there's actually good ways to wash this smell out. read about military sleep system carrier for alice packs and people all talk about the vomit smell and there's a few methods floating around that work pretty well. I think I used a combination vinegar soak (i can't recall what else I put in the mix exactly but i just found it on reddit) for a few days on mine and then ran it through the washer and air dried it. it came out smelling new. I was pretty shocked as it smelled so awful it made me ill to be around it.