I'm going camping in a few weeks. What is the best way to keep bugs off of me?

 

Other than sleeves and drums of deet.

Thermacell

Avon Skin-So-Soft works great. You can get it as a lotion, spray or lotion with sunblock.

You can't beat DEET.   You might want to avoid the higher concentration formulations, and apply to clothes rather than skin where possible, but everything else out there is only fractionally as effective.

S&W 686.

i just read about repellants in a recent Consumers Guide. I'll look it up again tmro. IIRC deet is really good in moderation, euculyptus lemon(?) is also good but I think they said skin so soft was useless for skeeters.

Avon Skin-So-Soft works great. You can get it as a lotion, spray or lotion with sunblock.

This works great on pussy city bugs but real woods bugs drink skin so soft for breakfast.

A smokey fire

+1 on Thermacell, and smokey fire. MaxiDeet works great! Just don't light up for a few minutes after application.

Thermacell does work

This works great on pussy city bugs but real woods bugs drink skin so soft for breakfast.

 

Lmfao. I just spit coffee!

Consumers Reports July issue has a 4 page rating article. basically any products with deet, or 20% picardin or 30%lemon eucalyptus worked best according to them. The top 5 as rated:

1)Sawyer fishermans formula picarden

2)Repel lemon eucal.

3)Repel scented family

4)Natrapel 8hr

5)Off deep woods VIII

Another +1 for Thermacell.  I've had one for several years and use it when I plan to be in the woods for a while.

 

Just played an all-day airsoft game in upstate NY - had the thermacell on me - not a single bug bite.

 

I've also tried these - they seem to work.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0058IL92W/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1436450136&sr=1&keywords=mosquito+repellent+bracelet

i just read about repellants in a recent Consumers Guide. I'll look it up again tmro. IIRC deet is really good in moderation, euculyptus lemon(?) is also good but I think they said skin so soft was useless for skeeters.

that seems strange, 'cause when i was flying r/c more often, i'd be left alone while everyone else was being attacked by the mt holley mutated skeeters. i used skinsosoft.......

This works great on pussy city bugs but real woods bugs drink skin so soft for breakfast.

 

Don't know what to tell ya, I'm a landscaper and it works for me.

that seems strange, 'cause when i was flying r/c more often, i'd be left alone while everyone else was being attacked by the mt holley mutated skeeters. i used skinsosoft.......

just read up on it again.  seems the original cosmetic formula that was initially thought a repellant( but not marketed as) really wasnt, but newer skin so soft products are now marketed as a repellant. this from CR.

Still looking for something other than DEET. Skinsosoft does not work on "woods" bugs, period.  I had one natural product that seemed to work, but stunk so bad you could not stand to be around it.  Tried Dr Mercola;s all natural this year and early concensus is it does not work either.

Taking a bath in skin so soft doesn't hurt. But down where I live the swamps put out skeeters that don't even get phased by it. But as a base go for it

Did anyone try Permethrin, sprayed on clothes, dry and then wear ?  Apparently, military uniforms are treated with it.

Did anyone try Permethrin, sprayed on clothes, dry and then wear ?  Apparently, military uniforms are treated with it.

 

 

It's a good insecticide, no doubt about it.   I don't really know if it is effective as a repellant.    Like the other first-generation pyrethroids, it degrades fairly quickly in the presence of sunlight and/or oxygen, but the right formulation can mitigate that to some extent.

Ive been everywhere and plus. Bens deet works. No matter where you are. Be careful how long amd how much you use. It says right on it that it pretty much will cause cancer.

I'm a fan of deep woods off.

 

Be aware around guns with high DEET content repellants, it can attack certain plastics which is why magazines and the like get tested with it for tolerance. 

Thermacel there's no substitute! Who wants to rub toxic chemicals on their skin for dermal absorption anyway?

Thermacel there's no substitute! Who wants to rub toxic chemicals on their skin for dermal absorption anyway?

 

Because mosquitoes are annoying but ticks will screw you up good and thermacel does nothing for ticks. I've managed to pick Lymes a few years ago and smothered it in antibiotics, and ticks carry a vast array of other nasty problems.

Depends on where I am. When I hunt I spray my boots and the bottom of my pants with Deet. I take my Thermacel up into my treestand and I can sit all day with zero skeeter annoyance. In my yard I just use the thermacel, I have taken other measures to combat ticks on my property, so far they have worked. If I were hiking I would spray my boots and take the thermacel on the belt holder.

 

It's weird I've gone into the woods with 15 other guys doing deer drives. When we leave everyone has ticks on their clothing except me. For some reason I unbeknownst to me ticks just don't like me. And I'm perfectly fine with that. But I still thoroughly check myself every time to be sure.

 

There's another tick born illness I've read a little about, that makes you not want to eat meat. It's crazy I never want that, or lymes.

 

There's another tick born illness I've read a little about, that makes you not want to eat meat. It's crazy I never want that, or lymes.

 

 

So that's how the Zombie Apocalypse started.

DEET!

I read the can of Off Deepwoods, and I was surprised to see it is 25% deet. I may look into it

thermacell is the best thing i have to say, i bought it off ebay and a huge pack of the thermacell inserts for really cheap (just checked ..Thermacell - $25.98 .... Thermalcell refill pack $18.95