Permethrin... Is it as good as they say?

**Wise Old Owl** · 04-30-2012, 21:16

Thanks for the replies - some of that I knew Oh-no - I am in Pest Control. - Thanks Shnick.

**fin** · 04-30-2012, 21:45

Yes.

**Hawk-eye** · 04-30-2012, 22:19

Originally Posted by fin

Yes.

What he said!

**JaxHiker** · 05-01-2012, 09:44

Hiking through Ocala Natl Forest in 2008 I was pemethrinized and my buddy wasn't. He ended up with beet red feet/ankles from countless chigger bites. I walked away clean as a whistle. I also saw a dramatic decrease in skeeter bites. The Monkees got it right...i'm a believer.

**Rain Man** · 05-01-2012, 10:05

Originally Posted by Wise Old Owl

Deep Woods Off is 14% or slightly better and is full of a repellant... 100% is not a dramatic improvement...

I agree. Have read of studies showing any DEET concentration above 33% provides no real increase in protection. So, I don't really understand slathering anything above 33% onto one's skin. No good can come of it, only bad.

Rain Man

.

**Buffalo Skipper** · 05-01-2012, 10:22

Deet will destroy plastics, nylon, etc, or pretty much everything we make our hammocks out of. If you slather with deet, you should make a concerted effort to remove it from you before getting into you hammock. It is primarily for this reason that I no longer use deet based repellents.

FWIW, I am a fan of Permethrin. I am soon to treat my new hammock, but in my old hammock in Florida, I have never been bitten by a mosquito since I first treated it with Permethrin.

**Cannibal** · 05-01-2012, 10:31

Originally Posted by pizza

I'd be surprised that a tick would die in seconds coming into contact with permethrin.

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I have not watched insects die on it...

I've seen it first-hand. While on the Florida Trail one evening, I was sitting on a log eating dinner. Looked down and noticed a tick crawling up my boot. He got to the ankle before falling off dead. The treatment was a couple of weeks old and I think it was the first time I had tried it. First or second time, whatever; it made a believer out of me.

I treat just about everything except my tarp and have been since that night on the Florida Trail. My cat "Abby" lived to be 21 and "Stinky", the current cat, is pushing 19 years old. Both were regularly exposed to dry gear that had been treated. So, I trust the stuff around cats so long as the material is dry.

I do not go to the woods without my gear Peremthrin treated. I spend, pretty easily, 50+ days a year in the woods. Haven't found a tick on me yet.

**beep** · 05-01-2012, 11:46

Yes! It's as good as they say!

(from Minnesota tick and mosquito country)

**Shewie** · 05-01-2012, 11:54

I'm a big fan of permethrin, the Scottish countryside is riddled with ticks, especially in deer country.

Trousers and hammock get sprayed, if I'm on the deck then all of my bedding including the bivvy gets the treatment.

**Troy64** · 05-01-2012, 11:57

Permethrin is great stuff. I have one excellent story on its effectiveness.

A buddy and I were walking to a bowhunting spot. We had to cross a grassy field that had grass about knee to waist high. When we reached the woods on the other side he stopped and started slapping his pants. He had dozens of ticks on him.

I had recently treated my clothing with Permethrin, and we could not find a single tick on me. I walked directly behind him the whole way, so the Permethrin definitely helped.

It really does work wonders.