Underside DEET/Permethrin Spraying

**anarky321** · 04-21-2008, 21:37

can someone who's been spraying the underside of their hammocks with DEET/Permethrine/etc. tell me how effective it is on mosquitos and if they have noticed any heath/comfort effects

thanks

PS: how do you edit the thread title?

**headchange4u** · 04-21-2008, 21:52

This thread may be helpful:

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ght=Permethrin

**Skeeter** · 04-21-2008, 22:52

I'm a big believer in Permethrin. I once watched a large wood ant fall off a leaf onto my hammock netting that had been treated with Permethrin. In less than 30 seconds he started to tremor and stumble, and in a minute or so he fell off dead. I think it's great stuff.

**pure_mahem** · 04-21-2008, 23:05

Your gonna want to be careful with deet it will eat some of your gear.

**anarky321** · 04-22-2008, 07:09

there's something about inhaling all night a chemical that can kill an ant in 30 seconds that i just dont like

**catnip** · 04-22-2008, 07:55

Once the permethrin is dry, it doesn't smell. Stinks to high heaven while wet, though. Treat your stuff outdoors!

**anarky321** · 04-22-2008, 08:04

its not the smell that would bother me, its the long-term health effects, and something that can kill other life so efficiently almost HAS to have health effects on humans..negative ones

im pretty chemical-avoidant in general though maybe im overly phobic; i just had a bad run-in with breathing in Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner spray once and since then ...very cautious with chems

**Youngblood** · 04-22-2008, 08:30

Originally Posted by anarky321

its not the smell that would bother me, its the long-term health effects, and something that can kill other life so efficiently almost HAS to have health effects on humans..negative ones

im pretty chemical-avoidant in general though maybe im overly phobic; i just had a bad run-in with breathing in Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner spray once and since then ...very cautious with chems

I can symphatize with that. On my AT thru hike I started out using the small bottles of almost 100% DEET, jungle juice, and got to where I couldn't hardly stand it. If I use DEET, I like the time released lotion as it isn't as high concentration or just a weaker solution that I have to reapply more frequently.

DEET is for application on the skin and Permethrin is a contact insecticide used for treating clothing. You see Permethrin in dog shampoo, head lice products, insecticides, etc. It has been widely used for a long time. DEET and Permethrin are used as a tandem, one on exposed skin and the other on clothing. There is a new product for skin that became available in the USA a few years ago that is supposedly comparable to DEET in its effectiveness called Picaridin. I have some of the Picaridin but have never had the opportunity to test in the high mosquito concentrations that I sometimes found on my AT thru hike and I am very thankful that I haven't had that opportunity.

**CajunHiker** · 04-22-2008, 08:38

Where do you find this stuff? Brand names?

**Youngblood** · 04-22-2008, 09:03

Originally Posted by CajunHiker

Where do you find this stuff? Brand names?

Places that sell outdoor gear usually carry it during the appropriate seasons.

The Permethrin is usually diluted to 0.5% to spray on clothing. It's good for ticks and I'm not sure if DEET does much for ticks. With Permethrin you damping your clothes with it and let it dry BEFORE you wear them... an application of 0.5% Permethrin is suppose to last about 2 weeks. There are other higher concentrations used for longer term but I don't know about doing that. Might make sense where you didn't have access to reapplication or you were in areas where the mosquitoes carried really nasty stuff... that trade-off thing again.

Sawyer cells the Permethrin is spray bottles for clothing and they mention ticks and mosquitoes on the label. Some folks find it in garden supplies in a 2.5% concentration for spraying yards for mosquitoes and fleas and just dilute it to 0.5% in a spray bottle. I do that and use it around the house for insects as well. In the garden shops, several brands carry it with and without a mixer/hose attachment. When you spray the lawn, my guess is it is diluted to less that a 0.1%.

Cutter and OFF sell DEET based products and at least one of them sells the Picaridin.

There are other brands as well, those are just the ones I recall.