Tried the (relatively) new picaridin bug spray (gel, actually, in my case, but there’s spray and lotion as well) this season, and I am never ever going back to DEET.

No smell, no grease, no damage to synthetic fabrics, and works just as well as 90%+ DEET formulations if not better. Tested in deep woods crawling with ticks and inundated with mosquitoes. Major success.

Just thought I’d share as a bonus for my fellow federated campers who haven’t heard of this stuff yet. 5/5 stars, A+++++ would slather again!

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    91·
    15 days ago

    Peppermint in the day, campfires at night.

    If your only concern is mosquitoes you can get by with peppermint gum because they locate based on the CO2 we exhale. But if you’re worried about ticks slap it on any exposed skin.

    It sounds like pseudo-science mumbo jumbo, but it works:

    The application of oil resulted in 100% protection till 150 min. After next 30 min, only 1-2 bites were recorded as compared with 8-9 bites on the control arm.

    https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3609176/

    There’s absolutely no reason to spray DEET or any other chemical all over your skin when literally just peppermint oil provides equal if not better protection with zero possible side effects besides children stalking you thru the woods.

    • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
      5·
      15 days ago

      Peppermint is worth a try, but from my experience it doesn’t work (didn’t work for me). May work for someone else though.

      But put it on your skin? I don’t think so.

      I’ve had great luck with picaradin though.

      And peppermint is a “chemical” too. Just get it in your eye or the oil on your skin and you’ll find out how safe it is (it’s relatively safe, like many things).

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        15 days ago

        Our findings demonstrate that larval salamanders suffer severe mortality and developmental deformities owing to environmentally relevant exposures to a commercially available repellent containing the active ingredient picaridin. Our experiments also demonstrate that larval salamanders are an important predator of larval mosquitos, which appear to be unaffected by exposure to repellents containing DEET or picaridin. Ecosystems contaminated with picaridin repellent may be at risk of further declines in salamander populations.

        https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6227861/

        Peppermint doesn’t remove one of mosquitoes biggest predators from the food chain.

        Using peppermint oil instead of picaradin means less mosquitoes so even when you forget your designer chemical, you will be but less.

        For purely selfish reasons you should use peppermint, I hope that convinces you since nothing else has.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            14 days ago

            Picaridin-containing repellents are used by humans to repel insects, and may end up in aquatic ecosystems. The picaridin-containing repellent we tested did not directly affect mosquito larvae survival or development, but trace concentrations of it caused substantial mortality of larval salamanders under laboratory conditions. We hypothesize that a loss of predators may in turn increase the emergence of mosquitos in impacted ecosystems, which can possibly trigger increased application of picaridin repellent and thus lead to a positive feedback loop. (Online version in colour.)

            1 of the only 2 pictures is about how this happens…

            You really should have been able to see that if you clicked the link.

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                14 days ago

                What?!

                It washes off people and goes into bodies of water…

                What the actual fuck do you mean “natural vectors”?

                Do you think that means this man made chemical would have to occur in nature organically?

                Edit:

                Nevermind, I’m not going to have the patience for whatever you say next.

                Ask someone else if you want this explained again

                • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  1·
                  14 days ago

                  No, you’re right. I just wonder if any similar studies have been done with DEET. Then you could tell if precaridin was worse, the same, or better than DEET.

    • OwOarchist@pawb.socialEnglish
      4·
      15 days ago

      zero possible side effects besides children stalking you thru the woods.

      I’m concerned about the children.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
        32·
        15 days ago

        Picaridin or deet are methods to cover that odor

        Buddy, I already know you haven’t fucked with peppermint oil…

        It repels virtually every pest because of how strong that mint smell is, that’s the entire reason the mint smell evolved. Humans are the weird ones for liking it, and the reason we’re the exception is our sense of smell is terrible.

        For almost every other animal/insect it’s like pepperspray, it’s so strong it actually hurts insects and rodents.

        I’m not saying those chemicals don’t work, I’m saying given the choice between some crazy chemical and crushed up benign plant leaves…

        Just use the leaves bro.

        Not only is it cheaper, it won’t give you cancer or fuck up future children you may have.

        It’s a no brainer risk assessment call

        • TheBloodFarts@lemmy.caEnglish
          21·
          15 days ago

          Loudly and confidently pushing your opinions means nothing. If you want to make claims like this you’ve got to have research to back it up. These kinds of claims are the basis of anti-vaccine-type arguments

          Feel free to use peppermint oil if you find it works well for you, but there’s a difference between anecdotal and real evidence

            • massive_bereavement@fedia.io
              12·
              15 days ago

              That’s a study about larvicidal effects on a single species and it provides 150min of protection against adults, which then drops to 7%. While interesting, it doesn’t support your conclusions.

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                14 days ago

                The remarkable repellent properties of M. piperita essential oil were established against adults Ae. aegypti. The application of oil resulted in 100% protection till 150 min. After next 30 min, only 1-2 bites were recorded as compared with 8-9 bites on the control arm.

                For 2.5 hours you get zero bites

                For the next half hour you get a few.

                That is effective, whether you understand it or not, your opinion just doesn’t over ride science buddy. No matter how strong your feelings are for whatever reason.