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

[Stephen]

Gary, Iagree witha couple things you say here as Iam ussually inthe Sierra 
during peak bug season.  Gnats along the lower elevationsdrive me bonkers. 
To keep them at bay and out of my face my floppy nylon sombrero works well 
and I keep my sunglasses on even in the shaded areas in the trees where I 
like to walk without them.  Same is somewhat true when the skeets are 
swarming.  I try to take breaks where there's some wind. Clothing helps but 
I like to walk inshorts and short sleeve shirts.  However, Ihave recently 
taken to wearing long sleeve sun t-shirts that we use sailing and sacrifice 
one for backpacking as they get wiped out.  Iwearthis over a t-shirt Icut 
off the sleeves and this addsa little padding and is comfortable.  If the 
bugs are bad I use deet on hands a little on legs and and the backof my 
shoulders onthat sun shirt where Iget bit alot because that part of the body 
doesn't move a lot when walking.  I don't slather on deet unless it is 
really really bad and just keep moving through swarmy areas.  After years of 
using the stuff  theonly ill effect I 've noted is loosing a little paint 
where I carry my hiking pole and the paint on an old timex watch.  Never had 
any clothing or sleeping gear damage in many seasons.  I wash my legs and 
feet often and as much of the rest of me as conditions will allow and find I 
sleep much better after washing my face.  What I have noticed with regards 
the sleeping bag is hair old clumping the down in the head area or hood. 
Since I ussually get a #2 cut in the Spring and summer this isn't as much of 
an issue anymore and both my light weight bags have washed and lofted back 
up nicely.  I've tried a fewof the natural solutions, and they just don't 
work very well if at all.  What I have been doing for many years is mixing a 
little citronela with deet and water which to me smells a little better and 
is less oily.   Doesn't last like pure deet, but it works well in a little 
spray pump.  When it's really bug narly, only heavy applications or nylon 
clothing works.  During the day I wear my bandana over my head underneath my 
hat and that keep them off my neck, ears, and the side of my face.  Works 
good in camp too where I just don my light nylon shell.  I've never been 
able to enjoy wearing a mesh bag over my head.  I'll spray a little bug 
juice on my hat if need be and rub some around the rim and that pretty much 
keep the little buggers from swarming my face while I eat.  I been spraying 
that nylon hat for what, eleven yearsnow and while it's about time to retire 
it, the deet hasn't damaged it or my rain parka which is even older and was 
replaced last year for a lighter shell.  You'd think the wrists would have 
melted at least because of the deet on the back of my hands but hasn't had 
any ill effect.  So it seems coatings and paint are more suceptible rather 
than nylon.  And I'll tell ya this, once I got up into Sphinx Lakes out of 
Cedar Grove in Kings Canyon and anyone would have been greatful for straight 
REI Jungle Juice Deet and I did that day slather it on.  Of course no one 
wants to do that for extended periods, but the point is it was all over my 
clothes, pack, etc and still no problem.  I'd worry more, like you said, of 
the effects of extended and prolonged absorbtion.
Oh yeah as I mentioned Idon't like a bag over myhead, nor do I sleep with 
anything draped over my face. For a couple years now I have been getting 
used tousing a tarp and retiring my old bivy, but that bivy has a raised 
pole to keep the bug net off my face and I can sleep bug free on top of my 
bag if its hot out.  With the tarp I carry a double bed size travel net that 
I can sling up in many ways under the trap, by itself as a big bug free 
environment for dry starry nights, and it has worked really well alongwith 
my hiking poles etc...(as a side note, I use the mombasa green net and have 
read and learned from experience that the white nets are kind of lame and I 
know for a fact that the little skeets in N.Cal can get through them . 
That's what I used last season on couple rainy outings, and the tarp sets up 
as a lean too in driving wind and rain, and I've just been using the 
el-cheapo plastic green tarp.  Now I'm about to order materials to build a 
tarp-tent which I think will be the best of all three.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "GARY HEBERT" <hikerfedex at gmail.com>
To: <BackpackingLight at yahoogroups.com>; <at-l at backcountry.net>; 
<Pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2009 3:49 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Natural Insect Repellents/ Bug Head Nets/A16 Bivy/Clothing- 
other ideas?


>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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