is polartec power dry mosquito bite proof?

[Sean P]

Title says it all…. I am heading off to Peru in June and my favoured hiking shirt for mixed cool to warm days is a collared long sleeve polartec power dry top.  There are mosquitoes on the trail and apparently malaria in the country so I wish to avoid being bitten.

I could take a nylon woven shirt instead but don’t find them particularly comfortable to hike in.

Any experience with power dry? it isn’t particularly thin and I don’t recall being bitten through it before but then don’t tend to walk in mosquito heavy regions.

[Brad Rogers]

I guess it depends on the weight somewhat, but no Polartec Power Dry is NOT mosquito proof.  The space in between the grid is very thin and thus easy to bite through.  If you are able to wear one that might be thick enough to keep them from biting through (R1?) it would be too cold for them anyways.

[Brad Rogers]

There is a Malaria vaccine if you are so inclined.

I would wear long pants and a tight woven nylon shirt treated with permethrin and use DEET when needed (though DEET isn’t without it’s own concerns)

 

 

 

[Sean P]

Cheers.   Clammy nylon shirt it is….

[Paul S.]

You could take a breathable shirt treated with permethrin but it’s safer to have a bite-proof barrier in addition.

Some shirts are more breathable than others.  I’ve found the Patagonia Sun Stretch to be fairly breathable and bite proof in light bug pressure.  I haven’t tested it in heavy pressure, but I would treat it in permethrin if I was expecting to as an extra layer of protection.  Malaria vaccine sounds good, too.

[Matt Dirksen]

“You could take a breathable shirt treated with permethrin but it’s safer to have a bite-proof barrier in addition.”

+1 to that.

For the past 5 years, I’ve been treating a few pairs of OR Echo shirts before the bug season, as well as numerous other clothing items for the wife & kids.

I’ve certainly never gotten bit, but I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a mosquito even attempt to land on the shirts once they’ve been treated.

[Valerie E]

If you’re going to the high Andes, you won’t be in the Malaria region at all.  We did the Huayhuash Circuit last May and never saw a mosquito.  We both wore nylon hiking shirts, because that’s what we prefer to hike in.  [If you find your nylon shirt clammy, check the label, maybe it’s polyester — nylon is not particularly clammy, but poly IS, because it’s hydrophobic.]

And BTW, there is currently (2018) no vaccine for Malaria — you have to take pills (malaria prophylaxis – a couple of choices are available). The prophylaxis, when taken correctly and faithfully, are highly effective, but you won’t need that unless you’re also going to spend time in the jungle areas.

[Sean P]

Thanks Valerie,

I did subsequently check the CDC website and although I am on the edge of the Malaria and Yellow Fever zone I am unlikely to be at that low an altititude.

I will use a nylon shirt, I think, and consider a permethrin treatment before i leave + DEET on exposed areas if it is buggy.

Valerie is quite correct- no effective vaccine exists for malaria.  I have doxycycline prophylaxis if i need it.

Thanks all for the advice.

[Alex Wallace]

If you’d like a more durable permethrin treatment, check out the “Insect Shield Your Own Clothing” service.

“Now you can get your own favorite clothing treated. Just like other Insect Shield apparel, the repellency added to your clothes is invisible, odorless, EPA-registered and lasts through 70 washings.”

[Sean P]

Thanks Alex – I have sourced some permethrin wash locally.  (I am in Australia).  Still tossing up whether i will take a woven shirt or polyester knit – either way I will soak both.

 

[Ross Bleakney]

> treated with permethrin and use DEET when needed (though DEET isn’t without it’s own concerns)

There are concerns about permethrin as well (it is a neurotoxin). I’m not saying that I wouldn’t choose DEET or permethrin over the chance of catching malaria; I’m just saying that permethrin is probably not benign. To quote from the Wikipedia article “Permethrin …  is classified by the EPA as a likely human carcinogen“.

 

[Matthew / BPL]

Sean, I’ve had good experiences with a Patagonia Sun Stretch shirt in the Sierras with heavy mosquitos. I find the fabric to be many orders of magnitude more comfortable than the REI Sahara shirt I used to hike in. The Patagonia shirt is softer and breathes well, particularly with the chest vent/pockets wide open.

[Valerie E]

@rossbleakney — True that!  As a matter of fact, in Canada, you can’t buy Permethrin to spray your own clothing like you can in the US.

[Graham F]

G’day Sean I am an Ausie as well and have travelled in Timor Leste and Cambodia. As you might know both extremely Malaria (plus other bite caution ) prone areas. You need a very loose shirt made of anything/material of your choice-the need is to have material not touching the skin-where the mozzie can bite thru’ and to apply the gel ointment to ALL EXPOSED SKIN. They will bite thru’ almost anything. I have used DEET (apply twice a day strength) very successfully but now might recommend Picaridan-the highest concentration we can get here is 20%. It is found in the Off brand spray bottle at any super. My daughter trekked thru’ Laos Cambodia and Vietnam with her school group and three people including a teacher contracted Malaria-they were not assiduous in their use of the ointment. You only need to apply it in areas/regions you are warned or you want to apply it. Also the recommendations for DOXY are often wrong. Doctors will often tell you to stop two weeks after removal from the zone -it is four weeks. If you choose to look after yourself for Malaria take great care be consistent and assiduous and you will be fine. COVER up as much as you can at the mozzie active times of day the early morn and late day. BUT apply the gel always-(I used Bushmans) that is, ALL the time you are concerned. You must avoid being bitten, that is the key. You only have to see people with Malaria to realise what you are trying to avoid. Do not rely on the Doxy (Malarone is also highly effective) to rid yourself of the parasite. The teacher I was referring to took the Doxy for two weeks and still has Malaria.

I reckon there is no half measure EITHER you choose throw caution to the wind or you are in a safe area or carefully follow a plan but you must stick to it, do not deviate if you choose that path.

I did a review of this shirt earlier in our Summer here:

http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=27240

it just excellent. And BCF sell them, just watch my tips on sizing.

To both Timor Leste and Cambodia I went to the local opp shop and got the loosest long sleeved shirts I could find. Looked like a dag in one shirt but it worked.

 

[Sean P]

Beaut, thanks all for your suggestions I appreciate it.

[Anonymous]

Some nylon shirts are clammy feeling because they are so tightly woven and don’t wick well, but not all are like that. Nylon is starting to be made more wicking either by coatings or altering the fiber shape (from round to something like what a coolmax fiber looks like, which is sort of like a more rounded version of this–X).

There are some nylon shirts that have just enough air porosity (“breathability”), but are tightly woven enough to still protect. For example, an older style Kuhl Wunderer shirt that I have. The Kuhl shirt is also wicking, so between all factors, it is not clammy.  An inexpensive nylon shirt from Bass Pro shop that I bought which is quite tightly woven and non well wicking is definitely clammy feeling.

Same with polyester. It depends on how tightly woven and whether or not it wicks well as to clamminess. Polyester and nylon have a similar surface energy, though nylon is more moisture absorptive in the actual material itself.  Point being, both can be made to be either well wicking, or very bad at wicking, or breathable or not.  If you just have round, extruded fibers (and without a coating) then neither nylon nor polyester will wick well at all. Alter the fiber shapes, do bi component fabrics where one layer has thicker and one has thinner fibers, or add a coating (least preferable since it’s not permanent), to induce capillary action and both can be made to be highly wicking.

I prefer nylon over polyester for warmer weather because it’s less stinky, stronger for it’s weight, is less dense, and if all other variables are the same, feels slightly cooler on the skin than polyester. I like polyester-wool blends for colder weather, but these are usually knit. Not sure I’ve ever seen a tightly woven polyester wool blend shirt or even fabric by the yard before. Polyester wool blend pants are also nice for cool and colder temps, and often can be found quite cheaply at thrift stores.  And you get to hike in style… (they’re usually dress pants).  That’s meant to be a bit ironic, because I could care less how I look on the trail except for garish colors.

[Sean P]

Hi JW,

I ended up finding a buttoned shirt shirt on sale which looks like a casual shirt but is of very thin nylon  with a high spandex content.

It is easily blown through, so high cfm, but is of a very tight weave. I wore it casually and it is very stretchy and very comfortable -no clamminess. When I examine the fabric closely it looks like one of those under armour tops but without looking like a sausage casing.

i am not sure if it would deter a mosquito proboscis on its own so it’s getting treated. It will be cool, I think, for wear during the day but probably more chilling than polyester knit during heavy exertion in the morning. It’s cooling down here in the Southern Hemisphere so I will check it out as a cool weather base before I leave.  Certainly can do double duty as a stylish ‘travel’ shirt which is important as I pack light when travelling and don’t want special walking kit to lug around.

I was interested to read in your post about non breathing polyester – I have a travel shirt from years ago made from polyester that is so tight as to be almost impermeable to breath (effectively a windshirt) and it is unbearably sticky in warm weather. Probably impermeable to mosquito bites but also intolerable to wear hiking….

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to write your informative post

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