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I've recently gotten into backpacking and learned that the most effective way of dealing with mosquitoes and ticks in nature is Permetherin. https://en.wikipedi

I've recently gotten into backpacking and learned that the most effective way of dealing with mosquitoes and ticks in nature is Permetherin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin. It is intended for clothing and not the skin. The best way to apply it is to soak your clothes and let it dry. Spray on applicators are also available. Once it is dry, it is very stable and safe. It does breakdown with UV and washes, so it will need more applications. It is also available for sale and the pre-treated clothing does last through more washes. Note: Permetherin is harmful to cats when it is wet so if you have cats at home, please read up more on it. Once it is dry, it is safe around cats.

acheron 7y ago
Yes, this. Also from what I've read just applying it to your shoes is hugely effective on its own vs ticks, with socks adding another large percentage, as the majority of ticks will jump onto your feet and climb up your legs. The rest of your clothes are worth treating too certainly, but even if it's just your feet it will be a major help.
- kaycebasques 7y ago
  Never heard of Permetherin. Thanks for the tips.
- joyjoyjoy 7y ago
  "Also from what I've read just applying it to your shoes is hugely effective on its own vs ticks, with socks adding another large percentage, as the majority of ticks will jump onto your feet and climb up your legs." This is very interesting advise. I always thought ticks drop from trees? no? I actually wear a hat sometimes in the forrest because of this. Am I stupid?
  - kaycebasques 7y ago
    I’m surprised at this misconception about ticks falling from trees. Growing up in northern California, it seems to be common knowledge among my friends and family that tall grass is where you’ve got to be careful.
  - bryanlarsen 7y ago
    The tick causing the spike in Lyme disease, the deer tick, likes to hang out in grass. Other ticks behave differently; there's a horrifying story near the end of the article about a tick in Mexico hiding in stucco...
  - h2odragon 7y ago
    not stupid, they can. Usually they climb undergrowth and wait on a blade of grass or twig or something and grab on to something walking by. Inadvertently wandering through (or for a puppy sleeping in) a deer nest where there's hundreds or thousands of nymph ticks is a real life horror.
  - iamthepieman 7y ago
    ticks natural hosts are mice, deer, moose and other wildlife that lives in scrublands and mixed forests. This means optimally they will be on grass or scrub that is between mouse and moose height which, coincidentally lines up with human height. Ticks will hold on to leaves and grass with their back legs and hold their front legs outstretched. When a potential hosts passes by they will quickly climb aboard. Many ticks will climb aboard from low grass or even leaf litter which is why treating your shoes and socks works. However they can be on hanging branches or taller grass and shrubs which is why treating all your clothes with permethrin is a good idea. Ticks do not jump run hop or make any fast movements. They are slow crawlers and do not drop out of trees onto you. They do have a very sensitive organ called a Haller's organ[0] which is an olfactory organ that can also sense humidity, C02 and Temperature. Lyme's disease isn't the only thing you have to worry about getting from Ticks. They can also carry Tularemia fever, Powassan virus, Ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Ticks are resistant to cold weather but one of their primary hosts, mice, are not. So after a particularly cold winter there may be less ticks the following Summer. However, many people would say the Northeast U.S. had a long cold and snowy winter but the early and long lasting snow cover provided the mice and other subnivean zone animals with lots of cover and protection from the cold so this Summer is actually turning out to be a bad one for ticks (at least in the NE U.S.). In our household, we do thorough tick checks on everyone after a day spent outside or in the woods. This includes meticulously checking hair and armpits and a self-check around the groin. You can help your own property by cutting 1.5 inch PVC pipe into 3-5 inch sections and stuffing it with permethrin soaked cotton balls. Mice will use these to build nests and any ticks coming into contact with the mice will die on contact[1] Do not get Permethrin near any invertebrates or aquatic wildlife that you do not want to kill[2] Edit: product we use in our household which we buy at the local outdoor store but is also available online[3] [0]https://entomologytoday.org/2018/01/16/up-close-look-tiny-sensory-pits-ticks-use-smell/ https://entomologytoday.org/2018/01/16/up-close-look-tiny-se... [1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1941927 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1941927 [2]http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/metiram-propoxur/permethrin-ext.html http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/metiram-propox... [3]https://sawyer.com/products/permethrin-insect-repellent-treatment/ https://sawyer.com/products/permethrin-insect-repellent-trea...
  - learc83 7y ago
    Ticks do not drop from trees. They almost always climb up your legs. They are generally below waist height.
    - op00to 7y ago
      The other day a tick dropped from a tree onto my computer screen. I was sitting under the tree. Ticks drop from trees.
      - learc83 7y ago
        Trees and brush sure. And a tick can definitely climb a tree. But dropping down isn't the way they generally attach. They hold onto grass and low branches waiting for animals to brush past them. They don't really have a mechanism to alert them to the presence of animals walking below them fast enough for this to be practical for them.
    - foobiekr 7y ago
      I had at least twenty ticks as a kid, all on my scalp. I used to spend a lot of time in the woods. This was before Lyme had spread, though. I still remember sitting in class feeling my hair and feeling the back of a tick. So .. I think they must be on trees and bushes, I’ve never had one elsewhere.
      - learc83 7y ago
        Sure they're on bushes and grass and low trees and they climb up your body to your scalp. They don't drop down from trees onto your scalp.
  - davidjnelson 7y ago
    Ticks don’t seem to fall from trees when “questing”. Usually they are knee level or below [1]. But if they are on a tree branch and you bump it then it could climb on you. https://tickencounter.org/faq/tick_habitat#tickhabitat_question_02 https://tickencounter.org/faq/tick_habitat#tickhabitat_quest...
  - TheBlerch 7y ago
    Tall grass is where the tick action is at. Also sitting down in grass, especially when your ankles are exposed (when not tucking in pants legs into socks or not wearing gaiters)
- TheBlerch 7y ago
  I’m a longtime hiker and backpacker and in addition to treating your shoes, socks, pants, shirt and hat with permethrin, I highly recommend either a light summer weight gaiter treated with permethrin, or at the very least tucking your pants into your socks. Ticks primary (though not only path) is crawling up from your shoes or socks and crawling up your legs inside your pants. Also be sure when you treat your clothing to do so in the shade as UV will break down the wet permethrin so it’s not effective. Also let the saturated clothing dry in the shade. Do not spray near cats or aquatic life. For your exposed skin you can use Picaridin, which is much safer than DEET. DEET by the way will eat up clothing and gear it contacts. You can save $ on permethrin by buying a concentrated bottle and mixing with water in a spray bottle every time you need a new batch. Clothing treated correctly with permethrin at home is supposed to last about 6 washes / weeks.
UI_at_80x24 7y ago
Agreed 100% on Permethrin. Additional tips to make camping more fun: Put it on swatches of cloth, and suspend those around your tent/tarp entrance. Also put it near your head where you sleep to keep all the biting insects away from your face. Anecdote: I was camping with a buddy. Rain-storm happened. The protected area under his tarp with thick with mosquitoes trying to hide from the rain (there must have been thousands), I had none under my tarp. The only difference was a couple of cloth swatches of Permethrin under my tarp. Treating things like hats, or headbands does wonders too.
sp332 7y ago
If you want to kill ticks around your lawn without going nuclear and covering everything with permethrin (which kills most insects), try tick tubes. These are cardboard tubes filled with cotton that has been treated with permethrin. The mice which most often harbor lyme disease will take the cotton back to line their nests. This will kill just the insects that the mice carry, and hopefully bees etc won't take an interest in the tubes themselves. The tubes are a little pricey on Amazon but you can make your own with cotton balls and a bottle of permethrin.
- Tharkun 7y ago
  Or get some chickens and let them roam. They supposedly enjoy eating the little buggers.
pmoriarty 7y ago
Ticks can drop out of trees on your head, or attach to your hair when your head brushes past some leaves on a tree. Also, if your bare skin is not covered in insect repellent, that could also be a route that they get to the rest of your body. The most effective method of not getting bitten is not to go in to the woods at all.
- zaroth 7y ago
  > The most effective method of not getting bitten is not to go in to the woods at all. Better to just not go outside, right? Avoidance is not particularly useful advice, but effective long lasting protection that you don’t need to think about putting on is.
- perfmode 7y ago
  > The most effective method of not getting bitten is not to go in to the woods at all. your profile reads: He who lives without folly is not as wise as he thinks. -- Rouchefoucald
  - abledon 7y ago
    A funny saying I've heard is that "The difference between a smart person and a stupid one is the smart person knows he is full of stupidity".
  - conesus 7y ago
    Most advice we give is advice we want to give ourselves.
- stronglikedan 7y ago
  The most effective method of not getting hit by a falling plane is to remain underground.
  - digitalsushi 7y ago
    I think their point may have been that there is no adequate protection from ticks right now and that we urgently need to invent one. I am always at risk of a jet landing on my head, but at a far lesser extent than getting a tick going to my tomatoes. Getting Lyme sounds about 1/3 as bad as a jet to the head.
not_a_cop75 7y ago
Meh. The military pre-treats jackets with Permethrin so in general you can assume that small quantities of well diluted product on the skin are okay. Probably 2%, but do your reading and consult a doctor. That being said, there is much to be said for simply eating healthy in order to prevent certain bug bites. If you want really safe external repellant, you could probably go back to sulfur powder. It stinks like eggs, but it seems to work okay. Maybe that's why all the bigger campgrounds seem to have sulfur-water.
- mox1 7y ago
  Wait, are you saying that if I eat healthy a deer tick is less likely to give me lyme disease? Can you explain how that works?
  - Something1234 7y ago
    Old wives tale. Stinky hippies didn't seem to get sick or bitten up outside. They are a different diet. Therefore diet has an effect on bug bites.
  - DoreenMichele 7y ago
    Some people attract more bug bites than others. My general impression is that hormone levels and blood sugar both impact this outcome. To the degree that blood sugar can be moderated by diet, staying on top of blood sugar issues might be helpful. I don't know about ticks, but my military spouse had good results from eating a match head once a day to discourage chiggers when he was in the field in Georgia. He later replaced this policy with taking garlic supplements. I bought his supplements. He specifically asked for the smelly garlic pills, not the ones that advertise low odor. From what I gather, his co-workers were insanely jealous of his general lack of miserable bug bites in spite of laying in the same grass as them. He was very introverted and closed mouth. Unlike me, he was entirely disinclined to helpfully blather on about such things to people unlikely to believe him. He was probably wiser than me in some sense. I would likely get a lot less flak if I didn't remark on such things myself, kept it to myself and privately gloated.
sytelus 7y ago
Any link for actual product that one can buy?
- iamthepieman 7y ago
  We use this[0]. Buy it in the biggest container available and use it to treat an entire set of clothing that we use as our hiking clothing. A hat of any sort, well treated with permethrin will also keep mosquitoes and other annoying insects away from you while hiking or enjoying the outdoors (Source is extensive personal experience in a tick dense area in the Northeast U.S.) [0]https://sawyer.com/products/permethrin-insect-repellent-treatment/ https://sawyer.com/products/permethrin-insect-repellent-trea...
davidgh 7y ago
Permethrin in retail outdoor stores can be a bit expensive. In the US, stores that sell military surplus often carry the permethrin kits that are issued to soldiers and they are usually much cheaper and contain enough to cover several clothing items.
- jcampbell1 7y ago
  $20 of cow spray from Amazon provides many lifetimes supply of permetherin.
opwieurposiu 7y ago
Note that Permethrin is extremely toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates. Do not wash anything treated with permethrin in a stream or lake. A big problem in Africa is people using Permethrin treated mosquito nets as fishing nets. This kills off a lot of fish.
- SECProto 7y ago
  Pyrethroids are also, apparently[1], not effectively treated in standard wastewater treatment facilities. [1] from a source cited here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrethroid#Biodegration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrethroid#Biodegration
- sizzle 7y ago
  What about humans? Is it carcinogenic?
gregcrv 7y ago
I thought Picaridin (or Icaridin) was the leading alternative to DEET? Anybody knows how it compares to Permetherin? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icaridin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icaridin
- BarkMore 7y ago
  Permethrin is an insecticide that's applied to clothing, tents, packs, etc. It's effective for a month or so depending on exposure to UV and number of washes. Picaridin is a repellent that's a applied in lotion or spray form. Use both for best protection.
- Chazprime 7y ago
  Picaridin is generally about as effective as DEET as a mosquito and tick repellant, but without the nasty odor and greasy feeling on the skin. DEET has a tendency to damage synthetic clothing such as spandex and rayon, and at higher concentrations can actually melt plastic and paint. Even lower concentrations can mess up your sunglasses.
- TheBlerch 7y ago
  Use permethrin for clothing and shoes and picaridin for exposed skin. Both should be used always.
jwatt 7y ago
Wirecutter has a great article about the alternative repellents and their evaluation: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-bug-repellent/ https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-bug-repellent/

acheron 7y ago

Yes, this. Also from what I've read just applying it to your shoes is hugely effective on its own vs ticks, with socks adding another large percentage, as the majority of ticks will jump onto your feet and climb up your legs. The rest of your clothes are worth treating too certainly, but even if it's just your feet it will be a major help.

kaycebasques 7y ago
Never heard of Permetherin. Thanks for the tips.
joyjoyjoy 7y ago
"Also from what I've read just applying it to your shoes is hugely effective on its own vs ticks, with socks adding another large percentage, as the majority of ticks will jump onto your feet and climb up your legs." This is very interesting advise. I always thought ticks drop from trees? no? I actually wear a hat sometimes in the forrest because of this. Am I stupid?
- kaycebasques 7y ago
  I’m surprised at this misconception about ticks falling from trees. Growing up in northern California, it seems to be common knowledge among my friends and family that tall grass is where you’ve got to be careful.
- bryanlarsen 7y ago
  The tick causing the spike in Lyme disease, the deer tick, likes to hang out in grass. Other ticks behave differently; there's a horrifying story near the end of the article about a tick in Mexico hiding in stucco...
- h2odragon 7y ago
  not stupid, they can. Usually they climb undergrowth and wait on a blade of grass or twig or something and grab on to something walking by. Inadvertently wandering through (or for a puppy sleeping in) a deer nest where there's hundreds or thousands of nymph ticks is a real life horror.
- iamthepieman 7y ago
  ticks natural hosts are mice, deer, moose and other wildlife that lives in scrublands and mixed forests. This means optimally they will be on grass or scrub that is between mouse and moose height which, coincidentally lines up with human height. Ticks will hold on to leaves and grass with their back legs and hold their front legs outstretched. When a potential hosts passes by they will quickly climb aboard. Many ticks will climb aboard from low grass or even leaf litter which is why treating your shoes and socks works. However they can be on hanging branches or taller grass and shrubs which is why treating all your clothes with permethrin is a good idea. Ticks do not jump run hop or make any fast movements. They are slow crawlers and do not drop out of trees onto you. They do have a very sensitive organ called a Haller's organ[0] which is an olfactory organ that can also sense humidity, C02 and Temperature. Lyme's disease isn't the only thing you have to worry about getting from Ticks. They can also carry Tularemia fever, Powassan virus, Ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Ticks are resistant to cold weather but one of their primary hosts, mice, are not. So after a particularly cold winter there may be less ticks the following Summer. However, many people would say the Northeast U.S. had a long cold and snowy winter but the early and long lasting snow cover provided the mice and other subnivean zone animals with lots of cover and protection from the cold so this Summer is actually turning out to be a bad one for ticks (at least in the NE U.S.). In our household, we do thorough tick checks on everyone after a day spent outside or in the woods. This includes meticulously checking hair and armpits and a self-check around the groin. You can help your own property by cutting 1.5 inch PVC pipe into 3-5 inch sections and stuffing it with permethrin soaked cotton balls. Mice will use these to build nests and any ticks coming into contact with the mice will die on contact[1] Do not get Permethrin near any invertebrates or aquatic wildlife that you do not want to kill[2] Edit: product we use in our household which we buy at the local outdoor store but is also available online[3] [0]https://entomologytoday.org/2018/01/16/up-close-look-tiny-sensory-pits-ticks-use-smell/ https://entomologytoday.org/2018/01/16/up-close-look-tiny-se... [1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1941927 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1941927 [2]http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/metiram-propoxur/permethrin-ext.html http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/metiram-propox... [3]https://sawyer.com/products/permethrin-insect-repellent-treatment/ https://sawyer.com/products/permethrin-insect-repellent-trea...
- learc83 7y ago
  Ticks do not drop from trees. They almost always climb up your legs. They are generally below waist height.
  - op00to 7y ago
    The other day a tick dropped from a tree onto my computer screen. I was sitting under the tree. Ticks drop from trees.
    - learc83 7y ago
      Trees and brush sure. And a tick can definitely climb a tree. But dropping down isn't the way they generally attach. They hold onto grass and low branches waiting for animals to brush past them. They don't really have a mechanism to alert them to the presence of animals walking below them fast enough for this to be practical for them.
  - foobiekr 7y ago
    I had at least twenty ticks as a kid, all on my scalp. I used to spend a lot of time in the woods. This was before Lyme had spread, though. I still remember sitting in class feeling my hair and feeling the back of a tick. So .. I think they must be on trees and bushes, I’ve never had one elsewhere.
    - learc83 7y ago
      Sure they're on bushes and grass and low trees and they climb up your body to your scalp. They don't drop down from trees onto your scalp.
- davidjnelson 7y ago
  Ticks don’t seem to fall from trees when “questing”. Usually they are knee level or below [1]. But if they are on a tree branch and you bump it then it could climb on you. https://tickencounter.org/faq/tick_habitat#tickhabitat_question_02 https://tickencounter.org/faq/tick_habitat#tickhabitat_quest...
- TheBlerch 7y ago
  Tall grass is where the tick action is at. Also sitting down in grass, especially when your ankles are exposed (when not tucking in pants legs into socks or not wearing gaiters)
TheBlerch 7y ago
I’m a longtime hiker and backpacker and in addition to treating your shoes, socks, pants, shirt and hat with permethrin, I highly recommend either a light summer weight gaiter treated with permethrin, or at the very least tucking your pants into your socks. Ticks primary (though not only path) is crawling up from your shoes or socks and crawling up your legs inside your pants. Also be sure when you treat your clothing to do so in the shade as UV will break down the wet permethrin so it’s not effective. Also let the saturated clothing dry in the shade. Do not spray near cats or aquatic life. For your exposed skin you can use Picaridin, which is much safer than DEET. DEET by the way will eat up clothing and gear it contacts. You can save $ on permethrin by buying a concentrated bottle and mixing with water in a spray bottle every time you need a new batch. Clothing treated correctly with permethrin at home is supposed to last about 6 washes / weeks.

UI_at_80x24 7y ago

Agreed 100% on Permethrin. Additional tips to make camping more fun: Put it on swatches of cloth, and suspend those around your tent/tarp entrance. Also put it near your head where you sleep to keep all the biting insects away from your face. Anecdote: I was camping with a buddy. Rain-storm happened. The protected area under his tarp with thick with mosquitoes trying to hide from the rain (there must have been thousands), I had none under my tarp. The only difference was a couple of cloth swatches of Permethrin under my tarp. Treating things like hats, or headbands does wonders too.

sp332 7y ago

If you want to kill ticks around your lawn without going nuclear and covering everything with permethrin (which kills most insects), try tick tubes. These are cardboard tubes filled with cotton that has been treated with permethrin. The mice which most often harbor lyme disease will take the cotton back to line their nests. This will kill just the insects that the mice carry, and hopefully bees etc won't take an interest in the tubes themselves. The tubes are a little pricey on Amazon but you can make your own with cotton balls and a bottle of permethrin.

Tharkun 7y ago
Or get some chickens and let them roam. They supposedly enjoy eating the little buggers.

pmoriarty 7y ago

Ticks can drop out of trees on your head, or attach to your hair when your head brushes past some leaves on a tree. Also, if your bare skin is not covered in insect repellent, that could also be a route that they get to the rest of your body. The most effective method of not getting bitten is not to go in to the woods at all.

zaroth 7y ago
> The most effective method of not getting bitten is not to go in to the woods at all. Better to just not go outside, right? Avoidance is not particularly useful advice, but effective long lasting protection that you don’t need to think about putting on is.
perfmode 7y ago
> The most effective method of not getting bitten is not to go in to the woods at all. your profile reads: He who lives without folly is not as wise as he thinks. -- Rouchefoucald
- abledon 7y ago
  A funny saying I've heard is that "The difference between a smart person and a stupid one is the smart person knows he is full of stupidity".
- conesus 7y ago
  Most advice we give is advice we want to give ourselves.
stronglikedan 7y ago
The most effective method of not getting hit by a falling plane is to remain underground.
- digitalsushi 7y ago
  I think their point may have been that there is no adequate protection from ticks right now and that we urgently need to invent one. I am always at risk of a jet landing on my head, but at a far lesser extent than getting a tick going to my tomatoes. Getting Lyme sounds about 1/3 as bad as a jet to the head.

not_a_cop75 7y ago

Meh. The military pre-treats jackets with Permethrin so in general you can assume that small quantities of well diluted product on the skin are okay. Probably 2%, but do your reading and consult a doctor. That being said, there is much to be said for simply eating healthy in order to prevent certain bug bites. If you want really safe external repellant, you could probably go back to sulfur powder. It stinks like eggs, but it seems to work okay. Maybe that's why all the bigger campgrounds seem to have sulfur-water.

mox1 7y ago
Wait, are you saying that if I eat healthy a deer tick is less likely to give me lyme disease? Can you explain how that works?
- Something1234 7y ago
  Old wives tale. Stinky hippies didn't seem to get sick or bitten up outside. They are a different diet. Therefore diet has an effect on bug bites.
- DoreenMichele 7y ago
  Some people attract more bug bites than others. My general impression is that hormone levels and blood sugar both impact this outcome. To the degree that blood sugar can be moderated by diet, staying on top of blood sugar issues might be helpful. I don't know about ticks, but my military spouse had good results from eating a match head once a day to discourage chiggers when he was in the field in Georgia. He later replaced this policy with taking garlic supplements. I bought his supplements. He specifically asked for the smelly garlic pills, not the ones that advertise low odor. From what I gather, his co-workers were insanely jealous of his general lack of miserable bug bites in spite of laying in the same grass as them. He was very introverted and closed mouth. Unlike me, he was entirely disinclined to helpfully blather on about such things to people unlikely to believe him. He was probably wiser than me in some sense. I would likely get a lot less flak if I didn't remark on such things myself, kept it to myself and privately gloated.

sytelus 7y ago

Any link for actual product that one can buy?

iamthepieman 7y ago
We use this[0]. Buy it in the biggest container available and use it to treat an entire set of clothing that we use as our hiking clothing. A hat of any sort, well treated with permethrin will also keep mosquitoes and other annoying insects away from you while hiking or enjoying the outdoors (Source is extensive personal experience in a tick dense area in the Northeast U.S.) [0]https://sawyer.com/products/permethrin-insect-repellent-treatment/ https://sawyer.com/products/permethrin-insect-repellent-trea...

davidgh 7y ago

Permethrin in retail outdoor stores can be a bit expensive. In the US, stores that sell military surplus often carry the permethrin kits that are issued to soldiers and they are usually much cheaper and contain enough to cover several clothing items.

jcampbell1 7y ago
$20 of cow spray from Amazon provides many lifetimes supply of permetherin.

opwieurposiu 7y ago

Note that Permethrin is extremely toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates. Do not wash anything treated with permethrin in a stream or lake. A big problem in Africa is people using Permethrin treated mosquito nets as fishing nets. This kills off a lot of fish.

SECProto 7y ago
Pyrethroids are also, apparently[1], not effectively treated in standard wastewater treatment facilities. [1] from a source cited here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrethroid#Biodegration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrethroid#Biodegration
sizzle 7y ago
What about humans? Is it carcinogenic?

gregcrv 7y ago

I thought Picaridin (or Icaridin) was the leading alternative to DEET? Anybody knows how it compares to Permetherin? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icaridin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icaridin

BarkMore 7y ago
Permethrin is an insecticide that's applied to clothing, tents, packs, etc. It's effective for a month or so depending on exposure to UV and number of washes. Picaridin is a repellent that's a applied in lotion or spray form. Use both for best protection.
Chazprime 7y ago
Picaridin is generally about as effective as DEET as a mosquito and tick repellant, but without the nasty odor and greasy feeling on the skin. DEET has a tendency to damage synthetic clothing such as spandex and rayon, and at higher concentrations can actually melt plastic and paint. Even lower concentrations can mess up your sunglasses.
TheBlerch 7y ago
Use permethrin for clothing and shoes and picaridin for exposed skin. Both should be used always.

jwatt 7y ago

Wirecutter has a great article about the alternative repellents and their evaluation: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-bug-repellent/ https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-bug-repellent/