View Full Version : Head Net for bugs
TheWhiteWalker
04-10-2016, 21:37
Doing on NOBO starting in late April. I plan on sleeping in a tent most nights. Do I bring a bug net for my head at the start, have it mailed to me, or not needed at all?
From your past experiences, where was the bug net needed along the AT? Thanks.
Used a head net once between North Adams and Bennington VT in early summer. It sure helped with the bugs but it was hot and stuffy and messed with the view. I just didn't like wearing it.
These days I wear cheap plastic safety glasses to keep the no-see-ums from dive bombing my eyeballs. Bandana to cover my bald head and ears, DEET for everything else.
evyck da fleet
04-10-2016, 22:15
Not needed but its up to you. I almost bought one at NOC but held out. I put up with dive bombing no-see-ums through VA. In NY/CT, I used a ball cap and bandanna to cover up. Other than that I dealt with it.
Tipi Walter
04-10-2016, 22:18
My sea to summit headnet is part of my standard load from late March to November. It weighs nothing and is valuable for black flies and gnats in the ears and mouth and nose and eyes as you're hiking or in camp. Ever had a gnat get lodged in your eye for 3 days?
The Cleaner
04-10-2016, 23:00
Down here in the southern Apps.the gnats are going for blood if not lodged in your eye or other places they shouldn't be.As long as you hike you can avoid them,but sooner or later you gotta stop and here they come....
Traillium
04-10-2016, 23:10
I always like to travel with someone who doesn't believe in bug protection. That way, the bugs gravitate to them, and I can minimize how I protect myself.
More seriously: light-coloured long sleeves & pants; headnet; deet (or more recently, picaridin) when bugs are horrible; broad-brimmed hat to keep deer flies & horse flies away; when in a group, be the first, as the bugs I stir up bother the people farther down the line; don't linger anywhere except in windy locations;
BTW, the reason alligators can't survive up here in Canada is that our mozzies carry the young gators away so easily.
Bruce Traillium
daddytwosticks
04-11-2016, 07:13
Down here in the southern Apps.the gnats are going for blood if not lodged in your eye or other places they shouldn't be.As long as you hike you can avoid them,but sooner or later you gotta stop and here they come....
Same experience here. Hope for a breezy day to keep them at bay. They tend to go away when it cools off at night. This time of year, I pack a cheap and light head net you can find at most Wal Marts. It works great during breaks and when setting up camp when you stop for the day. I do not actually hike in a head net. Does the trick. :)
Just seems like when walking through sunny rocky areas, the deer flies are always buzzing and attacking the back of my neck and head. Really annoying. So far the only way I've needed to wear the head net is to keep it up in front and cover the neck in back. But that's just me.
Spiffyguy
04-13-2016, 11:00
I like to have my Sea to Summit all summer just in case. Weighs little and fits nicely in my ULA circuit hip belt pocket.
Uncle Joe
04-13-2016, 11:34
Just seems like when walking through sunny rocky areas, the deer flies are always buzzing and attacking the back of my neck and head. Really annoying. So far the only way I've needed to wear the head net is to keep it up in front and cover the neck in back. But that's just me.
Try Deer Fly patches. I have some but haven't needed them yet. Saw Shug use them once and he had a dozen or more flies stuck to one. :D
Tipi Walter
04-13-2016, 12:34
I like to have my Sea to Summit all summer just in case. Weighs little and fits nicely in my ULA circuit hip belt pocket.
Love me my headnet---
https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2010/18-Days-in-the-Bald-River/i-wRtb8Kc/0/L/TRIP%20113%20110-L.jpg
JumpMaster Blaster
04-13-2016, 12:53
I use a cheap Coleman headnet. When I first bought it I was attempting to keep the flying nuisances off of me, but more often than not I put it on after having my face assaulted by the 3rd spider web of the morning. I'll take it off after I've passed a few folks in the opposite direction.
Don't judge me- I rock the headnet wherever/whenever.
Tipi Walter
04-13-2016, 13:15
In my pic Hootyhoo on left is using a paint bucket strainer net---
Never know what you might experience on WB. Looks like you two just robbed a gas station.:p
A paint strainer. That's a new one. Does it double as a butterfly net catcher? :)
Love me my headnet---
https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2010/18-Days-in-the-Bald-River/i-wRtb8Kc/0/L/TRIP%20113%20110-L.jpg
Can this thread be about posting pictures of hiking doggys now?
Try Deer Fly patches. I have some but haven't needed them yet. Saw Shug use them once and he had a dozen or more flies stuck to one. :D
Never thought of that. Gather a snack at the same time. ;)
I think the same principle is in play when I rub some Berts Bees beeswax or almond/olive oil containing Lipbalm or Res Q Ointment or Lemon Cuticle Cream on the tips of my ears, cheeks, and nose. The flies, gnats, and skeeters may buzz those areas but they don't want to land in the sticky residue getting their feet in it or stuck. They learn not to land there.
Used a head net once between North Adams and Bennington VT in early summer. It sure helped with the bugs but it was hot and stuffy and messed with the view. I just didn't like wearing it.
These days I wear cheap plastic safety glasses to keep the no-see-ums from dive bombing my eyeballs. Bandana to cover my bald head and ears, DEET for everything else.
Do they make body-sized ones for trips to Ipswich, etc? The green heads are nasty little guys.
Lone Wolf
04-13-2016, 18:39
Doing on NOBO starting in late April. I plan on sleeping in a tent most nights. Do I bring a bug net for my head at the start, have it mailed to me, or not needed at all?
From your past experiences, where was the bug net needed along the AT? Thanks.
i did a SOBO leaving maine late june one year. id'a paid big money for a full body net. skeeters were horrendous
Do they make body-sized ones for trips to Ipswich, etc? The green heads are nasty little guys.
It wouldn't work. Greenheads carry tiny chainsaws and jackhammers. Those bastards are vicious.
coach lou
04-13-2016, 19:44
I fish....I always have on in each pack. Many good days of fishing were saved by that small little net.
Wise Old Owl
04-13-2016, 21:24
Love me my headnet---
https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2010/18-Days-in-the-Bald-River/i-wRtb8Kc/0/L/TRIP%20113%20110-L.jpg
good thing your hiking partner doesn't go into banks much.... ( a bad attempt at tickling the funny bone... ):D
Do they make body-sized ones for trips to Ipswich, etc? The green heads are nasty little guys.
Yes, Sea to Summit for one makes a noseeum long sleeved shirt w/ head net and noseeum gloves. I've seen a noseeum body suit being worn in the Sierra by a woman too. I thought it was one of the funniest things I had seen up to that point on trail... a woman in the heat of summer in that body suit with the leg cuffs tucked into boots with sun gloves on and a hat and goggles w a head net draped over her...until I went into the next valley with no wind and was swarmed by 100's of vicious vampire skeeters on my exposed arm all at once making 'An Interview with a Vampire' seem like child's play.
Yes, Sea to Summit for one makes a noseeum long sleeved shirt w/ head net and noseeum gloves. I've seen a noseeum body suit being worn in the Sierra by a woman too. I thought it was one of the funniest things I had seen up to that point on trail... a woman in the heat of summer in that body suit with the leg cuffs tucked into boots with sun gloves on and a hat and goggles w a head net draped over her...until I went into the next valley with no wind and was swarmed by 100's of vicious vampire skeeters on my exposed arm all at once making 'An Interview with a Vampire' seem like child's play.
Thank you.
It wouldn't work. Greenheads carry tiny chainsaws and jackhammers. Those bastards are vicious.
I hate them. Never am I in Ipswich in July anymore.
Traveler
04-14-2016, 06:17
My sea to summit headnet is part of my standard load from late March to November. It weighs nothing and is valuable for black flies and gnats in the ears and mouth and nose and eyes as you're hiking or in camp. Ever had a gnat get lodged in your eye for 3 days?
+1! I keep my head net in its little bag, takes no room and weight is a gram or two. I also carry a wide brim hat (EMS Chelan) that folds up easily to use with the bug net. It keeps the netting from your skin where insects can still manage to bite through it, and for me makes wearing the netting possible for long periods of time.
rocketsocks
04-14-2016, 07:44
+1! I keep my head net in its little bag, takes no room and weight is a gram or two. I also carry a wide brim hat (EMS Chelan) that folds up easily to use with the bug net. It keeps the netting from your skin where insects can still manage to bite through it, and for me makes wearing the netting possible for long periods of time.I usually wear a ball cap and very often the netting will lay on the ears and back of neck, you can remedy this also by taking a small twig about a foot across and sticking on top of your head to loft the sides and back, the weight of the netting holds the twig in place generally.
Tipi Walter
04-14-2016, 07:52
I too wear a ballcap with my headnet. It's comical when I stupidly take a drink of water thru my headnet or try to eat a trail snack w/o lifting up the net.
rocketsocks
04-14-2016, 07:59
I too wear a ballcap with my headnet. It's comical when I stupidly take a drink of water thru my headnet or try to eat a trail snack w/o lifting up the net.while I've yet to experience that yet I can see that happening...yup, pun intended. :D
left52side
04-15-2016, 19:45
Personally I do not think you have to worry about it until may,I have also heard but do not know first hand that you do not have to worry about bug spray and etc until may as well.
It is common that alot of thru hikers tend to ditch that early on in a thru when they realize that it is not needed until later in the year.
I myself see no reason why not to pack a head net for bugs,they weigh absolutely nothing
(mine doesnt even register on my scale) and they are cheap(mine was 1.50 from walmart and works fine and had it over a year.
I actually keep it in my pocket and dont even notice it. If I need it ill put it on.
So I suppose my conclusion is why not have it with you .
no weight penalty,no packable penalty,not expensive at all.
so why not have it.
soumodeler
04-15-2016, 19:54
Personally I do not think you have to worry about it until may,I have also heard but do not know first hand that you do not have to worry about bug spray and etc until may as well.
First week of April last year I was on Springer and got run off the summit by giant gnats. Drove me mad. I would say bring at least bug spray or both spray or headnet starting in April.
Tipi Walter
04-15-2016, 19:58
First week of April last year I was on Springer and got run off the summit by giant gnats. Drove me mad. I would say bring at least bug spray or both spray or headnet starting in April.
About 3 years ago we had the hottest March on record in the Southeast and I didn't bring my headnet for a long trip. Who knew?
twistwrist
04-16-2016, 18:12
It weighs almost nothing and takes up very little space. I used mine 3 or 4 times on my thru-hike, but the times I needed them, they were well worth the fact I carried it. Massachusetts was buggy as hell in my experience. I used it in Vermont too. Comes in handy in the evenings especially when you're making camp.