Re: WHAT'S THE BEST TICK REPELLANT?
I'm a land surveyor. I spend a LOT of time in the woods, regardless of the conditions. And I hate bugs; mosquitoes and black flies are my particular unfavorites. I usually don't get many ticks for some reason, but I understand getting up at 3 AM feeling a tick crawling on you. Makes it hard to get back to sleep. I used to wonder what chiggers were, but after a run in with these little buggers that lasted a week, I've added them to my "bad bug" list.
I have tried everything you can imagine, but the best thing I have found so far is Permethrin. Used on your clothes, it kills insects. I've never had one bite through it, even when the skeeters were voratious. They land, they die. Ticks too. Once they are exposed to Permethrin, they are goners, and just drop off before you know they're there. I spray my hair and that seems to work there (they advertise it for dogs).
As I understand it, if you put it on your skin, it metabolizes rapidly, losing effectiveness. So on exposed skin, I use DEET, but I don't like it. Too much makes my skin "crawl", and anything that melts plastic pencils may not be good for you. So, limit your exposed skin by using clothing you can use Permethrin on.
I am amused by "housewife" remedies like Skin so Soft, vitamin B, garlic (I love the stuff, and eat whole cloves of it). They may have a little effectiveness when the bugs are on "lazy", but I've noticed when I'm in the deep woods and the hordes are vicious, there is a distinct lack of housewives.