A Recommendation for a Deet Free Repellent Product for Nature Photographers

[stemked]

<p>First let me say, that I have no connection to this product, just offering some words of experience. I have been looking for products to get away from deet mostly because, as nature photographers know,deet seriously damages camera equipment. There was a very good piece in Consumer Reports last month about new Deet free products that are as good as deet, namely products with 20% picaridia (they recommend products that ALSO have picaridia combined with Lemon Grass oil in them but I couldn't find one). The product I bought, Natrapel works VERY WELL. I was out in wet woods full of mosquitoes and sprayed my legs, arms, face etc, I did NOT spray my back (I had a pack on, but it was a good control). The result? My unsprayed back was full of Chigger bites, I had no mosquito or chigger bites anywhere else on my body and picked up no ticks (I was hiking for 7 hours). The product even smells good. I did find I had to reapply it more than I would with Deet, maybe after 3 hours (it was 90F and very humid out). I used it in Maine with similar effective results. I cannot say that a couple of trips in the woods is a good scientific study, but I will keep using the product and keeping my equipment safe! If anyone else has other products please feel free to chime in.<br /><br>

<br />(I believed this topic was especially relevant for Nature Photographers, hence why I posted here, but if Laura feels it should be moved maybe over to Casual photo Topics).<br /><br>

<br>

Cheers,<br /><br>

<br>

Doug<br /></p>

[Laura Weishaupt]

<p>Doug,<br>

I'm not a forum mod and really have no power or authority. :-)<br>

I've read many times here on pnet about the damaging effects of deet on photo gear. It's always good to hear about alternatives. I do feel your pain from the chiggers. I'm really glad we don't have to deal with them here. Where did you get the Natrapel? </p>

[stephen t]

<p>Laura, several drugstores and Target carry it. DEET is extremely effective, BUT can and will damage some plastics.</p>

<p>Lyme disease is nasty, and for anyone going into the outdoors, I recommend treating your clothes with a Permethrin spray. It is nontoxic to humans and in it's dried form is deadly to insects. Spray the inside of your pants and let them dry. The Permethrin will survive a few washings. Google it - much to learn - it's very available and can easily be found at feed and seed and outdoor stores. You can buy the concentrate and dilute it yourself, or buy it ready to use.</p>

<p>THEN, after treating your pants, and your socks and shoes/boots, of course, spray DEET on your legs or pants and everywhere that is exposed that will not be in contact with plastics. Use the non-DEET repellent on your back, face, arms, and hands. I go one extra step and dust my boots, socks, and lower leg pants with Sevin dust that I keep in an old sock in a coffee can. </p>

<p>One might say that is a lot of trouble for just piddling in the woods for while, but if you ever know anyone that has contracted Lyme disease from a deer tick or West Nile from a mosquito, you will change your mind. Naughty things do indeed happen to nice people. All the time! Don't be scared, just be prepared.</p>

[stemked]

<p>I learned about Deet's effect the hard way, a 'former' 400mm f5.6 APO Sigma lens, rest in peace, was my initiation.</p>

<p>It does seem Netrapel is becoming widely ditributed I think I got mine at REI, but it seems like its more generally around and Amazon always carries it as well. there are a lot of other Deet-free products out as well, pure Lemon Grass oils and other plant oils, but they didn't seem to be evaluated as highly. A lot of people fear Deet on kids too, so it's ice to think there are other alternatives.</p>

<p>No pain from Chiggers, just itchy and some red welts. Benadryl topical solutions as well as Caladryl work on the itch. It's now three days in and most of the itching is gone. Blame my immune system, not the mite!</p>

<p>I agree with Stephen on Permethrin and I treated my clothes and students clothes when we went to Costa Rica. We have some Lymes in Indiana, but it is still rare. If I lived in the NE or Wisconsin/E. Minnesota though Idon't think I'd enter the woods with out treating my clothes first.</p>

 

[vilk_inc]

<p>In the 20 years of my backcountry adventures, I have never seen anything approaching, let alone matching DEET in effectiveness. Most of the "natural" repellents are just fragrant and enticing condiment for bear food--you. My advice: learn how to use DEET safely; the way it works, you don't have to spray it on skin--just make sure you put it on cotton, not on anything with plastic in it. Oily spots and discolouration are battle scars, wear them proudly and boast of <em>your</em> 20 years our there... ;)<br>

Of course, the above will only make sense to you if you don't buy thousand-dollar hi-tech titanium-spork-and-whistle-built-in swimming trunks in fashionable colours for every hike.<br>

And finally, I have not used DEET in a long while. If viable, long sleeves and a wide brim hat with a mesh do a great job without the smell and the damage. My last-before-ban bottle of 100% Ben's is still half-full. Do you scratch yourself for a couple of days? Sure, but it's their world, not yours--that's why you go there, no?<br>

PS. Contrary to tabloid opinion, ticks don't just rain from blue skies. Think. The brain is still our primary adaptive mechanism and our best defense.</p>

[Laura Weishaupt]

<p>Doug, glad to hear that you're not suffering terribly from chiggers. My bouts with them were aweful. That lens was a tough lesson. ouch.<br>

I've always been a believer in waging full scale chemical warfare against bugs when I'm in the woods and as such appreciate hearing about the weapons available. It's not something that I really look into because I'm happy with my current routine. Despite best efforts, my husband has had Lymes twice. The really bad situation was when our, then 4 year old, contracted Colorado Tick Fever. That's a wicked ailment. Took the poor child a month to want to play with his fisher price camera.<br>

I've managed to keep my gear clean. I'd worry more about the plastic zippers on my pant legs. </p>

[Two23]

<p>I bought Naturpel 20% Picardin (in skinny dark green areosol) in the sporting goods dept. at Walmart. It does seem to work.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>I lived in NY State a prime zone for Lyme and now in NJ another bad area. My dog almost died from tick borne diseases. I've had antibiotic shots to prevent the formation of Lyme disease. (I had the tick checked afterwards and it was infected.) I began using Permethrin impregnated clothes (pants, short, socks) off the shelf. But these no longer seem to be available. They worked. I never saw a tick while wearing them. Using the canned Permethrin spray is excellent advice. I understand there are new diseases from ticks that kill and are not cured with antibiotics. Frankly, ticks have ruined my hiking. I get pretty paranoiac since the episodes I had. I'm glad that those above who had family infected have been healed as it can prove intractable if you delay treatment too long.</p>

<p>A couple of suggestions beside the spray. Carry a tick remover in your case. Wear light colored clothing. Ticks are dark and you can see them easier. Although it looks dorky, tuck the bottoms of your pants into your socks and tuck your shirt into you pants. This prevents them from getting passed the clothes barrier. Check often. Have you buddy check your back areas where you can't see.. When you get home, take a shower. Check in personal areas. Ticks like warm spots in groins, behind ears, etc. Have your "buddy" shower with you, well your spouse, so they can check where you can't. This is probably the best excuse for taking showers together and is the only thing that puts a positive light on the whole tick problem.</p>

[vivid_earth_photographics]

As for deet, I offer this. THe 30 percent solutions are as effective as 100 percent. They just don't last as long. If you

aren't going to be out more Han a couple hours, or if you don't mind reapplying it, use the 30 percent. It is far less greasy

and nasty to the skin.

[johnfarrar]

<p>In the UK, there's a product called Smidge which may not be quite as effective as DEET but does a fair job against the dread midge and is far, far pleasanter to use and doesn't dissolve cameras, watchstraps, etc....</p>

[dcstep]

<p>Another vote for Permethrin on your clothes. I saw a demonstration where they put a tick on a boot that had been sprayed with Deet and hour before and the tick seem unimpressed. Next, they showed a tick put on a boot that had been sprayed with Permethrin a month before and the tick immediately rolled off the boot. I put Permethrin on my boots, pant legs and hat.</p>

[kerry_grim]

Thanks for sharing this information.

[scott_murphy5]

<p>I have always used Deep Woods Off!, which is deet free and it works like a champ and I live in NW FL, where the bugs are unrelenting!</p>

[noreen]

<p>All of the Deep Woods Off! products (which I usually use and find quite effective even against Maine's notorious mosquitoes) are 25% DEET:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.off.com/en-us/products/pages/off-deep-woods.aspx#off-deep-woods-insect-repellent-v">http://www.off.com/en-us/products/pages/off-deep-woods.aspx#off-deep-woods-insect-repellent-v</a></p>

<p> </p>

[stephen t]

<p>If you want to save a bundle on permethrin, buy a bottle of 10% at a garden store, dilute it with 19 parts of water, and you have the 0.5% solution that is sold commercially. Works dandy.</p>