Stylish in the Sierra

[fflutterffly]

A little sun protection goes a long ways. Karen dressed to kill.
PS. Great insect repellant: Lemon and Eucylisptis by Repel.

[Wildman]

Thanks for the insect repellent tip....leaving on Tuesday for 3 days backpacking in Eastern Sierra. Karen is looking very sporty with the full range of sun protection. How I remember baking myself for 16 hours a day back in the surfing days of my youth!

[rayfound]

Thanks for the insect repellent tip....leaving on Tuesday for 3 days backpacking in Eastern Sierra. Karen is looking very sporty with the full range of sun protection. How I remember baking myself for 16 hours a day back in the surfing days of my youth!

Jim, not to be negative, but if the skeeters are heavy, nothing but DEET or smoke will work. A few years back a friend brought that lemon/Eucalyptus on a 6 day backpacking trip. It works for about 20 minutes and then he got murdered. After the 1st day we were all sharing our deet with him.

We started calling his "Natural" stuff "Marinade"... it apparently tenderized him before the bugs started eating him alive!

It works decently on clothes.

[Wildman]

Copy, Ray. I have a 90% DEET bottle....head mask...full mosquito net for my tarp tent. I should be good. (famous last words!)

[flyfishnevada]

+1 on the DEET. I've tried the other stuff (skin so soft, natural mixes, etc.) and they just don't work as well as DEET or just don't work at all.

Karen is dressed for battle to be sure. I'm surprised repellent is even necessary except maybe around the eyes!

[briansII]

From a mosquito magnet perspective(me), I use DEET, and repellents with Picaridin. My favorite DEET product is 3M's Ultrathon. It works in the worst mosquito situations(Alaska, Canada & swampy Sierra) I've been in, and usually one application lasts the whole day. No so with other DEET products. Not even 100% DEET. BTW, I hate the smell of DEET. I use picaridin, because of the DEET smell. It works ok, but not as well as DEET. It does keep the skeeters off, but requires reapplication throughout the day. I've been using it on my Sierra creek trips. The mosquitoes will tell you when you need to put another coating on.....which is pretty often.

I'm the first, and last guy to get bit, then I welt up. I've tried just about every repellent and gadget I could find. The above works for me, when everything else failed.

briansII

[Flatsix]

Another +1 on the DEET.

We tried Skin so Soft and some other stuff listed as safe for kids. Nothing but DEET worked.

I don't usually get bit but this year I got hammered.

The bugs are bad this year.

[mpeterson8]

I use Deet and I spray my clothes with Permetherin. It works really good!

[beachbum]

Ya know what my biggest on-water issue is Ariel? Besides the fact that I can't seem to keep a trout hooked, my biggest issue is squinting and the awful headaches it causes. It's not a vision issue, it's me trying to keep out as much of the overhead light and the reflected light as possible - by squinting. My sunglasses are plenty dark (according to my eye doc) and they allow very little light in around the edges of the frames. So what's a boy to do? Does anyone make anything for that? Any remedies? I'm all ears (eyes).

I have the same issue, Mike. I use long wide billed salt water hats. My friends in Canada called it my fruit hat when I used it on bright days, but it sure helps with the glare. The other thing that helped was my Action Optics glasses with the darkest tint.

[fflutterffly]

The reason Karen uses the L/E insect repel is due to her allergies to all sorts of thing on her skin. Pyrethrins derived from the natural chrysanthemum species, are used against fleas and mosquitoes, wasps and bees. The synthetic Cypermethrin, Permethrin, Deltamethrin are said to have the same values and safety of Pyrethrins, but I haven't researched this yet. If you're interested in the 411 on this stuff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrethroid
I still think DEET is the best thing going for all you adventurous folks who head high into the Sierra, but I'm not so hard core. Still, I'll pick up the Ultra mention just in case.

Mike. The shade hat stuff that you can tie close to the face, behind the head and broad brim sounds like a great idea.

Skin cancer is no joke. Protect yourself.