Treating WBBB with bug spray

[trouthunter]

Well - maybe what you need to do depends a lot on where, or when, you go.

I don't really feel like I have much of a choice in treating my gear & clothing.
I have always been the one to get eaten alive with bugs, and there's plenty of them where I live, on the coast.
Even if my shelter keeps the bugs from biting me, my shelter gets covered in bugs, flies, ticks, snails, spiders, you name it. All the noise is annoying, plus it just creates a big mess after a few days.

Permethrin keeps them away, I get more sleep, no bug mess, and I might avoid a disease or secondary infection.

Hey, it's just a personal choice, I can see both sides of the issue.

[cjayflo]

If you do choose a brand besides Sawyer try to get one that is NOT petroleum based. The non petroleum ones stink less.

[Tnoutback]

I have found Picaridin to be a very effective alternative to DEET, won't harm fabric, and can be applied to skin. The chemical has been used world-wide to repel mosquitoes and ticks since the 1980s, but only approved in the US since 2005. Permethrin is certainly effective, but not meant for skin contact.

[Likeapuma]

I have a double layer, so I'm not worried about getting bitten....but the NOISE mosquitos make at night!!! Would permethrin just kill them once touching the hammock? Or would it keep them away so I don't have to hear the buzzing?

#hammockproblems lol

[gunner76]

petroleum based.

The petroleum based will leave a smell that takes about a week to dissipate. The smell is not bad or good but noticeable.

Our vet stopped selling Permethrin based tick and flea meds for dogs some years back because cat owners were using it on their cats even after being told not too.

[FJRpilot]

I have a double layer, so I'm not worried about getting bitten....but the NOISE mosquitos make at night!!! Would permethrin just kill them once touching the hammock? Or would it keep them away so I don't have to hear the buzzing?

#hammockproblems lol

One word... "Earplugs"...

[Likeapuma]

One word... "Earplugs"...

I always bring them, but can't bring myself to use them... Hoping IF something were to come creeping through the night, I could hear it. Hearing coyotes yipping to each other is pretty awesome (& hair raising) as well!

[hanginyaker]

I'll bite! PUN

DDT was "safe" when my dad was a kid.

Permethrin is safe now.

I think with a pad/UQ and mosquito net you can skip soaking a hammock in chemicals and eliminate any "oh I didn't know's" later on.

Ageed

[dammfast]

I have found a permethrin option from bonide it is meant to be a luggage treatment for bed bugs. Same concentration as sawyers less than half the cost. I got a gallon last fall when garden stuff was clearanced out for $12. I was skeptical about it the first year I used it and only treated one set of clothes so I could compare its effectiveness. From that day forward ALL my gear gets soaked twice a summer. I think it works, I know my buddy who will only use the "all natural" had a rough trip last year.

[ADKGuy]

I have found a permethrin option from bonide it is meant to be a luggage treatment for bed bugs. Same concentration as sawyers less than half the cost. I got a gallon last fall when garden stuff was clearanced out for $12. I was skeptical about it the first year I used it and only treated one set of clothes so I could compare its effectiveness. From that day forward ALL my gear gets soaked twice a summer. I think it works, I know my buddy who will only use the "all natural" had a rough trip last year.

You got a link? I'm normally very anti chemical but the ticks and mosquitoes in my area have exploded. My dog got Lyme Disease and I can't be in my yard after sunset or I get eaten alive, so now I'm almost to the point of wanting DDT back again!