Remedy for bugs in Roatan

[RTBDiver]

. It only takes a bit to fog a dive computer face, melt rubber enough to cause a failure. Why take the chance when there are other safe alternatives?

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guess I have just been lucky with almost a thousand dives on Roatan alone and never fogged a guage or computer with deet products even though I use it religously and do mostly shore dives so YES, I do apply even before a dive though not JUST before. Can you tell us what rubber is being harmed? Deet or the products it is suspended in has been known to hurt plastics when not used as directed but what rubber products are you using it on? It certainly does not harm hoses or silicone products , is it latex? I do not think it hurts late either but to be safe if you are spraying DEET products on Condoms you may want to use lambskin condoms instead. Safer? There is nothing, again NOTHING, proven to work even as good as deet in repelling biting insects so when in an area where Malaria and Dengue are present, how can anything else be considered safer?

 

[tridacna]

guess I have just been lucky with almost a thousand dives on Roatan alone and never fogged a guage or computer with deet products even though I use it religously and do mostly shore dives so YES, I do apply even before a dive though not JUST before. Can you tell us what rubber is being harmed? Deet or the products it is suspended in has been known to hurt plastics when not used as directed but what rubber products are you using it on? It certainly does not harm hoses or silicone products , is it latex? I do not think it hurts late either but to be safe if you are spraying DEET products on Condoms you may want to use lambskin condoms instead. Safer? There is nothing, again NOTHING, proven to work even as good as deet in repelling biting insects so when in an area where Malaria and Dengue are present, how can anything else be considered safer?

I agree with you regarding the efficacy of DEET however picaridin has been shown to be just as effective. Unlike DEET, picaridin is odorless, non-greasy and does not dissolve plastics or other synthetics. The one possible concern with Piaridin is its relative newness. Insufficient time hs passed for long-term health risks (should they exist) to manifest themselves. Cutter Advanced, Sawyer Premium and Repel all are picaridin based. Both are recommended by infectious disease doctors for use in high-risk areas.

Few studies have evaluated the relative efficacy of DEET and picaridin in fending off ticks, black flies, sand flies, no-see-ums, midges, and other biting insects. Available evidence indicates that picaridin and DEET are both effective at repelling black flies, while DEET is more effective at preventing tick bites. Conversely, picaridin seems to be better at repelling other biting insects, notably no-see-ums. The insect composition of your travel destination—and perhaps some personal field tests—will determine which repellent works best for your needs.

 

[RTBDiver]

Both are shown effective YET deet based products have been shown to be more effective in repelling the critters and longer lasting in the higher percentages, this is shown is virtually all non biased studies. . Deet is also reccomended for children as young as two months unlike Picariden. There is a reason, even with all the plastics used these days, that the world largest military operations still reccomend deet for their soldiers in Malaria prone areas

 

[JohnN]

Here is a nifty EPA breakdown of most all insect repellants: Insect Repellents: Use and Effectiveness | Pesticides | US EPA

 

[RTBDiver]

I. The insect composition of your travel destination—and perhaps some personal field tests—will determine which repellent works best for your needs.

Roatan forum here, I spent 5 months on Roatan this past year and have spent at least two or three months a year since 2003, Have tried Cactus juice and other snake oils, Will not try Picariden because it is much pricier than deet products in my area and deet has worked well for me for Mosquitoes and sand flies

 

[Doc]

WOW! Very pricey at $26 to nearly $60 a tube. Prep-H (cortosone), Ambesol (topical anelgesic), perscription cortosone, lidocane, etc. would work as well and be a whole lot less expensive. and he said remedies for the bugs, not for the bug bites.

I got Obamacare. It's $4 a tube. Same stuff that is in Nasonex.

No, it does not work like Prep H, lidocane, or Ambesol. It works 1000x better. Instant relief.

It is however, one of the "alternatives" ones that you mispelled.... it is a prescription corticosteroid.

Let me know how the Preparation H works, but only after you have compared it to Floucinonide. When the itching starts, $60 will sound cheap.

The only "remedy for the bugs" is to spray with DDT. As DandyDon mentions above- they do that at Fantasy Island. Add to that pre-existing debate on the efficacy of that in a previous thread.

 

[Kharon]

... There is nothing, again NOTHING, proven to work even as good as deet in repelling biting insects so when in an area where Malaria and Dengue are present, how can anything else be considered safer?

Use what you like dude, and I'll do the same. Proven? Cite the objective scientific papers where there is a direct comparison between deet and a combination of Permethrin and Picaridin. Otherwise you are just blowing smoke out your arse. My experience under extremely buggy environments has been that deet washes off with my sweat, and damages some of my equipment. The stuff I use does not. Like I said, use what you want. No skin off my back.

---------- Post added November 29th, 2012 at 09:41 AM ----------

Few studies have evaluated the relative efficacy of DEET and picaridin in fending off ticks, black flies, sand flies, no-see-ums, midges, and other biting insects. Available evidence indicates that picaridin and DEET are both effective at repelling black flies, while DEET is more effective at preventing tick bites. Conversely, picaridin seems to be better at repelling other biting insects, notably no-see-ums. The insect composition of your travel destination—and perhaps some personal field tests—will determine which repellent works best for your needs.

You are neglecting the effectivness of using both Picaridin to treat your skin and Permethrin to treat your clothes. Deet repells ticks Permethrin KILLS them. Talk to the hunters down south where ticks reign supreme.

 

[RTBDiver]

Cite the objective scientific papers where there is a direct comparison between deet and a combination of Permethrin and Picaridin.

If you need to buy and use two different products just to be effective then right there you have proven my point that no single product has proven as effective. Picariden is a repellent as is deet, I have no need to treat clothes with a seperate product where as DEET based products can be sprayed on clothing as well, Of course so can picaridin but that must not work as well if you feel the need to use permetherin,No need for a heavy bath but the mist that falls away when spraying elswhere has been enough for me , now I would use caution if your wearing your favorite Rayon Disco shirt from the 70's

Talk to the hunters down south where ticks reign supreme.

Hmmm, Lets see, So we should ask someone such as myself? I live most of the year in North Florida, Don't hunt as much as I used to but did have my gator permit this year, I also regularly fish the shores of southern lakes and streams and do a lot of hiking and off road bicycling as well. Then I usually spend three or so Months on Roatan where the beach I visit is not manicured raked or sprayed for any type of bug prevention . I spend little time even in any areas treated for bugs in any way be it spraying, raking or whatever such as I hear they do on West Bay, though I cannot testify to that as I have never been to West Bay, I will however always spend time in the bush walking the line and mending the fence of about 12 acres loaded with ticks, mosquitoes, pterodactyl and many other biting critters, to date in all the years I have found a couple ticks on me that actually began to bite and while I believe Roatan Mans nasone would work well, I have never had enough problem with bites to ever think about it. Deet might not kill bugs but its not like killing a few or even a few thousand will make a difference, it is repelling them that matters. , Is this south enough for you? Or did you mean Southern New York?

 

[Mike]

There was a recent study done with Everglades employees and the long term effects of DEET exposure, they found insomnia, impaired cognitive functions and mood swings with irritability. There seems to be some evidence in this thread to back-up these findings.

 

[tridacna]

There was a recent study done with Everglades employees and the long term effects of DEET exposure, they found insomnia, impaired cognitive functions and mood swings with irritability. There seems to be some evidence in this thread to back-up these findings.

Can you please quote this study? I'm interested in the sample size and the methods used. Those symptoms sound typical of almost all government employees I have encountered! (Especially the irritability).