My Grandad used to live on a lake in northern Ontario. He would rub Vicks vapor rub on his neck to help keep the mosquitoes away from him and it sure did work. Anyone have any tricks of the trade they use?
Mike

That's interesting! I have never heard of that.

I like rain gear the best. Even if I am a little hot, I try for this at times when bugs are hideously bad. Then, no bug spray needed.

Puffing on a cigar works too, but when my wife's with me I can't use that kind of repellent :o)

Eucalyptus scented chapstick works for me.

Permathrin on pants, socks and hats. Bugnet on portages if needed. I rarely use stuff on my skin, but when I do, I use Sawyer Picaridin. I do not like Deet.

DEET free

this stuff works pretty well, esp in the spring.

quote Mocha: " DEET free


this stuff works pretty well, esp in the spring."

Thanks; will try this!

I'm a bit of a weenie when it comes to chemicals on me. 3 or 4 years back we brought some of the Citronella Incense sticks to try and we haven't looked back ever since. We generally use 1 full pack per night, which has 6 sticks in it. Get it burning so there is a mini flame on the end, blow out the flame so it starts to smoke, stick em in the ground on the outskirts of camp down so wind blows it towards where you will be and those suckers last easily an hour. Light em up as the sun begins to set and you won't need bug spray. We wear long sleeve stuff of course but we wear that all day long.

Anybody tried Skin So Soft lately? I remember Mom would always apply that. Seemed to work pretty well.

Eat a lot to garlic for several days before your trip.

I use a picaridin product on my skin and a bug net for my head. Here is a link to a Centers for Disease Control page discussing effective mosquito repellants.
CDC mosquito repellant recommendations

I'm generally not bugged to bad by skeeters. When others are bathing in Deet and making smoky fires, I use a lemon grass spray. The one I use is Bug Soother, it works for me. It is made in Iowa, and they support canoeing events.

quote snapcrackpop: "Anybody tried Skin So Soft lately? I remember Mom would always apply that. Seemed to work pretty well."

I was just going to post about this. Hahahaha. I've heard some horrible things about when people have relied on this.
100% DEET on clothes 30% Deep Woods off on skin, Permethrin on clothing. My Motto is better living through chemicals.

quote snapcrackpop: "Anybody tried Skin So Soft lately? I remember Mom would always apply that. Seemed to work pretty well."

Because so many people use it as a repellent, they now sell it with picadarin.

Save bites on rear end at latrine and reduce mosquitoes around door to tent by using pin size cedar pellets in latrine and around the door. It fun to watch the varmints fly out of latrine.

I'm another huge picaridin fan! I get the Horse & Rider stuff from fleet farm. It's like $20 for a large can, and the sprayer for some dumb reason sucks, but it really works!

Sometimes essential oils work for me too.