Tick protection- heads up on Permethrin treated shirt bargain

[desmobob]

I use Permethrin to treat my outdoor clothes to help guard against ticks/mosquitos. It's easy to use and fairly inexpensive. Yesterday, I found some Permethrin-treated long-sleeve hunting shirts on clearance at a local Walmart for $5.00 each. The tag says they are good for up to 70 washings!

Treated clothing should still be augmented with the application of a repellant. I like Sawyers Picaridin, which also finished on top in testing. It isn't as noxious as DEET, which is undeniably effective.

Here's a good article on treated clothing and repellants: https://www.consumerreports.org/insect-repellents/permethrin-treated-clothing-mosquito-bites/

Repellant is cheap enough and easy to use, but I couldn't pass up a treated shirt at five bucks!


It's the middle of winter here in upstate NY but I'm daydreaming about being out in the woods...

 

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[A#1]

Personally, I use nothing, and rarely have a tick.

I hear all kinds of paranoia stories, but I pretty much ignore them.

I see tick by the hundreds, nd I know plenty that get them.....so I know they're there.

My normal garb during bug season is shorts and flip flops. My accomplice wears a bikini and flip flops......if you dont give them a place to hide...they dont.

The lack of clothing also lends well to frequent tick checks

I think I've had 2 in 40 years, and she's had one in about 10 years.

Easy to see, easy to pluck, got better things to worry about.

Honestly, all the people I know that get them are dressed heavily to prevent it.

Just me experience.

 

[desmobob]

Personally, I use nothing, and rarely have a tick.

I hear all kinds of paranoia stories, but I pretty much ignore them.

Protecting yourself against an epidemic problem (and that's what it is here in NY) is not paranoia.

I've spent my whole recreational life in the outdoors and only ever had one tick imbedded in me until a couple of years ago. I thought I was lucky; that I had a body chemistry that they didn't care for or something like that. I spent my time in the woods in shorts and a T-shrt and no worries. Then, two years ago, things changed. I had two in one year. Last spring, I had to have three removed in the span of ten days.

People I knew had contracted Lyme Disease and it was not pretty. It was time to become proactive. This is not paranoia, it's common sense.

 

[Bum Luck]

I very seldom get ticks either, like 1 or 2 a year.

I used to scoff at chiggers too. Until I got them.

The first time was just a few, so it was only about a week of incessant itching-til-I-bled.

The second time, I just went 10 feet off the road in the grass, and that experience lasted over a week; a head-to-toe madly itching rash, and a midnight visit to the ER to treat the anaphylactic shock caused by an overload of the scores of bites. Thankfully I didn't have to pay for the Epi-pen jabbed in my thigh, but that was the least of it, in all about $2600.

Head to toe. And nothing cut the itching, but it wasn't for lack of trying everything I could think of. Like all day and all night.

I did get over it though, back to normal in like 2 weeks.

And yes, I'm invulnerable too. Scoff at poison ivy, poison oak, parsnip etc.

Now there' just too many insect-bourne diseases that have serious consequences out there to ignore it.

It's really not a test of manhood, unless intelligence is counted into it.

 

[desmobob]

Now there' just too many insect-bourne diseases that have serious consequences out there to ignore it.

It's really not a test of manhood, unless intelligence is counted into it.

 

[A2coins]

Thanks for that I need some of those I hunt woods all the time

 

[RTR]

Personally, I use nothing, and rarely have a tick.

I hear all kinds of paranoia stories, but I pretty much ignore them.

I see tick by the hundreds, nd I know plenty that get them.....so I know they're there.

My normal garb during bug season is shorts and flip flops. My accomplice wears a bikini and flip flops......if you dont give them a place to hide...they dont.

The lack of clothing also lends well to frequent tick checks

I think I've had 2 in 40 years, and she's had one in about 10 years.

Easy to see, easy to pluck, got better things to worry about.

Honestly, all the people I know that get them are dressed heavily to prevent it.

Just me experience.

Lime Disease is NO joke .

 

[EQ8]

I use Permethrin to treat my outdoor clothes to help guard against ticks/mosquitos. It's easy to use and fairly inexpensive. Yesterday, I found some Permethrin-treated long-sleeve hunting shirts on clearance at a local Walmart for $5.00 each. The tag says they are good for up to 70 washings!

Treated clothing should still be augmented with the application of a repellant. I like Sawyers Picaridin, which also finished on top in testing. It isn't as noxious as DEET, which is undeniably effective.

Here's a good article on treated clothing and repellants: https://www.consumerreports.org/insect-repellents/permethrin-treated-clothing-mosquito-bites/

Repellant is cheap enough and easy to use, but I couldn't pass up a treated shirt at five bucks!


It's the middle of winter here in upstate NY but I'm daydreaming about being out in the woods...

What dept. were the Wal Mart shirts in?
Thanks

 

[A#1]

My point is, that due diligence and awareness are also proactive, and at times somewhat more appropriate.

Local situations may vary, this is true. I frequent 3 areas of the state, one where lyme disease exists, 2 that don't, but there's more than just lyme, spotted fever don't sound fun neither. New York may have a larger tick population than Michigan.

But odds must be considered, the number of cases reported every year here are actually relatively low when you consider it. Compared to auto accidents, medical mistakes and the flu, even random murder, lyme disease is really a fairly unlikely issue.

Not giving the critters a place to hide, and frequent tick checks are just as effective as donning a special chemical treated outfit. Also useful are having the proper removal tools, knowing how to safely remove a tick, saving a few ticks that may be found for analysis if something was contracted, and knowing what potential tick is in the area you're in, and knowing how to spot any symptoms.

I live in the woods, I play in the woods. I hear tick talk all the time, though I've never met anyone that had anytthing they got from a tic. It can happen to anyone, at anytime, but be realistic about it too.....so can a slip and fall, lightning strikes, and accidental pregnancies, all probably more likely. But I don't crawl everywhere carrying a lightning rod and wearing a condom.

Manhood has nothing to do with any of it, I don't play that game. On the other hand, I wont live my life in a chemically treated suit of armor because mass media and safety weenies have nothing else to talk about.

All in all, be smart and take appropriate precautions

 

[desmobob]

What dept. were the Wal Mart shirts in?
Thanks

Hunting department clearance rack. They were black, long-sleeve shirts with the "Bone Collector" logo and one other logo that I can't recall.

 

[Dan]

Thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately Lyme Disease is the least of it,, the new one is incurable and deadly.

 

[desmobob]

New York may have a larger tick population than Michigan.

Here's a map of confirmed cases of Lyme disease put together by the Center for Disease Control two years ago.



A more up-to-date map I saw recently has the lower half of NY almost completely filled in with dots. I personally know four people who were diagnosed with Lyme; two of them suffered a great deal and have permanent damage. So, yeah it's a little more serious problem here, not media hype from safety weenies.

 

[desmobob]

Thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately Lyme Disease is the least of it,, the new one is incurable and deadly.

It gets scarier every year and no one seems to be doing much to stop it. One of my good friends is in the agricultural chemical business. He sent me an article from one of his trade journals that told the story of why companies aren't working harder to come up with a vaccine for Lyme. It had to do with a big lawsuit won against such a vaccine developer during testing. The industry was convinced it was a frivolous suit, but it made everyone involved gun-shy, including the insurance companies. After that, no one was too anxious to work on or test new vaccines. I wish I had saved the article.

I think it basically blamed the government for not stepping in to protect the private companies working on vaccines, and for not getting more involved in research itself. The inaccuracy (and expense) of Lyme tests was also making the medical insurance companies unwilling to provide coverage for them. Liability and unprofitability stalled progress.

The numbers of Lyme cases in the eastern US is in epidemic proportions and it continues to stay under the radar. The latest Powassan virus is really dangerous and there is no vaccine or treatment. It is still rare at this point, but so was Lyme disease when it was first identified and initially remained localized in Connecticut.

 

[Bum Luck]

My point is, that due diligence and awareness are also proactive, and at times somewhat more appropriate.

Local situations may vary, this is true. I frequent 3 areas of the state, one where lyme disease exists, 2 that don't, but there's more than just lyme, spotted fever don't sound fun neither. New York may have a larger tick population than Michigan.

But odds must be considered, the number of cases reported every year here are actually relatively low when you consider it. Compared to auto accidents, medical mistakes and the flu, even random murder, lyme disease is really a fairly unlikely issue.

Not giving the critters a place to hide, and frequent tick checks are just as effective as donning a special chemical treated outfit. Also useful are having the proper removal tools, knowing how to safely remove a tick, saving a few ticks that may be found for analysis if something was contracted, and knowing what potential tick is in the area you're in, and knowing how to spot any symptoms.

I live in the woods, I play in the woods. I hear tick talk all the time, though I've never met anyone that had anytthing they got from a tic. It can happen to anyone, at anytime, but be realistic about it too.....so can a slip and fall, lightning strikes, and accidental pregnancies, all probably more likely. But I don't crawl everywhere carrying a lightning rod and wearing a condom.

Manhood has nothing to do with any of it, I don't play that game. On the other hand, I wont live my life in a chemically treated suit of armor because mass media and safety weenies have nothing else to talk about.

All in all, be smart and take appropriate precautions

I disagree.

The reason there aren't more cases of Lyme's disease reported is the abysmally low rate of detection, even (especially) among doctors because of lack of informing themselves, the failure of tests to detect, and the variability of symptoms. If you want to consider numbers, garbage in, garbage out. No one would drive with their brake foot hanging out the window for example. Your other examples are simply additive rarities and have nothing to do with things we DO have control over. Research states that the number of Lyme's cases each year might more accurately climb as high as 300,000 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's .1% of the general population each year, and includes the vast majority of city dwellers that never get off the concrete or out of the bar. Dividing that out with the time each spends in the outdoors is a more accurate assessment of risk, and especially factoring in the cost and down time of serious disease.

It's not just Lyme's anymore either, they (and other insects) are vectoring other exotic diseases not heard of before: Tularemia, Powassan virus, Ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, alpha-gal syndrome (which results in a lifelong allergy to red meat) which I was at risk for. Crikey! And a dozen more.

Not giving the critters a place to hide, and frequent tick checks are not as effective. I mean, I do that, including hot showers after work. If they are on sprayed clothing, they are dead.

You may live and play in the woods, but I work there under all conditions. I am not one of those that attract ticks. It was not uncommon decades ago that I would have maybe 1 or even no ticks on me, and my companions would have as many as 30. I just don't smell as good to them, but it doesn't stretch to mosquitoes or black flies. We may have different friends too, but quite a bunch of mine have had Lyme's.

I work in the woods, fields, and swamps, and I don't have the luxury of not going in nasty places; I go regardless. Three to 6 days a week, year around, although they're worse in spring when I'm typically out more often as opposed to guys that go in hunting and trapping seasons when they're aren't as many ticks.

I have never had anyone accuse me of being a safety weenie, or that has nothing else to talk about; that would be hilarious for anyone that's worked with me. I've used up 25 lives doing dumb stuff including getting struck by lightning and somehow lived through them. I'm just done being stupid with an increasing threat that I can do something about, and I want to help others on TNet avoid life-changing mistakes. There is a lot of bad advice out there (and on here). Better to be detecting than laying in bed sick.

It takes very little time to spray your clothes up with Permethrin and wa-la - your insect-lethal. 2 minutes spraying up compared to useless time picking yourself over or worse, doctoring up when you're sick, if you want to talk math.

And you don't have to smell like a Fabreze either. Permethrin doesn't smell at all.

 

[A2coins]

I spray every time I hunt better safe than sorry but to each his own.

 

[A2coins]

There was a post a while back on lime desease it was a wake up call and kinda got me thinking. So I take precautions

 

[Jim in Idaho]

A few years ago I was one of those guys that thought I was "tick proof". They just wouldn't stay on me. same with fleas when I was a fur-hunter, years ago. Then i was in Wyoming and had one attach. Four days later I was diagnosed with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and sick as a dog for 3 weeks. Isn't going to happen to me again. One lucky break was enough to teach me a lesson. Permethrin is cheap and easy. The risk/reward factor is WAY in favor of treating your clothing, and skin.
Jim

 

[A2coins]

I use the off with the number 5 DEET its supposed to be for ticks what do you think as far as using that.

 

[Bum Luck]

I use the off with the number 5 DEET its supposed to be for ticks what do you think as far as using that.

Just marketing.

DEET doesn't kill 'em. Permethrin does.

DEET stinks. Permethrin doesn't.

DEET melts plastic. Permethrin doesn't.

Permethrin just is better all around.

The only drawback I can think of is it won't last on your skin, although I find it does on your hair. Actually, although I use DEET on my face and hands, I seldom need it on them when I use Permethrin. If bugs are attracted to you and land on your treated clothes, they are dead.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

For ticks, at least, you want Picaridin for your skin. Same benefits as Permethrin, but not poisonous to humans. Do NOT use Permethrin on your skin...NOT good! If you go outdoors with a dog, it's a good idea to also treat your sleeping bag, or other bedclothes, with Permethrin. Your pooch may have them, and snuggling against you will transfer them to you while you sleep. I'm fairly certain that's how I was bitten in Wyoming. I always treat my sleeping bag, now, and also the cushions in my old camper.
Jim