Touring - Fighting off dem der 'skeeters

How do you guys battle the Mosquitos on a tour? Netting? How much? Deet? What kinds?


Dave

I've read that B-1 is supposed to help keep skeeters at bay. Can't speak from experience though. I have heard that deet works really well, but that it is absorbed through the skin and unhealthy. You might read up on it.
Found this link about B-1.
http://extlab1.entnem.ufl.edu/Olustee/related/b-1.htm

Hate to say it but there is no defense for the skeeters in Minnesota. They are big enough to screw turkeys and carry small children away. Or so I am told. :D

Originally posted by Dwagenheim
How do you guys battle the Mosquitos on a tour? Netting? How much? Deet? What kinds?


Dave

Riding faster is your best defense against mosquitos

While cycling through Minn. one June I thought they were the State Bird! Touring in areas with large numbers of those flying blood suckers the best defense I've found is to always ride. Once it's time to camp, set up the tent right away and plan on staying there most of the time until it's time to ride again.

Some individuals attract them more than others. If you are an attractor try becoming less of an attrator. For example, maybe use a different soap or different color clothes.

The best thing is that even riding slowing is fast enough to leave them behind.

Wells

I heard it is the secretion of bannana oil, so avoid bannanas, like a biker is going to do that.
The other, and I've heard it works it to meditate, and in the meditation seeek out the Queen of all Misquitoes, ask her to keep her minnions at bay, burn some insence for her, and travel with her blessings.
And those "State birds," well they've discovered they can train them to patrol the borders, keeping us safe from Canadians.

lol, naisme. That was great.
I've heard the same about bananas. I would say I attract them. I will most definately have netting for the head and am thinking about using a long sleeve net shirt too. I heard the mosquitoes in Alaska are very bad. Maybe even worse then in Minnesota.

I know about deet and its ability to eat through just about anything, but I think I'll probably have to use some form of it as well.

Insence, eh? What do you think works best? the Nag Champa? :D

Being Minnesotan I suppose there are Native scents. Here the locals do a lot of smudging, with sage and sweetgrass. Burning sage smells an awful like burning hemp, if you get my drift...
My fear isn't the Skeeters, it's the biting black flies, I've heard are waiting in places like Maine when you finish the Apalachian Trail. And there is the ever present Horse and Deer fly, man their bite packs a wallop.
REI has netting as well as most backpacking stores.

the dreaded midges :D :D :D

the anti midge industry is huge :D :D at least in scotland it is


keep moving seems to work :) :)

seriously if its really bad use a hat facemask combo

look strange but saves your sanity lol

Actually in Canada we have enough mosquitoes of our own, we don't have to go down and bother the Minnesotans!:D

Deep woods Off works well, and you could try the lotions such as skintastic which is a little easier on the skin.

I try to remember to carry the small canisters of wipes, they're something like handi wipes, except with repellant on them. They're one use and are handy if you have to stop and fix a flat or something like that.

Originally posted by Dwagenheim
How do you guys battle the Mosquitos on a tour? Netting? How much? Deet? What kinds?


Dave
I use deet that is superstrong, that I bought at a USMC facility. I rub it on my skull cap and behind my ears. Just a little on your arms and legs should be enough.

roughstuff

My friends and I were talking about this over the weekend. One of them claims cedar oil (http://www.pestproducts.com/cedarcide.htm) works well, I had never heard of this. I have, however, read articles that asserted the only proven insect repellents contain DEET. I just found some information about something called Permethrin (http://www.travmed.com/trip_prep/insect_permethrin.htm) , a Chrysanthemum extract that I've heard works well. Here is some interesting scientific information (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/syndrome/analysis/pesticides.html) about DEET from a Frontline documentary.

Eating lots of spices seems to help. It is also a good excuse to add garlic, onions, and hot peppers to everything you cook.
Joe
:beer:

when i lived in Africa i used to drink a lot more than my fair share of brandy & i cant remember being to badly pestered by mozzies, im not saying i wasnt, i just cant remember !!

Hi,
I am a hiker. First rule is cover up. Try to find clothing that breathes well, is just rugged enough to keep them from biting, and covers arms and legs. That really cuts down on the bites, and the need for deet. I have just returned to bicycling, so I have no idea what works among the new fabrics. The next idea is to get a bandana, spray deet heavily on the back of the bandana and tie it around your neck. That gives pretty good protection when your moving. One thing I have not figured out is keeping bugs from flying into all those ventilation holes.....

Bugs... just the thought takes the fun out of a day on the road. I'd love to find an organic bug repellent, I'd be happy to learn that extra garlic on my dinner is the solution, but the truth is that all those buggers understand is DEETS and perpetual motion. Even these two in combination are often not enough.

The best defense against bugs is scheduling a trip before or after the bug's reign.

I have tried the garlic thing- it seems to work for me but only if I eat so much that the smell comes out in my sweat. It repels ticks, chiggers, mosquitoes, and women.

The best defense is to find someone that the mosquitos prefer to bite more than you and always ride with that person.

Something new as a mosquite repellant may be in the offing. Here are some quotes from a Science News article a few months ago (various paragraphs, not the whole article):

[quoting from Science New July 13, 2002]

Tomato compound repels mosquitos

North Carolina State University has obtained a patent for a chemical that could become a safer, more effective bug repellent.
-----
"On a whim," Roe says, he tested the tomato compound to see if it repelled bugs other than those that attack tomatoes. When he applied the natural chemical to food offered to cockroaches, he found the pests "would rather starve than touch it." When he put it on cloth in a mosquito cage, the insects flew the other way.
-----
... the chemical, now known as IBI-246. Even 12 hours after being applied to a volunteer's arm, it proved 91 percent successful at deterring landings by mosquitoes, notes company president Alan E. Brandt. "More importantly," he told Science News, "in terms of bites, it was 100 percent repellent."
-----
Moreover, Brandt notes, the tomato-based repellent is rated as less toxic than DEET, and it works against a broad range of pests, including ticks and fleas. Pending Environmental Protection Agency approval, pest-control products based on the compound, to be called SkeeterShield, could be marketed by next spring.

[end quote]

Another reason to love tomatoes :-)

If you're having mosquito trouble when riding, then you're not riding fast enough!

In camp, I've found that smoking a big giant cigar and sipping some single malt while kicked back in my ThermaRest'R is quite effective.

:beer: