Review: HECS Stealthscreen Clothing
Russ Chastain 06.07.16
When I discovered HECS clothing at the 2015 SHOT Show range day, I was excited. Turkey season was coming up, and one of the guys at their booth showed me some impressive videos of hunters getting away with some pretty amazing things.
A carbon fiber grid is woven into the fabric, and they say that will block your body’s “electrical field” from being visible to game animals, which can supposedly detect such things.
The good:
- The clothing is made well.
- You can machine wash it like any other garment.
- It’s lightweight and breathable.
The not-so-good:
- I had to slit the collar on the shirt; it was 2XL but was still too tight.
- Made overseas, in Asia.
I wrote about it then and again after I’d tried it all turkey season.
During the following gobbler season, I was busted by turkeys fairly often, sometimes when I didn’t think I should have been. That’s nothing unusual for any turkey hunter, but it suggested that something else must have been happening in that video I saw the day before SHOT. I can’t get away with twitching a finger, but those guys can shoot a turkey, change camera operators, call one back in and kill it too? Hmmmm.
There’s also this excerpt from my hunting journal during that turkey season:
Once again, even standing still the HECS didn’t keep one of the deer from eyeballing me, blowing, and running at 40-50 yards.
Still, I was determined to stick with it. I used my HECS Stealthscreen a lot during three months of deer hunting, and while I had some close calls they were no closer than what other hunters (including myself) have experienced while NOT wearing HECS. And I got spotted pretty quickly on a number of occasions, even when I hadn’t moved at all.
Let me add that I’m no noob. I’ve been hunting deer and other big game for more than 30 years, so I have a pretty good idea of what a hunter can usually expect to get away with while avoiding detection. But during that deer season, I didn’t get away with much of anything.
I tried it during the 2016 spring turkey season too, and remained unimpressed.
Now before the HECS fans get up in arms, I’m not saying that HECS doesn’t work. What I’m saying is that it didn’t work for me, and I’ve seen no conclusive proof that it does the job it claims to do (blocking your body’s electrical field, which is allegedly visible to animals).
In the interest of fairness, I will add that after I reviewed HECS on another site, the manufacturer told me that I must have been using it incorrectly and that I should have consulted with them before writing the review. I replied to say that I’d be happy to follow their suggestions and try it again, but they failed to respond.
My HECS clothing was well-made and durable, and should last a good long time. And hey, if you believe in it or simply feel that it’s worth the gamble just in case it works, then don’t let me stop you.
