Garments as gear

Clothing created to keep ticks out, mosquitos off

Hunters’ options for avoiding bothersome bugs now include fabrics woven to thwart mosquitoes’ best efforts and treated to drive away ticks bent on burrowing beneath clothes.

Sitka Gear has helped pioneer a number of areas of technology in the high performance garment world. Though quite pricey, their clothing is indisputably very well made. Along with keeping their wearer warm, dry and concealed from game, items in their Equinox Guard line deter mosquitoes and repel ticks as well.

Their challenge, as they saw it, was to create a breathable, stretchable, ultra-lightweight fabric that could be printed in the company’s camouflage patterns. Christina Rapa, a textile specialist with the company, searched through fabric construction methods to meet those needs.

“Could we find knitting machines with fine-enough gauge and not compromise on the durability of the fabric?” she asked. “To top it off, printing on extremely lightweight and stretchy fabrics can be challenging in itself.”

They solved the problem through a type of knitting machines built to create precisely-knit, high-gauge fabrics.

“We were able to develop a unique textile that passed all the testing without compromising on quality or color clarity,” Rapa said.

To that, the company added a permethrin tick repellent treatment that bonds so thoroughly with the fabric it is expected to remain effective throughout the projected life of the product.

Continue learning more about Permethrin, written by Kevin Tate here.

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