View Full Version : Bugs/Mosquitos at shelters?
NitroSteel
05-17-2009, 20:58
We're going to hike from the NC line down to Woody gap first week of June, I wasn't sure how the bugs were this time of year. Do we need to bring mosquito spray? Is it better to just sleep in a tent to avoid the mosquitos or are they basically non-existent?
I wasn't sure where else to post this question.
Thank ya'll
NitroSteel
deet is your friend here in ga, i sleep in a tent, but to each their own.and dont forget about the tics...their hungry too
drink gin and tonics, once a day keeps the mosquitos away!!!!
deet is your friend here in ga, i sleep in a tent, but to each their own.and dont forget about the tics...their hungry too
I slept in shelters most nights during my 2,000 mile walk in 1993. I always carried DEET (mostly 100 percent) and occasionally used it. But bugs were never a serious problem, compared to what I regularly experience living near a salt marsh on the coAST OF Maine.
Just rub a few drops of liquid DEET on the palms of your hands and then rub your hands on exposed skin surfaces at night and forget about the bugs. Do the same while cooking breakfast in the morning. Just rub a few drops on your hands and rub them over all exposed skin. DEET only needs to be a molecule or so thick to work.
At home I use the spray on the back of my tee shirts to keep the bugs from biting through. ON the trail, I didn't bother. The spray is too heavy and I don't like to breathe chemicals.
Weary
Blissful
05-17-2009, 23:07
Tenting is the way to go...and makes life enjoyable.
daddytwosticks
05-18-2009, 07:30
It's been a relatively wet spring in the southern apps this year. Mosquitoes and tics are starting to appear down here in the lower elevations...bet this will be a buggy summer! :)
Valentine
05-18-2009, 09:08
Alternative to applying Deet to skin is applying to clothes instead. Also permetherin bandana around your neck.
Blissful
05-18-2009, 13:29
I just got the permethrin spray from Campmor for clothes. Heard it works good - hope so.
Snowleopard
05-18-2009, 13:48
Alternative to applying Deet to skin is applying to clothes instead. Also permetherin bandana around your neck.
DEET will dissolve nylon and some plastics/synthetics, so not necessarily good on clothes.
Perhaps you mean Permethrin spray on clothes? That works well and lasts thru 5 or 10 washings. For exposed skin use DEET, not Permethrin. This combo is what the US military uses now -- DEET on exposed skin, Permethrin on clothes.
deet is your friend here in ga, i sleep in a tent, but to each their own.and dont forget about the tics...their hungry too
Seconded, tics were pretty bad in NC/TN a couple weeks ago. The biting gnats were even worse though and some Deet would have been nice.
Seconded, tics were pretty bad in NC/TN a couple weeks ago. The biting gnats were even worse though and some Deet would have been nice.
Nice to know, trips in 10 days TN/VA ... I got both ready ... clothes and exposed skin.
They are pretty bad here in PA for the last 2 weeks ... So i'm kinda used to it already.
Sky.King
05-29-2009, 23:13
a flamethrower does wonders
We're going to hike from the NC line down to Woody gap first week of June, I wasn't sure how the bugs were this time of year. Do we need to bring mosquito spray? Is it better to just sleep in a tent to avoid the mosquitos or are they basically non-existent?
I wasn't sure where else to post this question.
Thank ya'll
NitroSteel
Either deet or use a tent...