DEET and cameras

[steve jh]

I'm taking a trip around Kenya this coming June/July. I'm wondering if anyone

had experience in Deet alternatives for Mosi repellent as I know that it reacts

with plastics (e.g. camera film, bodies and lenses).

 

I came across a couple of forum articles from a while back regarding Deet, but

I'm wondering if there are any newer alternatives that photodotnetters use. I'm

taking a couple of canon T90's so hopefully a bit resilient to chemicals. What

are your experiences? Would 20% Deet cream on the hand 'melt' a camera?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Steve

[matt_mccarthy3]

I've used some of the cream-based DEET repellent, and never noticed any damage to my

gear. However, I only used it a few times, as I found out the nasty ticks in the Ocala National

Forest seem to be undeterred by it. I went back to a squirt/spray formula ( Ben's ). No

damage seems to have occured at all. You could try smearing it on a old tag sale plastic

camera to test it, I suppose.

[jlineen]

I've used sprays very high deet concentrations, and my gear didn't suffer, but I was very careful to wash my hands after using it.

[babette_ross]

i coated my hat and clothes pretty throughly for hiking thru the rainforest in costa rica, i had no problems with my gear

[karl_lehmann]

Don't even think about not using DEET, it's not worth the risk of malaria (I've had it 3 times, once in Kenya)! That goes for any other silly ideas like not taking antimalarials or not sleeping under a net too... anything that reduces your potential exposure is worth doing.

 

If you've just applied DEET just wipe your palms on your clothing (assuming it's not synthetic) or let them dry before handling plastics or changing film. 20% DEET isn't that corrosive anyway, and the worst it will do to the outside of a camera is leave cosmetic damage like permanent fingerprints.

[neal_shields]

What Karl said.

 

Much of what you can get will kill you or make you wish it had.

 

I don't know about Kenya but the S. Pacific has "black water feaver". It is a type of malaira that goes to the brain. When your water gets black you have a very short time to live.

 

We were on a boat one year where the captian didn't believe in taking malaira pills and discouraged his crew from taking them. We just nodded in agreement and took ours anyway. Two of his crew caught malaira on that very voyage.

[yellowwoodguiding]

Steve,

 

I have seen what Deet can do to optics first hand, it eats through coatings and plastics like cartoon acid. You can be very careful and use a non-spray or find an Alternative.

 

I use a non-deet product called Cutter Advanced which works as well if not better than deet for me. I lived and worked on a dude ranch in Colorado that was surrounded by flood irrigation, hence tons of blood suckers. The Cutter Advanced worked great. I would suggest reapplying every 2-3 hours just like deet as its effectiveness will wear off quickly.

 

You may also want to check the European Market where for the most part deet is illegal.

[walang_pangalan]

<i>it eats through coatings and plastics like cartoon acid</i>

 

<p>Good grief. It is true that DEET attacks some plastics. But the coatings on modern camera lenses are not going to be bothered by the stuff.

[jlineen]

I think DEET is still available in Europe. Go for a strong formulation- there's one called 'Jungle Formula' which I'm sure was 90% or so. The local parasite in Kenya is plasmodium falciparum, the nasty one ( and with areas of drug resistance), so I'd sooner risk DEET induced camera damage than go without.

[steve jh]

Thanks for your comments + notes on your experiences.

 

Karl, Neal and James, Thanks for the heads up. I intend to use a DEET product (alongside a prophylactic and permethrin-treated clothing)- it does sound like its still the most effective product on the market.

 

Thanks

 

Steve

[Two23]

Deet is still the best. I've also begun spraying my pants and mesh jacket with permethrin spray. This stuff kills any bug that tries to land or crawl on you. It goes on clothes only, not skin. It's the only thing I know that works on ticks--ticks are bothered by Deet. You can get the permethrin spray in a copper & blue colored can at Walmart sporting goods dept. I would use both deet on exposed skin and the permethrin spray on clothes. The spray also cuts down chiggers! Good stuff. Your BugOff clothing is treated with this spray, BTW.

 

 

Kent in SD

[Two23]

Should have written, "Ticks are NOT bothered by Deet." They don't have the receptors for it like mosquitos do.

 

 

Kent

[frank_dzambic]

DEET will most certainly eat through a modern plastic camera. No doubt about it. I had a camera a few years ago that had my fingerprint etched into the shutter release button. I also still have a lens cap with the texture of my camera bag interior forever etched into it as well. I found out the hard way the DEET will eat through plastics.

 

Unfortunately I don't know of any alternatives to DEET, and if the risk is malaria or melted camera gear I'd go with the melted camera gear. With that said, at least try to make sure you wipe the DEET completely off your palms as well as you can after applying it, and if you have it all over your face, try to remember not to have your face pressed up against the back of the camera while you're using it. If you've sprayed it on your clothes I don't think it will cause any damage if your camera is in contact with your shirt while swinging from a shoulder strap though, but I'm not offering any guarantees either. I don't think your clothes get saturated enough with it to cause any immediate bad effects, though possibly over a long period of time and repeated contact it might start to fade the plastic a bit.

[Mike D]

Last June in Yosemite the mosquitoes were having a great year. While I didn't damage my camera, I sprayed some some 100% DEET on my pants (synthetic material?) and did a fair amount of damage. I immediately changed to a 30% product and didn't have any problem.

[stemked]

I had a lens partly melt thanks to Deet. If you must use it be careful.

[j._scott_schrader]

Deet and Permethrin are a great combination. Kent knows what he is talking

about! I use 100% deet on all exposed skin (except palms of my hands) and

use the Permethrin on my clothing. It keeps me comfortable in mosquito/

insect infested places and no traces of any damage to cameras. I don't doubt

that some have experienced damage to cameras and lenses....but, that has

certainly not been my experience. I have been using the Deet for many years,

and the same cameras for many years.

[kferris575]

DEET/permathin combo is a must (as noted by several people above). Also, DEET can be found in roll on applicators. This allows you to apply it in specific areas without getting it on the palm side of your hands. This will help minimize how much may contact your camera gear.

[jeff_hostetler]

I have heard countless bow hunters talk up a product called ThermaCELL. If you have ever been spring bear hunting, you get to know mosquitos and biting black flies on a first name basis. I do not know what is in the product but these guys swear by it. You can buy it at Walmart but here is a link to Cabelas: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/pod-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20712-cat20136_TGP&rid=&indexId=cat20136&navAction=push&masterpathid=&navCount=1&parentType=index&parentId=cat20136&id=0019305

 

good luck

jeff

[john_macpherson]

I have had a plastic camera case melted to runny goo by a leaking bottle of DEET - make no mistakes Palang - it does melt stuff.

 

Many people swear by Avon Skin-so-Soft cream, which some of our forestry agencies issue to staff in buggy areas. Works really well apparently, does no damage to plastics so far as I know, and as a huge bonus keeps those nasty nasty wrinkles at bay!

[larry h.]

I just got an email that sounds plausible, but could also be an urban myth. It said that Bounce Anti-Static Dryer sheets will repel mosquitos and ants. Does anyone know if this is really true?

[walang_pangalan]

<i>I have had a plastic camera case melted to runny goo by a leaking bottle of DEET - make no mistakes Palang - it does melt stuff.</i>

 

<p>I said that it will attack some plastics. Countless citations can be offered for this, as well as my direct testimony. What I said it will not attack are lens coatings. If you have evidence that it does, please present it.

 

<p>As for the Bounce Anti-Static Dryer Sheet: <a href="http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/bounce.asp">nonsense</a>.

[larry h.]

I suspected that about Bounce: mostly myth. If it was true, we would have heard about it long before now. The webpage you linked to did say something about Orange Clean getting rid of ants... ;-)