Summer Survival: Learn How to Avoid Mosquitos, Ticks, & Chiggers!

Summer survival! Spending time in the outdoors in the spring and summer means you'll likely be dealing with biting bugs. Biting insects like mosquitos, ticks, and chiggers aren't just an annoyance, they can carry some pretty nasty diseases like Lyme Disease. In this video I'll go over various ways I deal with mosquitos and ticks while camping, hiking, and hunting. We'll start off by talking about selecting a camp site and appropriate tents. Then I'll talk about clothing, insect repellents, thermacell, and natural bug sprays and insect repellent plants.

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[michaellane]

I live in New England and when I was young, My camping was ALWAYS done after October. For one, the idiots were gone, number two, most bugs were gone and the later into Winter it got, the bears were gone. I had the woods to myself. I was in my element. Me, nature and the coyotes and I like them. Coyotes adapt. It is amazing how quiet the woods are when snow is falling and there is little wind .I could hear my heart beating it was so quiet. I can take a breath and bring myself back to those days. Mike

[uthus]

When you do get chigger bites, Vick's salve kills the itch - almost instantly. Camphor and peppermint also work.

[MyakkahatcheeBonsai]

Great info! I have spent a lifetime in the outdoors in Florida, I'm 60 I have been using original skin so soft for years works great keeping the bugs away and non toxic. Also mosquitos hate the smell of crushed wax myrtle bushes and Brazilian pepper I break off branches and crush leaves by stepping on them and spread them around my camp and the mosquitos leave.

[pavlandr]

when hiking/trailing through bush or tall grass I always carry a long stick before me and lightly smack what's in my way, tends to drop ticks down to the ground and I usually don't get them on me.

[danielaltamura]

Great video! I learned some tips to help me when camping and hunting. I'm surprised you didn't mention Sawyer's Picaridin. It is just as effective as Deet, but not as toxic. It is derived from natural ingredients, just like Permethrin. I use Picaridin for skin and Permethrin for clothing and gear. What I really like about Picaridin is that it's not greasy like Deet, and it won't damage plastic, leather, or wood finishes. That's very important to me as a traditional archer.

[jae]

I've been making my own bug repellent for years with Neem, citronella, lemon eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils and have no problems with mosquitos etc Where I live in Australia you can get Ross River Fever from mozzies and it can make you really sick so during the warmer months prevention is vital.

[anthonymiller]

Good info Clay.
In case anyone is interested Pyrethrin is a natural insecticide from mum plants.
Permethrin works the same but it’s the synthetic form, so if you want a more natural insecticide make sure the active ingredient is Pyrethrin.

[chaseparks]

Awesome info, another great way to keep chiggers and ticks off is the cheep flee and tick dog collars, you can put them around your boot tops so they are not on your skin they normally work for a few months

[willsarante]

Great stuff. For mosquitoes I would add wearing baggy clothing, it will limit the fabric making contact with the skin so their proboscis can’t poke anywhere it lands.

[zippitydoodah]

Well done. Chiggers are a nightmare, but here's something I have discovered over time: they can't hang on to you very well and it takes them some time to crawl up a hair to the follicle. So, before settling down in camp, vigorously brush yourself off from feet to shoulders. If you have the ability to shower before hitting your tent, that's the best. No chigger can defeat a shower. But even a vigorous brushing just outside camp will get rid of most of them if they're on you. I struggled with chiggers in my area for YEARS until I got this advice from older kin. When I shower before bedding down for the night, I NEVER get chigger bites. Anytime I get chigger bites it is after bedding down on a hiking/hunting/camping trip where a shower wasn't possible and without brushing off well before coming into camp. I carry wet wipes now as an additional safeguard so I can get a wipe down of my actual skin from the waist down. Haven't had chiggers in a few years now. I cannot say if the wet wipes have helped, or if it is the brushing off, but I'll keep doing both forever. About 8 years ago, after riding 4 wheelers through a tall hay field on my way to our camping spot, I got 72 chigger bites on my left leg and 26 on my right. WEEKS of misery followed. Now, I don't take chances.

[bogunnars]

I live in Sweden and i use lemongras oil and have it in the water in the wash machine, and also mix it in water and spray it on my dog.

[OCALION]

Muchas gracias Clay !! Todo se aprende en base a tus experiencias. Felicitaciones !! Una vez, viajando para Venezuela a comunidades indígenas, unos amigos me dijeron que una semana antes, tomara pastillas de levadura de cerveza. Al transpirar, se expele un repelente para mosquitos. Un saludo desde Uruguay !!! Muchas gracias por tus consejos !!!

[cjackdive]

I am allergic to DEET and have both treated my clothes with permethrin, use thermacells, and used various essential oils. I recently purchased a permethrin lotion from Sawyer that they claim last for 14 hours. I test a spot on my arm and no allergic reaction. Looking forward to testing it soon.

[lucygoosey]

Nice video! Chiggers are not microscopic. You can see them with the naked eye if you look closely. If you've been exposed to chiggers, you have about a one hour window that you can scrub them off with a soapy cloth or skin brush. Scrub the entire area where you've been exposed and you can scrub them entirely off of your skin before they start biting and burrowing in.
I have alpha gal and as of necessity have learned how to deal with chiggers and ticks.

[old_timey_prospector]

In regards to opening the tent at night when nature calls:

I know this might seem off-putting for some folks, especially if you're sharing a tent with someone else, but something as simple as a portable urinal can save you the trouble of having to open that door more than you have to.

[Steven-gvke]

Coastal Texan here. Ive used Lemon Eucalyptus by both cutter and repel and they both work for many hours if initially put on heavy. Ive even sprayed it on my clothes as well. Deet also works sprayed on clothes if you don't want it on your skin. Also if you are having a party outside, you can use a fine mesh screen zip tied over the front of some box fans. Mosquitos will be attracted to everyone, get sucked through the fans, and pinned against the fine mesh zip tied to the front. They will dry out in about 8 hours and be no more.

[andreathompson]

Hi Clay I have used egg cartons. I found that a little smoke around camp works great for keeping the skeeters away.

[Kurtdog]

I wear tall, soft rubber, non-insulated boots during warm weather and tuck my pants down into the boots. This seems to greatly reduce the amount of chiggers that tend to funnel up up pant legs when you just wear hiking boots for example. In the military was close to a marsh by the ocean in Honduras. Every evening, the mosquitos would descend on our camp like a biblical plague. We were setup under a large roofed shelter with no walls in an asphalt parking lot in the middle of no where. We had cots that used corner pegs to elevate a mosquito net above us. The mosquitos were so bad that we had to wear hats, pants, and long sleeves, and keep our socks on when laying on the cot, because if any part of our skin that touched the inside of the mosquito net, the mosquitoes could get you thru the net.

[antonrehling]

I am not homeless and looking for a place to be safe. I am a man who knows how to survive. I just want to live life and give back in ways that I can.
I am totally self sufficient. I don't need anyone to direct me to survive or to educate me to live. Clay, you are a man of my own heart. It would be my pleasure to be the man who can keep your place ready for your return.

[saraseifert]

I use a peppermint/water mix on my smol patio before I go out to read and smoke. Sometimes the bugs stay away and sometimes they are a little aggressive. Reapplication is effective for about 15 minutes to an hour depending on the weather. You gotta shake it really well each time you apply. But peppermint may not be the most effective, I don’t know. I remember my aunt grew a small field of different mint types at her farm and we would harvest it each August or September and spread it around the cow barn and the chicken yard. It definitely kept the rodents out lol.