Bug spray

[Catrin]

Going camping and am putting together what I need. I will be in the woods, so what is the best bug spray? Is "Deep Woods Off" a good choice or is there a better? I was going to ask which is the least toxic, but we ARE talking about bug repellent... I will be mountain biking and hiking. Pity the pool is now closed during the week

[OakLeaf]

Bite Blocker.

[TsPoet]

In all the studies where toxicity of DEET has been desperately looked for, nothing has been found. Believe me, people have tried.
And it works.
As of a few years ago, I couldn't find anything without DEET in it that worked. There were rumors of Skin so Soft that didn't pan out and other products. I'm not familiar with Bite blocker.
DEET doesn't kill insects, it repels them. (It repels my SO, too, he hates that smell).

However - just an FYI, my bottle of DEET (Off) which I had stored in the pocket of the back door of my car leaked all over the back of the car, so much that is seeped out onto my bumper where it destroyed the 3M shield - it didn't affect any of the other sorts of plastic it hit. Could have been some other solvent in the Off formulation, not the DEET, but whatever it was was nasty to my bumper.

[OakLeaf]

DEET is known to dissolve plastic. Including sunglasses, plastic fibers in clothing, tent fabric, probably all manner of stuff hanging off a bicycle... Good to know it doesn't dissolve ABS plastic, but still. Debate about its neurotoxicity aside, it reeks, it makes me choke, and it dissolves my stuff. (And dissolved plastics in DEET could be toxic to humans, whether or not the DEET itself is...)

Bite Blocker is tested as effective as I believe 7% DEET, which doesn't sound like much until you remember that higher concentrations of DEET do NOT protect *better,* they only protect *longer.* The concentrations of DEET are all about the half-life, nothing else. You will need to re-apply Bite Blocker about every 90 minutes, probably a bit more often if you're sweating.

I'm serious mosquito and fly bait. I do not work for the company. I use it. It works.

[indysteel]

Regardless of what you use, be sure to give yourself a good going over for ticks. The incidence of Lyme Disease in ***** County is nonexistent last I checked, but it would really suck to be the first case, especially since the County is known to have deer ticks.

[Catrin]

Regardless of what you use, be sure to give yourself a good going over for ticks. The incidence of Lyme Disease in ***** County is nonexistent last I checked, but it would really suck to be the first case, especially since the County is known to have deer ticks.

Yikes! I never think about this, guess I've just been lucky... Will see if I can get Bite Blocker in time, if not will just have to go with something else. Thanks!