I would say the best thing for ticks is outright prevention. tuck trousers into socks, shirts into trousers etc, cinch up shirt cuffs and don't scrabble around on the ground too much. Take at least one tick tool and please please ignore all the old wives tales about putting petrol on them, using a lighter to get them off, all that is total nonsense and can be dangerous since the last thing you want is the tick to basically vomit up all its contents into your bloodstream. So use the correct removal tool and DO NOT under any circumstances use tweezers. There is a high risk you break the body from the legs and leave the legs in your skin. If that happens they're a devil to get out and the longer you leave it the more chance of infection there is.

Permethrin is fine for gear, but wont help you personally if you spend a lot of time on the ground or you're scrabbling about in brush, ferns, small trees. The neck is a vulnerable point too so if yo're in thick brush or bracken etc, cinch up your collar too.