Hats, bugspray, boots, sunscreen

[John Brownlow]

Spring is sprung / The grass is riz / I wonder where / The Deet is?

I was shooting in a swamp last week and assailed by sun and mosquitoes. Luckily I found a cache of 10-year old 90% Deet, but it will only last a little while. Meantime my trusty Filson Packer Hat has finally given up the ghost. I'm tempted by something with a wider brim, like the Filson Bush hat, but I also just bought one of these MEC French Foreign Legion hats as a stop-gap.

What hats do you guys where? (NB Tilleys are out... my wife is under strict orders to take out a hit on me if I ever start wearing Tilleys or playing golf).

What about bugspray? What's the strongest Deet mix you can buy legally, and where? What about bugshirts?

Sunscreen? I use the 30SPF gel stuff, which I like a lot, but maybe there's something better?

What about the holy grail of a combined scentless sunscreen and bug repellent??

Then there's the issue of boots... I have a fantastic pair of Columbia Ice Dragons which are fantastic for swamp-hopping in winter (on snowshoes) and early spring, but too hot for summer... I'm thinking about a new pair of hiking boots... probably goretex... I like them really high for lugging a backpack and hacking through ankle-twisting brush. My biggest problem with most boots is that my feet are wide with long toes so anything with a narrow fit becomes excruciatingly uncomfortable on a long hike... any recommendations?

[John Kasaian]

Eat lots of garlic or take garlic tablets. Start the regimen several days before headin' out. Avon Skin So Soft. Both repel mosquitos around my neck of the woods. YMMV ("Your Mosquitos May Vary")

[bruce terry]

John - Real men are bare-headed, bare-chested and bare-footed.....and they eat the bugs before the bugs eat them....

[KenM]

Hey, what's wrong with a Tilley? I swore up and down that I would never wear one, but I tell you, they do a great job at keeping the sun of my head (something that's *really* important since I'm well, you know...) and off my neck.

Makes a great lens shade too.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I like Neutrogena sunscreen--High SPF, doesn't feel greasy, and scent is minimal.

This company makes excellent sun hats-- http://www.sundayafternoons.com/ I got one at a visitors' center up around Mt. Charleston, NV, when I realized I left my hat at home, and I'm very happy with it. It's really light and well vented and rolls or folds up easily for packing and has a long neck flap.

Ex Officio long-sleeved shirts are great in the sun and hot weather. They are UV resistant and also well ventilated and they wick away moisture. They are also easy to wash and dry quickly in a hotel sink, if you like to travel light. The pockets are big enough for a 4x5" Grafmatic. My wife got me one once, and now I've got two, and she's got one, and they're also my father's favorite shirts out in Las Vegas where my parents live these days.

DEET--I use Ben's 100, and it will probably take me years to go through one bottle.

[Richard Wasserman]

I used to not pay too much attention to mosquitos, but would occasionaly slather myself with DEET, until I was infected with West Nile Virus. I now take it a bit more seriously. I found that Avon's Skin So Soft works well. I have tried eating garlic which also seems to help, but it also repelled my family. I am looking into bug repellant clothing as I am going to spend a month in the rainforest of Guatemala next year photographing an archaeological dig at a recently discovered Myan city. It is situated next to a swamp and Malaria is a real risk.

John, I know you don't want to hear it, but I also wear a Tilley. In my case it's a T6 Nylantium (who comes up with these names?). It's not as hot a canvas hat, but does lack somewhat in the stylishness department. I bought a cap recently similar to the MEC Foreign Legion hat, but I haven't worn it enough to know how I like it.

I wear Vasque Goretex lined boots. Sorry, I don't remember which ones, but they are waterproof, comfortable, and not too hot. My feet are fairly average in width, etc., so YMMV.

[Ralph Barker]

I have a pair of Vasque Goretex/Leather boots that I bought at REI that have served well for summer wear. For winter and snow, I use Herman Survivors insulated boots.

As to hats, I've yet to find the perfect mix of "cool" and practical, but the Tilley comes close. The chin string looks a little dorky, but it has saved losing the hat to wind more than a couple of times.

The other advantage of the garlic (fresh, not pills) regimen that John K. suggested is that it also keeps the composition vampires away. ;-) Most of the time, however, I use the REI insect repellent, and their sunscreen.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Hey, I just saw that my hat's on sale--$24.95--

http://www.sundayafternoons.com/index.cgi?id=94803818518&d=single&item_id=SL-AH&c=Sale_Room&sc=Adventure_Hat&nr=&pc=

Boots--I like my leather & Goretex traditional Vasque Sundowners. I just loosen them up and wear lighter socks in the summer. My wife has a pair of lighter Vasque hiking shoes, though, with something like a cordura upper and Goretex layer, and she seems happy with them.

[chris jordan]

Dudes, I found the ultimate mosquito repellant a few years back, and it's cheap and all natural. I paid nine bucks for a tube of REI's best repellant, and the stuff was awesome-- clouds of mosquitos hung nearby but I got almost no bites. I read the ingredients list, and the active ingredient was 5% cucumber oil. So the next time out I went to a funky perfume/aroma/massage-type shop and got a little bottle of pure cucumber oil. It keeps the skeeters FAR away, and it also smells nice. It's been my faithful companion on spring trips into the Cascades ever since.

[Mike H.]

Gortex boots from REI (They ARE the Best)

"KINeSYS" Sport Performance Sunscreen Spray, Fragrance Free, Oil-Free, Alcohol-Free (that comes in a second bottle), 30+ SPF, $11.95 from Solumbra

Explorer Shirt, light weight, ventilated, "wicks away perspiration and promotes superior airflow", 30+ SPF, $89.95 from Solumbra (will even make Hermit feel stylish).

SUNS basketball special CHAMPIONSHIP sports hat. Available from Team Sports Shops.

Deet, Deet and MORE Deet. Cucumbers? Rub them all over you and eat them, too? Yuck!