Bugs!!!
 

In preparing for an upcoming trip (Aug.) to Olympic and North Cascades National Parks, i would appreciate any recommendations for effective "bug juice". Is standard OFF sufficient? any natural alternatives effective enough? <BR>What type of little creatures are in these environments besides mosquitoes? Are there black flies, no-seeums too? hope not! <BR>Thanks in advance!

Hey Dave, please repost with "Bugs in Olympic and North Cascade parks?" or something like that. Too-generic nearly always get very few, if any, responses. Have a great trip!!!

i'd recommend an insect repellent that is also a tick repellent.

The June issue of Consumer Reports has a great article on bug repellants.

I think I'll check out the Consumer's Digest article on bug repellants. Last year the brand I sprayed on myself caused my nail polish to bubble up and dissolve. That is very frightening to me.

Within the last few weeks, I saw a major television program test and rate various insect repellents. Deep Woods Off won hands down. Covered most all bugs and even ticks.

I lived in the Everglades for several years- here are some comments about bug juice. OFF is by far the most effective product, don't waste your time with natural products or skin-so-soft; these might be ok for a backyard barbeque to ward off one or two mosquitos, but I guarantee they WILL NOT WORK when there are lots of hungry bugs around. Some problems with OFF, though- if you apply it several times a day (which you'll need to do if the bugs get bad)you may find your skin feeling strange. I found that wearing light, long-sleeved shirts and long pants, with the repellant sprayed on the clothes instead of the skin worked well. Just be careful as OFF can make colors run in some clothes, and I've seen it ruin a paint job on a car, so be careful how and where you spray it.