Gear for bug season

[jurahd]

Black flies, gnats, mosquitoes can make a hike miserable. Are all head nets the same? What about other exposed areas....hands holding trekking poles?
...hot sweaty nights in mosquito ridden shelters. ..what’s your strategy?

[Slo-go'en]

Head nets are pretty much all the same, a piece of netting you put over your head. It helps to wear a base ball cap to keep the net away from your face.

The main problem with a head net is it's really hot and sufficating to hike in. You can usually keep ahead of most of the black flies, but have it handy if you stop.

I wear long pants and long sleeve shirts when the bugs are bad. Minimize the exposed skin surface area.

Making a small smoky fire when you arrive at camp can help clear out the bugs, many of which followed you into camp. Get rid of them.

Set up your tent and get in it.

[GoldenBear]

> what’s your strategy?

Mosquitoes go after my blood with more enthusiasm than the Red Cross, so I have developed a series of schemes to protect myself.
1) Permethrin on all my clothes, including socks up to my knees.
2) DEET on all parts of my exposed skin.
3) If bugs attack at night, I either sleep in my tent or use this in the shelter:
https://www.campmor.com/c/cocoon-sin...-insect-shield

[Traveler]

Head nets are similar from what I have seen and experienced. I did have some issues with getting bitten through the net on the back of my neck until I started wearing a wide brimmed hat under the net that pushed it away from my neck and face, which also made it a lot more comfortable to wear.

[garlic08]

I minimize chemicals on my skin with permethrin on clothing, hiking in long sleeves and trousers. I look for dry, exposed, breezy places for breaks. The head net is worth its weight in gold, almost literally. It's a shame to wear it while hiking, watching the wonders of nature through a screen, but sometimes you just gotta.

[Pringles]

I’d rather be free from bugs than cool. I use a Original Bug Shirt shirt. It has a hood with mesh. You can unzip it, and drop the hood when you aren’t being attacked, and just flick up the hood when the bugs find you. I also have the same brand pants. Mosquitoes can’t drill through the fabric. I think they keep the black flies from biting, too, but if you go to the site (I think it’s originalbugshirt.com), I bet that says. I haven’t worn the bug suit when I’ve hiked on the AT, but when I get to mountains in mosquito season, I always wear it. I’ve been to the Arctic a couple of times, and while the bugs were all over, they couldn’t get to me. I called it my sanity suit. I don’t work for them, and I haven’t gotten so much as a free sticker from there, but their products work to keep bugs from being able to bite.

Pringles

[martinb]

headnet only goes on when bugs, usually gnats, are driving me insane. I rarely use any chemicals on skin but treat all hike outer layers with permethrin. As dusk descends on my camp I'll change out of the permethrin top into my sleep top and don the rain jacket to prevent mosquito bites. Mosquitoes can't get through it. Hands are either moving or in my pockets and I almost never get bitten there.

[jurahd]

Interesting fact. Tobacco smoke drives them away. Maybe reason for peace pipe?! Dialogue sans buggy distraction. Pot smoke doesn’t work the same, but YOU may feel better.

[jurahd]

I think gnats get stoned, but not the bloodsuckers. A few weeks of natural skin biome seems to be effective repellent....also evening campfire smoke nice respite.
Good luck to bubble mob...nice making steady friends on trek north with trail magic etc. following spring. Not for me.. (twice was enough for now) I’m sectioning.

[FromNH]

I work outdoors and the only repellent I find works is Sawyer Bug lotion. It even helps with black flies, help but doesn’t keep all of them away. If only they’d come in BBQ flavor.

[Turk6177]

I have hiked in the 100 mile wilderness in early July and came across the most mosquitoes I have ever seen in my life. Fortunately for me, all my clothes were treated with permethrin prior to my trip. I also wore a head net from sea to summit that also had been treated with permethrin. I used Uncle Bens on my exposed skin area but made sure to wipe it off at night before going into my tent due to the bad things deet does to plastics. Lastly, my nephew built a fire and put a bunch of leaves on the fire making a lot of smoke. That probably got rid of more mosquitoes than anything else, to be honest.

[FromNH]

That’s why I like Sawyer bug lotion, it doesn’t ruin your sleeping bag, tent hammock etc. You should expect a lot of bugs this year. It’s been a wet winter and pretty warm. Tonight might help with the -10F they forecast but it’s only for a day.