DEET & Busse Coatings

I'mGatMan! · Mar 27, 2009

yoda4561 said:
I can't believe you live here in florida and don't know what DEET is? It's been around for dozens of years, and about 90% of bug repellant products have it in varying concentrations. The good stuff (high concentration) is known to eat the hell out of most plastics and rubbers if left exposed. kraton handles for example have a tendency to turn to goo after a while.

D'oh! I just got reprimanded.

I will tell you this, though...When I was in sixth grade I went to a magnet school (arts focused) out of my district, so I had to catch an EARLY bus for the long ride. The bus, which picked up myself and another kid from my block, stopped down at the intersection of three streets, and there was a gutter right there where we stood. For 4-5 months out of the year I remember walking to my bus stop surrounded by a literal CLOUD of Mosquitos. I'm not exaggerating even a bit. It's actually one of the few detailed memories that stands out to me of my childhood. I tend to block out a lot of details from the past, but not that one. For some reason I can see myself in third-person, wearing a pair of Z-Cavaricci's and a rayon shirt, COVERED in Mosquitos.

All that to say, Damn...I WONDER why I've never heard of deet.

I'mGatMan! · Mar 27, 2009

We DID use skin-so-soft, but what 11-12 year old boy wants to go to school smelling like his mama?

Ken44 · Mar 27, 2009

I'mGatMan! said:
We DID use skin-so-soft, but what 11-12 year old boy wants to go to school smelling like his mama?

That stuff works great, the cedar and sulfur in it do a good job as an insect repellant. A guide in the Okefenokee swap told us to put our Deet up and pass'ed a bottle of his Skin so Soft around. I had been in my Canoe before and always used Deet. The large bitting flies(we call them cow fly's around here) would bring blood, but as soon as we all sprayed the SSS on we never got bit again. I was very supprised! I still prefer Deet for Tics and Mosguitos though.

I've never heard of Z-Cavariccis

mhawg · Mar 27, 2009

Surveying in the field we usually had Deep Woods OFF. After a few hours and you sweat it off you start getting bit again but if you re-apply your pores are open from sweating and it stings your skin! We were doing a boundary survey on Winyah Bay, below Georgetown, SC and the damn mosquitoes were so big you could see the SHADOW of them coming at you!!!

Bronco · Mar 27, 2009

I hope it's not too harmful because we used to damn near bathe in the stuff (97% concentration) back in the day in Quantico. It was definitely hard on plastics, but you could spend a week in the bush and come home without a single bite. It was also the only substance that could soften up those rock hard tubes of camo face paint.

rutmi01 · Mar 27, 2009

Darn skeeters, the only things (aside from our own messups) that can take away from a beautiful outdoor experience.

I'mGatMan! · Mar 27, 2009

Thread hijack in progress:

Ken44 said:
I've never heard of Z-Cavariccis

Hey Ken, remember Miami Vice? Remember Sunny Crocket? Remember his pants? Yeh.

People in other places grow up learning about Deet. We grew up learning about style and other things I won't mention.

I wish I had learned then what I'm learning now, cuz I wasn't pretty then, and I'm damned sure not pretty now.

Ken44 · Mar 27, 2009

I'mGatMan! said:
Thread hijack in progress:

Hey Ken, remember Miami Vice? Remember Sunny Crocket? Remember his pants? Yeh.

People in other places grow up learning about Deet. We grew up learning about style and other things I won't mention.

I wish I had learned then what I'm learning now, cuz I wasn't pretty then, and I'm damned sure not pretty now.

Heck yeah I remember it, never missed it! Havn't even seen any re-runs on lately though. I esp loved all the ones with the Rock Stars, the Nugent episode was a good one.

I can just see you stylin around like Sunny when you were a Kid

I'm so old(48) I was stylin around like Opie Taylor when i was a child

Edit- sorry i got off topic again.
But BTW... Deet was invented for military in 1946, and to public in 1957...I think(I googled it not long ago)

Amy-0 · Mar 27, 2009

Ken44 said:
Heck yeah I remember it, never missed it! Havn't even seen any re-runs on lately though. I esp loved all the ones with the Rock Stars, the Nugent episode was a good one.

I can just see you stylin around like Sunny when you were a Kid I'm so old(48) I was stylin around like Opie Taylor when i was a child

Edit- sorry i got off topic again.
But BTW... Deet was invented for military in 1946, and to public in 1957...I think(I googled it not long ago)

So way off topic with this thread kinda...but Skin so Soft rocks in Ohio with those nasty little buggers...and I have never had Deet destroy the coating on my Busse knives...but

I HAVE THE MIAMI VICE ON THE DVD BOX SETS...I LOVED CROCKET AND TUBBS...LOVED THEM And I watch them ALOT ....

I NEED HELP

Sorry I helped with derailing this thread

but it is Miami Vice:thumbup:

iamtoast · Mar 27, 2009

Considering your avatar I would put faith in your input.

Skinsosoft is one of the products that was tested, and in those tests, at least, it did not do much better then having no chemical repellent on at all.

Evolute · Mar 27, 2009

As I recall, Avon Skin So Soft was shown to have some effect as an insect repellent, but it wasn't nearly as long lasting as DEET.

yoda4561 · Mar 27, 2009

Wear a loose fitting, lightweight cotton long sleeved shirt (tucked in), and real pants(not capri-things or shorts)

I find this stops most bug bites except on the hands and face, spray some deet on the clothing and you're pretty good for all but the worst days. As an added benefit it helps wick sweat away and keeps you cool and not-icky on hot, humid days.

drift draft · Mar 27, 2009

Had to look

Hammertime.

RoyalM · Mar 27, 2009

I've heard eating garlic or taking garlic pills works well at repelling mosquitoes anyone tried this? Also i've heard that blood type has a lot to do with why some get bit and other don't, +O being the worst type to have if you don't want bitten.

As for Deet I used it until I went the Skin so soft route. If it's good enough for Scottish gameskeepers it's good enough for me.

PeterPHWS · Mar 28, 2009

RoyalM said:
I've heard eating garlic or taking garlic pills works well at repelling mosquitoes anyone tried this? Also i've heard that blood type has a lot to do with why some get bit and other don't, +O being the worst type to have if you don't want bitten.

As for Deet I used it until I went the Skin so soft route. If it's good enough for Scottish gameskeepers it's good enough for me.

I was going to bring up SSS as an option but I thought no one might have heard of it in the USA!!??

Just goes to show it is a small world......

The Woodland Fresh SSS is the one to use and after the scares of skin cancer from DDT it is "universally" adopted throughout Scotland and Northumberland for keeping the Midges at bay.....

Go to any of our long range Artillery Training Grounds like Warcop or Otterburn on the Scottish Borders and you will find everyone doing a .50 Cal course is smelling like a bunch of "mincers"....but at least when your sweating it does'nt run into your eyes and cause "cornea" inflamation like DEET....or lip ulcers....but it is the eye damage that matters the most....it is a total waste of time trying to shoot when your eyes look like bloody red meat....putting DEET on hats and neck scarfs just does'nt cut it with those midges...it needs to be on your face to stop them swarming into your eyes....

However...whilst I let it slide on some of the training courses up there you have to laugh at the prospect of trying to use it in a jungle environment....when I did my course we were brushing our teeth with salt as the flouride in tooth paste was said to be able to be smelt for hours after it's use....the DEET repellant is at least odourless...but anyone turning up with SSS at Brunei or Belize would probably get a right bollocking if they were to use it.....

It's a pity that stuff is'nt produced without the "smell"....but from what others have said it is probably that part which makes it work....or rather it won't work without the smell....

Evolute · Mar 28, 2009

DEET is odorless?

It may be unscented, but I can smell it quite clearly.