quote:

When Mrs.BurtonRW and I head for the jungles of Costa Rica for vacation, we swear by picaridin (and permethrin for our clothes).

Exactly what I used for my trip to Africa last year. Malaria is no joke.

Here’s the stuff I used, Natrapel:
Link

And Sawyer’s makes the spray bottles of permethrin which you spray on your clothes and let them dry, good for 25 washings they say.
No odor, no greasy feeling.

What I didn't know until I read the Adventures of Lewis and Clark that malaria was endemic in the western half of the U.S. DEET would have been handy back then.

quote:

Originally posted by Aquabird:
Supposedly if you take garlic capsules regularly it is supposed to keep them from biting?

I am sure there is something natural, I just cannot think of it right now.

Keeps you from getting laid, too.

Or having friends.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Apparently, really bad body odor naturally repels skeeters.

Like I commented to Aquabird, not good for your sex life

Mosquitos find you via your exhale, then via sight, then via your heat signature.

Smoke wI'll help mask all of those. Stay downwind of your bee smoker.

Long sleeves, long pants, and sit close to your relatives while outside so you can slap the skeeters off of each other...

My grandmother would slather us all down with Campho-Phenique (I was always surprised it wasn't a Feen-A-Mint or an Ex Lax or God forbid, an enema...that was her go to remedy for everything in life)...

And let me add...you NEVER wanted to get that shit in your eyes!

I had to look it up; but it was a compound called 6-2-2 developed for the Army in WWII. DEET goes back to 1946; the stuff the troops got from them on through Vietnam and quite some time later was about 75% DEET and related compounds. The rest was denatured alcohol.

Malaria, scrub typhus, dengue, etc. were major issues for troops then in many theaters. 6-2-2 wasn't all that effective, thus research began in 1941 that ultimately gave us DEET.

Permetherin is the standard for today, until the next big disease outbreak at least. Apply it to socks, jeans, skivvies, hat, as other responders have mentioned. DDT is still in use in some parts of the world (or in stock..) for malaria control.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
The next few weeks are going to suck.

I see what you did there...........

PC

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:

quote:

When Mrs.BurtonRW and I head for the jungles of Costa Rica for vacation, we swear by picaridin (and permethrin for our clothes).

Exactly what I used for my trip to Africa last year. Malaria is no joke.

Here’s the stuff I used, Natrapel:
Link

And Sawyer’s makes the spray bottles of permethrin which you spray on your clothes and let them dry, good for 25 washings they say.
No odor, no greasy feeling.

Thank you both. I just ordered a bottle of permethrin and picaridin lotion. Mosquitoes love me. I'm going to douse my uniform and see how the permethrin works for me.

Try rubbing dryer sheets on exposed skin.

Jim