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I want to see if I can post, but I don't really have anything to post about, having already used up all of my trip reports. Canoe trippers have many ways that they deal with mosquitoes and black flies. When Kathleen and I first started tripping, we bought head nets. After about five minutes we took them off, and never used them again. We felt way too confined. And besides, how would we be able to eat and drink wearing head nets?

So we bought bug jackets, and have been very satisfied with the results. We saturate the jacket with a 2.5 oz (74 ml) bottle of full-strength deet. Sometimes we dab a little deet on our hands and face. The jackets are open weave, so that it is possible to portage, or otherwise work hard without becoming overheated by the jacket.

It's fair to say that we have never felt tormented by bugs, even out on the barren grounds. In fact, we rarely get any bug bites at all. The most vulnerable time is when squatting close to the ground with one's pants down. I don't want to rub deet on my behind, though. I just wait to go until I really, really, and I mean really have to go.
On windy days, when the bugs are confined to the ground, we store our bug jackets in ziplock bags. Depending on how hard we are working, we don't have to re-saturate the jackets for about two weeks. I've even got to like the smell of deet. When I get the jackets out of the closet to saturate at the beginning of a trip, the fragrance just yells out, "You're going canoe tripping. Yay!"
Yes, I know the horror stories of spilling deet on glasses or fabrics such as nylon. In all the years we have tripped, we have never made these kinds of mistakes, nor have we ever rubbed deet into our eyes. I know many of you will likely reject our approach. But hey, what works for us doesn't have to work for you. It's just our preference.
Now I am going to try to post. Wish me luck!

So we bought bug jackets, and have been very satisfied with the results. We saturate the jacket with a 2.5 oz (74 ml) bottle of full-strength deet. Sometimes we dab a little deet on our hands and face. The jackets are open weave, so that it is possible to portage, or otherwise work hard without becoming overheated by the jacket.

It's fair to say that we have never felt tormented by bugs, even out on the barren grounds. In fact, we rarely get any bug bites at all. The most vulnerable time is when squatting close to the ground with one's pants down. I don't want to rub deet on my behind, though. I just wait to go until I really, really, and I mean really have to go.
On windy days, when the bugs are confined to the ground, we store our bug jackets in ziplock bags. Depending on how hard we are working, we don't have to re-saturate the jackets for about two weeks. I've even got to like the smell of deet. When I get the jackets out of the closet to saturate at the beginning of a trip, the fragrance just yells out, "You're going canoe tripping. Yay!"
Yes, I know the horror stories of spilling deet on glasses or fabrics such as nylon. In all the years we have tripped, we have never made these kinds of mistakes, nor have we ever rubbed deet into our eyes. I know many of you will likely reject our approach. But hey, what works for us doesn't have to work for you. It's just our preference.
Now I am going to try to post. Wish me luck!
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