In need of advice

I've only been geocaching for a few months and I have found the information in these forums invaluable.After a great day of caching in Fort Smith yesterday I realized that once again I am in need of some experienced advice.So, does anybody know what the best tick repellent is? There were so many on me yesterday that I feared for my life. I was afraid they would carry off our younger children!Thanks in advance for your help.

[Phantom_491]

Any repellant with DEET in it. The higher the % the better. I usually use Sportsman Off w/ 29% Deet.

[SJClimber]

Though this takes some planning, it is by far the best. Walmart has Repel, a clothing treatment insect and tick repellent and insectiside. Follow the directions and pretreat socks, shoes, pants before use. This apparently is no more hazardous for children than adults if use as directed. It is an amazing product repelling, ticks, bugs, chiggers, mosquitoes, etc. It will withstand washing also. Lastly, I use DEET also on exposed skin (legs with shorts, neck, arms) as additional protection from mosquites and flying things. (Consider West Nile virus).

[Gaddiel]

I'll agree with both of the suggestions above. Products containing deet are your best option. We usually choose Deep Woods Off! Sportsmen spray or wipes (blue bottle) It's 30% deet.

According to the precautions on the product, you don't want to get this near your eyes or lips, don't put it on sunburned or damaged skin, and use it sparingly on small children. I've noticed that this product sometimes stings my skin just a bit when I first apply it, but I can put up with that if it keeps the nasties away!

Wayne

[TheAlabamaRambler]

Just be careful with DEET, it melts some plastics and does unfortunate things to GPS and PDA screens.

[OldRiverRunner]

It's interesting that you mention the Ft. Smith area. Were you at Ft. Chaffee, by any chance? Last summer, I was geocaching there and picked lots of ticks off me all day long. After getting home that evening, I had my wife check me and she picked off at least a dozen more! 8O A few days later, I started feeling pretty bad (flu-like symptoms). :cry: After hearing about the ticks, my doctor ran a blood test and it confirmed I had picked up some kind of virus. A shot and a prescripiton later (about 1 week), I was back to normal. So beware the Ft. Chaffee ticks! -- ORR

[RugerPilot345]

ORR, now you know why the ticks at Fort Chaffee are so bad.......it is a military training base. Have you ever been to a military base built in a nice place? Case in point.....Fort Chaffee, Fort Polk, Fort Hood, Fort Bliss, ha ha!! They are like train tracks, we pick the worse places and put them there....like training bases, we pick the places where no one else wants or wants to go and we put in a military base........and ticks love soldiers, ha ha!! :(

So enjoy Fort Chaffee like all of us soldiers do, year after year, tick after tick!!

8)

Cool!!

[SJClimber]

This is an interesting site to view: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/ehrlichia/Q&A/Q&A.htm. One of the first of these rickettsial diseases was identified from ticks at Fort Chaffee. The "bug" is named Ehrlichia Chaffeensis. This is a very common problem in Arkansas. The treatment is a stout dose of doxycycline. The symptoms are "flu-like," but associated fevers can top 104 degrees. The symptoms can occur some 10 days after the bite, so keep track of those ticks you have removed. And be careful.

It's interesting that you mention the Ft. Smith area. Were you at Ft. Chaffee, by any chance? Last summer, I was geocaching there and picked lots of ticks off me all day long. After getting home that evening, I had my wife check me and she picked off at least a dozen more! Shocked A few days later, I started feeling pretty bad (flu-like symptoms). Crying or Very sad After hearing about the ticks, my doctor ran a blood test and it confirmed I had picked up some kind of virus. A shot and a prescripiton later (about 1 week), I was back to normal. So beware the Ft. Chaffee ticks! -- ORR
That makes me feel great 8O I was on the bikers trail between Fort Chaffee and Ben Geren Park. I didn't have to trek far but I was absolutely covered. Creepy. We have a hard time with repellents because of the kids. Everything that we try just doesn't work. Well as a repellent anyway. Maybe as tick attractant. We are going back in a few weeks to try some caching in Chaffee. There's a bunch there. Why are they so bad?

I was on the bikers road between Chaffee and Ben Geren park. 8O We have a hard time with repellents because we worry about chemicals with the kids. They love caching though, so we have to find something. Somone told me that the ticks are so bad in that area because of the large deer population?

[Q]

Case in point.....Fort Chaffee, Fort Polk, Fort Hood, Fort Bliss, ha!!
Hold on there, RuPi. I grew up just down the road from Ft Polk. You pickin' on my home turf??? ... :roll: actually, I be way glad to be up here instead of mosquitto supreme country.

We use the Avon skin-so-soft stuff a bunch. Any opinions on that? I don't know if it works or we just have not been in the bugs while using.

[RugerPilot345]

Whoa Whoa Whoa ArkGeo, me pick on beautiful piney woods Fort Polk and lovely Leesville, never, ha ha!! I have spent a few days down there and yes sir even a night in the Red Cedar Inn or someting like that, quite a classy establishment......and yes our good ole Arkansas has some fancy places too, ha ha enjoying life and seeing the world!!

8)

Cool!!

[mbell72901]

It's interesting that you mention the Ft. Smith area. Were you at Ft. Chaffee, by any chance? Last summer, I was geocaching there and picked lots of ticks off me all day long. After getting home that evening, I had my wife check me and she picked off at least a dozen more! 8O A few days later, I started feeling pretty bad (flu-like symptoms). :cry: After hearing about the ticks, my doctor ran a blood test and it confirmed I had picked up some kind of virus. A shot and a prescripiton later (about 1 week), I was back to normal. So beware the Ft. Chaffee ticks! -- ORR

I put out some more ticks this years to slow everyone down at Chaffee.
I only go out in the winter!!!!!!!!!! LOL

NOW it makes sense! Chaffee is really a tick farm and they're being served cachers for food :twisted:

[RugerPilot345]

well really it is a secret experimental government military tick farm......but the cachers are food....that part is unclassified, ha ha!!

8)

Cool!!

[oenavigator]

Finally got to test another repellent. My son and I went hiking around Foran Gap and applied the Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Plus IR3535 Expedition Plus SPF15. My wife's idea. She read about it in this month's Backpacker magazine. It's a really good article which reports their results of a lab test they performed using several repellents.
When we parked at the trail head, I was getting attacked by the biting flies before I even got my pack from the car. After we applied the Avon I was left alone for the entire hike. Around 1 1/2 hours. No ticks! The trail is primarily a mountain bike trail so there is a lot of tall grass that we had to hike through.
All in all I was impressed. It works well and is safe for kids :D Now I don't have to worry about the kids growing a third arm :lol:
The article did say that it doesn't work as a sunscreen though. (Since you should apply sunscreen more frequently than repellent) Not a big issue with the canopy though.
Only neg I can really think of was the weird odor. Which really wasn't as bad as what we smelled of when we were done. It really feels greasy to.