My wife and I did some hiking at Tamarac Wildlife Refuge on Saturday. What a great day to be out. Did one trail and when we got back to the car, she had three wood ticks on her pant legs. I looked. None on me. Not too happy, she looked for more while on the ride to the next trailhead, and tossed a couple out the window. On the mid-point of the next hike, we sat down for a bit and she had four more. Examining myself, none. I theorized that it could the differences in clothing colors, but actually, they were slight. (Both of us had our usual long-sleeved quick-dry material shirts and zip-off pants worn on just about every camping/hiking/canoeing trip.) At the end of the loop, a half-dozen more ticks, all on my wife. One more found in her hair on the drive home. Four more by the time we changed clothes. I still counted none. Some jokes about how they must really like her, she's so sweet, etc. didn't exactly go over that well.

Fast forward to this morning. An email from a camping supplier -- Campmor, I believe -- advertised bug and tick solutions. And the lightbulb went ON:

Last July, prior to our men's annual canoe trip, I had tried -- for the first time -- spraying my clothing with Sawyer permethrin. Forgot all about having done it. I recall that at the time I was thinking "how will I really know whether this stuff works, or if it's just because the bugs just weren't that thick this time around?" Now, I know for certain. When the score is 20-0, there's something major going on, and it was the treatment.

Sheepishly, I explained. And was promptly told to make sure that we still have enough to treat her clothes, too. Today.

This stuff works.

Noted.

I may try it, have heard stories about ticks in some of the areas I plan to hike this year. Where did you buy the permethrin? Online?

Glad you had good experience with it. Personally I haven't found it super effective on wood ticks. At the family ranch up in Sandstone (a notorious place for ticks) I'd still come back covered in them even with the permethrin treatment. Once I even took one and put it in a jar and literally soaked it in the straight sawyer permetrin and watched it... Still moving after a good 6 hours in there.

I don't doubt it kills them within the time it takes them to start feeding, and maybe it's more effective on deer ticks, but It doesn't seem to actually keep them off entirely in my experience.

Also saw little if any effect on mosquitoes. Again maybe they die later, but it doesn't kill them fast enough to keep them from biting.

Thanks for sharing scweady.

Joe..... I get mine at Walmart. I've also seen it at sporting goods stores.

Used with great results for years. Currently use Duration

keth0601, I don't know what product or application but have watched ticks die on permethrin treated clothes. It is a standard insecticide used in food processing/storage facilities. It is not a direct spray and use product, so I do not doubt your anecdote. But that is contrary to the method of application for it.

butthead

SaganagaJoe: I wasn't sure whether I'd become a believer, so I just got a 24 oz pump spray bottle Sawyer brand on Amazon ... $14.99. I may look into some of the concentrates to mix myself, especially now that I have doubled the sets of clothing I need to treat. :-)

and, yes, they were wood ticks. 20-0...

I use it and love it.

There's an excellent set of instructions - youtube 'permethrin soak' and its the first to come up. Buy the 36% stuff from Amazon, wear gloves, and follow the vid closely.

Permethrin soak plus moderate usage of picardin on exposed skin kept the wife and I nearly bug free in mid June a couple years ago. Blackflies were in full force, some days nearly covering the ground. We were hanging out in bare feet and short sleeves. Had zero ticks, zero fly bites and maybe a dozen mosquito bites each on a 10 day trip.

after we got home and were unpacking the car in the driveway, I think we got more bites than we did our entire time in the BW.

quote butthead: "Used with great results for years. Currently use Duration


keth0601, I don't know what product or application but have watched ticks die on permethrin treated clothes. It is a standard insecticide used in food processing/storage facilities. It is not a direct spray and use product, so I do not doubt your anecdote. But that is contrary to the method of application for it.


butthead"

Yeah I understand it's not supposed to be a direct spray deal like raid. I just tried that as a bit of an experiment as I wasn't seeing the recommended application method being especially effective either at the time. We'd go out riding four wheelers through the fields and come back with a dozen or so of them on us even though our clothing was treated following the directions for the Sawyer permethrin. Again no deer ticks that I've seen using it yet. Just wood ticks.

quote keth0601: "

quote butthead: "Used with great results for years. Currently use Duration



keth0601, I don't know what product or application but have watched ticks die on permethrin treated clothes. It is a standard insecticide used in food processing/storage facilities. It is not a direct spray and use product, so I do not doubt your anecdote. But that is contrary to the method of application for it.



butthead"

Yeah I understand it's not supposed to be a direct spray deal like raid. I just tried that as a bit of an experiment as I wasn't seeing the recommended application method being especially effective either at the time. We'd go out riding four wheelers through the fields and come back with a dozen or so of them on us even though our clothing was treated following the directions for the Sawyer permethrin. Again no deer ticks that I've seen using it yet. Just wood ticks."

Yes a straight liquid application does little if anything. I originally was convinced by a pest control serviceman at work, who described its action as a molecular barrier insecticide that forms on the treated surface after the carrier (liquid part), has dissipated.

And ticks are out in heavier amounts this year around my home area, SE WI. Tick checks are a regular thing for me now even with treated clothing.

butthead

I heard you can find this at Walgreens and if you have a health savings account card you can use that as it's used for treating bedbugs. ( I think anyways)
I've never looked for it or tried it, but after reading this I just might now
Thanks
Mike

I haven't found a tick on me in 5 years and maybe 8 trips now. I may just be lucky and would be loathe to conflate correlation with causation but I permethrin all my BWCA clothes and am pretty confident that's the reason behind my lack of ticks. The stuff has been proven many times over to be effective so check it out if you also hate bugs (you do, right?).

It even helps cut down on skeeter and flies, though it's not as effective here as it is against ticks because they'll still occasionally bite through treated clothes. Combine it with some lemon eucalyptus spray and a thermacell and you can be about as bug-free as one can hope to be while out in the woods.

The Sawyer spray bottles work fine but it's more economical to buy the concentrate and dilute your own. IIRC it's 10% solution and you want it diluted to .5% so you just need to mix it in a spray bottle at a 20:1 ratio and away you go (but double check this if you go this route.. haven't looked at it since last year).

Got mine thru Amazon. 10% and I dilute 1oz to 16oz water. I think i paid 16 bucks. Way cheaper thans Sawyers or any pre mix in the sporting goods dept. I figure it will last me 2-3 yrs. The stuff works.

I've been using permethrin treated clothing for about a decade now, first starting with a couple of sets of clothing (shirt/pants) bearing the "Buzz Off" label. Those clothes, like the self-treated clothing, had a useful life of about 6 washings (or 6 weeks). So, when it came time to retreat my clothes, I purchased the "military soak" version (I seem to vaguely remember that the sprays came later).

I now use sprays on garments like hats, but have remained a user of the soak method of treatment. To me it seems the more effective means of getting complete coverage and penetration of the treatment. The soak comes with a bottle of permethrin that you dilute and add to a large plastic zip-lock bag in which you've place a set of clothing. I leave the bag sitting for an hour or so and then flip it so the liquid has a chance to flow to the opposite side, insuring 100% coverage. After I minimum of two hours, I remove the clothing from the plastic bag (using the pair of plastic gloves supplied), and hang so the clothing can air dry. The clothing, upon removal, is completely soaked through to the point of dripping.

My observation concerning ticks: I've had no ticks on my skin at any time. I have seen a couple of transient ticks on my garments (mostly pant leg) and have observed that ticks will crawl around for 3-5 seconds and will fall off. I have also found a couple of dead ticks inside my tent (I assume they were on my clothing when I entered the tent.)

My observation concerning mosquitoes: I feel that the initially purchased clothing was somewhat better than treated clothing. I remember a couple of times when I was sitting in a cloud of mosquitoes and noticed that none were within arms reach. It as almost like I was sitting inside a protective bubble ... an amazing experience. With treated clothing the results were somewhat less amazing. I do have mosquitoes land on my clothing, but they also tend to walk around a bit and then fly away. I do get the occasional bite on exposed skin which I've neglected to treat with deet (and yes I use 100%, but only when absolutely ... like 1+ mosquito per square inch of exposed skin).

My observations concerning black flies, gnats, etc.: Maybe a slight deterrent, but you are still having to deal with them.

I should add that my set of clothing not only include a shirt and pants, but a bandana and socks as well. (The bandana is normally worn around my neck ... especially around camp and on portages.)

NOTE: A couple of years ago, I took a canoe trip to extreme NW Ontario with a couple of friends. When questioning our outfitter about the abundance of mosquitoes, he's reply was "worst I've seen in 25 years of business here." Over the span of the next two weeks of paddling, I donned my mosquito headnet MAYBE twice. My partners were living in theirs. At the completion of our trip, I had NO mosquito bites ... NONE. Before departing for civilization on our fly-out, I showered and put on clean clothes. I was eaten alive before I got airborne. Need I say more?

One last thing. Over the course of the year, I take a daily capsule of fish oil. I have a canoe trip coming up in about a month, so I've switched to flax seed oil capsules. I know this sounds odd, but one of my kids runs a swimming pool service (yeah, we live in the southern US), and they were suffering from spring through early fall with mosquito bites; a consequence of working around areas which can be prime breeding grounds for mosquitoes. They started taking flax seed oil and the number of bites diminished dramatically and the remaining bites were less irritating. I'm not exactly sure what the mechanism is but ... if it translates to fewer mosquito bites, I'm all for it! (I'm now beginning my 4th spring/summer season taking a daily flax seed oil capsule.)

I will agree with the use of Sawyer permethrin. I have been treating my clothes for years with this stuff. It works great. I also spray 100% DEET on my pants legs.

It does work! Wouldn't go to the woods without treated clothes, socks & hat.
Always on clothes; never directly on skin. Deadly to cats. Fish? I've always wondered if it leaches out into the waters when I wet-foot.

+1 on Permethrin for ticks and mosquitos. I use it on all of the clothing I wear in Quetico each year. And I apply permethrin to my screen tent "no see-um " netting and tent screening.

Permethrin is an awesome product and I wouldn't go into the woods without it.

In fact, I am applying some to my pants, socks, shirt, and hat that I will be using this weekend when I go morel hunting. There are lots more ticks than normal out right now. Unusually warmer temps this spring is the cause. Mild winter temps and snow cover when we had cold temps this winter has resulted in more overall insect survival than normal.

+1 Iove the stuff, but I would reapply mine after 6 weeks.

I use it before my "big trip" each year. Clothing, hammock, shoes, tarps..... everything. Some buddies find ticks, I don't. Other possible reasons? Of course. I'll always use it though.

quote dentondoc: "My observation concerning mosquitoes: I feel that the initially purchased clothing was somewhat better than treated clothing. I remember a couple of times when I was sitting in a cloud of mosquitoes and noticed that none were within arms reach. It as almost like I was sitting inside a protective bubble ... an amazing experience. With treated clothing the results were somewhat less amazing. I do have mosquitoes land on my clothing, but they also tend to walk around a bit and then fly away. I do get the occasional bite on exposed skin which I've neglected to treat with deet (and yes I use 100%, but only when absolutely ... like 1+ mosquito per square inch of exposed skin)."

I read a study last year that compared permethrin vs. Deet (and I think other repellents) and found exactly this. The permethrin is primarily effective because creates a no-fly zone that the skeeters really dislike; however, some will still make it through and once they're on you they don't seem to mind it as much so it isn't 100% effective (but it definitely still helps).

quote dentondoc: "One last thing. Over the course of the year, I take a daily capsule of fish oil. I have a canoe trip coming up in about a month, so I've switched to flax seed oil capsules. I know this sounds odd, but one of my kids runs a swimming pool service (yeah, we live in the southern US), and they were suffering from spring through early fall with mosquito bites; a consequence of working around areas which can be prime breeding grounds for mosquitoes. They started taking flax seed oil and the number of bites diminished dramatically and the remaining bites were less irritating. I'm not exactly sure what the mechanism is but ... if it translates to fewer mosquito bites, I'm all for it! (I'm now beginning my 4th spring/summer season taking a daily flax seed oil capsule.) "

I remember someone, probably you, posting this last year and meant to try it (and then forgot). I'm definitely going to check this out this year because I'm usually priority numero uno for mosquitoes around camp. I'll be getting devoured 3 feet away from people who are being completely ignored.

quote BobDobbs: " Buy the 36% stuff from Amazon"

I bought some concentrate that had a terrible turpentine stench to it. It took several washings to get rid of it. Do you have a specific product/manufacturer/brand that you can recommend that doesn't have an odor?

Some Permethrin formulations have an oil base that can be oily and smelly. I am not sure if Swayers is an oil or water based formulation but I have never had a problem with Sawyer.

Maybe some chemists on this forum can chime in.

Sawyer Permethrin

bwca.com Permethrin

I'm gona' get called being technical here, but Permethrin is an insecticide primarily that does repel insects. DEET is a repellent that can kill insects.
Explains some about individual observations, especially when considering the added carrier/dispersal agent. Permethrin uses a water carrier (mostly, some farm concentrates use a oil), DEET originally used alcohol as a carrier, latter switched to a polymer to extend evaporation time.

butthead

quote guest: "

quote BobDobbs: " Buy the 36% stuff from Amazon"

I bought some concentrate that had a terrible turpentine stench to it. It took several washings to get rid of it. Do you have a specific product/manufacturer/brand that you can recommend that doesn't have an odor?"

In the 36% strength.

we treat outer clothes, socks, and hammocks with premethrin. For mosquitoes the guys the either bring Deet of Picardin. I used to use Deet but switched to Picardin. Seemed to be more effective and didn't have the smell or oily feel of Deet.

quote guest: "

quote BobDobbs: " Buy the 36% stuff from Amazon"

I bought some concentrate that had a terrible turpentine stench to it. It took several washings to get rid of it. Do you have a specific product/manufacturer/brand that you can recommend that doesn't have an odor?"

https://www.amazon.com/36-8-Permethrin-Pest-Control-Insecticide/dp/B003IMO3I2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1493210984&sr=8-3&keywords=permethrin+concentrate

this is what I used. It most definitely has a noxious odor at first, but I line dried all of the clothes (in the shade - direct sun supposedly breaks the permethrin down). By the time the clothes were dry there was no detectable odor.

quote ockycamper: "we treat outer clothes, socks, and hammocks with premethrin. For mosquitoes the guys the either bring Deet of Picardin. I used to use Deet but switched to Picardin. Seemed to be more effective and didn't have the smell or oily feel of Deet.


"

Another benefit of Picardin is that it won't melt your nylon/plastic like deet.

I do find that I have to apply it more often

quote BobDobbs: "

quote guest: "

quote BobDobbs: " Buy the 36% stuff from Amazon"

I bought some concentrate that had a terrible turpentine stench to it. It took several washings to get rid of it. Do you have a specific product/manufacturer/brand that you can recommend that doesn't have an odor?"

https://www.amazon.com/36-8-Permethrin-Pest-Control-Insecticide/dp/B003IMO3I2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1493210984&sr=8-3&keywords=permethrin+concentrate


this is what I used. It most definitely has a noxious odor at first, but I line dried all of the clothes (in the shade - direct sun supposedly breaks the permethrin down). By the time the clothes were dry there was no detectable odor."

Actually, I see it at $21.99 (Amazon Prime) just now. So, if my math is correct, I could use this to mix up roughly 100 times the solution in the desired strength for only 1.5 times the price as the Sawyer 24 oz 0.5%... yow.

Thanks.

Permethrin has it's best effect when there is a mass effect. I treat tarps, hammocks, packs and bags, clothing and pretty much anything else I can. It seems to "take" to some materials better than others. The effects of permethrin is far greater in camp than anywhere else in my observation, and it would appear to be a result of every blessed thing in camp being treated with it.

I mixed some concentrated permethrin last year and saved it in an empty container. QUESTION: Do you think it would still be effective to use for this year? Thanks for any replies.

quote RLJ: "I mixed some concentrated permethrin last year and saved it in an empty container. QUESTION: Do you think it would still be effective to use for this year? Thanks for any replies."

AFAIK, it should last just fine as long as it isn't subjected to temperature extremes over a long time.

if you think its questionable and don't want to throw it away - use it around the outside of your house - especially doors and wherever wasps and hornets like to build.

I've been treating my clothes all spring. Wore untreated pants yesterday and had my first tick on and in me all year. I use the sawyer stuff.

I treat my tent also. Don't have to worry about the skeetoos flying in when the door is open. They won't go anywhere near it.

K

quote Kawnipi1: "I treat my tent also. Don't have to worry about the skeetoos flying in when the door is open. They won't go anywhere near it.


K"

have you noticed any loss of waterproofnes?

quote BobDobbs: "

quote Kawnipi1: "I treat my tent also. Don't have to worry about the skeetoos flying in when the door is open. They won't go anywhere near it.



K"

have you noticed any loss of waterproofnes?"

I didn't treat the rain fly. Just the underlying tent structure.

I believe the Permethrin needs to soak in and dry. IMO it would just wash right off a rain fly. The Permethrin was safe on the other parts of the tent. No Bugs.

K

quote BobDobbs: "

quote Kawnipi1: "I treat my tent also. Don't have to worry about the skeetoos flying in when the door is open. They won't go anywhere near it.



K"

have you noticed any loss of waterproofnes?"

We have used it for many years on our tents, both lining and fly -- no negative effects on the material at all. I would never take a trip without treating our tents with this. You could treat only the liner, but treating the fly also seems to keep the bugs away from the tent better.

Permethrin is great stuff. Been using it for the last three years for trips. It has worked great! Last year here in ND I got Rocky Mountain spotted fever from a tick. Did not have treated clothes on when that happened. I was working. Bugs can be a pain in the butt!!!

Mike

quote CanoeKev: "

quote BobDobbs: "

quote Kawnipi1: "I treat my tent also. Don't have to worry about the skeetoos flying in when the door is open. They won't go anywhere near it.



K"

have you noticed any loss of waterproofnes?"

We have used it for many years on our tents, both lining and fly -- no negative effects on the material at all. I would never take a trip without treating our tents with this. You could treat only the liner, but treating the fly also seems to keep the bugs away from the tent better."

thanks for the info....we have a BA seedhouse that is probably good for one more trip before being replaced, so I'll give it a spray and see how it goes.

quote BobDobbs: "

quote CanoeKev: "

quote BobDobbs: "

quote Kawnipi1: "I treat my tent also. Don't have to worry about the skeetoos flying in when the door is open. They won't go anywhere near it.




K"

have you noticed any loss of waterproofnes?"

We have used it for many years on our tents, both lining and fly -- no negative effects on the material at all. I would never take a trip without treating our tents with this. You could treat only the liner, but treating the fly also seems to keep the bugs away from the tent better."

thanks for the info....we have a BA seedhouse that is probably good for one more trip before being replaced, so I'll give it a spray and see how it goes. "

Be sure to spray the liner of the tent from the inside

"


Be sure to spray the liner of the tent from the inside"

you mean the underside of the fly?

pls clarify

quote BobDobbs: "

"



Be sure to spray the liner of the tent from the inside"


you mean the underside of the fly?


pls clarify"
No. Spray the inner tent from the inside. That way any bugs that get inside will die a short time after they land on the walls. It's fun to watch them drop!

Never sprayed my tent or fly before. Is there absolutely 0 damage done to the tent or fly?

quote homers: "Never sprayed my tent or fly before. Is there absolutely 0 damage done to the tent or fly?"

All I can say is that I have been doing this for at least 15 years on several tents, and have seen no damage. Also, the type of permethrin that I have used in the agricultural type wich has some volatile componentd -- no damage that I have seen.

There was a thread -- that I can't find now -- that contained a question about proper ratio of permethrin to water to achieve 0.5%. Well, here is a pic of the table that was included with my quart of 36.8% concentrate.

I settled on mixing 2 oz of the concentrate with 151.6 oz water (well, maybe not precisely, but that was the target based on my algebra) because it is easiest to measure the permethrin in 1 oz increments marked on the squeeze-to-fill portion of the bottle. And because I have a 1.25 gallon pump sprayer. This mixture, which only used $1.37 worth of the concentrate purchased, was enough to spray to saturation: 10 pairs of socks, 6 pairs of pants, and 4 long-sleeved shirts, with around a quart of mixture left over. And, made for a very happy wife.

Hope this helps someone.





Oh, and I did notice a very slightly stronger "chemical smell" with this mixture, when compared with my previous experience with the Sawyer 0.5% spray, but absolutely none of the smell remained after the clothing dried.

quote schweady:

Hope this helps someone.






"

thanks Dude!

permethrin works, I just buy 10% solution and dilute myself to 1% and spray. Very cheap.

I buy Hi-Yield 10% concentrate at my local ag & feed supply store. I mix 1 cup of concentrate with 15 cups of water to make 1 gallon of 0.5% for soaking. I built a Google spreadsheet a few years ago after a thread on math for correct ratios... I just adjust the cells for starting & finishing concentration and final volume. It tells me how much concentrate to mix in.

I have used Permethrin for about 5 years now. In my limited experience, it has worked well. Like others, I treat my clothing and my tent/fly. To be fare, however, the trips I have taken in the past 5 years have not been in the heart of fly/tick/squito season, so I have not put my observations to the true test. However, anecdotally, for me, it has been worth the effort and cost.

I still have a bottle of Deet (90%) that I use sparingly (on my caps). Wonder if that stuff weakens over time? If it does, don't tell me :) cause the psychological effect is working....

quote mirth: "I buy Hi-Yield 10% concentrate at my local ag & feed supply store. I mix 1 cup of concentrate with 15 cups of water to make 1 gallon of 0.5% for soaking. I built a Google spreadsheet a few years ago after a thread on math for correct ratios... I just adjust the cells for starting & finishing concentration and final volume. It tells me how much concentrate to mix in."

No need to over think it, 1:15 parts of 10% concentrate and water will always yield 0.628% concentrate, regardless of volume.

The 36.8% concentration is much more economical than the 10%. Just order from Amazon.

I need to mix up a gallon and spray our cloths. This is one of the best threads on the subject.

Does this stuff expire?

I have some in the basement that I could never bring myself to use, still haven't ruled it out completely.

fadersup: "Does this stuff expire?..."

Here's a Material Safety Data Sheet that states a shelf life of 4 years. But that is for the diluted mixture of 0.5%. My guess is that the 36.8% concentrate would have a longer life; seems to me that I once saw something like 10 years.

Still, I suppose that it wouldn't hurt to step up the sharing of my supply a bit...

I swear by Permethrin. Been using for >10 years. 1 tick in all those times. Not just in BW/Q but turkey woods in the spring and pheasant hunting in the fall. And we have ticks bad here in CT.

BobDobbs: "I use it and love it.


There's an excellent set of instructions - youtube 'permethrin soak' and its the first to come up. Buy the 36% stuff from Amazon, wear gloves, and follow the vid closely.


Permethrin soak plus moderate usage of picardin on exposed skin kept the wife and I nearly bug free in mid June a couple years ago. Blackflies were in full force, some days nearly covering the ground. We were hanging out in bare feet and short sleeves. Had zero ticks, zero fly bites and maybe a dozen mosquito bites each on a 10 day trip.


after we got home and were unpacking the car in the driveway, I think we got more bites than we did our entire time in the BW."

I’m trying to soak for the first time this year. The Sawyer spray worked well for me years past.

There has to be some thing that causes bugs to be attracted to certain people. My whole life I have gotten bitten by mosquitoes when nobody else has. And my skin welts up like nuts. I’ve been told many times I’m just so sweet.…

Just this spring during mushroom/turkey season I ran out of our old spray bottle and aerosol cans of Sawyer. I went to farm fleet and got some 10%...I've yet to mix and treat any yet but I should be good for a while now on product.

I've stated my opinions on this topic often so nothing to add there. Just want to stress a couple of facts. Permethrin has been the primary insecticide treatment the food and animal product storage/warehousing for 50 years, virtually every consumer in North America if not the world has been regularly exposed. I worked in the food industry primarily warehousing of bulk ingredients for 44 years starting in 1969 and worked with weekly fogging teams ( the teams regularly travel from industry to industry on weekly basis) using Pyrethrin/Permethrin based insecticides. It has a long established history.
The diluted mix molecularity bonds so it is not material specific. Once dried it is no longer transferable and very stable (the liquid product and dilutions are not, use PPE), wears off due to friction of the applied surface (washing, wearing, drying actions).

butthead

PS: If you want info on a truly nasty industry standard insecticide, look up methyl bromide, banned 2005 but still used at place of origin pre-shipping locations and other regulated uses. bh

I just sprayed all my clothes this morning. My back yard looked like a laundry with clothes everywhere drying out. Now just a few sprays of DEET when I’m camping and I’m good to go. My motto is better living through chemicals.

I did a few sets of clothes a couple weeks ago w/ my diluted mix.

Long time listener, first time sprayer this morning. Curious to see how it goes.

It's time for our spring spraying. Been providing testimonials and small supplies of my concentrate to friends. Supply getting down there after 5 years and I now find that the max percentage concentrate available on Amazon is 10%. Oh, well. Makes the math easier at 20:1 for a 0.5% spray. I suppose I could search around at local fleet stores, too, before I really need to re-supply. Still a good deal.

I am a fan as well. Been using it for years. I don't usually wear bug spray when I am in the woods. Just put on long pants and long sleeved shirt which has been sprayed with Permethrin.

Just for future reference:

Today I mixed up 5 oz of my 36.8% concentrate with 47.5 c water to make around 3 gallons of 0.5% mix for the sprayer. Did 12 pair socks, 4 long-sleeved shirts, and 9 pair of camp pants for the two of us. Even with our 5-6 trips coming up, it may be a bit of overkill, but we got some new items and the weather will dictate which ones we'll take.

And, more than enough left yet of the original quart of concentrate for two more tick seasons.

I buy permethrin at the local Tractor Supply Co. It's Y-TEC GARDSTAR 40% EC.
Draw 2.5 ml in a turkey infusion kit syringe. Add to a 20 oz empty soft drink bottle & fill with water to get the 0.5% dilution. Has petroleum distillates in ingredients so hang shirts, pants, socks & headgear in a shaded area to dry--maybe 2 or 3 days for smell to dissipate. There will be a slight lingering smell in packed clothing. Hasn't bothered me but it does bother skeeters and ticks. Never have found a tick that cared to stay. I use the soak-in-a-bucket method instead of spraying. I use any excess to spray the chicken house. It doesn't have a long shelf life in diluted form. Will kill cats and birds so be aware of that little precaution.
Picardin has worked well for skin applications.
Lemon & Eucalyptus Oils works fine too but doesn't last too long before you need to reapply. Wash it off before hitting the bed sack to keep gear from getting greasy over time.
~my 2 cents~

Savage Voyageur: "I just sprayed all my clothes this morning. My back yard looked like a laundry with clothes everywhere drying out. Now just a few sprays of DEET when I’m camping and I’m good to go. My motto is better living through chemicals. "

It's a beautiful thing to behold. Making ready for the woods has satisfying rituals.

mjmkjun: "It's a beautiful thing to behold. Making ready for the woods has satisfying rituals."

:-)