View Full Version : Tick strategies
nastynate
06-09-2013, 15:44
I just finished a 20 mile overnighter on the Cumberland Trail today. I picked at least 50 ticks off of me during the hike and my wife found another 15 or so on closer inspection when I got home. About 50/50 normal/deer ticks. I need to get a plan together since I am planning a trip with my 4 year old son this weekend. I am thinking of switching back to long pants. Shorts are nice in this hot humid weather but its hard to keep the ticks off. Permethrin sprayed on shoes, socks, pants, shirts, hats. What about packs and my tent? I've got 100% deet but I didn't use any this trip because the bugs weren't bad (other than the ticks). I was planning on getting some good picardin for my son, but maybe switch to that for me as well since it isn't so nasty to use? Any other tips and tricks. I'm thinking of getting some dirty girl gaiters but I doubt I could get them delivered in 5 days so maybe wear longer socks and tuck our pants into them? I'll be keeping an eye out for Lyme symptoms for myself, although I've heard there hasn't been many cases of that in SE Tennessee.
Permethrin is sold at Walmart and is very effective with ticks. It's sprayed onto all of your clothing and allowed to dry for a day before wearing. It's effective for a number of washes. Then use Deet on exposed skin.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sawyer-Products-Premium-Insect-Repellent-for-Clothing-and-Gear/19887389
rocketsocks and I just did a controlled scientific experiment on the batona trail in New Jersey. I think he said he had around 80 ticks on him over the weekend (no permithrin)... I had three with permithrin. not bragging just telling it like it is.
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Kerosene
06-09-2013, 16:41
rocketsocks and I just did a controlled scientific experiment on the batona trail in New Jersey. I think he said he had around 80 ticks on him over the weekend (no permithrin)... I had three with permithrin. not bragging just telling it like it is.Of course, now those 3 are resistant to Permithrin and are spawning a super-race of deer ticks. :D
Of course, now those 3 are resistant to Permithrin and are spawning a super-race of deer ticks. :D
I killed em dead!
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Rocket Jones
06-09-2013, 17:26
ZOMBIE super ticks!!!!
Rocket Jones
06-09-2013, 17:29
I don't recall where I saw it, but anything over 45% (or so) DEET offers no extra protection.
nastynate
06-09-2013, 17:42
Thanks guys. Any benefit to spraying the tent and backpacks with permethrin as well?
Thanks guys. Any benefit to spraying the tent and backpacks with permethrin as well?
Yes...........
Thanks guys. Any benefit to spraying the tent and backpacks with permethrin as well?
Deet has been found to have little if any effect on ticks, but permethrin will kill them if they stay in contact long enough. I treat my backpack (since I set it on the ground frequently and tick nymphs are usually found in clusters...bad news to put your pack in the wrong spot), the ends of my hammock and the suspension between the hammock and the tree. Also, treated gaitors can be an alternative if you want wear shorts...just do very frequent tick checks after passing through shaded grassy or brushy areas. Lastly "although I've heard there hasn't been many cases of that in SE Tennessee". Many, many Lyme sufferers (as well as many other Tick-borne diseases) have learned to put little confidence in publish disease reporting stats. Even the CDC estimates that 9 out of 10 cases of Lyme disease are missed. I contracted it in Mammoth Cave NP here in KY, another state that supposedly is low risk, even though 20 years ago the Department of Defense categorized Ft. Knox, KY as a moderate risk for Lyme. I have a copy of a 2008 U of T tick population study that revealed significant growth in Deer tick populations all across TN (although the Cumberland Plateau was by far the worst). Lastly, be sure and toss all your cloths in a dryer on high heat for 20 minutes when you get home. That will kill ticks (they cannot survive in dry, high heat)...they easily survive a wash cycle though.
nastynate
06-09-2013, 18:05
Yeah, all my clothes went straight to the washing machine on "sanitize" and then an hour in the dryer. This is the first time I've encountered deer ticks on the trail and it definitely concerned me.
Gotcha, dryer first though. You don't want any of the live critters crawling around the washing machine. Ticks hate sunny areas as well, so putting cloths out in the sun for a few hours when you're still on the trail can be useful...those nymphs are soooo tiny and easy to miss. Oh yeah, light colored clothing really helps with spotting them.
Peta will haunt you! lol Once had a woman go manic on me for killing a mouse in a shelter! lol You just gotta love it!
ATMountainTime
06-09-2013, 19:03
Don't know how to ask this, but what were you doing rolling in the grass? I was there last year pull 1 from me, zero from my wife. Hiked ALOT and stayed 7 days.
nastynate
06-09-2013, 19:15
Don't know how to ask this, but what were you doing rolling in the grass? I was there last year pull 1 from me, zero from my wife. Hiked ALOT and stayed 7 days.
I was doing the Mullens Cove Loop and Pot Point Loop in Prentice Cooper. A lot of the trail was overgrown. So bad in a few places with tall grass completely covering the trail. I actually lost the trail twice down around Pot Point road it was so bad. Every time I walked through a section of tall grass I could look down and see them crawling all over my legs. Same thing happened last summer while trail running on Signal Mountain.
garlic08
06-10-2013, 15:04
I had great success with long trousers and permethrin on my AT hike. I never removed a single tick in my daily inspections. I did not use any DEET. My fashion sense did not allow me to tuck the pants legs into the socks, but some were doing that and it's probably a good idea.
I had great success with long trousers and permethrin on my AT hike. I never removed a single tick in my daily inspections. I did not use any DEET. My fashion sense did not allow me to tuck the pants legs into the socks, but some were doing that and it's probably a good idea.
This will be my strategy when I start my SOBO next month. Ex Officio ZIWA zip-offs with Insect Shield fabric, Insect Shield socks and gaitors. Here's a short video I did just a few days ago about this gear. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyB0kAaU0VI
rocketsocks
06-10-2013, 17:40
mods please remove previous post, as it was an older link thanks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=RTiWfyrNBwA&feature=endscreen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=RTiWfyrNBwA&feature=endscreen
Rolls Kanardly
06-10-2013, 18:31
The way my uncle said to kill ticks was to shave a small round circle somewhere on your body, put a burning fluid on the rest of your body and when the ticks migrate to the small shaven circle you stab them to death with an ice pick. muske-gon "my uncle was not the brightest bulb in the batch"
Wise Old Owl
06-10-2013, 20:32
Thanks guys. Any benefit to spraying the tent and backpacks with permethrin as well?
NO in fact I am surprised someone said yes... Ticks don't fly and Permithrin isn't Kryptonite. Ticks are ground dwellers... Unless there was a catastrophic wind they are not interested in your pack & never found one on my tent either...
Pants, shoes, possibly socks... Shirt for mosquitoes.. Places on your tent where you accidentally brush against with your body where mosquitoes might bite through.
MuddyWaters
06-10-2013, 21:07
treat clothing with permethrin.
Wear compression shorts so they cant freely access the nether regions
Quick check legs every 5 min or so if wearing shorts and encountering ticks, and just flick them off.
Dont wear dark clothing. Wear light colored clothing that shows them easily.
Permethrin on the tent floor and sides. Keeps the ticks off the tent which goes in your pack in the morning (hopefully without the ticks).
Also on the outside of the pack so when you set it down on the ground ticks don't hitch a ride.
Clothes go in the dryer first, before washing to kill ticks. If you wash first then the wet clothes might not get hot enough to kill them.
Know the symptoms of Lyme Disease and get immediate treatment if you suspect it. Don't let the Dr. make you wait for antibiotics until the test results come back. Tests are often inaccurate. My brother in law tested neg. 3 times before testing poss. I picked it up in MA, it sucks.
Chair-man
06-10-2013, 22:51
A lot of the trail was overgrown. So bad in a few places with tall grass completely covering the trail. I actually lost the trail twice down around Pot Point road it was so bad.
Find a better trail to hike on or take one of these next time you go. Trail builder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-2EDbp8R14)
Curious: If you find a tick embedded in your skin, would you demand a doctor give you anti-biotics?Or, would the doctor be able to tell if the tick was the bad kind if you brought it in?
Curious: If you find a tick embedded in your skin, would you demand a doctor give you anti-biotics?Or, would the doctor be able to tell if the tick was the bad kind if you brought it in?
I'd recommend doing your homework and be prepared to educate your doctor on species and pathogens. I would ID the tick your self and know the potential diseases it may carry. Depending on the species and the amount of time it was embedded, I'd make a call as to whether to discuss pre-emptive antibiotics. Lyme and most of the other infections are MUCH more effectively treated if caught very early. Here is a good starting point for tick info: http://www.lymedisease.org/lyme101/ticks/about_ticks.html
rocketsocks
06-10-2013, 23:51
Find a better trail to hike on or take one of these next time you go. Trail builder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-2EDbp8R14)I want one
Rain Man
06-11-2013, 08:44
Permethrin has to soak in and bind to the threads in fabric while drying. Waterproof fabric, such as tent floors and rainflies can't absorb the Permethrin.
You've gotten good suggestions, what about a dog? Did you have a dog with you? They will definitely go out and gather ticks and then bring the ticks to you. (Same for poison ivy.)
I hiked all those trails you mentioned with nary a tick. Of course, did the Mullens Cove Loop and Pot Point Loop with snow on the ground. That might be an effective strategy for you. ~wink~
Rain:sunMan
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marti038
06-11-2013, 08:56
Two weeks ago I was in the woods (working, not hiking) and had pants on. It wasn't terribly hot and I assumed long pants would protect me from poison ivy and insects.
That night when I got home, much to my surprise, a tick was latched on to the side of my left knee. In the past with shorts on I catch them crawling on my legs before they have a change to "bite" me.
All that is to say that pants are not tick proof. I plan on treating my worldly possesions with permethrin soon.
greenmtnboy
06-11-2013, 09:40
I have never had serious problems with ticks though I have spent a lot of time outdoors. I was talking with a cross country bicyclist the other day who said the tick problem was most acute in Tennesee and North Carolina this year and he had to do a tick check before retiring every night.
I would think that there should be sensible natural alternatives as others have suggested. A sweet carbo rich diet with little in the way of pungent foods like garlic, the onion family, sulfur rich proteins and the like would in my estimation predispose outdoors people to risks of ticks and other bugs more as these little buggers have extremely refined sensory systems. But then I was thinking about the statistics of deer and moose who have been found to have lots and lots of ticks over their bodies, so maybe this theory has holes? But then again they don't have the choice of diet or of external essential oil applications like we do.
Pathfinder1
06-11-2013, 10:00
Hi...
LYME DISEASE RAMPANT IN MID-HUDSON VALLEY...!!
Be extra careful in NY. It has one of the country's highest infection rates, with 51,936 cases reported to CDC from 2000 to 2010.
But the CDC extimates that the actual number may be 10 times as many. That means more then 520,000 men, women and children may have been struck by the disease.
The mid-Hudson region has been a hotspot for Lyme for more than a decade.
Orange County has had the most reported cases of any of New York's 62 counties for each of the past three years.
nastynate
06-11-2013, 10:10
Got some permethrin last night. Going to treat our clothes and shoes. Also going to try to stay out of the grassy areas from now on if I can help it.
I must be naturally tick repellant. I went on a short overnight section hike on Tar Jacket Ridge east of Buena Vista last weekend, and there were several areas where we walked through grassy areas (about knee high). I found zero ticks on my pants or my body. It makes me a little scared to be honest, like I must be not seeing them.