View Full Version : bugs & bug clothes
squeezebox
03-24-2014, 21:15
So when do bugs start to show up ? And when do they get really bad ? & where?
What about bug clothes, head net 1 oz, bug pants, bug top inc. head cover.- 4 oz each
If I'll send home 5-6 lbs. of winter stuff picking up 1/2 lb of bug clothes doesn't seem like much of a problem.
Having a screen over my face would visually inhibit what I'm doing and vistas in the summer.
But not getting ate up by bugs sounds pretty good.
Your opinions and experiences ??
Cover my hiking clothes in promytheryn and exposed areas with 100% deet. Sunglasses to keep the mosquitoes and nats out of my eyes and a bandanna soaked in promytheryn to keep them off of my head. If things get bad I break out the trusty head net. But its not often. The promytheryn, deet, and sunglasses usually solve the problem.
Last Call
03-25-2014, 03:56
Welp....it's hard to predict when they will show up; in any environment. I always have a headnet in the brain of my pack, goes with the Frogg Togg's. It might weigh an ounce...
Mosquitees can be dangerous, some of the sloughs around here that run off the Mississippi River have hordes, they will eat you alive unless you have protection...
A carry and often wear a pair of cheap plastic safety glasses. It's one way of dealing with those $%#@^ gnats that love to swirl around your head and dive-bomb your eyeballs. There's some obvious protection there as well, eg. from protruding branches.
daddytwosticks
03-25-2014, 07:12
The gnats have already started to be a problem down south here on warm days. They dive bomb your eyes, nose, ears, etc, and sometimes bite. This time of year, I carry a head net and use it while in camp, but not while I'm on the move. Hope for a breeze to keep the buggers at bay. :)
So when do bugs start to show up ? And when do they get really bad ? & where?
What about bug clothes
I assume your asking in relation to doing a NOBO thru.
Starting in mid March I had no problems with bugs until I got to NJ in early June and they didn't get bad until CT in late June. These were only minor annoyances.
I started treating clothes with Permethrin once a month starting in MD for tick prevention but it also helped with other bugs.
Overall I had very few times when bugs were a problem. Others that either started SOBO or were ahead of me reported black fly problems. In fact I saw SOBOs in MA that were just ate up by fly bites.
garlic08
03-25-2014, 07:42
Bugs on the AT were only a minor annoyance for me, as well. I wore long sleeves and trousers treated with permethrin and carried a head net and a small stick of repellent that I used a few days, like in the marsh in NJ. I never had a tick. I got into New England in June and had a few black fly bites but I didn't react to them like others I saw. I think some people are more annoyed by bugs, physiologically as well as psychologically. The head net was worth its weight in gold, but I never wore it while walking.
slbirdnerd
03-25-2014, 08:32
I treat my clothes with permethrin and also carry a Sea to Summit Insect Shield head net, $13 at REI. I like this one because it's large enough to fit over a hat and I can see through it.
Snowleopard
03-25-2014, 10:45
For New England and NY: I would start using long pants and long shirt treated with permethrin starting in April or when the snow is gone. I would carry a headnet starting in May, until the end of summer. I carry a small amount of DEET during the summer but seldom use it. A friend in the Boston suburbs has seen black flies this year by mid March.
Permethrin is applied to your clothes, not your skin. Mosquitoes and black flies will bite through thin nylon fabrid, but when it's treated with permethrin they don't. These sprays last 6 weeks or 6 washings.
http://www.rei.com/search?query=sawyer+permethrin (http://www.rei.com/search?query=sawyer+permethrin)
Insect shield is a semi-permanent version of permethrin and lasts 70 washes. Some clothes incorporate this, or you can have Insect Shield apply it to your own clothes:
http://www.insectshield.com/PDF/IS%20Your%20Own%20Clothes%20-%20U.S.%20form.pdf
Headnets: you want it held off away from your face and neck by a broad brimmed hat. The best ones were Peter Vacco's, but he is not selling them for 2014. If you find looking through the headnet too annoying, you could try replacing a rectangle of your netting by a dark colored tulle (wedding veil material) from ebay or Joanne's fabrics. It has a wider mesh than no-see-um netting.
Smithwick
03-25-2014, 17:17
Carry a bug net for your head and face. Very light, very small, and very cheap. You will be glad you have it.
Just really depends on where and when you'll be hiking? Carried a head net in GA in late June and never needed it. Would agree though that you should use the permethrin on your clothes, and carry some sort of spray for the skin, no matter where your headed.
Sarcasm the elf
03-25-2014, 18:58
FWIW the ticks are already becoming active in Connecticut, I pulled a few off the dogs this weekend.
If I were thru hiking I would absolutely have my pants/hiking shorts treated with permethrin. Though I am hesitant to keep the stuff around the house because of the danger that it can potentially pose to cats.
Prime Time
03-25-2014, 20:16
On my thru last year, I had very few bug issues until Pennsylvania in early June. Then the gnats became a real annoyance. Sunglasses relieved this to the point of being tolerable though. Once I hit NJ in late June, the mosquitos became a major issue. They, combined with 3 straight weeks of mid 90's temperatures with no breeze whatsoever, literally drove hundreds of people off the trail last year. The reason the combination was so brutal was you almost couldn't possibly wear long sleeves and trousers and deet was burning skin to the point that it was as bad as the bites. My body was covered with at least 30 or 40 bites at any one time. From Northern PA until the MA/VT border, the trail passes through mostly a narrow ribbon of forrest with no natural balance of birds, dragonflys, bats, and bugs, and there is lot's of swamp land that the trail goes through. Once we reached VT in mid July, the problem absolutely dissappeared.
I had a head net but rarely used it. I could swat mosquitos around my head no problem. it was the lower back of my neck, elbows and behind my knees that got nailed. Like flys that know to stay out of a horses tail reach, mosquitos have evolved to know where you can't see or hear them and that's where they target. I learned to conentrate deet in those places. I also sent my poles home until I reached NH because I didn't really need them in this stretch. This also allowed me to I have both hands available for swatting. Hiking fast and taking breaks on an exposed ridge with a bit of a breeze helped also.
On my thru last year, I had very few bug issues until Pennsylvania in early June. Then the gnats became a real annoyance. Sunglasses relieved this to the point of being tolerable though. Once I hit NJ in late June, the mosquitos became a major issue. They, combined with 3 straight weeks of mid 90's temperatures with no breeze whatsoever, literally drove hundreds of people off the trail last year. The reason the combination was so brutal was you almost couldn't possibly wear long sleeves and trousers and deet was burning skin to the point that it was as bad as the bites. My body was covered with at least 30 or 40 bites at any one time. From Northern PA until the MA/VT border, the trail passes through mostly a narrow ribbon of forrest with no natural balance of birds, dragonflys, bats, and bugs, and there is lot's of swamp land that the trail goes through. Once we reached VT in mid July, the problem absolutely dissappeared.
I had a head net but rarely used it. I could swat mosquitos around my head no problem. it was the lower back of my neck, elbows and behind my knees that got nailed. Like flys that know to stay out of a horses tail reach, mosquitos have evolved to know where you can't see or hear them and that's where they target. I learned to conentrate deet in those places. I also sent my poles home until I reached NH because I didn't really need them in this stretch. This also allowed me to I have both hands available for swatting. Hiking fast and taking breaks on an exposed ridge with a bit of a breeze helped also.
The voice of experience!
Odd Man Out
03-26-2014, 10:45
... I think some people are more annoyed by bugs, physiologically as well as psychologically....
I college I took a Ecology class and for lab we took lots of field trips. The teacher was a senior professor who had been a field biologist for much of his life. During the Oak-Hickory climax forest field trip, the bugs were terrible. All the students were swatting, waving their arms, running around, looking for relief. When the prof realized that no one was listening to his lecture, he asked what was going on. We all screamed about the bugs. He said "Bugs? I hadn't noticed", and then just went on lecturing.
So I guess once you get all your blood sucked out, you can just ignore them.
Get the bug headnet, it's totally worth it. It may be a bit hot to wear when walking, but keeping the mosquitos and gnats away from your eyeballs and ears will keep you sane.
squeezebox
03-26-2014, 20:11
what about the bug pants , and the bug jacket with head net about 4 oz each,
would be interesting to wear on hike naked day.