bug repellents

[416]

Opinions on what you think is the best best bug spray. I have been out a few times recently and judging by the their appetite it appears the little buggers haven't seen fresh blood since last fall. Also, l seen a bottle of "Ben's" repellent stating 30% deet formula.....anyone know how that rating relates to effectiveness?

[wetcoaster]

Don't believe the commercials, the higher the deet the better the repellent! Sure it will take a few more years off your life with high deet but I'm young and have a few to spare anyhow.;)

I had to work on a marshy island in Mission a few weeks ago and forgot the ol' Muskol. The mosquitos were on me like white on rice it looked like I was wearing fur. My spotting scope lens was so covered in them I could barely see through it! They were the fast little buggers with striped bodies that lift their back legs up when they bite. I hate those ones!

[overthetop]

Allways used muskol.

[Walksalot]

I used Skin So Soft by Avon once and the bugs loved me. This was back when deet had fallen out of favour but now it is back big time.

[Fred]

Anything that contains Pine Oil should work. I have used pine needles rubbed between my hands and smeared on exposed skin to repel them. Sounds strange but it works as they won't fly into a pine trees branches. Fred

[MB_Boy]

Allways used muskol.

I have also used it for years....way back in the late 70's/early 80's (when the company was based out of Truro, Nova Scotia) my Dad was the Western Canadian distriubutor and at any one time we would have minimum of 250-300 cases in our garage! Being the distributor though he alway got the complaints about it eating plastic etc....such as linoleum floors and the list went on and on and on and on. The answering machine in my Dad's home office was always funny to listen to with all the complainst!! ;-)

Still to this day though it is the stuff I choose.

[Steeleco]

I'm still using the old bottle of OFF, liquid concentrate. Not sure of the Deet content? Don't use it often but it works like a charm when I do.

[outdooorsman]

hey skin so soft!
why would you ever use an avon product on yourself? haha anyways why would you ever tell a group of hunting men!

[GoatGuy]

Higher the deet count the better.

Cigars, campires and chainsaws seem to keep the bugs away pretty good.

[JohnS]

I heard Vitiam B and Garlic work great too! bugs hate me I have sour blood lol!!!

[abbyfireguy]

Anything that contains Pine Oil should work. I have used pine needles rubbed between my hands and smeared on exposed skin to repel them. Sounds strange but it works as they won't fly into a pine trees branches. Fred

Then you will turn red after all the pine beetles start chewing on you...:mrgreen:

[brotherjack]

Not that I recommend it, but I can vouch for the fact that smoking will keep the bugs off of you. I don't think I had a mosquito bite in my adult life until I quit smoking. LOL...

[randy]

I bought this battery powered insect repellent from 3 vets the other day. It emits high frequency sonic waves that are supposed to irritate mosquitos. Haven't tryed it yet. It could be a waste of 5$, or the best investment ever. When I go back into the bush I'm still bringing my Deep Woods Off though, just in case.

[Bow Walker]

I shot at the Nanaimo 2-day just last weekend and I think Wetcoaster is right, those hungry bugs were all over us there in the shady bush and along the creek bottoms.

Me, my bro', and his son sprayed OFF on ourselves. Saved our lily white asses I cna tell you!

[416]

I bought this battery powered insect repellent from 3 vets the other day.

Maybe it's a first cousin to the ultrasonic mouse device l tried out based on the same principle....l put a mouse trap beside it ( just to see) and you just KNOW what happened....trap worked fine while the unit was on...:-?
Your toy may work better, but l wonder what it will do (if anything) to other wildlife (ie. deer) who have sensitive hearing...

[3kills]

i think i read some where once that if u mix water with a bit of vodka and spray it on u it keeps them away....and if not just drink the rest of the vodka and then u dont notice it anymore lol ...another good one is take vitam b from oct to april and they wont come near u in the summer...

[yote]

I read a report on deet and how much is better. They found that anything more than 25% does not make a substatntial difference and that is why most brands recently don't concentrate it more than 25-30%. I have a couple of the smaller off pump sprays that claim 90%. I just use less when I use those ones.

[wetcoaster]

I was being part serious and part facetious with my first post, I look for a high percentage of deet because for my job and hunting it makes the most sense as we are out for a long time normally from dawn till dusk read the following and you will unerstand.

The percentage of active ingredient be it DEET or otherwise (permethrin) does not affect the potency of a repelent so you are correct in the sense that a higher percentage does not make it "better" at defending against bites. The DEET content of a repelent rather reflects the amount of time it is effective. A study was released recently that showed a 23.8% DEET solution effectivley protected from mosquito bites for an average of five hours. The effectiveness overtime steadily goes down with the percentage of active ingrediant. For example at 4.75% repelents were only effective for an hour and a half. Outdoor Life magazine this month has a short blurb on this study reporting the above numbers.

The article you read is correct in a sense in that it makes no sense to go above a certain percentage of active ingredient as it is unlikely that most people would need protection for the length of time the old 99% solutions would provide and you would be posioning yourself needlessly. On the other hand if you go with one that is reduced you will have to reapply it and get that same percentage in your system regardless over the day. A 25-30% solution will protect for over 6 hours and therefore is perfect for most hunters if you are out longer than that at any one time put some more on. This way you won't be sitting in the camper poisoning yourself needlessly at the end of the day.

Deet is a nerve toxin that has a fairly low toxic rating for adult humans with dermal exposure (this is not the case however for ingestion or eye contact). Having said this DEET is linked to several nasty conditions that affect the central nerve system (seizures, memory loss etc), therefore don't use more than you need to and don't put it on your kids as they are especially suseptible to it's toxic effects. Treat anything such as bug sprays with DEET solutions as any other poison in your house and don't have them in reach of kids. If they or anyone ingests it they can be in serious trouble. For kids skin so soft is reccommended as a repelent as it has shown to be effective (not as effective as deet) and is not toxic.

[Walksalot]

hey skin so soft!
why would you ever use an avon product on yourself? haha anyways why would you ever tell a group of hunting men!

Actually people raved about the effectiveness of this stuff and it was a great alternative to deet but I am here to say it doesn't work.

[ruger#1]

http://www.muskol.com/frameset/ the one and only!

[dirtyharry]

We used to get issued the 99% stuff. It was great, it would eat through your compass, stain your clothes and worked as a solvent to thin out cam sticks, made your lips numb. Kept the bugs off too!
I still have some bottles left from before they stoped making it. It works really well if you squirt some on your hat and sleeves.

Rob

[Fred]

Are you refering to Nero, Rob? Fred

[dirtyharry]

No this was generic government stuff

Rob

[nykoma]

99% thinking is the only way to go bet more in the $ range but the best
just remember to wash your hands before touching or eating it does numb up the lips

[Fred]

No this was generic government stuff

Rob

The military stuff we got back in the mid 60's was called Nero. I don't remember the Deet content but it sure worked! Had the same effect on plastics and stuff too. :mrgreen: Fred

[BowSitter]

If only the female mosquito's bite then what the heck do the males look like because I've never seen one!:razz:

[Fred]

The male mosquito is almost identicle to the female except for it's "beak". Sorry about that, I have forgotten the name of it.:redface: Anywho, the male has a rather feathery "beak/stinger" and they don't tend to go for skin, that is why you may have not noticed them. Fred