1st Lt. Koch – 05/20/16

We’ve been so blessed with amazing places to camp one of which is our very own HQ Camp. Of course, where there is beautiful country including tall grasses, forest, lake shore, fields and wildlife we can also count on bugs. The bugs we need to protect ourselves from are chiggers (the worst), mosquitoes and ticks. When temperatures warm up it means the bugs will be out for a bite. “OFF” the long-time favorite or popular brand of effective insect repellent is also a carcinogen that is absorbed into the skin at crazy rates.! In fact there are many products out there that contain the same active ingredient – Deet. These deet products are very effective, but need to be reapplied 2-3 times a day to be most effective depending on which product you use. Because of their carcinogen classification I in good conscience cannot recommend them. There are Deet alternatives such as Picardin, however, there is not much research out there to make me comfortable recommending them. If you are OK using them at least they work well.  I’ve been researching other options and have come up with an excellent alternative.

Best: Treat your clothes (boots, socks, under-shirt, outer-shirt, hat with permethrin – SAFE, effective, easy to get*, inexpensive, and lasts for multiple camp outs and washings. (click here for more information and instructional video by Rob at Sigma 3 Survival)

*Walmart, REI believe it or not has the better buy for twice the size than Walmart for only a few dollars more!

Additional tips: You can always add a mosquito head net if they are really bad, especially away from the campfire! Long pants tucked tightly into your boots or socks as well as long sleeved shirts also tucked in help a great deal to minimize entry points for the bugs.

1st Lt. Koch