[pct-l] Mosquitos

[t.n. turner]

So I've seen here in this thread lots of folks saying that DEET is a last resort for many reasons. It isn't a resort at all for me as I, too, have a severe reaction to it when I apply it to my skin and a lesser one in sinus headache, when I apply it to my clothes or smell it on others. The headache is almost as bad as I get with some of the perfumes I get a whiff of from day hikers and tourists in towns (I get them in my regular life too). 

Regardless of all this, my concern continues to be; do any of the people who wear DEET, or even sunblock, do you wash it off before you put your hands/body in the water sources?? I asked that of a group of boy scouts that were foul with DEET and sunblock, and their 'leader' smiled ruefully at them and said "See? I'm not the only one." (or words to that effect) So, do you? do you even remember that you've put something on your hands and body that might harm the water source and hence the little creatures, frogs, water bugs, fish?? 

Okay, sorry but that has bugged me for years!!! And just in case someone is going to ask me, yes I do remember, I wash each night and if I'm going to use sunblock, I try to get my water before the need of sunblock has arisen, if not, I clean my hands, away from the water source, then get the water. Yep, pretty much a weird human about this one. I also only used sunblock in SoCal last year for the first week or so and the first few days this year in NoCal! (I know I can still get skin cancer, but. . .)

Have a great Monday all!! Thanks for letting me vent on DEET and water sources!
tammy t.



> From: beemancron at hotmail.com
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Date: Sun, 5 Oct 2008 21:58:11 -0700
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Mosquitos
> 
> 
> Piper writes:
> 
> "Anyway, for general mosquito protection, long pants and sleeves and a 
> head net work wonders. I didn't have any particular brand of any of 
> these items. I was amazed at how few people had head nets. I would be 
> hiking along in my head net and boy scouts, paragons of 
> unpreparedness for actual conditions, would be slapping their necks 
> and eyeing me with envy."
> 
>  On my 14 day Section H (JMT) trip in July,  the mosquitos were out in swarms in a number of locations. Being a beekeeper, I must admit that swarms of mosquitos are nothing like honeybees in their defensive mode!   I pretended that the mosquitos were just like bees, only smaller, and with a different sound. The more time you spend on the trail, the more you become accustomed to them. 
> 
> I agree with Piper's suggestion of using a mosquito proof tent, wearing non-chemical clothing and a head net.  I love my Simblissity head net. 
>  
> http://www.simblissity.net/
> 
> It is lightweight, and compacts to nothing.  Best feature: it does not obscure one’s vision like a number of other head nets I saw on the trail. 
> 
> I wore it over a Sunday Afternoon Adventure hat. 
> 
> http://www.sundayafternoons.com/?id=324838616988&c=Men's_Hats 
> 
> The broad brim of this hat provided a nice voluminous mosquito-free zone around my head. 
> 
> Bottom line, IMO, DEET is very toxic to human skin, and believe that we are promoting DEET-resistant mosquitos with our constant use. Tread carefully.
> 
> The Beeman
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