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Thread: Bug bite Remedy

  1. #1
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Default Bug bite Remedy

    As it that time of year again, the chiggers are out in force....at our cabin..."The Place"
    They seem to be bad in June...then taper off in July...so hopefully they will subside...
    I have never seen one?

    Wading around with high weeds and even cut grass seem to be where they are coming from...but the gravel driveway may be another place to pick them up.

    I have dealt with them in the past (every year it seems) and they are a real PITA...and all points south.

    Have tried many potions, creams, saves, liquids and anything I can think of...to control the itching.

    My best cure? control? relief came from older products like:
    "Skeeter Stick" ......No longer made.....
    " After Bite"...Salve and stick.....and the Walgreens version.... several versions, stick, salve, and different strengths ....
    These contained ammonia as an active ingredient......05 to 2 %


    Looking today, the names are the same, but no longer list ammonia as an active ingredient....???

    Many use Benzocaine, Hydrocortisone, in many brands with limited results.

    "After Bite" now contains baking soda .....Didn't try

    Chiggerex;.....Active Ingredients: Benzocaine 10.0%.. Plus a Whole lot of inactive stuff....Limited results.

    Benadryl Itch stick..Ingredients: Camphorated Phenol (Camphor 10.8% & Phenol 4.7%), Eucalyptus Oil, Light Mineral Oil
    Limited results

    Some new ones I'm trying

    "Campho-Phenique" Pain and itch gel...Camphorated Phenol (Camphor 10.8% & Phenol 4.7%), Eucalyptus Oil, Light
    Mineral Oil

    "Off" .....Bite and Itch Relief:
    ACTIVE INGREDIENT:Benzocaine 5%, Camphor 3%, Phenol 1.35%...Inactive Ingredients:Propylene Glycol 90.65%

    Rubbing alcohol wipe...burns, but take away itch....Kinda like the ammonia did.

    And for several hours of relief , believe it or not...
    Preparation H "Cool Gel....
    Ingredients: Phenylephrine HCI/Witch Hazel/Aloe Barbadensis Gel/Benzophenone-4/Edetate Disodium/Hydroxyethylcellulose/Methylparaben/Polysorbate 80/Propylene Glycol/Propylparaben/Sodium Citrate/Vitamin E/Water

    The ammonia based sticks and salves seem to wok the best followed by the Prep H....

    Still looking for the older formula.....OR refill the ammonia stick with ammonia...

    Just a little review based on my experience.

    BTW I have tried the fingernail polish to "suffocate" tem....and several other cures...Mostly false.

    FYI
    http://www.chiggaway.com/Biggest.htm
    Last edited by hunter63; 07-03-2017 at 09:26 PM.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Have dealt with chiggers all my life here in the south.

    The best cure is prevention. The old stitch in time saves 9 thing.

    Application of OFF or one of the other good personal insecticides to keep them off in the first place is better than any after the fact remedy.

    Back in the day my grand dad used to rub kerosene on the shoes and pants cuffs. I never though it helped much.

    "Off" Came out while I was a teenager. Deep Woods Off came out just before I went into the Army and I remember that a can of it was always part of the contents of the "butt-pack" on the ALICE gear while in training.

    At Ft Benning I saw a guy that had decided to lay down in the soft grass to sleep (a chigger bed apparently) and woke up covered in chiggers three layers deep. It was not pretty. Big black guy, a cop from Kansas City. We had to send him to the hospital.

    I have a spray can in each vehicle and one can on the back porch.

    I once knew a couple of guys that were game wardens in TN. They claimed the chemical companies liked to try out new products on the game wardens because they knew they would get a through workout. One guy said he had treated a pair of pants with something they gave him and they were still "chigger proof" two years latter!
    Last edited by kyratshooter; 07-03-2017 at 11:18 PM.
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  3. #3
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    I hear ya.....and I always spray down...
    Gnats are bad as well.....so a lot for stuff get sprayed down.

    Mosquitoes have not been bad....but lot a water standing around...so we will see.

    Bush remedy is urine is useful..... for many things....but then again you smell like ...eh, Urine?

    https://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/urine.html
    Last edited by hunter63; 07-03-2017 at 11:33 PM.
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  4. #4

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    I agree on the prevention angle. I put Listerine in a spray bottle and apply to lower legs, ankles etc.
    Seems to work pretty well.
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    Senior Member Antonyraison's Avatar
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    Here I use Tabard, seems to be effective..
    they use DEET, Diethyltoluamide.
    apparently citronella also can help, can get that as an oil, and can burn a lamp, or a candle.

    https://www.tabarduk.com/products.htm
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  6. #6

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    Sulfur . A small capsule once a week keeps all bugs off. Growing up I would just eat a clove of garlic before going to pick blackberries . Now when in NG summer camp we did a mid-week saltwater dip to kill the chiggers .

  7. #7
    Senior Member WalkingTree's Avatar
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    Tis the little ones that can gitcha as much as anything else. That's why I decided that in a longish term bush situation, if much else isn't at hand, my primitive shelter design involves plain dirt - the tightest weave of foliage won't screen bugs at night while trying to sleep, but building something around the idea of dirt walls should be a bit better.
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    The realist adjusts the sails.

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  8. #8
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Antonyraison View Post
    Here I use Tabard, seems to be effective..
    they use DEET, Diethyltoluamide.
    apparently citronella also can help, can get that as an oil, and can burn a lamp, or a candle.

    https://www.tabarduk.com/products.htm
    I do use Off and Deep Woods Off....have to look at the can.....for ingredients....does help.
    Those citronella candles do help with mosquitos and flying bugs....chiggers, don't know.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fixit View Post
    Sulfur . A small capsule once a week keeps all bugs off. Growing up I would just eat a clove of garlic before going to pick blackberries . Now when in NG summer camp we did a mid-week saltwater dip to kill the chiggers .
    Have dusted with sulfur ...in an old sock against cuffs and socks....results?
    And while looking it up, found reference to eating sulfur....like take 5 match heads and call me in the morning....Don't know about that?

    WT...I agree I have always found that brush shelters are bug, spiders, and have had mice scurrying around .....just all sorts of stuff some best not to know.

    Dirt walls floors are muddy.....
    Most all of these methods are "survival shelters" for rain shelter and warmth,... not something I would want to do long term....Like ROTTW scenario's
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I don't much mind that stuff anymore. The boys and me were camping one night and something (field mouse?) ran up the leg of my oldest. He was about 28 at the time. You would have thought an atomic bomb had gone off in camp. Me and the other son couldn't get out of the way for laughing. We don't fear no stinkin' chiggars. Field mice. That's another thing altogether.

    I have had condominiums of chiggers when I worked outside. Nail polish was all I ever used. Some of the guys swore by pantyhose but I never had the guts.

  10. #10
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    They make panty hose with a fly?.....
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  11. #11
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    No. And don't ever fart wearing a pair of panty hose. That bubble will float around in there all day. Not that I would know about that.

  12. #12
    Senior Member Antonyraison's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    No. And don't ever fart wearing a pair of panty hose. That bubble will float around in there all day. Not that I would know about that.
    useful survival tip for river crossings.
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Rick has been practicing and sharing his survival skills for a long, long time. Here is a picture of him from his early days demonstrating the proper personal protective equipment for removing pantyhose that had been farted in earlier in the day.


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    Senior Member Antonyraison's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by crashdive123 View Post
    Rick has been practicing and sharing his survival skills for a long, long time. Here is a picture of him from his early days demonstrating the proper personal protective equipment for removing pantyhose that had been farted in earlier in the day.


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    hahahahahahahahahh ... yeah I think my wife can do with one of these... Not that I have the pantyhose delema.. but ummm yeah.. me starting up in the mornings can be like an old old diesel engine. splutters, sometimes floods, sometimes needs a bit of choke. lots of back firing.
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    Hey! It might have been heavy but it worked until my brother decided to use it for a goldfish bowl.

  16. #16

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    I've made, and sold, natural bug repellent using lemon eucalyptus essential oil. I've only had one person tell me it didn't work on them. I've also been out with other folks and they got chicks and tiggers and I didn't.

    Recipe (by volume): 5-10% lemon eucalyptus essential oil, 5-10% polysorbate 80 emulsifier, balance equal amounts of witch hazel and water.

    Lemon eucalyptus has the same active ingredient as citronella, but doesn't smell as funky.

  17. #17
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnLeePettimore View Post
    I've made, and sold, natural bug repellent using lemon eucalyptus essential oil. I've only had one person tell me it didn't work on them. I've also been out with other folks and they got chicks and tiggers and I didn't.

    Recipe (by volume): 5-10% lemon eucalyptus essential oil, 5-10% polysorbate 80 emulsifier, balance equal amounts of witch hazel and water.

    Lemon eucalyptus has the same active ingredient as citronella, but doesn't smell as funky.
    Don't know it's the same thing....as I can't read the hand printed label.....but I have several different containers of "Bug Dope"....and a couple of salves, I the I have picked up from the "Magic Potion Lady" at the Farmer's market and craft fairs...

    The labels were hand printed and when they are around awhile can't read them very well.

    Many have witch hazel, aloe, beeswax citronella, camphor, other essentials oils and may others.....some of the same ingredients that are in the commercial offerings.

    I would be willing to give it a try...but would not purchase those ingredients unless I knew it worked........LOL.

    I will write those ingredients down and check with my potion lady....
    Last edited by hunter63; 07-05-2017 at 10:00 AM.
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  18. #18
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Antonyraison View Post
    hahahahahahahahahh ... yeah I think my wife can do with one of these... Not that I have the pantyhose delema.. but ummm yeah.. me starting up in the mornings can be like an old old diesel engine. splutters, sometimes floods, sometimes needs a bit of choke. lots of back firing.
    Bhohahaha....

    THAT Sir, is most likely the funniest, truthful and relatable statement I have seen in looooog time...

    You have just started my day off with a laugh......Thanks for that....
    Rep sent....aw crap...c an't till I spread it around....
    Someone rep this post please?
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  19. #19

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    The two biggest problem insects where I camp are mosquitoes and deer flies.

    Deer flies suck. I welt up from the bites that itch me for days. But, they are most active in the hotter months and seem to be in the more direct heat. We tend to keep to the hammocks around that time of year. When hiking allows it, either be the point man or at least third back. And lag back about twice the distance between the point man and the second guy. The first guy must kick them up and the second guy gets all the attention.

    Long pants and shirts sleeves help. But, its too danged hot down here for that and wet pant legs and shirt sleeves suck and I have been bitten through my shirt.

    Mosquitoes need mosquito repellent which is best spelled DEET! I use Deep Woods Off and others as well. I have little pen sized bottles in smaller pieces of kit. Sawyer or Deep Woods pump bottles in all my packs. And, aerosol cans in the doors of my trucks and under the seat and in the glove box of the UTV.

    I have been in mosquitoes so thick that you breath them in. Literally so thick you can easily push a handful away without the need to swat at them. Prevention is best. Stick to worn trails and out of the grass. But, this time of year if you breath or perspire your going to attract mosquitoes. And if your down here this time of year and you breath, you are going to perspire!

    This year the mighty marsh mosquito has been off the chain. If you have never been in the mangroves of the southern Everglades during the Summer, you can't know. These are the loudest buzzing and most itchingest mosquitoes I have ever encountered. Just the ones that buzz in your will leave you contemplating whether further existing really has all that many benefits. Then from the time the first bite is felt you begin to welt!

    I avoid the mangroves when the salt marsh mosquitoes are at their worst. But, they are active down here almost year round.

    This year is bad though. http://www.naplesnews.com/story/news...nty/101718874/

  20. #20
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnLeePettimore View Post
    I've made, and sold, natural bug repellent using lemon eucalyptus essential oil. I've only had one person tell me it didn't work on them. I've also been out with other folks and they got chicks and tiggers and I didn't.

    Recipe (by volume): 5-10% lemon eucalyptus essential oil, 5-10% polysorbate 80 emulsifier, balance equal amounts of witch hazel and water.

    Lemon eucalyptus has the same active ingredient as citronella, but doesn't smell as funky.
    When I was younger I could have used some of that stuff that attracted chicks. The tigers.........not so much.
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