[at-l] Natural Insect Repellents/ Bug Head Nets/A16 Bivy/Clothing - other ideas?

[GARY HEBERT]

I tried very hard during my AT thru to resist the cumulative effect of using
DEET or any commercial or natural insect repellent. At home no big deal,
shower or wash each nite before goin to bed. On the trail, it's absorbed
daily into skin, clothes, sleeping bag (even with a silk liner I wash in
townstops).

I tried (bounce) drier sheets rubbed on me, taking Garlic pills, and several
other ideas I read or heard about. In the end I concluded these MAY have
worked slightly but none of these proved remotely adequate when I reached
heavy mosquito or noseum country/season.  [eating bananas may actually
attract mosquitos as you emit the odor thru your skin. or it's a myth. not
sure. but it seemed to]

I tried Natrapel, and a New Hampshire local commercial recipe, as well as
DEET in ?70% & 100%. All seemed to work similarly - pretty good! Though not
perfect. And more importantly as stated above I wanted to avoid the
cumulative effect of using them for several days before a true shower, plus
thoroughly trashing my clothes, sleeping bag/liner, pack, etc. ; let alone
using them daily/nightly for many weeks.

By far the most effective thing I tried was clothing. Buy a very inexpensive
head net, wear lightweight highly breathable long pants and/or long sleeve
shirts or windshirts to help for the arms, legs. Also, something about just
wearing my (nylon rain resistant) baseball hat seemed to help keep some bugs
away from my face - a little better than hatless. But nothing was as good as
the head net. Now I've purchased a wicked lite version that ways less than 1
oz! two versions available at  www.mountainlaureldesigns.com or
www.backpackinglight.com

For sleeping I found using the head bug net alone forced me to zip up my
sleeping bag snug around my head bug net on those warm summer nites, . Which
sucked.  Even worse, though the mosquitos couldn't get to me (YEA!!) but
drove me nuts buzzing all around my head. (This usually stopped after 11pm
or so, but I lost several hours of sleep each nite with their buzzing and
anticipating getting bit, though it never came). I spent $50 for the
Adventure A16 bug bivy which weighs a whopping 6 oz (YIKES!) It's a noseum
1/2 length bivy with a lite hoop to keep it off your face and elastic
to synch it around your sleeping bag. Probably the best "luxury item" I
bought during my AT hike.  (Other similar versions available are lighter)

Of course you needn't carry ANY of this stuff until you need it. Know and
plan for bug season. Until then it's pointless extra weight. Buy it in town
or ship it to yourself just before you need it.

FedEx
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