Sandflies Mozzies - Good Protection

Submitted: Sunday, Apr 04, 2010 at 13:34
ThreadID: 77448 Views:3528 Replies:3 FollowUps:6
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Oils such as baby oil, dieseline etc will work to a certain extent but you have to apply them frequently to keep a good cover on the skin – but this also comes off on your clothing and bedding and doesn’t suit everybody.

DEET based repellent creams and lotions are used by the American and Australian armies at about 40% concentration. It’s a very safe chemical and has been around for over 50 years.

DEET in the cream form, rather than spray cans, is best and the stronger it is the longer it lasts (it doesn’t kill the sandflies or mozzies – just repels them).
80% DEET cream has a life of 12 to 15 hours so it needs to be applied twice a day.

Never put sunscreen over the repellent as it only masks it – put your sunscreen on first, let it dry and apply the repellent on top.
If you do get bitten the first thing to do is to deaden the bite with a local anaesthetic such as Lignocaine (so that you don’t scratch and cause infection) and then if you get an allergic reaction to the bite, take antihistamine tablets.

The strongest chemicals I’ve found are as follows:
DEET cream at 80% is available direct from BUSHMAN at about $100 a litre.
Lignocaine 5% cream in the form of Itcheze Plus Cream is available from some online Queensland Pharmacies at about $13 per 50 gram tube.

PS: I am a West Aussie who spends a lot of time at Port Smith – the mozzie capital of WA - but I have to admit I can’t get the 1 litre DEET or the Itcheze, anywhere but online from the Banana-benders.

Regards Dennis
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Reply By: Gone Bush (WA) - Sunday, Apr 04, 2010 at 14:04

Sunday, Apr 04, 2010 at 14:04
I'm trying to get some of this stuff.

Sandfly & Mozzie Stuff

Our local outlet is out of stock. Might have to order direct.

Sounds like a good product for the EO shop.

cheers
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AnswerID: 411619

Follow Up By: Phillipn - Sunday, Apr 04, 2010 at 18:40

Sunday, Apr 04, 2010 at 18:40
Check out thread 77069 21/03/2010.

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FollowupID: 681667

Reply By: jezza68 - Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 00:44

Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 00:44
I live in Broome and use 125ml of Tea Tree Oil to 1lt of 30+ sunscreen and it has always worked. I was given the recipe by an ex Pro Crabber from QLD years ago.

Tamery
AnswerID: 411670

Reply By: John and Lynne - Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 10:57

Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 10:57
Hello Dennis,
We heard a rather disturbing story about how a couple of fellas on the Kokoda Track lost most of their skin using DEET 80% after only going about half way along the Track. I would caution the use of DEET 80% on that basis. A previous thread advised that the army use 30% DEET. If that is true then use their research based protocols and limit your use to theirs. I would not use more than about 15% DEET.

Regards

John & Lynne
AnswerID: 411686

Follow Up By: Dennis Ellery - Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 11:21

Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 11:21
Hello John – It's magic stuff – It sure sorts the mozzies out.
But the fact that I’ve started to glow after dark concerns the missus a bit.
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FollowupID: 681717

Follow Up By: Dennis Ellery - Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 12:22

Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 12:22
Hi John,
Something I forgot to mention - repellents using high levels of DEET will melt some plastics.
This needs to be considered if you use spectacles with plastic frames or lenses, as I do.
In this case you need to keep your glasses clean until the repellent dries off.
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FollowupID: 681719

Follow Up By: Mark Howlett - Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 18:58

Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 18:58
Geez if it melts plastic what is it doing to our skin?

I wonder what the aboriginals used? Perhaps there is a strong natural remedy floating out there somewhere?

Mark.
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FollowupID: 681756

Follow Up By: Dennis Ellery - Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 19:31

Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 19:31
Geez what are you man or mouse?
Ya gotta use something with a bit of guts - those it doesn’t repel, it melts their proboscis off.
End of problem.
Cheers Dennis
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FollowupID: 681759

Follow Up By: Mark Howlett - Tuesday, Apr 06, 2010 at 22:04

Tuesday, Apr 06, 2010 at 22:04
I'd rather keep my skin and I'm not spraying it on my kids - we've been bitten by the mini-helicopters that pass as mozzies in the north and survived using lesser methods...let's say we went for atomic rather than nuclear strike!

Cheers,

Mark.
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FollowupID: 681897

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