My job keeps me in close quarters with people, and while it may be outdoors, it’s a minimum wind situation (I’m a hot-air balloon pilot)
We have to deal with tonnes of bugs, and any kind of spray-on bug juice makes me sneeze. Problem is, all the stuff that’s not spray on is overly potent and keeps the passengers away from me. I also don’t like having to douse myself in large amounts of 95% deet twice a day.
So I’ve been looking at bug repellent soap online. It seems like a good option for me, as I shower before each flight. But I really have no idea if this actually works. I can find several different varieties online, none of which contain the same thing. Anyone have any experience with any kind of the stuff? What brand? Does it keep the people away too?
You’ve just ruined my romantic notions of hot-air ballooning! As far as effective insect repellent combinations, DEET is probably it. One recommendation is to soak a mesh over-shirt or old tee-shirt in a bag in the pure stuff for a day or two for situations like that, rather than necessarily slathering it on over your skin. Still gonna reek though.
While plant based bug repellents can be just as effective as DEET, the drawback is that they don’t last as long, requiring more frequent application. Also, they smell. Generally speaking, if people around you can’t smell it, it’s no longer working. So if your stinky soap is no longer stinky, it’s not keeping bugs away.
The longest lasting (in testing) non-DEET bug repellents are those containing p-Menthane-3,8-diol, from eucalyptus plants. I’m not sure if smelling like a drunk koala will go over any better with your passengers, but it is effective up to 5 hours with one application.
For no odor, try soybean oil. It lasts as long as a low-concentration DEET repellent - about 1.5 hours - and can be reapplied as needed. It’s also damn cheap if you get it in the grocery store in the food aisle instead of at Whole Foods in the toiletries aisle.
WhyNot,
Herbalist and maker of (one of the many herbal products named) Bug Off!.
Another option is to systematically go scent free with all your laundry detergent/softeners/shampoos/soaps/deoderant/suntan lotion/whatever.
Get rid of anything that has a smell. They are attracted to that.
As someone who lives across the street from a Protected Wet Land (ie:Swamp) I haven’t really worn bug spray in years just because of phasing out all smelling items and spraying my clothing ( usually the same work pants and shirt/hat/bandana/socks and shoes when I am outside.)
The only problem I can see that you might have is with your passengers and their urge to douse themselves with body spray for a romantic flight. You will be bitten by association. Push these people out of the basket after their credit card clears.
What a fun job.
We had a couple hot air balloons land in our backyard and it is always fun to sit and watch.
Right, I was going to say that. Besides if “bug juice makes me sneeze” bug juice all over your body may do very very bad things to sensitive areas, if you get my drift. :eek:
They also have repellent bands. Get the shirt, hat, pants & socks all insect repellent (Orvis has a full line) (you can find the clothing sometimes cheap at Sierra Trading post), and a band for each wrist and I think you are golden.
I saw this on another message board so I can’t vouch for its effectiveness but I thought I’d pass it on just in case someone here can give you more information. Someone said that Avon has a product called Bug Guard that doesn’t have deet but is effective in keep mosquitoes away. I’ve also heard that it only works for some people.
I should have mentioned that’s the first thing I do every season. I switch soaps and shampoos.
I don’t think it’s so much the repellent as the aerosol aspect of it, and it getting in to my nasal passages. I can put on as much as I want if it’s not aerosol. It’s just when I start spraying that I start sneezing (and keep sneezing for about an hour afterwards)
As much as I would like to do that, I have a work unform, and even if I went with just the pants and washed them after ever 4 flights (at which point I would be very, very dirty), they probably wouldn’t even last me halfway through the season.
I’m intrigued by this. How well does it work? Does it smell? Do you just rub it in or what?
Here’s what I’m looking for:
Something that can be applied before I put my work clothes on. I find the bites are worst on my back (through my shirt), where it’s just not possible to put repellent on without taking off my clothes, so I want something that’s quick and easy to put on, and I can wear every day, even if I’m not expecting to be inundated by insects every day. I also shower before each flight, this was my main reason for looking specifically for soap.
Doesn’t make me smell overly unpleasant. As long as it doesn’t make me smell like pure gasoline or buffalo dung, I’m happy.
Doesn’t need to last more than 4 hours at the absolute most.
That’s really about it. I’m not picky. See, thing is, it’s really only bad when we land near swamps, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen until we’re down on the ground again. So if I have it every day, I don’t need to worry about it. Plus that protects my back, which after getting 20+ bites on it, really is a bitch.
Don’t let the bugs ruin anything for you, they’re a minor inconvenience at most. I just have to deal with them twice a day for an entire summer, and when you get new bites every day, they add up. It’s an absolutely awesome experience. I’ve been a fixed-wing pilot for years, and for fun, I’d much rather balloon.
Huh. Come to think of it, I have observed some mooshed bugs on the windscreen at some startling altitudes. What were they doing up there? Never thought that bugs would be a problem on a balloon somehow, and there is the matter of that huge blowtorch thingie. How about some of those green stove burner incense sticks? /s
Buzz Off? Really? Wearing clothes permeated with a pesticide that is an immunotoxin, nuerotoxin, possible carcinogen, and suspected endocrine disrupter?
Interesting that the Buzz Off FAQ doesn’t say that the product is safe.
Permithren is also highly toxic to fish, aquatic animals, and bees. Permithren.
I have no advice at all. I go with Deep Woods Off, but I don’t think it smells terribly unpleasant. My question, really, is about your ballooning. You take passengers to land in swampy areas? I have to assume you warn them they’ll be bitten to death. Do they then slather on the deet? If so, why do you worry about the smell? I would suggest you tell the passengers (after they’ve paid and are set to go and are looking forward to the adventure) that they could run into bugs depending where you put down. You could all then have a mutual deet session, where everyone would stink similarly.
Picaridin has been used in other countries since 1998, most notably in Europe and Australia. It’s recommended by the WHO (World Health Organization) as the best thing to use to prevent malaria. It also repels ticks and fleas. It is purported to be as effective and long lasting as DEET without the odor and with less skin-irritation in most people.
I won’t use it in my formula yet. Why? Because it hasn’t been around very long, and I don’t, personally, use things that haven’t been through at least 20 years of consumer sales - especially things like repellents or pesticides. There’s a REASON bugs are so scared of the stuff, and I just want to be very, very sure that it’s not going to harm me, my children, or my unborn babies, y’know? 9 years of use elsewhere doesn’t convince me that it’s safe yet. It may very well be, I don’t mean to slander it now, it’s just that I’m terribly, terribly conservative about what I put on my body, and I won’t make a product I wouldn’t use. IF malaria was a concern in my neck of the woods, I might feel differently, but as it stands, there’s no sufficiently compelling reason for me to go there.
One thing I should clear up here: DEET is no more “effective” than any other repellent. It simply lasts longer with fewer applications. When I say soybean oil is effective for 1.5 hours, that means that, in tests, the average first bite of someone wearing it is 1.5 hours after application. So it is just as effective as DEET - for a much shorter time.
St_Ides, if you have a four hour need, I’d go with something containing geraniol, the chemical in geraniums, citronella (which I don’t particularly recommend; citronella oil only lasts in the neighborhood of 15 minutes), lemongrass (good stuff!) and rose oil. For a man, I’d probably bump up the lemongrass content - nice clean smelling, and effective for around 5 hours. The bugs have to smell it for it to work, though, so apply it both on your back and on the outside of your shirt. This stuff looks pretty good although they get their geraniol from geraniums, so it might smell like your grandmother’s flowerbox, I really don’t know. I haven’t tried it myself.
If Deet doesn’t bother you what about these towelettes? I know that I have seen bug repellent lotions too. I don’t know how either of these smell, but I can’t imagine they small worse then the aerisol kind.
When do the bugs find you, during the trip or when you are raising and taking down the balloon? If they’re a nuisance on the ground, how about hanging a repellent soaked rag from your belt and then put it in the chase truck during the trip? If the bugs attack on the flight, could you spray the repellent on the basket?
Has anyone mentioned Bullfrog, I hear this advertised on the radio. It’s a combination deet? containing bug-juice, and sun-block. Sounds like a good idea, but I seem to remember a similar product being pulled for some reason. If bugs are really bad, or even if not, bring a head-net. They take up almost no room at all in any travel kit.
From what I read the other day, EPA recommends that you avoid sunscreen products containing DEET. This is because you are supposed to apply sunscreen liberally and often. However, you are not supposed to apply DEET liberally and often. This is especially true for children.