[at-l] DEET alternatives.

[jmayer@rochester.rr.com (Jim Mayer)]

On Sat, 2002-07-06 at 19:10, Steve Adams wrote:
<snip>
> The military has an insect repellant which is more effective than DEET yet 
> reportedly less averse to human usage.  Some manufacturer, possibly 3-M, is 
> marketing it, or something very much like it, to the public.  I have 
> forgotten the product name and the company marketing it.
<snip>

The stuff IS DEET based, but is a "controled release" formulation.  A
single application lasts about 12 hours.  The 3M name is "Ultrathon". 
When Consumer Reports tested repellants a couple of years ago it worked
as well as, and lasted longer than, 100% DEET, but is a 33% formula.

I have some and, as far as I can tell, it works fine.  The only thing I
don't like about it is that it is applied as a cream.  When I'm using
regular DEET I often spray it onto my clothing (particularly the rim of
my hat) instead of putting it on my skin.  This doesn't work well with
the cream, and the stuff stained the rim of a cotton hat of mine.

Check out:

	http://www.ultrathon.com

for more information.

Oh... they seem to have an aerosol now... but that wouldn't be good for
backpacking.  Oh well... maybe they'll come out with a pump spray
someday!

-- Jim