chemical barriers to ticks: effective?

[Chip Down]

I know permethrin will keep me safe from mosquitoes. But I'm skeptical when it comes to ticks. I see them crawling on my heavily-treated clothing, working their way towards my soft succulent blood-filled tender parts .
Is it even worth bothering with?

Would I be better off relying on messy smelly DEET applications?

(Of course, as soon as mosquito season arrives, it will be a moot point, because I'll go out coated in DEET and permethrin anyway.)

[retired jerry]

"they" say that permethrin is effective. Has it been done recently enough to your clothes?

DEET is also effective

http://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Ticks has some links to "them"

[adamschneider]

I give my shoes and ankles a quick spritz every time I go out in tick country, and I haven't had a hitchhiker for a couple years now.

[texasbb]

Couple of things. First, Permethrin is an insecticide, not a repellent, so the little criminals may not mind walking on treated clothing at first, but they die if they stay too long. Second, DEET is a repellent, not an insecticide. It works well on skeeters, but kind of poorly on ticks as I understand. So some of them might hold their noses and attach anyway?

I've only had one tick attach since I discovered Permethrin almost a decade ago, and that was on the side of my calf when I was wearing shorts. I actually felt when he bit, which is unusual, so I was able to snatch him off before he got on good. Not that that has anything to do with Permethrin. Unless he was already feeling sick from it and couldn't anesthetize me.

[texasbb]

(Of course, as soon as mosquito season arrives, it will be a moot point, because I'll go out coated in DEET and permethrin anyway.)

I question your priorities. Ticks are the most dangerous predator out there, so they're the number one reason I treat my clothing. Skeeters are an annoyance; ticks can ruin your life.

[Chip Down]

Couple of things. First, Permethrin is an insecticide, not a repellent, so the little criminals may not mind walking on treated clothing at first, but they die if they stay too long.

Oh, okay. So rather than just spraying the entry points, I should treat the entire garment.

Interesting observation today: I was in tick-infested country. They were on my pack, my pants, my neck. I Spotted one on the hem of my shirt, which was permethrinized. I watched it for a while. It wasn't behaving normally. I've watched ticks, and I know how they move. This one appeared to be struggling. Good news. I usually flick them off right away, so I'm glad I paid attention this time. I feel a little more comfortable saying I think permethrin is effective. I'll start applying it over broader areas of garments, but will probably continue to focus on entry points.

And yes, I passed my pre-shower tick check. Funny, as much as they've been creeping me out the last two or three years, I've only had to remove 4, so about two per year (that's still two too many).

[texasbb]

Interesting observation today: I was in tick-infested country. They were on my pack, my pants, my neck. I Spotted one on the hem of my shirt, which was permethrinized. I watched it for a while. It wasn't behaving normally. I've watched ticks, and I know how they move. This one appeared to be struggling. Good news. ...

Yeah, I've had one crawling on my treated pants that just lost grip and fell off before I could cock my finger to thump it off.