[pct-l] DEET & fabrics

[mardav@xxxxxxxxxxx (Marion Davison)]

>From my own experience, high content DEET (such as Jungle Juice) will cloud=
 the plastic crystal of a watch and act as a solvent on the handles of my t=
rekking poles (thrift store ski poles) softening the handles and coating my=
 hands with black goo.
I use a lower content DEET such as Off or Repel in a pump spray bottle (reg=
ardless of what Tom Reynolds says, because I am allergic to aerosol propell=
ant) and spray it only on the backs of my hands, on the back of my neck, an=
d on the brim of my cotton hat.  Long sleeve silk shirt and baggy long nylo=
n pants are essentials to me to keep bugs and sun off and reduce chances of=
 getting torn up by brush or contracting poison oak.  A headnet is also ess=
ential.
Mosquitoes are bad in the Sierras during June and July but are nearly nonex=
istent in August.  All the thru hikers are long gone by then but the High S=
ierra is paradise on earth in August.

Michelle Parks wrote:

> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> Hi all, I'm new to the list here.  Planning a little section hike around =
the Yosemite area (although the more I read here the more exciting a thru h=
ike sounds!).  I have a question for some of you who might know from experi=
ence.  I seem to remember back in college during forestry "camp" in the UP =
of Michigan using quite a bit of DEET and at one point witnessed it remove =
permanent marker from a plastic bottle.  I'm wondering what it might do to =
all the high tech sorts of fabrics we use like that on waterproof jackets, =
wicking T-shirts, etc.  They're a little too expensive to ruin, so I'd sure=
 like to know how safe I am spraying it on or near the fabric.
>
> Also wondering if anybody else has seen or used -- I don't remember what =
the actual brand is or what the device is actually called -- but we call it=
 our little "clicker".  Ok, don't laugh because I'm being serious here.  It=
's a little yellow plastic case about an inch long with a black push button=
 on the top and inside it is what I assume to be a tiny capacitor.  You pla=
ce one end on a mosquito bite and press the button and it gives you a small=
 shock (you need to do around 5-10 for it to be effective and it doesn't hu=
rt unless you get it right on a tendon or bone, then it's just uncomfortabl=
e.)  If done soon after a bite it gets rid of the itching and swelling.  We=
 laughed too when we saw it hanging with the mosquito relief creams at Walm=
art, but figured what the heck and bought one for $3.  It seriously works. =
 We came back from our trip through the Bechler region of Yellowstone and w=
anted to buy ten more of them, but couldn't find them anywhere.  Ours was f=
rom the Walmart in
> Riverton, WY.  If you ever see one get it, you may think I sound kooky no=
w, but it was a life saver for us!  ...and it weighs probably about a quart=
er of an ounce.
>
> Michelle
> _______________________________________________
> PCT-L mailing list
> PCT-L@mailman.backcountry.net
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l