Bug Repellent Options

[redxiv7]

I've been doing quite a bit of research on Permethrin sprays and have been curious to hear if anyone has used this. I will be planning on treating most of my planting clothes with it this summer and possibly bringing some to camp. From what I can tell, it is used to treat scabies in the US and can also be applied to livestock and dogs to protect them from biting flies, mosquitoes, ticks etc. There's also a brand available there for treating clothing under the name "Sawyer" which can be bought at outdoor stores, Walmart, and Home Depot and used by many hikers to deter or even kill ticks. It's also unavailable in Canada except to the military who use it on all their issued gear. You can also buy clothes that are pre-treated with the compound such as "bug shield". I was able to get my hands on a small amount last season and treated a pair of tights and long sleeve. I wouldn't be able to tell you how well it worked but there was a significant decrease in bugs around me when wearing them. Basically 0 bites throughout the day on my upper body. But there could have been a dozen other factors at play.

It seems much more effective than regular DEET products and the fact that it will bind to fabrics once dried is better than buying bug spray that will sweat off after 30 minutes. Considering the ideal planter, I know many people will be weary of using chemicals on the skin "that cause cancer". Whether or not you can take research and subsequent studies on their merits is whole other story.

Anyway, if you've had any experience with this product (or others such as Picaridin) feel free to share the knowledge.

[jdtesluk]

Permethrin treated (PT) clothes result in a far far lower level of bodily absorption than applying directly to skin, and is rated by various health agencies as a superior option compared to deet or other chemicals direct to skin.

The PT clothes are not actually licensed to be sold as "tick-repellant"...only for mosquitoes and flies...if that makes any sense. However, if it works for the gander it works for the goose. In other words, PT clothes work just fine for repelling ticks, they just don't have that special piece of paper. The PT clothes have also been shown to retain total effectiveness after up to 70 loads of laundry. I inspected a sample of the bug shield PT clothes this spring, and was surprised by the quality and fit. Better than I expected.

One thing to consider, is that some medical journals are cautious of mixing permethrin with deet in any way. So, if you use the PT clothing, you may want to avoid combining it with extra deet on exposed skin and choose an alternate repellent for that purpose.

I'm still working out how to access the clothing, but I understand it's main distributor is Marks Work Wear House, but you may need to special order at times. Online shops will, for the most part, not ship the PT clothing to Canada. Again, this comes down to special licensing and approvals.

[redxiv7]

Thanks for the detailed response, jd.

I've recently come back from a trip to the US and picked up a couple quarts of 10% concentrated permethrin. From what I've gathered online, I can dilute this down to 0.10% and use it to treat my own clothes through soaking and air drying. Hopefully it works out well this season.

[redxiv7]

For anyone interested... The permethrin I used on my clothing this season worked quite well. For May and the majority of June, I had almost zero insects touch any treated clothing. Even on blocks where other planters were being swarmed by mosquitoes and black flies it felt as though I was protected by a force field. I would still need to apply DEET product to my head to stay sane but looking down I had never noticed any insects on my shirt or legs. I do wish that I had brought the product with me to retreat clothes after the effect had worn off. In hindsight, I would have treated all clothing and not just my outer upper and lower body layers.

[Scooter]

Nice, great to hear this, thanks.

[fluffer]

Permethrin treated clothes work decently. Obviously they are going to have their limits but for planting parameters they would work fine.

In the military they dip all your outer layer clothing in permethrin before deployments to buggy areas. It works well until you are in the field for too long in all the god forsaken swampy assholes the land has to offer. At that point even if it stops half the bugs you are still dying from the loss of blood from bites.

[redxiv7]

It is a lot more effective than regular bug spray and if you are able to pick up concentrated amounts to dilute yourself, you would definitely save money throughout the season. I picked up my quart for $8 USD and have only used 1/5 of it after treating 6 pairs of clothes.

[_I3^RELATIVISM]

This past 2020 season I mostly work around small contracts in mediteranean, Portugal, marocco etc. And one of the best things I adopted is a berber turbant, it totally covers your skin and is very fresh in hotter weathers. would definitely suggest it for buggy conditions. I said this especially after my rookie season used a bunch of that white bottle stuff, and when I came back to Europe I had a bunch of inflamed lynph nodes, so that is probably not that good for your health, especially given in North America there isn't much regulation on the use of such chemicals in consumer products.