Headnet Nausea

[Philip Werner]

I'm planning to hike the Long trail in Vermont this year. I hear the bugs are murder and a headnet is advised, but headnets make me hurl. I just get incredibly disoriented and woozy when I have to look through fine mesh. Does anyone else suffer from this and are there any remedies for it? Or should I just slather 100% deet on.

Philip

[Mark Verber]

No, that's not typical. There are three systems which give you a sense of balance. You can typically compromise one of them without any issues. The headnet is messing with your visual system, the other two should be able to compensate. If they aren't, there is a chance something isn't quite right. If you have noticed issues with hearing (ringing in your ears, extra sounds, balance problems), then I would suggest getting an audiologist to check you out. Otherwise, it would be able to talk with your primary care doctor.

On the gear side of things, not all headnets are created equal. You might to see if there are some netting which bothers you less, and see if the headnet design changes your reaction. I have been pretty happy with the OR deluxe headnet because the metal bands keep the netting stretched out which helps minimize the impact to my vision.

–Mark

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

I can understand where he is coming from though-I cannot wear headnets either. Part of my issue is I have periodic bouts of vertigo migraines, and certain things can trigger migraines (normal ones). Laying in bed looking at a ceiling fan is murder for my eyes, and I'd rather get bit than wear a headnet! I'll even add that I don't wear hoods on my jackets, I can get disoriented if I cannot hear clearly.

One of my hiking partners, dani, suffers bad migraines-hers can be caused just by looking at hardwood flooring and light flickering-or worse, driving in fog in daytime.

Thing is there really isn't much you can do for things that set you off, besides avoiding them. (Unless you have maybe an ear infection, those can cause balance issues.)

On the Dr note, most regular Dr's are useless for diagnosis! I eventually had to see a neurologist this fall and have a couple MRI's before I finally got a diagnosis. This took me a long time, with bad diagnosis in between.

honestly? Just take the bugs.

[jim bailey]

Hi Sarah,
I hope you will be OK. Black flies usually drive me off the trail up here in NE during June, can relate since I cant stand the thought of hiking with a headnet. Best wishes on that one and again, hope you will be OK.
Jim

[Dondo .]

Phillip, I also despise headnets, though I don't get physically sick from them. Breathing through them makes me feel like Darth Vader. That said, I always bring one during bug season. For me, it's a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils. The headnets available on this site might be a good choice for you since they are made from a looser mesh. They are, however, fragile and very expensive.

If you can arrange your schedule to do the Long Trail later in the season, say early September, you'll probably do better with the bugs.

By the way, I'm a former New Englander so I know what you mean about the bugs.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Thanks Jim. As long as I exercise daily and eat a whole foods diet I do pretty good! (And hey, I should be doing it anyways!)

Out here, the skeeters are awful in June/July. You get chewed alive in the boggy alpine meadows. September is the prime hiking month! It is cooler, no snow, no bugs, lots of berries and no crowds ;-)

[Aaron Sorensen]

Hey Philip,
You may be able to try one thing.
You can pick up viel material that weighs next to nothing.

If you get the white your eyes may not focus on it so much to become a problem. The one I made weighs 0.1 ounces.

You could also wear clear glasses with the Headnet cut around and glued to the glasses edges.

[Michael Martin]

>> You could also wear clear glasses with the Headnet cut around and glued to the glasses edges.

Oh baby, that's worth 100 style points right there!
That just might be the perfect accessory for my beloved, but oft maligned Nunatak balaclava. :-)

-Mike

[Aaron Sorensen]

Sometimes ugly gets the job done.

[john flanagan]

Have you considered treating shirt collar, sun hat, and bandana tied round the neck with permethrin? I used it last June for the first time and it seemed to make a big difference.

http://www.permethrin-repellent.com/

The blackflies can make you crazy… I'd say that the combination of Sarah's "take it" advice and better living thru chemistry (applied judiciously to clothing) could work but it depends on your own reaction to the toxin in blackfly bites – people react differently. I spent years guiding in Maine using the "tough it out" approach of just letting 'em bite and found that after a couple of weeks I wasn't much bothered by the bites. It was a tough couple of weeks though and temepered by the fact that I was in the woods all summer – so my vacation wasn't wrecked.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I'd recommend trying an elastic cord (from a fabric shop) tied so it rides on your forehead. This should stabilize the net so It doesn't move near your eyes and cause vertigo. Use a small cordlock at the back of your head for a comfortable and fast adjustment.

If you wear glasses do the same plus sew the ends of another elastic cord just below where your eyeglasses hinge meets the net W/ the upper cord already in place. Use a cordlock for this cord as well.

By stabiliziong the netting around your eyes you will likely avoid problems.

If this fails try netting with a KNIT fabric rather than woven. Maybe it's the effect of a type of weave that bothers you as well as net movement.

[paul johnson]

What seems to work well for me is to simply FOCUS on something out beyond the headnet and NOT alter my gaze to look AT the headnet.

I do something similar when its lightly raining and the water drops are beading up on the Rain-X treated windscreen of my automobile. Before the drops coalesce and move off, or the rain gets heavier, it's like looking through the screen on a window. It drives my wife crazy that i can see through it. Again, the key is to focus on something out beyond the drops which causes me to tend to ignore the drops.

Most people do something similar when driving at night. They need to train themselves NOT to gaze into the lights of the oncoming vehicles. Most experienced drivers have probably trained themselves to do this.

Perhaps a similar training period is required with the headnet?

[Philip Werner]

Thanks all for the good ideas. A couple of responses.

I'd rather not delay the hike to September because of vacation scheduling issues with my wife, plus I want to go earlier for my mental health.

I've has similar vertigo feelings with different colored mesh, but I haven't experimented with different mesh shapes. That's somethig to try.

I do wear glasses, so I have been giving some thought to adding a plastic window to a head net that I can look through to reduce my vomitorious impulses. I'll probably try this with the OR headnet that comes with the hat ring. Anchoring the headnet to eliminate movement also sounds promising, in combination.

Permethion (sp?) is definitely up on my list of things to try – I've used this quite sucessfully to ward off real black flies in Africa. I just got some bug off convertible long pants from ex-officio (10.4 oz) which I plan to use, but dipping my head gear in it is definitely an idea too…

I'll keep you posted. Thanks again!

-Philip

[Jaiden .]

the spelling is PERMETHRIN
(not to be a spelling nazi, it just helps when searching!)

I don't know the validity of any of the following:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin
http://www.safe2use.com/poisons-pesticides/pesticides/permethrin/cox-report/cox.htm

[John Carter]

I'm not sure if I have an answer to the vertigo, but I have found a fabric that breathes much better than traditional noseeum mesh.

I've used an Adventure 16 headnet and an Outdoor Reserarch Deluxe Spring headnet. The Adventure 16 headnet used realitively thick nylon, so it was hard to breathe out of and see out of. The Outdoor Research headnet was visually better, but still a bit stuffy.

So I purchased some nanoseeum mesh from http://www.thru-hiker.com and made my own headnet. What a difference! I feel like i can breathe twice as easily through the nanoseeum than the other fabrics. It is also easier to see through.

So you may want to try some of this and see if the thinner nylon thread helps with vertigo as well. I'm not sure if the BPL headnets sold here use nanoseeum, but I imagine it would be a comparable mesh if you didn't want to sew your own.

[paul johnson]

w/o actually holding the "thru-hiker" nanoseeum mesh in my hand, i can't be sure, but i have the BPL headnets. like night & day cp. to my other headnets. the BPL is much easier to see & breathe through & also result in less fogging up of my glasses.

[Brett .]

"vomitorious" is truly the Word-Of-The-Day; excellent. Seriously though, I have found the brain to me remarkably adaptable to change. I suggest anyone with vertigo or vomitorious-ness wear the net of their choice all day, every day (when lack of other constraints permit such wearage), until the vomitorious-ness subsides; or the tester concludes the test.

In my own experience operating heavy machinery with monochromatic tunnel vision (i.e. NVGs), the brain will eventually adapt and learn to rely more on proprioceptive and vestibular cues than on visual ones, and vertigo will subside. It takes time certainly, and you should 'work' the brain in a wide range of activities (none potentially hazardous in this case of course)

Google "proprioceptive training" for more info.

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