I have heard so much in books and online about the effects of using Yarrow as a bug repellent. Hearing so many great things about it's effectiveness from well respected folks like Ray Mears and others, I decided to try this plant out and see just how well it performed. I've tried it several times in the past and it did not work, but, being quite stubborn, I wanted to give it a real good chance to work. All the sources I've found on the subject say to simply crush the leaves between your hands and rub it on your skin as you might any other bug repellent.
So, with renewed hopes of using a plant to effectively prevent bug bites in the field, I tried it a couple more times with varied results. Here's the video of those results.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IscrE-N_h4
After getting home from the above video and examining my bug bites I felt the field Yarrow didn't perform very well. But, I only applied it once or twice and thought that might not be a good enough test. Also, the field Yarrow is much weaker in smell and juice than the domesticated Yarrow I have growing in my yard. So, this next video is a follow up to the first, I apply domesticated yarrow in multiple attempts to keep the deer flies and mosquitos at bay. Here it is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqTwEnDTU5g
Again, after getting home and examining my bug bites, I reflected back to the time frames and number of applications of the Yarrow used in the above field test. I tested this plant for about 45 minutes with at least 8 different applications in that time frame, approximately every 5 minutes on average, but no more than 10 minutes between apps, some apps were re-applied after just 2 or 3 minutes. I went through about 6-8 plants worth of Yarrow leaves in that time, an entire cargo pocket stuffed clean full. The domestic Yarrow is much bigger and juicier than the field yarrow, so, I would have had to gather at least 15 field Yarrow plants to equal the amount of plant material that was applied in this test.
After taking a long hot shower with plenty of soap and shampoo I still smelled strongly of Yarrow for about 8 hours, until I went to bed. When I awoke I swore I could still smell the Yarrow. I do believe that I was thoroughly saturated with Yarrow for the above test, my skin was green in spots from it's continuous re-application, even after the shower and repeated scrubbing with a shower brush and soap.
I hope you find these field tests of Yarrow as a bug repellent informative and would strongly advise anyone to personally ensure through safe methods that any survival, wilderness, primitive skill is proven by yourself before relying on it in a situation. I would also advise against rubbing or using any plant until you yourself have proven it to be safe.
There are many skills, methods, tools, and such that are talked about in books, on TV, and on the internet in forums, websites, and blogs. Many well respected websites, professional or otherwise, present claims of plant uses, tool uses, product uses, etc. I can tell you without a bit of doubt in my mind that most of these claims and things spoke of and written of are done so without having tested the information that is being presented. Many experienced survivalists, minimalists, high techies, and low techies make claims of products and methods working, primitive or otherwise, most of these claims are not well proven. Many of the claims are made with profit in mind, many are made simply out of wanting folks to like something as much as the presenter does, many are made simply to fill up space on a web page and attract visits through search engines, and many are simply half-baked notions and have no ground to stand on whatsoever. Most things claimed, metaphorically speaking, are castles built on sand, some of those castles are quite impressive, some not so much.
As time permits I will be testing many of these claims so that I know whether or not I can rely on them. Simply storing this information off onto a thumb drive, bookshelf or notebook is not good enough for me. The line of thinking that says I can simply draw upon this untested information in time of need is not acceptable in my book, it doesn't float, hold water, or even deserve the right to occupy space in my mind.
My castle may be a rusty tin roofed shack made of scrap wood, but it is built on solid rock, not sand, the roof doesn't leak, it keeps the bugs out in the summer time, and the warmth in in the wintertime, and most importantly, it's all mine.
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