Alaska... Mosquito Repellent. Spray, Patch, home remedy what works best???

TangoBlue

American Adventurist
100% DEET for topical application to your skin; Permethrin for clothing. Outstanding results, world-wide, in my experience.
 

yopauly

New member
I spent 3 months driving from Las Vegas, through Canada, to Alaska. Skagway,ferry ride, Haynes, tok, Valdez, Anchorage, Kenai, anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks, back to Tok, Chicken and back into Canada. I am one that mosquitoes LOVE. I am the Dom Perignon for the Culicidae family. Except under extreme infestation my wife had nothing to worry about. I got the hits. I carried OFF! 25% for light days. Repel 40% Deet spray for medium and Repel pen w/100% deet which I carried in my chest pocket all the time for heavy. I lost the pen and began a panic attack! With my arsenal I did ok keeping bloodshed to a minimum and will go back to AK well supplied with the same.
 

madmax718

Explorer
I spent 3 months driving from Las Vegas, through Canada, to Alaska. Skagway,ferry ride, Haynes, tok, Valdez, Anchorage, Kenai, anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks, back to Tok, Chicken and back into Canada. I am one that mosquitoes LOVE. I am the Dom Perignon for the Culicidae family. Except under extreme infestation my wife had nothing to worry about. I got the hits. I carried OFF! 25% for light days. Repel 40% Deet spray for medium and Repel pen w/100% deet which I carried in my chest pocket all the time for heavy. I lost the pen and began a panic attack! With my arsenal I did ok keeping bloodshed to a minimum and will go back to AK well supplied with the same.

Lets go camping together. :camping: Im more of a bottle of Jack. Tasty and gets the job done.. for the mosquitoes.. unless their's tastier blood around.
 

Rattler

Thornton Melon's Kid
I just got to the end of the Summer Overland Journal and there was an article about Dengue Fever and it had quite a bit of info on mosquito repellants in it.
 

Honu

lost on the mainland
I have had Dengue before :) on Utila when I lived there they called it the BONE SHAKES
tell ya its a interesting feeling for sure :)
kinda like those sore throats you get and you cant swallow and when you do its painful now imagine that on every single thing in your body including your eyes and ears and well everything ;)

Maui had a big outbreak of Dengue some time ago also ! and quite a few people got it pretty bad ! also Maui has had some bad run ins with that flesh eating disease :) AHHH paradise but it was a mild strain lucky enough
 

Rattler

Thornton Melon's Kid
I have had Dengue before :) on Utila when I lived there they called it the BONE SHAKES
tell ya its a interesting feeling for sure :)
kinda like those sore throats you get and you cant swallow and when you do its painful now imagine that on every single thing in your body including your eyes and ears and well everything ;)

Maui had a big outbreak of Dengue some time ago also ! and quite a few people got it pretty bad ! also Maui has had some bad run ins with that flesh eating disease :) AHHH paradise but it was a mild strain lucky enough

The symptoms they listed didn't make it sound like a party I wanted to go to!
 

Honu

lost on the mainland
no party I ever want to go back to :)
the island was funny all the men would sit out on the steps of the home and down the road and you could tell who had it by the fact they just sat there and did not move :)
 
I've lived and worked on the Russian tundra above the Arctic Circle - where apparently the mosquito swarms put Alaska's to shame. Having never been to AK, I cannot say.

However, we did learn how to deal with mosquitoes and mosquito-born illness. Definitely second Flounder's no-DEET call; it does eat through everything when used for multiple days, and as I'm a photographer won't use it near the camera. Seen too many camera bodies chewed up by the stuff.

I did use a non-DEET repellent religiously; it was Russian and have no idea what was in it, other than no DEET. Mosquito coils were burned in all the buildings, at the entrances, and if we were on a expedition, we brought several to burn during breaks. Making sure the body is fully covered (long sleeve, long pants, hat, big sunglasses, gloves and Buff are crucial. A rather inventive Russian made his assassin-looking face mask...) My ExOfficio bugs-away clothing was worth a hundred times what I paid for it. Seriously.

In the field we would often sleep with mosquito netting just draped over our bodies and coils burning nearby. If you do not have a frame you can make a real mosquito "tent" with, this is the next big thing.

Unfortunately, we had visitors from tropical countries and they brought in some kind of a malarial strain, and several of us became ill. I would not wish that on my worst enemy; certainly an experience I am not in a hurry to repeat. Makes one certainly appreciate preventative care.

Enjoy the trip and, most of all, have fun!
 

rkj__

Adventurer
When mosquitoes are really thick and aggressive, I choose to cover up with clothing. In the worst scenarios, I will include mesh over my head / face as well.
I like to have Deep Woods Off! handy as well, but try to avoid using it on my skin whenever possible.
 

pattro

Observer
Archaeologist here who works in the jungles of Belize and Guatemala and know a thing or two about getting eaten alive by insects. The general rule for me and my colleagues is Long sleeves/pants treated in permethrin. 100% deet on socks and cuffs and at least 40%deet on everything else. If the ticks are especially bad, we'll spray DDT on our socks and boots, but thats not an option stateside.
 

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