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We were up at West Clear Creek this weekend and the Gnats were really bad. They were worse up top than in the canyon and the only thing that kept them away was the strong wind. I tried 100% DEET as well as %15 Picadrin. Neither had any effect. Has anyone found a way to repel these things?

permethrin helps in my opinion but not as good as a headnet

REI carries a Sawyer brand spray. I did a test years ago and it seemed they landed considerably less yet still swarmed near. End result seemed less annoying. Obviously not a scientific test...

Test #1 - 2009-05-13 - Morning
Test #2 - 2009-05-13 - Evening

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On a related subject, this month's Scientific American has an article on mosquito research. They've identified a number of scent compunds that attract mosquitoes, and have proven why they attack some people and not others. I can see where the same might be true for other biting bugs ...

Permethrin - synthetic version of crysanthemum flower - you can find like a 10% spray bottle at REI and such... OR, you can go to a farm supply store, a tack and feed, and get it in much stronger concentration at a lower price too.

I can vouch for it. i have seen mosquitoes and gnats land on pants treated with permethrin, then die about 2-3 seconds later.

spray it on and let it DRY before you adorn your duds. once dry, completely safe (according to the chemist I spoke with)

good source info!

(I should credit/mention te-wa originally suggested permethrin long ago)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin

Good info! I'll give that a shot this weekend and see how it does. Thx!

I treated a long sleeve shirt and pants with the Sawyer brand Permethrin(.5%). Its seemed to keep them away, but did not kill any that I saw. They would still go for any untreated areas like the head. Although, the deet seemed to be working pretty well for that. Only ended up with a few new bites. Citronella seemed to keep them away though, I was suprised at that.

follow-ups rock!

My ball cap gets the heaviest dose of treatment. Suppose a treated handkerchief loose around the neck would help too.

Good info, I had never heard of permethrin. My wife gets bitten by those no see ums right at the sock line and I attract all the other annoying biting insects.

This is good info to pass on to my sister. I, however, am lucky in that no insect ever lands on me if there is anyone else anywhere nearby :whistle:

Bumping this back up. We were out in Sedona this weekend and they were swarming any time I sat down for 30 seconds. Got a bunch of bites since I did not bring any long pants. The wind was the only thing that saved us. Again, Deet was ineffective. Its was too windy for the Citronella candle to work.

Believe it or not, I had good luck with Avon's Skin So Soft diluted with Water and sprayed on. Gnats were a big problem for me when I used to work in the yard in MN, and that was what was recommended and it seemed to work pretty well. I took a bottle with me to GG last week, but it wasn't needed...

Not sure why it works, maybe you just smell too pretty or your nice soft skin just isn't attractive to them anymore???