I treated mine with Sawyer's over the week end. Should I wash them after treating them or use them as is?
As long as you wait 2 - 4 hours (depending on humidity) for the Sawyers to dry, no need to wash before useOriginally Posted by RoamingGentile
Ok thanks. I did leave them out all day about 6 hours and they were dry when I took them inside.
I didn't. I washed my clothes before I treated and just wore them and/or packed them when they were dry. No problem whatsoever. I am a VERY HEAVY sweater so my shirt and pants were literally soaked each evening and I still had no problem.
" Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. "
Martin's Permethrin 10%, 32oz - 1 Quart https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00061MSS0..._Qw7Ixb05FJWJF
Is this the stuff I can get to soak my clothes/gear in the 1:20 ratio? Seems like the best bang for the buck.
Thats the stuff. Be forewarned, its a bit more aromatic than sawyers. Ive had to let mine air out several days before the smell was gone.
Yes. I dilute it 1:11.5 to yield 0.8%, consistent with military protocol.
Thanks for the tips. Would 2 bottles of this sound reasonable for a standard full set of gear and clothes? Or is one bottle plenty.
Given all that I've read, I'm planning on doing all my clothes (minus underwear), shoes, pack, and maybe the footprint and/or rain fly.
I treat everything including socks, shoes, shorts, underwear, hat, sleeping bag, mat, gloves, stocking hat, backpack (especially the straps), cover, stuff sacks, tent floor.... basically anything that is fabric. I do this a few days before leaving, making sure everything has dried. Ticks that get on you clothing will die after a couple of hours. I have found dead ticks on my shorts and even on my sleeping mat.
Only one time did I get one of those tiny deer ticks embedded and it was between my thumb and fore finger. Apparently it got on the black fabric strap of my hiking pole when I rested the pole against a tree. Now I remember to spray those straps too.
Wow, thanks for that insight. What product/method/procedure do you use?
I did 3 pairs of pants. Several shirts and several pair of socks last year. I still have half a bottle of the stuff that i'll use up when I start finding ticks on me again. I havent found any yet this year, but I've been touching up the night before with a bottle of sawyers, too.
Of course ymmv.
Good to know. 1 bottle it is!
I hang the stuff on a clothesline in my garage and spray with the Sawyer pump spray. You should probably take some precautions against smelling or breathing the mist. It smells bad when wet but is odorless when dried. I usually end up using 1-1/2 to 2 of the large Sawyer pump containers which are roughly $15 apiece on Amazon. Look for sales in the off-season. I'm sure there are cheaper ways that require diluting concentrate in water and using a garden type tank sprayer. I just bite the bullet, pay for the 2 containers and get it done over a couple of days. I figure one trip to the Dr for a Lyme test or treatment might cost many times what the preventative treatment cost.
Oh I definitely plan to do the treatment. After research, I feel very drawn to the soak method, so I plan to go that route about a week before my trip. After a month in, I may buy a spray bottle of the Sawyers stuff, or whatever brand I can find, to reapply during the 2 month trip.
Clothing labeled as Insect Shield is advertised to be good for about 70 wash cycles before it loses it's effectiveness. Does anyone know of any research on the soak your own clothing method in regard to duration of effectiveness? We'll be doing this for a SOBO next year and it would suck to hit the warm states about the time the treatment stops working...
“He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.” –Socrates
The 70 washings is considered to be the useful life of the garment, so why not just either buy InsectShield clothing or send your own to InsectShield for treatment http://www.insectshield.com/IS_Your_...s/default.aspx ($10 or less per garment) and be done with it. Either way, its the same 70 washing effectiveness, is a lot easier than treating and retreating, and cheaper in the long run than using Sawyers (Based on $15 for 24 ounces of Sawyers spray, Sawyer's recommended 3 ounces per garment per treatment, and retreatment every 6 launderings, the cost is ~$21/garment for 66 launderings using Sawyers vs. <$10 for 70 launderings using InsectShield treat your own. The added bonus being not having to find Sawyers and retreat while on trail. Using the mix your own farm sprays will be cheaper, but I'll limit the analysis to labelled uses. Besides, most of the concentrates have petroleum based inactive ingredients and just reek. I do use Sawyers to spray shoes and gear, but the clothing I'm wearing is my primary line of defense.
Go to your local farm and home or feed store and get the permethrin concentrate. It's about $65 a gallon, but it's 10% and needs to be mixed 20:1. 21 gallons of permethrin for $65 does me just fine.
Cheers,
the Goat
$10/item just sounds unreasonable when it's such an easy process and for so much cheaper. I'm a fan of DIY where it's manageable with little to no skill or tools, even if some research is involved. I like being self sufficient. Saves me a LOT of money.
From a safety stand point this is not what to do. For backpacking gear a single bottle of Sawyers for under $20 will treat tents, hammocks and clothing. Never do underwear and do use water based not oil based. Again, if you mess this up you will be miserable for a month. (FOLLOW DIRECTIONS ON THE LABEL)
By the way its sold in gallons for treating cows and horses. You are not that big.
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
Please wear a face mask do not inhale.
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
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