Treating Your Clothes With Permethrin
Permethrin is a pesticide that you spray on clothing to kill black flies, ticks, mosquitoes but has no harmful side effects on humans if used properly. It is the active ingredient used in Insect Shield and Buzz Off clothing and kills bugs when they land on your clothing. You can buy Permethrin Spray in liquid form and spray it on your own clothes to the same effect. This self-applied form lasts 4-6 washings. Permethrin was developed by the U.S. military to protect soldiers from insects in the jungle.
You can buy Permethrin Spray on Amazon. A big bottle comes with a spray adapter and will cover 4 complete sets of clothing, including shirts, pants, and socks. you'll want to read the directions carefully before applying it, but it's not difficult to do. You need to spray it on the clothes you plan to wear hiking or for any outdoor activity in a windless but well-ventilated place like a garage. Let them dry for a few hours and you're all set.
Continuing reading about Permethrin and treatment options here.
May 7, 2022
Section Hiker
Philip Werner is a full-time outdoor author and backpacker who resides in New England. His website SectionHiker.com is ranked as the #1 Hiking and Backpacking Blog on the internet by AdventureJunkies.com in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.
The name of this site, Section Hiker, refers to the Long Trail which I section hiked in 2008 and the Applachian Trail that I’m still working through. To date, I’ve completed 1400 miles of the AT and hope to complete all of the sections between Georgia and Maine someday. I’ve also hiked thru-hiked the TGO Challenge (Coast-to-Coast across Scotland) twice and I’m currently section hiking the Cape Wrath Trail, also in Scotland.
LIFE OUTDOORS
MEDIA MENTIONS
Depending on where you travel, you may want to pack bug spray, too. In places like Florida and North Carolina, summers get buggy, and you’ll be happy to have packed a spray on nights when you want to sit on the porch or dine outdoors.
MEDIA MENTIONS
As a veteran of the Iraq War, I found myself struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder from which greatly impacted my mental health. In 2016, I came across the film “Wild,” an adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s memoir about healing by hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).
MEDIA MENTIONS
Sawyer Permethrin Premium Insect Repellent is used on clothing, not skin, and it provides long-lasting protection against ticks.
