# Anyone try picaridin yet?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-try-picaridin-yet/312265>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 13, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-try-picaridin-yet/312265 "2005-07-13T01:01:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-try-picaridin-yet/312265/1 "2005-07-13T01:01:59Z")

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I’d like to hear from anyone who has tried repellents with picaridin in it. Especially if you live in an area heavily infested with those little blood sucking bastards!  
How well did it work? Was it as effective as products containing Deet? Is it truely odor free? How long did it last?

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**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-try-picaridin-yet/312265/2 "2005-07-15T21:36:20Z")

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Haven’t tried it, but here’s an article from [Consumer Reports](http://www.consumerreports.org/main/content/display_report.jsp?WebLogicSession=QtgrqYnzbJM9dJOkZNaT0RY7cku56Oh1K7qZTl4DBvYbLspiq1pX%7C6284951671773615046/169937913/6/7005/7005/7002/7002/7005/-1%7C3699400659014973928/169937910/6/7005/7005/7002/7002/7005/-1&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=653217&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=333143&bmUID=1121463210037)

> [@](#):
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> Testers had picaridin repellent applied to one forearm, the deet product to the other, then they inserted both arms into a cage swarming with a species of aggressive mosquitoes noted for carrying yellow fever. After 5 minutes they put their arms in a cage with tamer mosquitoes that can transmit the West Nile virus. They repeated the exposure every half-hour until they were bitten twice on each arm. Both repellents prevented bites for about 2 to 3 hours with the aggressive species, 8 hours for the other.