remove. Then I noticed that some of the scent Control dryer sheets say they destroy UV-- wish I'd done that instead, maybe it will work for you.
I may be on a different view. They didnt have UV concerns back in the day, wash your clothes in Borax and other natural(scent,UV and Dye free) detergents and wear the stuff. Use cover and concealment and just hunt.JMHO
You're right.
They didn't have to worry about it not so many years ago.
Only in recent years have permanent UV brighteners been added directly into the fabrics...especially synthetics.
Has there been studies that prove that deer can see uv light?
YES.
But....uv brighteners don't give off or reflect UV light.
They absorb UV and fluoresce ( spit back out ) blue light.
It's that blue light that deer eyes REALLY see well ...and what makes our yellowish white material look white-white.
I have never bought any piece of hunting clothing that had anything special done to the fabric. I do wash with sport wash that doesn't have brighteners but thats just becuase I don't want to smell like flowers or whatever my wife buys.
Rob
you're a lucky man Rob.
I haven't been nearly so lucky.
That's what brought me to look in to this subject.
Found things out like...
The factories that actually make the material used for clothing have no real idea what the final use of their material will actually be.
Most clothing material is used for non-hunting clothes.
So,.. most clothing material ( over 90% I've read) is made with UV brighteners...because it looks better to us. and that is what clothing companies want to use.
After the white "blank: material is made then they color it to whatever color is ordered..red, blue yellow..CAMO.
So there you are with material that has UV brighteners right in it with some camo colors dyed on it.
NON-UV brightened fabric is actually special run stuff anymore I understand.
We don't care about UV stuff and were what ever we want and kill B/C and P/Y bucks year after year with are bows Don't even need camo to do it either. We spend are money scouting and finding deer rather then spending on
gimics on some hunting show. Just hunt guys and quit worrying about the little things hunting is expensive enough without all the crap they say you need or you can't kill a deer.
Tracy
I think it would be interesting to see what perentage of clothing companys offer special non UV clothing and what percentage of successful hunters use it.
Rob
It is a temp. fix. Will cost you less just to go on down to a Goodwill Store and get some light wool garments.
QuoteOriginally posted by swampthing:
It is a temp. fix. Will cost you less just to go on down to a Goodwill Store and get some light wool garments.
agreed!
I use UV Killer. I swear by it. I wore a shirt with out UV and the deer looked right up at me. When I wear clothes that were sprayed with UV Killers they never look up. I guess we have smarter deer in Pa then in Kansas. The deer I hunt are in residential areas. Maybe this makes a difference. Smarter deer. LOL
If I was going to be putting a leafy suit (no uv brighteners) over the warmer insulated bib and bomber jacket, would that eliminate the need for the more expensive base layers?
QuoteOriginally posted by Iowabowhunter:
If I was going to be putting a leafy suit (no uv brighteners) over the warmer insulated bib and bomber jacket, would that eliminate the need for the more expensive base layers?
Yes.
... I have a whole house water softener and by washing my hunting garments in completely soft water it eliminates all UV brighteners . :thumbsup:
I dont wear anything in the woods without using uv killer , swear by it.
I wash my hunting clothes in baking soda. always have. Killed deer on the ground at less than 10 yards several times and had birds land on my boot.A squirrel ran down my back once and just the other day I had 3 mature Gobblers undr 15 yards and I wasnt in a blind and was in front of cover. I think thats more important than being behind it. Anyway I`m not gonna spend a lot of money on stuff when what I got seems to work.RC
Also agree with Zradix and swampthing. You want no UV fluorescence in your clothes, use wool. UV killers I have found have a temporary effect at most... (kinda like other scent blockers, ahem...). I believe it was the Univ of Georgia that did the studies on the way deer see. I hear a lot of hunters really bellyache about wearing hunter orange, when deer are really neutral to it compared to blue or white.
I have been in situations where I wore my orange vest the whole hunt stuck up in a pine tree, where my buddy could see me from 500yds away, and the deer walk right by me and never look up, and I wasnt that high, maybe 20ft. That aint high in the piney woods of South Alabama considering what little cover we have down here. That is why I love ground blinds now... but anyway, that fluorescence Zradix is talking about is the main reason hunters get busted now. Like when the deer suddenly look up for no reason and you are thinking, "I barely moved at all".
Zradix - Have read where UV fluorescence in your clothes can be tested in the dark ith a black light, is this true?
Sure is.
It's a good idea to get something with a true "UV" light.
Many black lights aren't truly UV lights.
But even most of the cheap black lights will give you enough UV to test with....they just don't work as well.
Basically the brighter the black light looks to you the worse it is....people can't see UV light.
So if there is a high amount of visible brightness to the bulb, that bulb is putting out wave lengths longer than 400nm.
Most brighteners get excited by UV light in the 350 nm range. Then re-emit it in the blue portion of the visible spectrum.
So if you were really looking to do it right find a bulb that emits in about the 340-370 nm range.
It's fun to look around at stuff with a black light..you can see which papers have brighteners, which clothes...double check to see how much UV brighteners are present in your laundry detergent.
Also, I recommend checking your dryer if you dry your clothes. It's amazing how much brightener can accumulate in the drum.
have fun!
If I was on an extremely tight budget, UV Killer would be at the bottom of my list..right next to the scent killing spray.
QuoteOriginally posted by Hoyt:
If I was on an extremely tight budget, UV Killer would be at the bottom of my list..right next to the scent killing spray.
yep X2
I test all of my hunting clothes against a black light. If it glows it goes....
Years ago there were no UV brighteners in the dyes or soaps used. Then the brighteners started showing up (remember Burlingtons "ten mile cloth"?) and they started using it on/in everything.
In the early or mid 80's it was discovered deer could see UV reflections. The hunting community started paying attention. I personally dumped all my "quality" camo from that era because it glowed so much. Camo that had UV dies was getting slammed. The mfrs listened to their wallets.
Now there are virtually no quality companies using UV dye in their camo. Soaps are a different story but it's easy to bypass that issue.
QuoteOriginally posted by Tree Rat:
[QB] I test all of my hunting clothes against a black light. If it glows it goes....
Man your wasting alot of good camo! :dunno:
If you have a IR trailcam walk in front of it in the dark and it will tell you the same thing as a blacklight. Atleast some of them :)
Some of my best camo like Sitka Gear and leafy suits show up the very brightest and we still kill turkeys and deer under 10yds every year on the ground and in tree stands. We wash all of are camo in baking soda like RC and have been doing that longer then I can remember.
Good luck
Tracy
Zradix - Interesting stuff, thanx for sharing.
Not sure how I waste it if I don't buy it. :dunno:
I had two consecutive bad seasons wearing my "latest and greatest" camo back in the mid 80's. Barely seeing any deer, nothing in range. Found out it glowed. Might as well have been bleached white type glow. Replaced it and had immediate good results the last two weeks of the seocnd season.
Same farm, same stands, same tactics, same equipment, same deer, different clothes. You do the math.
Say what you want, but almost 30 yrs of following this method hasn't failed me. Never had a season like those since.
I don't think UV is an issue in daylight. Dawn and twilight yes, but not well lit daylight. YMMV
yep..
Dawn and twilight are the worst times to have UV brighteners in your clothes.
On a side note..I've been using sportwash and baking soda for some time to clean wash my stuff.
I was just checking a new laundry detergent my wife bought recently.
It's Dynamo free and clear.
I checked it under my black light and NO UV brighteners.
It also has minimal scent.
Heck of a lot cheaper than the sportwash.
I think I am eventually just going to get the paintball sale camo from asat's website. I can get bdu pants for only $30.00. I already use the scent free detergent etc, will just put some baking soda in there to help with any "uv brighteners" just in case.
You can get military BDU pants and shirts from Colemans Military Surplus a little cheaper.
Lpcjon2 -does Colemans have a website by chance?
Jacob, sent you an email