[at-l] Bug repellent and garlic (was: Permethrin application question)

[eisenbud+at-l@cs.swarthmore.edu (Daniel Eisenbud)]

On Wed, Feb 20, 2002 at 05:04:31PM -0700, mike <paigem@colorado.edu> wrote:
> I don't enjoy the company of ticks too much, so I'm looking into
> treating my clothes with permethrin. I've found that by a specific
> method of application, the clothes are said to be protected for about
> a year. I was wondering if anybody has done this "year-long lasting
> application" and how long the protection actually seemed to last
> (probably difficult to determine). Otherwise, how do you use the stuff
> and when do you use permethrin.  Also ,when do you start breaking out
> the deet?  Generally, I would put on deet when I'm concerned about
> mosquitos, but in this case, I'm more concerned about the ticks.

I didn't use any DEET or any other bug repellent during my thru-hike
last year, but it was a dry year, so the bugs weren't so bad.  Anyway,
mosquitoes just don't seem to like biting me much, compared to other
people, and the bites don't itch for long (I guess I'm just lucky!)  I
did get a few ticks on me, including some deer ticks, but I found them
all relatively quickly.  I'm not sure how much good permethrin will do
you, unless you plan to wear long pants or long underwear all the time,
since a good way of getting ticks on you is walking through tall grass
and the like, where they get on your legs directly (and it will be warm
enough that you'll want to be wearing shorts by the time you get to the
higher risk areas.)

I have heard that eating a clove of raw garlic a day can keep away
mosquitoes.  I don't know if this actually works.  I did buy a head of
garlic in Connecticut, but it turned out to consist of just four very
large cloves.  I've eaten raw garlic before, and could have handled
normal-sized cloves (I figured I'd smell like garlic, but that New
Garlic-Flavored Hiker couldn't smell any worse than the Original Funky
Hiker.)  I ate one huge clove the first day, and felt vaguely ill and
belched garlic all day long.  Despite this, I did the same the next day,
with similar results.  The day after that I was taking the bus into
Boston to visit friends for a few days, and decided that maybe I didn't
want to smell too much like garlic for them, so I stopped.  Eating the
huge cloves of garlic was so unpleasant that I never quite had the
willpower to start again (even with smaller cloves) once I got back on
the trail.

That said, there are good uses for garlic while hiking: if you carry
olive oil and garlic, it only takes an extra minute or two to cut up
some garlic and saute it in the bottom of your pot.  Then add the water
and Lipton Noodles and cook it all up.  It greatly improves the flavor,
and makes everyone cooking near you very jealous.

-Heavy

-- 
Daniel E. Eisenbud
eisenbud@cs.swarthmore.edu

"We should go forth on the shortest walk perchance, in the spirit of
undying adventure, never to return,--prepared to send back our embalmed
hearts only as relics to our desolate kingdoms."
					--Henry David Thoreau, "Walking"