49
Use DEET or picaridin on skin.
Use Permethrin on your gear.
DEET will melt a lot of other synthetic stuff too like tents, tarps, watch straps, etc.
this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2025
49 points (100.0% liked)
Bicycling
2671 readers
75 users here now
A community for those who enjoy bicycling for any reason— utility, recreation, sport, or whatever!
Post your questions, experiences, knowledge, pictures, news, links, and (civil) rants.
Rules (to be added on an as-needed basis)
- Comments and posts should be respectful and productive.
- No ads or commercial spam, including linking to your own monetized content.
- Linked content should be as unburdened by ads and trackers as possible.
Welcome!
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
DEET will melt a lot of other synthetic stuff too like tents, tarps, watch straps, etc.
Outdoor equipment companies and DEET bug spray manufacturers must be superb partners! LOL
People who are into outdoor gear either know or find out soon that DEET is bad for synthetics lol
It's also worth noting that permethrin treatments can last through multiple washes.
It’s also worth noting that permethrin treatments can last through multiple washes.
Interestingly, at least in Canada, I can only find permethrin treated clothing, but nothing I can spray myself... except for actual insecticide products that use the same ingredient.
It should come as a spray or wash-in. You might be able to use the insecticide but you'd want to make sure it doesn't have anything harmful/destructive in it and that the strength was suitable for treating gear/garments.
Not sure about Canada, but in the US they usually label the other ingredients in percentages. You could try finding the "purest" and then dilute to the desired concentration before spraying the clothes. Not sure what % permethrin you need tho.
And I imagine most high concentration sources are probably regulated
If you use permetrin on your gear/clothes never let cats sleep on them - while they are fine with low doses higher ones are much more dangerous to them than to us.
What is this dentist shit? Everyone knows the best insect repellent is to just kom harder. Can't get bit if you never stop.
Anecdotally, I've personally found picaridin-based bug sprays to work as well or better than deet for me
I also think it smells less strongly, and it's probably safer to use around dogs.
I recommended picaridin to a coworker going on a fishing trip to backwoods Ontario. When he got back he said his guide only recommends using picaridin, and doesn't use DEET at all.
I hate DEET. It stinks, it's oily, it melts rubber and plastics.
I hate DEET. It stinks
Yup. That's one of the reasons why I started looking for alternatives, but after seeing some damaged caused by it on a few items I had, I was done with it.
Wasn't DEET like outlawed for being super terrible stuff?
Are you thinking of DDT, perhaps? That shit almost wiped out Osprey and Bald Eagles!
DEET, the insect repellant, isn't banned anywhere as far as I know.
MAYBE. That sounds like a possibility.
Edit: looked it up https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEET and looks like it's a solvent and not great for fabrics. It's also been heavily studied and while LOTS of it gets into your body, when used with the government limitations and not for long periods of time, is said to be fine.
It isn't great for the environment, but isn't actually terrible, as it isn't a forever chemical, as it does break down, it just takes a long time to do so.
Wikipedia (on environmental impact):
Though DEET is not expected to bioaccumulate, it has been found to have a slight toxicity for fresh-water fish such as rainbow trout[34] and tilapia,[35] and it also has been shown to be toxic for some species of freshwater zooplankton.[36] DEET has been detected at low concentrations in water bodies as a result of production and use, such as in the Mississippi River and its tributaries, where a 1991 study detected levels varying from 5 to 201 ng/L.[37]
A 1975 study analyzed the effects of DEET on communities of freshwater organisms native to Chinese waterways and found that DEET was moderately toxic to aquatic organisms compared to other commercial insect repellants. The most-at-risk organisms were algae colonies which often experienced "significant biomass decline and community composition shift[s]" when exposed to DEET at 500 ng/L.[38]
DEET is biodegraded by fungi into products less toxic to zooplankton.[36] It degrades well under aerobic conditions, but poorly and slowly under anaerobic conditions.[39]
Also, in 2002 Canada banned concentrations higher than 30% for adults and higher than 10% for kids.
But yeah, I think I was conflating DEET and DDT.
It will also damage plastic on some Fitbit screens