# bug repellent



## flatfish (Nov 14, 2002)

anyone know of any really good repellent for sand flies,i used deep woods off w/deet
seemed to do ok but is there anything that will realy keep those biting flies away?


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## Sandcrab (Mar 20, 2002)

Ben's Max 100% Deet Formula is the one the guys at AI use when the bugs get thick. You put it on the outside of your clothes. Comes in an orange bottle and costs $3.99 (Lotion) or $4.99 (pump). Cabelas has it (search for bug spray).
http://www.cabelas.com 

Heard a report that said that Deet causes cancer (What doesn't?)


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## AL_N_VB (Apr 3, 2002)

I don't know any other Bugs stronger than Parris Island sand fleas.

Here is the all purpose Marine Corps Bug Repelant formula:

1/2 bottle of rubbing alcohol

1/2 bottle of Avon's Skin So Soft.

mix

You might smell a little sweet,but the biting flies will stay away from you.


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## Sandcrab (Mar 20, 2002)

Don't you mean "Paradise Island"?  I've used SSS for years but never heard of mixing alchohol with it...I gotta try that.

Bugs at AI eat SSS for breakfast.  Maybe with the this new mixture, it will repel them.


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## littlefry (May 5, 2003)

The SSS really works for me. If you have dry skin, you can put it on your face and neck. This will keep the flies from zooming around your head. I never tryed it with rubbing alcohol.


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## LongRanger (Oct 4, 2000)

You may want to try 3M's new UltraThon. It is available at Wal-mart for $4.61 a can. It has time release formula that can last up to 8 hours.


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## Sandcrab (Mar 20, 2002)

8 hours! That will work! I hate to apply the stuff, then reapply again and again. I just might pick some up and give it the AI test.


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## FISHIN ROD (Feb 12, 2003)

We got tons of that skin so soft and expedition deet free bug spray at home. works great and deet free. my wife sells all that avon stuff.


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## hookinfinger (Feb 7, 2000)

I saw a report on channel 13 last night on this very subject.consumer reports tested bug sprays and 3m ultrathon came out on top.It repelled mosquitos and ticks better and for longer than other brands tested. 
It contains less deet than some other brands, yet still has staying power.I read somewhere that of the billions of times repellents containing deet have been used,there has been only 5 or 6 reported cases of adverse reactions. check wvec.tv web site for results of the testing.


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## Mummichog (May 19, 2003)

I put this up for others on another board. 

This is a rather lengthy post, but after all the bites I've had and good fishing I've missed, I made it a mission to beat the bastards.

Bugs...lets narrow it down to one...marsh devils...mosquitoes.

Per the beach...not so bad, unless you get a land breeze and then you'll be worried about the flies more so than mosquitoes. For the beach I use Avon Skin So Soft. It works...

Here are some tips for fishing:

Be ready to fish the moment you park. Stop off and put your waders on, prepare your tackle, use the bathroom, etc. in a less buggy area before you get to your spot. For instance, if I fish Bodie Island Light(in NC), I stop off before I turn off 12 and get ready. I get back in the car, waders on and all, even have a fly on my leader and when I park by the gate, I jump out, grab my rod and necessary items and walk/run to the water. Before I started doing this, probably 75 % of my bites were between the car and the water.

If you wade the backwater or hang around the inlets, once you get a ways out in the water, it's not so bad. I don't care how hot you are...put on bug proof clothing. I think Cabelas sells a thin "bug proof" shirt. Haven't tried it yet, but I might get one for the fall. They will bite through my chamois shirt...look into a headnet for the really bad days (which can be most of them). Don't wash your clothes with detergent containing deodorants and use no softeners in your dryer. Frankly once I get a shirt nice and "DEETY", I don't wash it...it gets real stinky, but I don't get bitten.

Avoid yellow colors during the day and when night fishing, try a red filter on your lights. Easier on your eyes and you won't attract as many bugs.

As for repellents, I have tried all the naturals...eucalytus, lemon, cactus...they love the stuff. Even the Avon SSS does not help much...although it helps on the beach against the flies. So...if you don't mind using it, get a lotion or spray with as much DEET as you can stand. I use Ben's Bug repellent(95%), got to have some lotion in there to spread it, on the bad days and it will hold them off. Combined with the right clothes, you'll be fine. Just don't get it anywhere near you bait, tackle, flies, lines, or any kind of poly clothing.

Cigars don't really help...the smoke does keep them away but you produce more CO which attracts them to you.

Has anybody actually tried that Ultrathon?


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

It's very simple, when the flying critters are around I'm not fishing. I had enough of those things in Viet Nam and couldn't do anything about. Now I can and stay home.  

Cayman.


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## OldBay (May 15, 2003)

Deet is very bad for fish. Don't let deet contact any fish you plan to release. I apply deet with a cloth and wear gloves when the bugs get to be too much. That way I can handle fish and not harm them with the chemicals.


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## Digger (Jan 4, 2000)

*Cigar*


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## TRIGGERFISH (May 21, 2001)

Ya catman if you didn't get out of the way of those flying critters in Viet Nam they would carry you away and the rats too!


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## flistell (Jan 15, 2003)

DEET, or N-diethyl-meta-toluamide is the active ingredient in most insect repellants, and comes in a variety of concentrations from as low as 4% to 100%. DEET masks our release of carbon dioxide which makes us harder to detect by biting insects. When we cover ourselves in repellant, we literally don't smell appealing to biting insects.

DEET based repellants come in liquid form, creams, lotions, pumps, and aerosol sprays. Generally anything below 20% DEET content should be avoided for anything more than a backyard barbeque. Conversely, high concentrations of DEET can also cause problems. In excess of 35% can cause rashes. Heavy use of concentrations in excess of 80% have been linked to short term schizophrenia, while behavior will return to normal after use is discontinued. Many people have noticed becoming irritable after extended use of high concentrations of DEET based repellants. Almost the entire population will find, that DEET based repellants are the best and safest choice of repellant they can use.

You may have heard about Avon's Skin So Soft. Avon's Skin So Soft is a skin care product that is used as a moisturizer. Many people swear by it as a mosquito repellant, and some non-scientific testing has indicated that it is pretty effective. Avon has never, and will never advertise Skin So Soft as an insect repellant. The lengthy and costly testing that goes into certifying a product is more than Avon wants to spend, and it moves away from the real features of the product. Avon Skin So Soft only seems to work against mosquitoes, and not other members of the biting hordes.

Some real backcountry folks use kerosene, which is what was used long before the petrochemical industry gave us DEET or other repellant products. Although kerosene is effective, it is damaging to clothing and skin, and is flammable. I sure wouldn't want to be around the campfire after slapping some kerosene around the back of the neck and on the arms to keep the bugs away!

If you have ever felt that you are the most appetizing item on the face of the earth to insects, or conversely insects don't seem to be interested in you at all, there is some truth to this also. Recently scientists have discovered that mosquitoes will select healthier people over sick people when selecting who to bite. They don't understand exactly why, but speculate that our chemical signature, what the insect "smells," is different depending on our condition. One does not have to be unhealthy to be lucky around flying insects.

When we swell up and itch from an insect bite it is because we are having an allergic reaction. The insects fluids are injected into our skin and our bodies treat it as an immune reaction, and the bodies extreme reaction causes the bump, itch, and the redness around an insect bite. A very lucky few, about 1% of the population do not have this reaction, and are not effected by insect bites. The body has either built a tolerance up for the chemicals injected in an insect bite, or does not recognize them as a threat.


Trailhead Base Camp Next Page 

From the net-not me. But I agree---SSS is wothless fors gnats and noseeums.


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## HuskyMD (May 19, 2000)

HERE IS YOUR AVON BUG ADVERTISEMENT YOU SAY WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
http://shop.avon.com/avonshop/default.asp?rep_phone=&rep_email=&level1_id=1&level2_id=7&pdept_id=30


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## flistell (Jan 15, 2003)

Are you sure martha Stewart isn't behind this? I have used it as sun screen for 2 years and is worthless for beach critters. Maybe you need to put so much on that the bugs slide off.


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## wizardude (May 19, 2002)

Have found that skin so soft does work, but for some reason, not straight out the bottle. Needs to be thinned 50%, I usually use water, but alcohol sounds interesting. Only problem is, doesn't (as does anything else) seem to help all that much for deer flies/biting flies or sand knats/no see-ums.

Got to get off this thread, making me itch


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## ShoreBird (Oct 29, 2002)

Take a look at this stuff Greenhead my friends tell me it's terrific. I use a bug shirt and head net when
the bugs get thick.


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## Klew17 (7 mo ago)

Sandcrab said:


> Don't you mean "Paradise Island"?  I've used SSS for years but never heard of mixing alchohol with it...I gotta try that.
> 
> Bugs at AI eat SSS for breakfast.  Maybe with the this new mixture, it will repel them.


When I was there we mixed SSS with aqua Vella aftershave


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