Rozvelt

Rozvelt designs the Vektr, a mask that separates inhaling from exhaling. Inhaled air comes in freely; exhaled air goes through an activated charcoal cartridge that traps scent molecules. The mask is for hunters and wildlife watchers, with a bow, a crossbow or a rifle. The website points out that the Vektr replaces nothing.

The website places the problem in breathing: up to 80% of the human scent animals detect comes from exhaled air, according to the company. The visible vapour is only part of it, and the rest escapes the hunter. The Vektr targets this source.

The product

The team, of two people, is designing a patent-pending mask with one-way valves, which leaves inhaling free and sends exhaling to a replaceable cartridge. The cartridge layers a hydrophobic membrane, a prefilter, activated charcoal and an internal moisture barrier. The hunter stays in control of the fit: three sizes of medical-grade silicone seals, a three-point adjustable headband, and a magnetic mount that comes off with one hand at the moment of the shot. Hunters replace the cartridges themselves.

What it changes in practice

• Exhaled air stops giving away the hunter's presence, because the activated charcoal captures the volatile organic compounds animals detect.
• Breathing stays natural in the blind, because the one-way valves put no restriction on inhaling.
• The mask comes off in one motion at the moment of the shot, because the magnetic mount detaches with one hand.

Pure respiration. Maximum performance.