8 Responses

  1. avatar
    Bill R at |

    After learning of three people (2 friends 1 relative) who have been diagnosed (late stage) with Lyme Disease with crippling effects and feeding tubes—-as well as knowing of 3 persons in the same area and neighborhood who DIED as a result of undiagnosed Lyme Disease—you can be assured I learned everything possible I could about trying to prevent it. I bought InsectShield clothing/socks/shirts/pants as well as Sawyer products to spray/soak other clothes and shoes I own, and a solemn oath to myself to never venture outside off the pavement without wearing one or all of those items. Much like your own testimony from its use while camping, it works for the backyard (connected to woods with deer and deer ticks) and I’m as comfortable and as stylish as I need to be. At first it seemed impossible to be protected from this here in the upper Midwest—but now, its second nature and a commitment. I think only of my friends and relative and the 3 that have passed that had no idea of this awful disease. Until a preventive treatment or cure is developed, protective clothing that is treated is the ONLY way for me to ever go “off the pavement” again….Ticks are everywhere, blades of grass in a simple walk, low hanging leaves of anything that grows and so easily to attach to the unsuspecting in non camping ventures its just crazy…I continue to do a body check every night and shower, but the protective clothing is what makes me still feel I dont have to have my whole life managed by these little buggers. I hike and walk and at times backpack camp, but even a simple mowing of the grass or cutting back brush cant be taken lightly anymore, nor a “walk in the park”…thanks so much for your own personal experience and endorsement of InsectShields performance on your camping experiences.

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  2. avatar
    Gregory Deuerling at |

    Have you tried the Insect Shield EZPack service?
    You send in your non-IS clothes and they treat them and send them back.
    Would be interesting to know if it works as good as the Ex Officio and LLBean clothes.

    Great review, thanks!

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    1. avatar
      David Shedd at |

      Gregory, we know that as ISYOC (Insect Shield Your Own Clothing). And, as it happens, we’re in the middle of testing it right now…4 testers out with their own clothing that we sent in for treatment. So far, it appears that they’re working as well as “official” IS clothing. Two of us were out on a backpacking fishing trip in insect hell the other day; multiple brooks feeding down into a large swamp area. We saw insects we’ve never seen before, in quantity! And, literally ONE bug bite, on the back of one unprotected hand. Some landings on our faces and hands, but we could easily swat them. More testing to do, but at this point, we’re believers.

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      1. avatar
        Greg Deuerling at |

        Thanks for the info. I’m doing the John Muir Trail early Aug and I just sent in 7 pieces of clothing to be treated. After my hike I’ll come back and let you know how it went. Huge snow year in the Sierras and the the skeeters are going to be bad this year!

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        1. avatar
          David Shedd at |

          Have a great time, and definitely let us know how the clothing works out!

          Reply
  3. avatar
    Shelby at |

    It’s important to note that permethrin — the chemical in Insect Shield — is NOT a bug repellant. It is an insecticide. It kills bugs that come into contact with it, hopefully before they bite through the fabric. The EPA and all other relevant authorities recommend using a DEET bug repellant in addition to the permethrin-treated clothing.

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    1. avatar
      David Shedd at |

      Shelby, we reached out to Insect Shield for their thoughts…here’s what we got back:

      “Unless the insects are trapped on the fabric – not a situation typical in field use of permethrin-treated clothing – they will simply fly or jump off, instead of being killed. And yes, even Insect Shield recommends using traditional topicals on exposed skin.”

      That pretty much lines up with what we’ve seen in the field. We’ve never seen an insect die on our clothing, and we actually have relatively few landings, period; the insects mostly shy off from it. And while we agree that if you’re going to go for absolute maximum protection you need to apply DEET, there are circumstances where you don’t want to (for instance, fishing with light leaders that could be damaged, or allowing that lovely smell to permeate a fly or bait). We’ve found that IS provides a significant level of protection even on exposed skin; our belief is that there’s a certain “cloud” created by our body heat and moisture that most bugs want to stay away from. You might find this from the University of Rhode Island useful if you’re concerned about using permethrin: http://www.tickencounter.org/prevention/permethrin.

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  4. avatar
    SLC at |

    Thank you so much for this review; I’m constantly driven indoors by mosquitoes, but was very hesitant to spend so much money on a product that might not work. I’m going to give Insect Shield a try!

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