April 3, 2006
Don't let mosquitoes ruin your vacation
I hate mosquitoes. The only reason I haven't gone back to Algonquin Park for some wolf howls or gone on a jungle trek is because mosquitoes really take the fun out of everything for both me and my wife. So I did a little research on how to keep mosquitoes off.
I already knew about DEET, but last time I went to Algonquin the Cutter Backwoods Insect repellent (30 or 35% DEET) just wasn't enough. Not even close.
I learned that both DEET and picaridin are supposed to block a mosquito's ability to find you. DEET appears in Off!, Cutter and Repel. A picaridin-based repellent is Cutter Advanced. Oil of lemon eucalyptus is a natural ingredient found in a number of products, including insect repellents marketed by Repel and Off! Botanicals.
I wonder if it would help to use both Cutter Backwoods and Cutter Advanced?
Posted by James Trotta at April 3, 2006 3:17 PM
First, I take Garlic all year. Two months before I know I am going into mosquitoe teritory, I double my daily garlic intake. I take only regular Raid on my adventures. I heavily spray all clothing, includeing my hat of the day. I bathe less than 2 times each week. I am not bothered by any insects, including mosquitoes. I have tried sprays containg high percentage of Deet, and they will not work for me. Don't forget to wear rubber bands around your long pants cuff's and long sleave shirt cuff's. Common sense precludes using anything high in smelly stuff.
Posted by: Phil at April 3, 2006 9:49 PMI tried one time using garlic capsules. My wife made me cease because a little side effect of garlic can be flatulence. Better be with "good friends."
Posted by: Bill at April 4, 2006 12:34 AMHi Phil - Garlic and Raid, eh? I suppose it's worth a try - thanks for sharing!
Bill - I think my wife hates mosquitoes more than flatulence so I hope she'll be OK with it!
Posted by: James Trotta at April 4, 2006 2:28 AMI've been taking garlic capsules for many years. That explains the flatulence!!...And the lack of mosquito bites.
Posted by: Another Bill at April 4, 2006 9:02 AMJust returned from Costa Rica where the mosquitoes were huge and everywhere that we were. I was eaten alive but my son only had 1 bite all trip. I sprayed myself up to 3 times a day with a repellent and he rarely did. Is there possibly a scent or something else that makes one person more "attractive" to mosquitoes? I always joked that I had sweet blood but maybe there's some truth to it.
Posted by: Karen at April 5, 2006 8:36 AMUse Bounce to ward off the pesky mosquitoes - the litle sheets you use in your home dryers. Put one or two in your belt loop.
Posted by: carl at April 5, 2006 11:43 PMI've found that rubbing lemon rind on my exposed areas repels mosquitos quite well. It works well on my grandkids when they visit. I don't have to worry about exposing them to the chemicals in the sprays and it's handy.
Posted by: Joy at April 6, 2006 12:09 AMI'll probably try spray, garlic, bounce, and lemon and hope for the best. I do think that some people taste sweeter to mosquitoes. My wife always jokes that Canadian mosquitoes like her so much because they love Asian blood. My wife gets more bites than me (plus she's Asian and I'm not)...
Posted by: James Trotta at April 7, 2006 2:12 AM