Permetherin - spray on clothes

imported
#1

Has anybody used it against tics etc? sprayed on clothes or tents etc.
do light colored clothes really help against bugs bite?
if I start on April 13th when should I expect their assault? bugs and\or tics

zammy

#2

light colors attracts tics

clong

clong

#3

light colors make them much easier to see, however, before they make it onto your body

pigpen

#4

This is some really nasty poison used primarily for ticks. I don’t think you should “expect their assault” at any time. Some ticks do show up at times, but being vigilant in body checks is the most effective means of preventing disease. I have used permethin in the most tick-infested woods imaginable. Still, I watched them climb up my pants (that had been sprayed) every time I stopped. Fortunately, the AT is not this infested.

  I believe permathin to be too strong for the AT. Coating yourself in that poison every day for the chance at getting one tick every week on average is not worth it in my book. If that stuff is on your socks and you step in the stream, then you just poisoned the stream with a highly toxic poison. Be aware of what's on your body is the best rememdy.

   However, for mosquitos, you either have to keep moving and sleep in a bugnet or headnet (this was only in New Jersey through Connecticut) or use some low percent Cutter or DEET. Bugs on the AT during the NOBO season are not a huge concern, not enough to warrant permetherin in my opinion. Prolonged exposure is NOT GOOD.

Tha Wookie

#5

Light colors are for tics to feed, dark for deer flies. Loose loose. I just wave my blue shirt in the air and it looks like that pelican scene from Nemo, minemine mine mine.
Keep yourself clean of mud, Zammy, and you’ll be able to pic the tics off. Uh, are you hairy? If you are consider removing it. It’ll snag tics like a vacuuum.

BW

#6

I hiked the Ozark Highlands Trail in June two years ago and have never seen ticks as bad as there. We would stop every hour to do a tick check. By the end of the day we would have picked off close to 100 ticks. We asked one of the locals what they used and he told us they rubbed SEVIN on their clothes. You think Permatherin is poison read the label on this stuff. I agree that you would be better off using diligence to do tick checks throughout the day.

Big B

#7

Don’t let the chicken little syndrome scare you off of using a permetherin based tick spray (not all chemicals are bad). If used according to the label it is effective in killing ticks before they embed their heads in your skin - however, it is not tick repellant, it kills the ticks as they crawl up your cloths. This also means that spraying your skin is useless as the chemicals does not have time to work before the ticks bite down to feed. If hiking in tick country, minimize skin exposure by wearing long pants, socks, and close-toed shoes. Having had several hundred tick larvae chewing on my ankles, I learned quickly that a bit of spray (It lasts several days when sprayed on pants), long pants, and boots kept most of the blood-suckers away (I also spray boots and socks).

However, if you are not in an area where ticks are endemic, use mechanical control (pick them off).

The CDC web pages on ticks and lyme disease has some pretty good information.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/

stumps

#8

you don’t put it on every day.One application lasts two weeks and will survive even the washing machine for that period of time.I hear what you are saying about getting it in the streams.I believe if you can not wash it out,it shouldn’t be a environmental threat from that standpoint.Since becoming violently ill summer before last with lymes disease,I use it on pack,gaitors,shorts etc.I’m still having periods of joint pain(primarily in fingers)almost two years later.I don’t think most people will do a diligent search for such a tiny critter at the end of the day under trail conditions.Don’t use on WP/breathable stuff,cause it will cause it to "wet out"which will not allow it to breathe.

Onlyone

#9

That’s right, I only used it once so i forgot you only need to apply it that infrequently. However, from that experience I learned that it is a big mistake not to do a manual check out of false confidence in the chemical. It is not a panacea.

Stumps also had a good point when he said not all chemicals are bad. Take, for instance, the chemicals that produce food for plants during photosynthesis, or the chemicals that react with light in our rods and cones on the retina that made vision possible. The trick is knowing which chemicals belong where -the bottle says on your clothes, but not on your skin, or in your (or someone else’s) drinking water.

Tha Wookie

#10

Hair removal is not a good idea before a hike. Hair wicks moisture away from the body and helps prevent chafing. Also, you’re not going to be able to keep a close shave on the trail and the hair will begin to grow back. It will grow out, curl back around and burrow into your skin. Not fun.

Ardsgaine

#11

I’ve read that taking daily a dose of B1 or B2 vitamine pills will cause your skin to repel tics, like that suggestion to eat garlic.
I remember being told to give it to small children against hair tics.

zammy

#12

Will Vaseline or some other goopy stuff “trap” ticks? Do they get stuck in the goop or is that not a solution?

Skylander

#13

I generally stay away from vasoline in the woods. That stuff can be very hard to clean. Sounds to messy and pore-clogging. Pull up your socks and manually check. Be aware when you go through tick-prone areas (like grassy areas or any vegetation that hits your legs).

Tha Wookie

#14

There is a technique that is used successfully of using a very diluted solution of the permetherin used for yard treatment. TGhis is what the USmilitary uses. You dilute it with water and soak your garments, tarps, etc. in it and it is supposed to last a year before needing reapplication. It doesn’t come out during washing, and doesn’t damaging the clothes. Is anybody out there familiar with this technique and would you know specific product name and dilution?

Razor