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  1. #21

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    I can reach every part of my body. I search with my hands and when the small seed ticks are in abundance I also use a mirror.

    Even when wanting to eat and go to sleep ignoring ticks I make it a priority to check in high tick areas considering the possible consequences of ignorance. Treating gear and checking for ticks throughout the day make the night time tick check less time consuming.

  2. #22
    Registered User JJ505's Avatar
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    Thanks for the info. This looks good. Lasts a long time, which is also good. Also good you don't have to do this at home. I have a cat and my neighbors have outdoor cats who roam the neighborhood. I've heard wet permethrin is highly toxic to cats.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf View Post
    For what it's worth I sent my clothes out to be professionally permethrin treated by a company called Insectshield. It costs about $10 per piece of clothing, but unlike home applications which have to be done every few washings, the professional treatment lasts the average lifetime of a piece of clothing (70 washings) or so they claim. It was well worth it to me to have it done right once. I have not seen a tick on me when using the clothes I had treated.
    https://www.insectshield.com/ISYOC.aspx

  3. #23
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    For tics, a neurologist I would start with. For ticks, a mirror or cell phone can help the process.

  4. #24
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    This is all very good information. I suggest that this thread be set as a sticky. I'm going to download the whole thing and put it into a .pdf file with a name that is very obvious and in a logically named folder on my hdd so that when I am preparing for a hike I can refer to it.

    On the subject of dogs; I never take my dog into the woods. He is dark haired, and it would be very difficult to find ticks on him.
    I have in the past used FrontLine, which is applied to his hair. I have my doubts as to the effectiveness of this product, and fear that it may do more harm than good to my dog. I read some alarming articles on the toxicity of some of those chemicals.
    I don't live in an area that is a risk for ticks, so the dog is not really at risk.

    Now, about me; I have gotten into the practice of applying DEET to my legs, even if I am wearing long (untreated) pants. I also apply it to my socks, and the cuffs of the pants. I have never gone so far as tucking my pants legs into my socks - I am too conscious about what I look like to do that.. ha ha.
    I also apply DEET to the nape of my neck, behind the ears, etc - the places I would expect to find a tick.

    As a last line of defense, I have always been very conscious of how I feel. If I were to feel any symptoms of Lyme (or anything else) within the time frame one would expect infection I will visit my doctor. I had once considered taking a cache of antibiotic pills with me on a trip, but decided against it, since taking them without having symptoms is going to do more harm than good.
    There is a happy medium between paranoya and logic. It's just hard to find it sometimes...

  5. #25
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    getty_rm_photo_of_adult_and_nymph_tick.jpg
    If you are worried about Lyme disease then you need to find and remove larval ticks (the small one in this picture) which are the stage of deer tick that spread Lyme disease. You might be better off relying on something like Insect Shield https://www.insectshield.com/
    If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.

  6. #26
    Registered User DownEaster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nsherry61 View Post
    I love the Zoom Sliimvision reading glasses and highly recommend them. Super light. Super resilient. Super affordable. Perfectly adequate optics.
    Thanks for the recommendation, but unfortunately I need prescription reading specs because my eyes aren't even close to equal.

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by DownEaster View Post
    Thanks for the recommendation, but unfortunately I need prescription reading specs because my eyes aren't even close to equal.
    Another tool I have used with good success are stick-on bifocals. They attach to glasses lenses like window cling stickers do and work quite well.
    I use them to make my sunglasses usable for seeing my bicycle computer and/or a map and/or my cell phone without having to switch eyewear constantly.
    There appear to be several brands out there. I have only used Hydrotac ones.

    A couple tricks I have found useful:
    1) I can put only one bifocal sticker on only one lens, the side with my stronger reading eye, so that I can both read a map/cell phone with my stronger reading eye and I can still glance down and see the ground at my feet or wheel with my other eye. Deliberate uneven lensing of the eyes is commonly used in people getting eye surgery so they can quit using glasses all together. The doctor gives them one eye for close-up and one eye for distance vision. This takes a fair bit of getting used to, but, in the end, can be helpful.

    2) I have taken this uneven lensing idea further and use it on my reading glasses a few times. I again put just one lens sticker on one side of my Slimvision reading glasses so they are +2.50 on one side and +3.75 on the other so that I can read super close fine detail with one eye and read at computer screen distance with the other.

    So DownEaster, just maybe you could play around with these lenses and get yourself both cheaper and lighter custom eyewear that would work for what you are trying to do?

    Good luck and have fun!
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  8. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by nsherry61 View Post
    Seresto collar. $60 - $80 every 8 months. Problem 99% solved. Only ever pulled one dead tick off my very active forest dwelling dog in the three years we've been living in the New England forest. One hike last year my friend pulled 11 ticks off his dog on a 12 mile hike. I found none on mine.

    Apparently, you can also treat your dog's fur directly with the Sawyer permethrin spray and it's supposed to be good for two weeks. I haven't tried that yet, but might try it to see if it helps keep the mosquitoes away from my short haired dog that loves the outdoors, except when there are mosquitoes around that drive her completely nuts.
    Thanks for the recommendation, I heard good things about Seresto and may give it whirl. I've also found attached ticks that have died from my dog's flea/tick treatments, but my worry is that he picks up ticks from the low brush, and then they decide they don't like the pesticides and hop off when he's lounging on our furniture. He's a hair dog with very dense dark brown hair - although we always shave him bald in warm weather, he starts looking like an Ewok after a month or so, and his chest is only ~8" off the ground - perfect storm to mop up forest ticks and relocate them on our furniture. Short of peritherim baths, I can't imagine anything strong enough to prevent at least the temporary hitchhikers.

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by reppans View Post
    ...my worry is that he picks up ticks from the low brush, and then they decide they don't like the pesticides and hop off ...
    Exactly what I'm thinking.
    Since we have the cat, which is roaming free and comes back to the house every so often, exactly the area where she is spending some time every day (the western terrace that opens up into the meadows) is pretty much tick infested.
    The cat is treated, but I belive that many ticks just let go as soon as they feel the poison.

    I can't proof the theory, but belive that pretty much the same principle works with the (lots of) dogs in crowded dayhike areas here around.

  10. #30

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    Here is a link to the CDC pdf brochure “LYME DISEASE: What you need to know”.

    https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/resources/b...sebrochure.pdf

  11. #31
    Registered User DownEaster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nsherry61 View Post
    So DownEaster, just maybe you could play around with these lenses and get yourself both cheaper and lighter custom eyewear that would work for what you are trying to do?

    Good luck and have fun!
    I did make myself some custom reading specs from two pairs of drugstore cheaters, with +3.75 (left eye) and +1.25 (right eye). They're not trail-ready, though, and I haven't found any other glasses which will accept lenses of significantly different thicknesses.

    I've still got 3 months to get through this and all the other items on my AT checklist.

  12. #32
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    I'm a big fan of my Visualites 201 reading glasses, from amazon. Mine are 1.27 oz in their hard plastic case. The frames are extremely flexible and I find the optics to be very good.

    It would be easy enough to disassemble two pairs into mismatched magnifications

  13. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf View Post
    In order to fully check for ticks at night, Use the camera on your smartphone to take photos of the parts of your body you can't see. Once finished, for the love of everything good in this world, delete said photos.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf View Post
    For what it's worth I sent my clothes out to be professionally permethrin treated by a company called Insectshield. It costs about $10 per piece of clothing, but unlike home applications which have to be done every few washings, the professional treatment lasts the average lifetime of a piece of clothing (70 washings) or so they claim. It was well worth it to me to have it done right once. I have not seen a tick on me when using the clothes I had treated.
    https://www.insectshield.com/ISYOC.aspx
    I can look most places with a mirror.

    The idea of a phonecam might be a good one for the back of my neck, but I'll stick to a mirror for some of the other places, thank you. I don't want the phone deciding that my images should be backed up in the cloud, or something. A picture of the back of my neck is just ugly, not horrific.

    Thanks for the link for ISYOC. I'd been using the Sawyer spray-on treatment for a while, but it's only supposed to be good for three months or six washings. A permanent treatment seems a better bet.
    I always know where I am. I'm right here.

  14. #34
    Registered User kestral's Avatar
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    When I started hiking back in the 1970s I saw a lot of long distance hikers with flea and tick dog collars around their ankles. Does anyone still do this.? Those folks said they worked, not a tick on them! I supposed they kept elephants away too.

    I have been tempted by my dogs oral mosquito flea and tick monthly medicine, but have never taken the plunge. I’m sure poison control would frown on this also.

    I try to hike in cooler weather and have been successful with permethrin treated long pants and shoes so far.

  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Another Kevin View Post
    I can look most places with a mirror.

    The idea of a phonecam might be a good one for the back of my neck, but I'll stick to a mirror for some of the other places, thank you. I don't want the phone deciding that my images should be backed up in the cloud, or something. A picture of the back of my neck is just ugly, not horrific.
    Just put your phone in Airplane Mode while taking and viewing the photos, then delete them. No cloud to worry about when you don't have a signal.

  16. #36
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    Since starting this thread, I've been doing a lot of Googling, and have decided that I will go with treated clothing for my next trip. It makes sense, since you are stopping the ticks from ever reaching your body. Of course I will still be wary of ticks, and check myself often.

  17. #37
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    Again, I might emphasize the usefulness of long trousers. In our country its the number two in all good advice regarding tick preventions.

    The number one is, getting an immunisation against the most wide spread tick borne disease here, a dangerous and non-treatable Enzephalitis.
    As you don't have this disease in the US, the long trousers advice would be number one.

  18. #38
    Registered User Redbird2's Avatar
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    I have read that you are most at risk after 24-36 hours of the tick being attached. When I find one, I have used a tick removal tool that I bought at REI but I now carry needle nose tweezers that seem to work pretty well. I have no experience checking in those really hard to get to places behind me.

  19. #39
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    These are helpful tips. Thanks!

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