[pct-l] DEET

[mgeis at yahoo.com (Matt Geis)]

I have to agree with Yogi on the whole DEET thing.  I
laughed when I heard at VVR in 2002 that Stroller had
a panic attack at one point (they were getting into
his jacket via open pit zips).  That was, until I
nearly had my own panic attack.  I ended up almost
running down the trail in frustration for about 100
yards.

I found that a little DEET goes a long way.  I used
bug pants (same material as the headnet).  There is a
longsleeve shirt you can get, but I just used my rain
jacket to cover up that part.  The bug pants were
AWESOME.  I think that in my whole thruhike, I may
have used a few teaspoons of DEET (just trace amounts
of 100% DEET streaked, not covering, the exposed
areas).

In 2002, there was also a bit of a hippychick, who in
a smug effort to distinguish herself from the crowd,
proclaimed her ability to just "commune" with the
mosquitos, based on the fact that she was from Alaska,
and therefore she knew mosquitos (in her defense, I'm
repeating something I heard from Tangent, who heard it
from her, but knowing the person who made the claim,
it doesn't surprise me).

Short story made shorter, she nearly went insane once
she realized that the mosquitos were not interested in
communing.  :)

Iron Chef

ps.  I now harbor a near pathological hatred for
mosquitos, thanks to my hike.

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