Not much talk about Insect Repellant. What say you?

Midwest Ninja said:
Whatever has the most DEET at the store when i stock up for the summer. OFF brand is usually good, and doesn't leave the skin greasy like knockoff brands sometimes do.
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akabu said:
permethrine on the clothes and Hammock and 100% DEET on the flesh.
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Hate to break it to you guys but more DEET is not better!! Anything past 70% defeats this purpose. After 70% the DEET's surface tension draws it to itself like Mercury, leaving many portions of skin uncovered.

Buy what works for you but this was FYI.
 
You know, I carried DEET for years and years and did everything I could to avoid using since it feels terrible and eats away most plastics such as compasses, tent fabric, synthetic clothing, GPS cases, etc.... Unless things were really really bad I'd just put up with getting bit.

These days, after discovering Cutter Advanced Picaradin repellent I've given up on that whole DEET thing. Now I carry Cutter Advanced and actually use the stuff to keep from getting bitten. It works, it smells nice, it doesn' have that yucky feeling on the skin, and best of all, it doesn't destroy my favorite gear. It doesn't last as long as 3M's Ultrathon Deet, but I'm fine with repeated applications. I can't remember if it is supposed to work against ticks and chiggers (chiggers are the WORST!!). Their web site says it works for a "broad spectrum of insects".
 
CUTS LIKE A KRIS said:
Hate to break it to you guys but more DEET is not better!! Anything past 70% defeats this purpose. After 70% the DEET's surface tension draws it to itself like Mercury, leaving many portions of skin uncovered.

Buy what works for you but this was FYI.
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I think the highest I've ever used was something like 50%, but its good information to have. Thanks.:thumbup:
 
I've had poor luck with DEET in certain places. It has worked fine for me in lightly bugged areas, but when in Central America I was using loads of 100%, and still got eaten alive. I think the best preventative measure is to always wear long shirts and pants if bugs are about. I'm also a fan of the mass consumption of garlic, though it may or may not be effective. I'd also guess that one should chew the garlic well before swallowing to improve transfer throughout the body (but I'm no expert on such matters).

There is always the so called Nuclear Option as well.
 
I can't remember the name of this ingredient in bug spray maybe catnip? But it was said to attact mtn. lions especially if sprayed on children, just something to consider.
 
when I'm sitting still for long periods (hunting) I use a thermacell. Nothing comes close to keeping bugs away like a thermacell. When I'm out hiking I use the uncle bens stuff. Caution - the stuff wreaks havoc on certain types of plastic, DEET is nasty crap.
 
I grew up using Muskol, love the smell for some reason. I haven't used it for years, however. Bugs seem to leave me alone, same as poison oak.
 
NO F-Bdy Bs said:
Is there any truth to the theory that you can ingest certian foods,that will cause mosquitos to stay at bay??

I have heard this many times, and there have been a lot of times I have been out where the mosquitos are tearing everyone up BUT me. I could never narrow down what food I took in the day before to experiment.

Yall know you have had those days where everyone is complaning about the bugs but that one guy.
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I don't know,garlic and beer always worked for me,for they evaporate through skin,in spite the recent tests that allegedly proved that mosquitoes don't mind any of home made recipes.Maybe tests was ordered from pharmaceutical industry.
 
First choice- an entourage of hungry dragonflies.

Second choice- Permethrin/DEET combo.

The harshest test I have ever put bug dope to is the Wilderness Waterway of the Everglades. I am convinced that, no matter what or how much you use there, those little suckers will find the 2 square microns of skin that you missed, and open a buffet. :mad:
 
Cutter Advanced with Picaridin (it comes in Fragrance Free) works good down here in the swamps of Florida.
 
I used permethrin for the first time last year and I could tell the difference. I hate wearing insect repellant on my skin, so I was glad to find an alternative.

I like the eucalyptus-lemon combination repellant that has come out. It seems to dry on our skin in such a way that it is not as oily as the other repellants.

I remember for awhile we used to use a skin product called "Skin So Soft". It was OK, but, again, I am not a fan of repellants on the skin.

Once I used a product that contained alcohol mix instead of oil and it felt better on the skin although you had to reapply the repellant more often.

As far as eating certain foods to avoid insects, I remember we used to eat two match heads a day to keep the chiggers away. I still got chiggers anyway, so I quit chewing on the match heads, but the chiggers came on even more fierce after I quit the match head technique. Then I had to spread this gooey sulfur smelling liquid all over to kill the chiggers that were on me and to prevent more chiggers from finding me. Eating match heads is not all that healthy or effective, but it can be a field expedient way to keep the chigger population at bay until you can get a regular repellant again.
 
Being Italian,I love garlic, my wife's cooks with it alot, plus I take quite a few vitimins per day which includes some Garlic. I have never had a problem with ticks, They jump on and jump off they don't like garlic. Plus garlic is good for the heart & blood. It seems to work. Give it a try, and see.
 
Haven't used man-made insect repellent since the mid-nineties. And that includes when I was a dirt forester and in the woods almost every day.

There are many natural repellents you can rub on yourself. Southern bayberry, braken fern, paw paw. If the deer flies, mosquitos, and/or gnats (I HATE GNATS) got real bad, I would put on a headnet when crusing timber or mapping.

The other thing that would help is not take a shower the day I was going to the woods - if I did, I would notice a big difference.

For the kids, we use bug bands. www.bugband.net (I think the website is down right now, but you can google bug band insect repellent.
 
A combo of permethrin on the clothes and a deet based insect repellent on the skin (ideally with a modern time-release formula such as 3m ultrathon or sawyer controlled release)
 
Make the crap yourself. :o) Check out some Citronella oil at: http://www.wildroots.com/citronella-oil-16-fl-oz-p-1231.html

This site used to have the instructions on the ratio of filtered water to mix with drops of the oil, but I can't find it now. :o( Anyways, I think it was like... one drop per two ounce of filtered water... or was it four? lol Anyways, instead of depending on chemicals to ward off those pesky critters, why don't you consider the holistic/all-natural ways that have been practiced and used for thousands of years? You can make as much as you want from one bottle (you can put it in an empty shampoo bottle or whatever). Ya'dig?
 
I remember reading an article in consumer reports, and it seems the only thing that worked was deet and eucalyptus-lemon combination repellant.

Since I had a bad reaction to deet last summer, I am going to give eucalyptus-lemon a try
 
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