View Full Version : sunscreen and bug repellent
Ok, so I know this stuff should be stored in the food bag. But - you have it on your skin, so what about that? Yes, you might wash it off at night - but, with a bear's powerful nose, can you be sure you've gotten it all? And you might not wash EVERY night anyway...
You don't sleep in a bear resistant tent?
Wayne [emoji1][emoji106][emoji41]
Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."
Odd Man Out
07-16-2016, 22:03
You are correct that bears smell everything. What many people forget is that the smelliest thing in the tent is you (and things you have odorified such as you clothes). The reason that bears stay out of your tent 99.999% of the time is not the lack of food odors but the presence of your odors. Washing yourself would thus be counterproductive as it would minimize your best bear deterrent. On the rare occasions when a bear does come into a tent, many people will ask if the camper was irresponsible enough to leave food n the tent (or just assume he was). No one ever asks if he was irresponsible enough to mask or diminish his own odors. Noted bear biologist Tom Smit puts it this way: The bear's desire to avoid you is greater than its desire to get your food. Besides, who uses food scented insect repellent and sunscreen?
saltysack
07-17-2016, 07:57
I guess I should probably stop using the peppermint scent Dr.B soap to wash with.....I really like the scent but sure the Bears do also!!
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Humans who are upwind from a bear can't hide. He knows you are there. There is nothing you can do. Take all the baths you want, put on bug dope or sunscreen all you want, Aqua Velva, it has nothing to do with it. You smell like human. Some bears associate the smell of you with food because we are stupid and careless. He went to the smell of human last time and some idiot put out some food for him to eat. By hanging your food bag a nice distance away may draw the bear away from you. It's the food he's after not you.
I guess I should probably stop using the peppermint scent Dr.B soap to wash with.....I really like the scent but sure the Bears do also!!
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The Unscented Baby formula of Dr. Bronner's is what you want. About $10/quart at Bed Bath and Beyond. Transfer to small containers for the trail.
Wayne
Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."
Odd Man Out
07-17-2016, 10:22
I use a miniature bar of Ivory soap to clean up.
My Tahoe next door neighbor had a bear drink a gallon jug of orange scented dish detergent. Probably don't bring that.
My sister accidentally left nuts in a backpack pocket and she had a mother bear and two babies come WAY too close to her tent in Kings Canyon. However, the bears left and it was a mouse who really terrorized her all night long.
I go with the statistics. Very few people have a black bear enter their tent. Most people are injured/killed by falls and heart attacks while backpacking. Mosquitoes and ticks are much more likely to cause illness (even in the US) than bears, so bug repellent isn't such a bad idea. And tons of people die from skin cancer. Sunscreen is a very good idea (especially at elevation in CA). A painful sunburn will keep you up at night. This will make you tired and more likely to fall. :)
I wear long sleeve and pants to minimize the need for both sunscreen and bug repellent. Permethrin treatment is awesome at repelling both ticks and mosquitoes. It doesn't smell to me, but bears probably smell it. But I don't think they think it "food". Even "unscented" Off brand mosquitoes wipes smell gross to me.
Also just getting out a lot really helps. The more times you wake up alive in the forest after an uneventful night the less you worry about bears or mountain lions or the other big opportunists/predators. But the raccoons, mice, mosquitoes and ticks are the scary things out there. And falls. Falls can be bad.
You are correct that bears smell everything. What many people forget is that the smelliest thing in the tent is you (and things you have odorified such as you clothes). The reason that bears stay out of your tent 99.999% of the time is not the lack of food odors but the presence of your odors. Washing yourself would thus be counterproductive as it would minimize your best bear deterrent. On the rare occasions when a bear does come into a tent, many people will ask if the camper was irresponsible enough to leave food n the tent (or just assume he was). No one ever asks if he was irresponsible enough to mask or diminish his own odors. Noted bear biologist Tom Smit puts it this way: The bear's desire to avoid you is greater than its desire to get your food. Besides, who uses food scented insect repellent and sunscreen?
But, following this logic then, you shouldn't need to worry about hiding or hanging your food, right? And I know, a lot of folks do sleep with their food on the AT...
I use a miniature bar of Ivory soap to clean up.
I also have a stash of those collected from hotels/motels around the globe.
Wayne
Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."