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Protection from biting insects.

Protection from biting insects.

Postby Red Langford » Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:16 pm

I hate mosquitos. I mean really really hate them. But I don't wear bug dope. Haven't for years and years.
DEET is an insecticide that was shown to be harmful to humans, then somehow found to be not quite so harmful. Really? I think I'll pass.
I used to use this all natural stuff we bought from a small store in Cloyne, Ontario during one of camping trips at Bon Echo. Worked great! Made with coconut oil, lemon grass and other cool natural things. Loved it until somebody pointed out that it must smell great to a hungry bear. :shock: Okay maybe not a good idea to be slathering that onto your body while sleeping in a tent in Bear country.
So now what? I have lived for the past 5 years in Northern Ontario. Way north. Just about as far north as you can go by car, yet still don't wear bug dope. Here's my strategy.

First, the best protection is a physical barrier. Other than running around in a bubble what can you do? Long pants, long sleeve shirts, wool socks. The wool socks may sound crazy but there is a couple of things I like about them. First, they actually help keep my feet dry in hot weather, they breath and I find them way more comfortable that a pair of sports socks. The second thing is the thicker material makes it very difficult for a mosquitos proboscis(the thing they stick into you to suck your blood) to reach your skin. As I understand it, the proboscis can only bend one way so if it has to snake around the thick wool fibers it simply can't reach your skin. Shirts and pants should be of a lightweight material with a tight weave. The tighter the weave the more difficult it is for biting insects to penetrate. No I don't go running around bundled up like it is winter, but carefully choosing your clothing for the outdoors, like the great products from The Original Bug Shirt Compnay in Trout Creek, Ontario, you can still be cool, comfortable and protected - not to mention stylish.

Second thing I do is go scent free. You know it, that as soon as you wash your hair with the honey egg strawberry aloe lilac extra body all in one super shampoo, those mosquitos come calling. I use unscented soap and shampoo in the shower and am cautious about when I use deodorant, and as far as I know I don't have a BO problem. We also make our own laundry soap using pure soap flakes, borax and washing soda, besides being scent free it cost about 10% of what the regular laundry soap costs.

I stop eating bananas in the summer. There is something in the bananas that attract the mosquito. You are what you eat and why eat an attractant? In the same token I eat plenty of citrus. I have a glass of Ruby Red Grapefruit juice every morning and try to eat an orange every day. If you notice, many insect repellants are citrus based.

I still get my fair share of bites, but I never ever found a bug repellant that ever worked 100% either. When I do get a bite there are several solutions on the market to deal with them. Benedryl makes a spray on applicator. Usually a quick squirt of that takes the itch away forever. There is the old favourite After Bite which I never found very effective and I have tried another ointment based solution that has worked moderately.

Like I mentioned, I HATE mosquitos and one thing I know for sure is that not every solution works for everybody, but this has been my strategy for some time now and it works enough to keep me enjoying the outdoors all summer long.
Red Langford
 
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