[pct-l] Deet

[wpsnotebook at charter.net (Richard Woods)]

I completed a maritime survival course in Alaska (I Survived in '85).
One topic was insect repellent.
One fact I'm sure of is that the effectiveness of Deet-based  
repellents coincides with the percentage of deet in them. In Alaska,  
where mosquitos should have fuselage numbers, the only truly  
effective repellant is 100% deet. From personal experience, don't  
bother with cans, creams, sprays, with anything less than 100% deet.  
Typically comes in a four-ounce bottle. Yes, this is the stuff that  
dissolves plastic, and has a really nasty odor. However it does last  
and is also effective against ticks, and, to lesser extent, deer and  
black flies if I remember correctly. As I'm sure you all know, it has  
to be used carefully, and has some significant downsides. Also the  
usual disclaimer applies: what works for me might not work for you  
and verse-vice-a.

Last summer, my very unscientific personal comparison test of two  
types of repellents ended voluntarily by the end of the first day on  
the trail. I compared the effectiveness, for me, in the local  
conditions, and at that level of exertion for me, of 100% deet and  
Cutter Advanced (Picaridin) lotion. First I tried this new Picaridin- 
based lotion. Seemed to be effective for about an hour, except that  
it came off wherever I was sweating/chafing. However, by the end of  
the day, I was moving faster than I wanted to, just to stay ahead of  
the clouds of mosquitos in pursuit of my warm, sweaty, CO2-producing  
carcass. They caught up with me just in time for dinner, and I  
relented and slapped on some 100% deet so I could finish dinner and  
retreat into my tent. I gave away the Picaridin lotion to a SoBo  
section hiker who had forgotten his at home. A little protection is  
better than nothing.


On Feb 7, 2006, at 11:29 PM, pct-l-request@mailman.backcountry.net  
wrote:

> I'd like to know what type of Deet of special formula they were  
> using in the
> "Grizzly Man" film.  The bush pilot never even flinched, but I was  
> swatting
> them away in my living room!  Maybe that's what drove Treadwell mad.