Published on June 19, 2026 10:37 am
If you’ve never been bitten by a mosquito through your clothes, I assume you’ve never been to Maine. My father, a native Mainer, would take us every summer to visit his extended family. Every day, usually soon after dinner, the food chain at our lakeside camp was reversed and we became food: no matter how much I swallowed, maine state bird Would come in swarms, and I would feel the sting of their mouth parts through my arms, legs, and even my t-shirt. I sprayed myself with clouds of DEET, but by the end of our two weeks there I still felt like I had a serious case of chicken pox.
Be it mosquitoes or horse flies, no one likes to suddenly become a bloodsucker in the woods. And while bug lotion can help, in areas with the highest populations of biting insects, it may not be enough. I figured out what to do when you need heavy protection, so you can spend your next trip enjoying the scenery, not smeared on calamine.
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Mosquitoes, black flies and other biting insects are the bane of those who like to be outdoors. They can also spread some serious diseases and generally ruin your trip. Hello, I’m Adam Roy, Editor in Chief backpacker magazine And contrary to popular belief, I don’t usually dress like this. But if you’re going for a smaller vehicle, you might want to do this. Let me explain.
There are some ways you can keep bugs away. For most people, the first line of defense will be bug repellent. While natural remedies get a lot of press, there are really only three ingredients that are proven to keep bugs away for long periods of time. They are DEET, which is well known, has been tested for decades and is generally considered safe for people under normal use. It also contains picaridin, which is like DEET but has the added benefit of not containing synthetics. And there’s a new compound called IR3535—how’s that for a mouthful? All three of them work basically the same, they’ll keep the bugs away from you for a few hours. You will need to reapply regularly.
But what if you are using bug lotion and the bugs around are too ferocious to stay away with its use alone? Well, probably your next line of defense something called permethrin. If you’ve ever treated your dog for fleas and ticks, you’ve likely handled permethrin without even knowing it. Permethrin is one of the most common ingredients used to keep biting insects away from dogs and hikers, it is used in basically the same way, except instead of putting it on our skin, we put it on our clothes.
Now, there are some major differences between clothing treated with permethrin and clothing you treat yourself. Clothing treated by the manufacturer has protection that lasts the lifetime of the garment, whereas if you treat your clothing with permethrin yourself, it will wear off after about six washes or a month and a half. So, if you’re on a long expedition or you’re using it multiple times, you’ll probably want to re-treat.
The second thing to know is that permethrin, while it is safe for dogs and people, is quite toxic to cats. So, you’ll want to spray on your clothes – this is how you treat these clothes, you just get a spray bottle of permethrin and basically soak it and let it dry – you’ll want to put it somewhere your cat can’t access. It can also be toxic to fish, so keep that in mind if you’re going somewhere where you’ll be spending a lot of time wading around.
So, let’s say you’ve tried bug repellent, you’ve tried permethrin, still not enough, you’re getting bitten by things like horse flies and mosquitoes. Well, you have another option, and that is a physical barrier.
Now, when most people think of mosquito nets, they think of headnets. These are nets that fit into a small capsule of such a large size. Typically when wearing a baseball cap you will place it over your head and tuck it into your collar to keep it out of your eyes. But if you are going somewhere very busy or it is very hot and you do not want to wear a head net with long sleeves, bug jacketThis is your last line of defense. They come at all kinds of price points. The one I’m wearing costs about $20 online. I tested it in the Northwest Territories in Canada, it worked really well. It has an elastic cinch around the wrists, there’s another one, you can’t really see here, around the waist. It provides really good coverage. It has really fine mesh and is baggy, which means that most of the time bugs won’t be able to reach your skin through it. And especially if you pair it with lightweight long pants, probably treated with permethrin, and cover the backs of your hands with bug repellent, there aren’t too many bugs.
Now, there are some drawbacks as well. One is visibility. Obviously, there’s a screen between me and the world here, and although I can see fine, it hinders some details. And second, if you’re going to be taking photos of yourself it’s probably not the most stylish option.
