.05% or .5%? The latter is recommended.
I don't doubt you at all, but boy am I surprised. I hike mostly in bug infested areas of MS, or maybe AL, including swamps. Ever snce I switched from DEET to Permethrin treated clothes and gear often plus Picaridin on exposed skin, it has almost been as though I hike in a bug free zone, or maybe like it is dead of winter. Though admittedly I do wonder if recently they are becoming ( one or both) just slightly less effective. But only because at the beginning of this season I did find a tick on me, under my pants, attached to skin. And if memory serves, I was only using one or the other, not both(but I can't remember which) Probably- I'm guessing here- it was Picaridin on exposed skin only, in clothes that and not been treated since last fall. And I found this amazing: the tick(don't know how long it had gone undiscovered) appeared to have no blood in it(not swollen at all) and appeared to be dead. That's it, that is the only failure as far as bites or even skin contact that I am aware of in many years, and I was not using both.
There was also this almost failure: back about Sept 2010, a buddy and his son from NC and I all went out to ID for a hike into some lakes in the Sawtooth Range. I advised him about the Pic and Perm and he treated all their gear and clothing with Perm and took 20% Picaridin for the skin as of course did I. I was wearing just a thin white layer of Merino wool LJ top as I cooked supper late in the day, and he warned that my back was covered with Mosquitoes. I had not even noticed them on my front end. I asked him if they seemed to be lighting and biting, he said they did not seem to be biting, and maybe were just hovering very close to my back, or making brief contact. He gave a couple of sprays from my Picaridin to my back, and they were gone. I was disappointed that they seemed unbothered by my treated shirt, but I got no bites. But since I had not even see them on the front end, I probably had some Pic already on my hands and face. Maybe it also means I simply failed to get a good enough spraying on the back of this very thin garment, which they could have easily bit through(open weave)? Or did the Perm simply fail to keep them from coming in very close to my back only? I don't know.
But not only did I get no bites on my back, I had no bug net on this trip. Every night before bed I would cover all potentially exposed skin good with Pic, and of course I slept in treated clothing and hammock/PeaPod. Never heard a Mossy whining, and I had not a single bite from this trip. Same with by 2 buds. (but 1 had a netted HH) And we were swimming in the lakes! So I am shocked to hear about your friends! Are the Mossies/ticks different in different parts of the country? We certainly have plenty of them down here, and their were plenty in Idaho, but are they some how dif? Did your friends use 20% Picaridin? Were their clothes also treated with Permethrin?
It works fantastic for me down here in MS.
Where on earth were you that you got that many ticks? Even with all that treatment? Have you considered treating your boots, gators and pack with Permethrin rather than DEET? That(Perm) is what I do. So far so good.
Are all of you guys making sure to use 20% Picaridin? I have seen it in much lower concentrations, less effective. They also claim the lotion works a good bit longer, 12 rather than 8 hours.
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