WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 26
  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-03-2005
    Location
    Guilford, CT
    Age
    66
    Posts
    753
    Images
    3

    Default Consumer Reports - insect repellants

    As the summer bug season begins again, I thought it might be helpful or interesting to post the latest from Consumer Reports regarding the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of different repellants. I don't believe there is a link to the article (CR doesn't post its magazine content on its site), but overall Off Deep Woods for Sportsmen I was rated the most effective at 92%. 3M's Ultrathon was rated second, at 72%. OFF Skinstastic, which is a brand that you seem to see everywhere, was rated only 33% effective, and Cutter Advanced with 7% picaridin came in at 15%! BTW, the repellants were tested against mosquitoes and ticks.

    The article noted that, in general, products containing at least 30% DEET worked the best, while most of the botanicals tested "were middling or worse." The Buzz-Off Flick Tee was also tested, with very poor results: "within 2 minutes, aedes mosquitoes had bitten the lab director at least 35 times through material washed once."

    Jane in CT

  2. #2
    Springer - Front Royal Lilred's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-26-2003
    Location
    White House, TN.
    Age
    65
    Posts
    3,100
    Images
    19

    Default

    Thanks for the info Jane, I get eat up pretty awful, I'll try that deep woods off this time.
    "It was on the first of May, in the year 1769, that I resigned my domestic happiness for a time, and left my family and peaceable habitation on the Yadkin River, in North Carolina, to wander through the wilderness of America." - Daniel Boone

  3. #3
    GA-->ME 2005 MacGyver2005's Avatar
    Join Date
    05-28-2005
    Location
    Southern Maryland
    Age
    40
    Posts
    242

    Default

    Do you know if they tested Ben's 100? If so, where did it place?

    Regards,
    -MacGyver
    GA-->ME

  4. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-03-2005
    Location
    Guilford, CT
    Age
    66
    Posts
    753
    Images
    3

    Default

    The products that were tested, in addition to those listed above, included (in descending order of effectiveness): Cutter Unscented Outdoorsman (70%), Ben's 30 (67%), Repel Sportsman (55%), Repel Sun & Bug Stuff (54%), Repel Lemon Eucalyptus (51%), Cutter Advanced Sport (40%), Walgreens with Aloe Vera for Family Unscented (33%), Cutter All Family (32%), Skin-so-Soft Bug Guard (24%), Bite Blocker Outdoor Extreme (12%), All Terrain Herbal Armor (4%), Natrapel Plus (4% also), and bugAway Lymonessa (1%). With a very few exceptions, there seemed to be a strong correlation between cost per ounce and effectiveness, except that Off Deep Woods and Cutter Unscented Outdoorsman were very effective relative to price, and Skin-so-Soft and All Terrain were very expensive relative to effectiveness.

    Jane in CT

  5. #5

    Default

    I was also curious about whether Ben's 100 was included.

    In that Ben's 30 came in 4th (and was actaully quite close to second place), one can only assume that Ben's 100 would have scored much higher.

    It is extremely effective, and I wouldn't travel without it.

    And yes, I know it's not for everyone. Many folks don't need something this strong and could no doubt get by with something milder. And it should be used sparingly....it's pretty poisonous stuff, after all.

    But it works.

  6. #6
    Registered User g8trh8tr's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-16-2005
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Age
    55
    Posts
    220
    Images
    40

    Default

    I read that article as well. Consumer Reports also noted that anything over I believe it was 35% Deet(thiry something anyway) was no more effective than the 35% Deet. in other words, 35% Deet was as effective as 100% Deet in their test.

  7. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-03-2005
    Location
    Guilford, CT
    Age
    66
    Posts
    753
    Images
    3

    Default

    Hmmm, I think we read different articles. The one that I quoted appears in the June 2006 issue of CR, and states "Hours of protection correlated with deet concentration. The to-rated Deep Woods Off is 98 percent deet, and several products with 30 to 34 percent deet were very good, protecting for an average of at least five hours. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found deet safe when used according to directions..."

    It certainly seems that, ased on the rankings, you can achieve a fairly good level of protection (72% with 3M, which is 34% deet). If there is a concern about using products that contain high levels (i.e. over 35%), then it is true that the 2nd through the 5th-rated products will give fairly decent protection without exceeding the 30% deet level.

    Jane

  8. #8
    Registered User Frolicking Dinosaurs's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-25-2005
    Location
    Frolicking elsewhere
    Posts
    12,398
    Images
    15

    Default

    Thanks for the info. I eat a ton of garlic before going into the woods and the bugs in general don't seem to bother me as much as others. I also noted something very strange on several recent day hikes - we had dried hummus mix (heavy on the garlic) with pita for lunch and the flies wouldn't go near the hummus. They were trying their best to organize and fly off with my Ezekiel bread pita.

    Anybody know if bears liike garlic? Does Bonners come in garlic scent?

  9. #9
    Registered User Mr. Clean's Avatar
    Join Date
    04-09-2003
    Location
    Kennebunk, Maine
    Age
    62
    Posts
    590
    Images
    5

    Default

    I've also read, several times, that anything over 30% Deet gives no additional protection. I've used the Deep Woods Off 30% for years with great results. Find the pump for grease-free hands. Another product for those who are terrified of Deet is Natrapel. It is all chemical free and works very well on the kids. I may try it hiking some time (with the Deet as a backup).
    Greg P.

  10. #10
    Registered User weary's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-15-2003
    Location
    Phippsburg, Maine, United States
    Posts
    10,115
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Tarlin
    ....In that Ben's 30 came in 4th (and was actaully quite close to second place), one can only assume that Ben's 100 would have scored much higher. It is extremely effective, and I wouldn't travel without it.
    ....it should be used sparingly....it's pretty poisonous stuff, after all.
    But it works.
    I agree with all except the "pretty poisonoua atuff" claim. Long term subtle impacts are impossible to quantify, but having used 100 percent DEET for decades and been curious about what I might be doing to myself, I've read scores of scientific and medical studies over the years. All concluded that DEET is pretty harmless to most people by most of the measurable criteria.

    There have been a couple of instances reported of babies drenched in the stuff being harmed. And a few people are reported to be allergic to DEET.

    But as near as I can tell, very few have ever been confirmed as having been injured through the use of 100 percent DEET.

    Since I like to walk the woods during black fly season and my house fronts a salt marsh with ferocious mosquitoes, I'll continue to apply Ben's 100 and other 100 percent DEET products.

    I use mostly liquid versions, just rubbing a few drops on the palms of my hands and then wiping them on exposed skin. Because I find breathing the stuff obnoxious, I don't use spray except to spray the back of a tee shirt to avoid mosquitoes biting through.

    A half a spray can and a two ounce container of liquid will last me most years. I tend to misplace or lose more DEET than I actually use.

    Weary
    Last edited by weary; 05-07-2006 at 14:29.

  11. #11

    Default

    Don't get me wrong, Weary, I swear by the stuff and have used it for years.

    But the stuff has been known to dissolve plastic and some fabrics.

    Therefore, I can't say with total confidence that it's good for one's skin.

    But used sparingly, and only when absolutely necessary, I think it's the best there is.

  12. #12

    Default Bug Dope

    I used to get my bug dope from Mr. Shaw. He mixed Ben's and some other ingredient. I don't remember what the other ingredient was, but it worked pretty good.

  13. #13
    Registered User weary's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-15-2003
    Location
    Phippsburg, Maine, United States
    Posts
    10,115
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Tarlin
    Don't get me wrong, Weary, I swear by the stuff and have used it for years.

    But the stuff has been known to dissolve plastic and some fabrics.

    Therefore, I can't say with total confidence that it's good for one's skin.

    But used sparingly, and only when absolutely necessary, I think it's the best there is.
    Well, DEET certainly dissolves plastic. That's exactly what it was before someone discovered that it also repelled flying insects. DEET in fact, etched the the lens of my reading glasses, making reading impossible as I worked my way through the Whites in 1993. I was saved by a weekend hiker at Lake of the Clouds who saw my dilemma, and as he was leaving to descend, he handed me his drugstore glasses. It was my best "trail magic."

    Other than distracting bugs, I haven't heard that DEET provides any useful trail service. But neither does it do any serious harm as near as I can tell.

    Weary

  14. #14
    Registered User stoikurt's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-19-2005
    Location
    Panama City, FL
    Age
    66
    Posts
    50
    Images
    2

    Default

    Back in the early 80's when I used to cruise timber in NW Florida we used a 100% DEET product. I can't recall which anymore but I do know from experience that it would take the paint off a pencil. But, we were mighty proud to have it in some of the place we had to go.
    Stoikurt
    Don't Live to Work...Work to Live!

  15. #15
    Registered User Dances with Mice's Avatar
    Join Date
    05-20-2003
    Location
    North Georgia
    Posts
    3,974
    Images
    147

    Default To be picky...

    Quote Originally Posted by weary
    Well, DEET certainly dissolves plastic.
    Yeah, sort of. Chemically, DEET is a plasticizer which means it is absorbed into plastics and expands and softens, or weakens, them. Acrylates, a clear hard plastic used in lenses, can be competely dissolved by solvents like acetone, just to illustrate the difference. DEET won't dissolve plastic but the effect of leaving behind a cloudy, marred surface is the same. So be careful with DEET around glasses, sunglasses, watch and compass faces, pens, anything with a keyboard or LCD display like cell phones, GPS devices, radio or MP3 players, and all those other electronic gizmos. Wipe your hands off before handling laminated things like credit cards, bank cards, drivers licenses, and such. And water hoses but you wouldn't want pesticides near them anyway.

    For thin layers of plastic, like plastic bags, the paint on pencils, or prophylactics (well, someone had to mention them, though if you're someplace where you need DEET you should really find someplace else to unwrap one) the difference between dissolving and softening becomes rather irrelevant. Assuming it ever was relevant.
    You never turned around to see the frowns
    On the jugglers and the clowns
    When they all did tricks for you.

  16. #16
    Is it raining yet?
    Join Date
    07-15-2004
    Location
    Kensington, MD
    Age
    47
    Posts
    1,077
    Images
    62

    Thumbs up Ben's

    I live in the woods off Ben's 100 DEET. I think it' called 100 not for its 90 somthing % of active DEET ingredient but its success ratio.

    It is however so greasy that I will not spray it on my hands. Once in Hawaii, the nats were so horrible that I coated my walking stick to use as a shield. I could put it into a cloud of nats & watch them skedaddle!

    Overall, Ben's 100 is one of my most important pieces of summer equipment no matter the activity...
    Be Prepared

  17. #17
    Registered User
    Join Date
    05-23-2004
    Location
    North Pole Alaska 99705
    Age
    70
    Posts
    47

    Default

    I use Amway bugjuice...the best I've found and it's much more pleasant than the heavies( Ben's or Muskol)

  18. #18

    Default Mr Shaw

    Quote Originally Posted by Just a Hiker
    I used to get my bug dope from Mr. Shaw. He mixed Ben's and some other ingredient. I don't remember what the other ingredient was, but it worked pretty good.
    Spruce oil. When I doubted him, he gave me a little brown bottle to try out. I smelled like an air freshener, but the bugs seemed to like me a lot less.
    Teej

    "[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.

  19. #19
    Registered User
    Join Date
    04-20-2004
    Location
    Anchorage AK
    Age
    79
    Posts
    75

    Default

    I like the Sawyer's stuff that claims to be "encapsulate" or some such, so that despite a relatively low DEET content, it lasts longer than others. Seems to be true. Also, I really like the Permethrin stuff, that you spray on your clothes...it lasts much longer than putting ordinary repellent on your sox or whatever. If the b------'s insist on landing on the treated fabric, it kills 'em.Last year, treating my clothing with the Permethrin stuff, and using repellent, I got thru a canoe trip in Ak with NO bites at all. Amazing.

  20. #20
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-11-2005
    Location
    New England
    Age
    58
    Posts
    245
    Images
    240

    Default

    DEET is often sold and used in concentrations up to 100%. Consumer Reports found a direct correlation between DEET concentration and hours of protection against insect bites. 100% DEET was found to offer up to 12 hours of protection while several lower concentration DEET formulations (20%-34%) offered 3-6 hours of protection.
    Repellents containing picaridin or lemon eucalyptus oil were reported by Consumer Reports to be about as effective as repellents containing DEET, though medical studies have differed on the effectiveness of alternatives. A number of tests have shown DEET to be the most effective and longest-lasting insect repellent available.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEET

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •