Shannon

While reading through a magazine today, I learned two new tips for minimizing some exposure to mosquito and chigger bites:

Mosquitoes: They are drawn to constrasts of color such as one might find on a fair-skinned individual wearing a black or other dark clothing (or brightly-colored prints). The Advice? Wear clothing whose colors blend with your skin tone. I'll have to test this theory out, since I'm generally the "skeeter magnet" among any outdoor group I'm with (that, and ticks -- I'm usually the first to report, "We've got TICKS here, gang" 'cuz I'll find one trying to make itself at home on my ankle or waistband. It's usually occured on our hikes in Arkansas, thankfully, not here in Texas.

Chiggers: To test for the presence of chiggers, such as before sitting down to that lovely picnic you and your family have planned, do the following -- with a black piece of paper (or, presumably, some other dark, smooth piece of material, like a tshirt), pass the material vertically through the grass several times and then observe. If there are tiny (VERY tiny) moving specks of orange or red, those are chiggers, and it's time to quickly relocate to someplace else...otherwise, you'll be nursing chigger "bites" in short order!

Any other tips on locating and/or avoiding biting insects? Favorite insect repellents for adults vs. children? The primary tip I've always done with chiggers and ticks alike, though my downfall is I sometimes don't practice my own advice, is to be sure I wear long pants and tuck the pant legs into my socks, wear a long-sleeved shirt (tucked in), with a tight or adjustable wrist. Minimize the avenues the little suckers can use to access your tender skin, in other words. I also prefer Avon's "Skin So Soft" as a repellent, because high concentration DEET wrecks havoc to plastics and inks such as one finds on even high dollar digital cameras (thankfully, I learned that a long time ago with an old camera and cheap digital watch I owned.)

:ribbit:

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- Shannon Moore
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Alchemist2000

We have done a lot of off-trail hiking this spring, including in some areas where other people were reporting lots and lots of ticks and chiggers (e.g. LBJ grasslands in Fannin County along the Red River). We have had essentially no problems with these pests following our normal protocol, which is to pre-spray our boots, socks, and pants with permethrin. Now that it has gotten hot, we still spray our socks and boots, but have switched to Buzz-Off nylon hiking pants which are professionally impregnated with permethrin. The Buzz-Off pants are rather pricey, but save the hassle and extra chemical exposure of all of the spraying. Spraying, especially for something as absorbent as jeans, requires 2-4 hours of drying time and LOTS of permethrin spray, which itself is pretty expensive. We have been doing this for the last several years and have had very good results. The do-it-yourself spray reportedly lasts for two weeks or one washing (actually I think it lasts longer if you store the clothes in a dark plastic bag). The Buzz-Off supposedly lasts for a year or 25 washings.

Permethrin is somewhat different than DEET. DEET is an insect repellant (don't know the details, but have read it confuses the bugs so that they don't land on you and/or bite). Permethrin is an insecticide in the pyrethroid family of insecticides (similar to pyrethrins, which are extracts from crysanthemums or other such plants) that actually kills the bugs. It is only for your clothes. At least one site says that if you spray it on your skin, it will become inactive within 15 minutes or so.

I know some people don't like using insecticides. Like all such chemicals, I think it should be used with caution. I like the fact that it is only on our clothes rather than directly on us and that it is already dry when we are using it in the field (no threat to the gps or cameras). Although I did not go back and check, I believe permethrin is the same insecticide in some dog flea collars. Therefore I presume it is probably fairly safe around dogs. However, permethrin is supposedly dangerous in high concentrations for cats, therefore we are very cautious about when and where we spray (always outside and always away from the two feline members of our family).

dwalsdorf

I'm not into buying new pants to go camping/hiking, but I will drop the change on some Skin-so-Soft. Widely regarded in the SCUBA community as the number one defense against no-see-ums (biting flies).

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In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell...it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. :asleep:

Shannon

I've read a little about the permethrin-treated clothing -- the U.S. military has long been manually treating its combat utility uniforms with insecticide/repellents, and they're looking into pre-treating combat utility uniforms soon (if they're not already; the linked article is from September 2004).

I've never owned any pre-treated clothing, but I can certainly see its viability for deployed servicemen and women. Hunters and active outdoors enthusiasts in bug-prone areas have had access to this type of clothing for some time now, so it's about time the military got on board. It's got to be cheaper in the long haul than (as the article shows) trying to find conditions, space and manpower to manually treat numerous uniforms while on deployment.

I'm fairly certain Campmor, REI and Orvis, among others, sell some clothing pre-treated in this manner. I don't know how it compares in cost and overall durability to other specialized outdoor gear, but it's worth looking into for those out in bug-ridden conditions a lot. Reminds me of the clothing with sunscreen type properties built in to it -- lightweight, breathable and lightly colored, but woven in such a way as to greatly reduce sun exposure through the material.

So far, about the only specialized clothing I own for my outdoor excursions is a good pair of backpacking boots (Vasque Sundowners for Women; full grain leather, non-GoreTex treated since the leather's sufficient), a "new" (purchased after my knee surgery in February) pair of GoreTex trail running/day hiking shoes, and a good Gore-Tex rain jacket Justin bought me as an anniversary gift several years ago. I also have some old but still reliable silk undergarments for my base layer. Eventually, I'd like to get some zip-off leg hiking pants (adjustable to shorts, in other words) and, maybe, some Gore-Tex rain pants if I ever get to where I'm backpacking and might get caught out in a true rainstorm that'd soak me to the gills.

The cool thing about gear is there's no shortage of it and it's constantly evolving. But even the best gear is useless if one forgets to bring it along, or it's too heavy or cumbersome to carry often. I've done the old trash bag with arm and head holes cut out as a "rain jacket" in a pinch before, and other than sweating like a stuffed pig underneath it, it does the job in lieu of nothing else!

My next gear purchase isn't going to be clothing, however; it's going to have to be a CF (carbon fiber) tripod. Traditional tripods just weigh too darn much, even when lashed properly to a backpack.

__________________
- Shannon Moore
Your Host @ WildTexas.com

Purchases in the Wild Texas Gear Shop support our continued operation. Thank you!

Alchemist2000

Interesting article....thanks for the link! :cool:

Here you go!! Add this to your wish list. They are zip-off AND they kill the bugs.

Let us know what you get. That is what I got my husband for Christmas last year, but sadly it hasn't gone on many trips yet.