bug juice

Mud, but not from the ditch outside the Deet factory……

Nope. Doesn't exist. If it's smells that bother you, permethrin is your best bet because it's odorless once dried on your clothes. At the very least, this would allow you to use less DEET. You could also try picaridin as a direct alternative to DEET. It's just as much of a chemical as DEET, but its smell may bother you less.

DEET, picaridin, and permethrin may have small hazards, but they are very small. In most areas, the hazards of mosquito- and tick-borne illnesses are significantly higher. Our fear of chemicals is typically stronger than warranted.

Bug net clothing is your best bet. As long as your regular clothes are breathable and thin enough, then wearing bug netting over same is comfortable. Downside is that it can catch on sharp or pointed things.

I've used karanja oil as the base mixed with a whole assortment of essential oils with decent success for mosquitoes at least (didn't seem to work so well for black flies in June in the White Mountains of NH), but i can't say how toxic or non toxic the combo is. However, EO's seem to vaporize fairly fast, so they lose their effectiveness fairly fast, hence you need to reapply fairly often which is a PITA, which is why i switched to bug net clothing. In AK, during a truly horrendous mosquito season, i was the envy of most with my baggy bug netting pants over shorts, bug net for head over hat, long sleeve shirt just barely tightly woven enough to keep mozzies out (well most of the time), but still very breathable.

I'm very much worried about DEET, and refuse to put it on my skin, based on things I've read about possible reactions to it, including psychosis. Not worth it, to me.

I have tried Picaridin and it seems to work. Not as effective as DEET but seems to be an effective deterrent. I still limit my skin exposure to it.

Most of the time I block mosquitoes with my clothing. I wear long pants, long sleeves, gloves, a ball cap and a head net. I do use permethrin on my clothing, as my understanding is once it dries its safe for contact. I'm very careful when I apply it to ensure it doesn't get on me, and that I don't breathe it.

I have no real concerns about DEET, but have dabbled with DEET-free spray marketed for climbers(don't want DEET on your ropes), and the lemon-eucalyptus stuff, anyway. They work ok, but they aren't DEET.
Netting is hot, wouldn't last a day around here with rough terrain and trails typically lined, if not overgrown, with low-hanging brush.
Permethrin for the clothes, long sleeves, long pants, and a S2S headnet over a brimmed hat or cap for when the gnats are really bad are about as good a way as I've found to keep the bugs off, and I rarely get bitten at all in spite of being in the Deep South. I often wear lightweight gaiters, too, and usually only use the DEET on my neck and wrists.
Wore shorts mountain biking this morning, and got my first tick of the year. Hate those things!

I am far more concerned about slathering liquid chemicals, including DEET, on my porous skin than using Permethrin treated clothes. Permethrin has been studied extensively and used extensively by the military services and others for many years. If it has harmful effects, they're neither obvious nor widespread. So my recommendation is that if the Permethrin fumes scare you, buy a mask or buy pre-treated clothing. Whatever small risks there might be appear to be quite a bit smaller than those of Lyme's disease and other tick-borne pathogens. That's my theory, anyway.

Like Dena, I rely primarily on long sleeve shirt, long pants and, in my case, usually a hat and bandana worn "Foreign Legion" style.

Most experts agree that DEET is very effective and safe if used as directed. Just about anything is risky in certain circumstances, of course, and people should use their best judgement.

CDC: "Using insect repellents containing DEET should not be harmful if label directions are followed and the product is used safely."
http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/toolkit/DEET.pdf

EPA: "The Agency has just completed an interim review of DEET under the Registration Review Program to ensure that it continues to meet safety standards based on current scientific knowledge. The Agency has not identified any risks of concern to human health"
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/chemicals/deet.htm

Environmental Working Group: "…among the four repellent chemicals EWG found to be top picks is DEET, which is widely used but much maligned. DEET's safety profile is better than many people assume."
http://www.ewg.org/research/ewgs-guide-bug-repellents

I have used a couple that are quite effective. The actual studies I've read comparing some of the more common "natural" repellents showed that most of them are not effective, like citronella, Skin So Soft, etc., but a few stood out.

After DEET melted the plastic lens cap on my camera years ago,I decided to look for alternatives. I am the poster child for mosquito bites, and the designated mosquito magnet on any trip – untreated,I can be covered in welts when nobody else is getting bit, so I need something that works. I do use woven nylon shirts and pants for most of my body, but still need something for my exposed skin.

The first one I used, many years back, is called Bite Blocker – it worked for me in the Sierra and on an Alaskan trip towards the end of mosquito season, so I could see that there were still plenty of them around but I didn't get many bites. Then I read the study results, which rated Bite Blocker second among the non-DEET ones tested, and rated 30% lemon oil of eucalyptus higher, on a par with lower concentrations of DEET. I switched to that and found it worked quite well for me. More recently I read about studies with a newer product called Bio UD, which actually worked longer between applications than DEET, so I picked up some of that but last year on my trips there were no bugs to speak of. I'm expecting it to work well based on what I'm've read, though.

Hope this helps.

Thanks dk,
I'll try those
billy

if the DEET melted your lens cap, maybe the solution is to put the DEET bottle in a plastic bag.

I melted something, then started putting my DEET bottle in a zip top freezer bag and haven't had problem sense.

DEET does have strong chemical smell, but if I use it outdoors I don't really notice it

Some people may be sensitive to it so shouldn't use it, but most people are okay

If it's more effective and others, and you get fewer bug bites, that will probably make you healthier over-all than not using DEET and getting more bug bites

It's easy to hear reports of DEET being unhealthful, and then over weight that and under weight the risk of bug bites

Since the other stuff works for me, it doesn't seem worth it going through the hassle of handling DEET…and I suspect that I would still end up getting it where I didn't want it. This is just me, and I'm not saying nobody should use it – just that for me it's kind of like using a backhoe where a trowel will do the job.

If I ever go to Alaska in the height of mosquito season, I'd probably bring some DEET as a backup, though!