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Apr 13, 2024

Local company says clothing lessens animal detection

J OHN DAY — In science fiction and fantasy stories like “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Trek,” characters make themselves invisible to give them an advantage in a way that goes beyond mere camouflage. A

JOHN DAY — In science fiction and fantasy stories like “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Trek,” characters make themselves invisible to give them an advantage in a way that goes beyond mere camouflage.

A John Day clothing company that caters to hunters and wildlife enthusiasts promises something similar using the scientific principle of the Faraday cage — to make one’s electromagnetic field less detectable to animals.

HECS (for Human Energy Concealment Systems) is located at the Grant County Airport Industrial Park. The company started about 10 years ago.

HECS founder and CEO Mike Slinkard, an avid hunter familiar with how animals intuitively detect electromagnetic energy, said he was inspired by how a Faraday cage blocks such energy.

He decided to incorporate the principle into the very fabric of his camouflage clothing products, which include inner and outer wear, socks, hats, gloves and pants. Electrically conductive carbon fibers are woven in a grid pattern into the fabric of the clothing to create the effect.

Forrest Galante, a wildlife expert, television host and adventurer featured on Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel, is the face of the company’s wildlife division, which produces clothing for people who want to get closer to animals.

“HECS isn’t just a hunting product,” Slinkard said. “We also have a lot of birdwatchers, animal enthusiasts and people who don’t necessarily hunt and want to have a good, safer interaction with animals and stay less detectable.”

Galante, who needs to get close to wildlife for his work, appeared on an episode of the popular podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” in 2019 and discussed how the clothing technology helps him get closer to his subjects.

“It’s this interwoven carbon grid that actually holds the body’s electrical energy and capacity, like the door of a microwave oven, like a Faraday cage,” Galante said.

“My friend John Dudley, who is a pretty famous bow hunter, he swears by it and he wears them constantly,” Rogan told Galante on his podcast. “It makes a big difference.”

On another podcast episode, Rogan is speaking with Dudley about wearing the clothing during a hunting trip together and was surprised at how birds and deer can also get closer to the HECS wearer without being spooked away.

“I became more of a believer (of HECS) on this trip,” Rogan said. “I felt there were too many moments where deer were staring at us and they just didn’t know what the hell we were.”

The HECS website features another quote from Rogan speaking with Dudley.

“I became an even bigger believer in the HECS suit while I was here,” Rogan said. “When we had that bird fly by and just land right behind us, I was like, ‘Dude, what is wrong with this bird?’ It had no idea we were there.”

At trade shows, and in the John Day company office, Slinkard has an electromagnetic testing device to demonstrate the product. When he puts a sample of the clothing over a detection device, it blocks the detector from picking up an electromagnetic signal.

“We’re a Faraday cage for your body,” Slinkard said. “Carbon is very comfortable to wear. It’s woven in a specific grid pattern designed to block what’s coming out of the body. We actually have five U.S. patents and 20 international patents on the technology.”

The company’s apparel is also known for being featured on the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, with the HECS logo seen on the aquatic gear used on Shark Week programs through the years, Slinkard said. The HECS aquatic line is temporarily on hold after ending a partnership with its licensee manager for the line in recent years, but the company hopes to restart the line again soon, he said.

Slinkard sells his products from the company website, hecshunting.com, as well as hecswildlife.com, amazon.com and walmart.com. The products are not available at brick-and-mortar stores, but ship only from headquarters at 581 Industrial Park Road in John Day.

People are also welcome to visit the HECS office from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, Slinkard said.

Neil Nisperos can be reached at 541-575-0710 or [email protected].

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