Tick ​​Camouflage: What Clothes to Choose for Outdoor Walks

Warm weather is unimaginable without outdoor trips. But a pleasant walk or picnic can be marred by the presence of ticks. These tiny parasites carry dangerous diseases that can cause serious harm to health. The best way to protect yourself from an attack is by choosing the right clothing and treating it with special protective products.

Rules for choosing a wardrobe for a trip to the countryside

When heading into the woods, it's important to protect yourself and your children from potential tick attacks. The first step is choosing the right clothing, but pay attention to the following:

• Clothing should be as low-profile as possible—avoid any exposed skin, tucking pants into boots and shirts and T-shirts into pants. Long sleeves with tight-fitting cuffs are recommended. Avoid deep necklines, undone buttons, and exposed midriffs.
• It's important to wear headgear—a hat, cap, scarf, or hood—but it's very difficult to find a tick in your hair, so it's best to tie it up and hide it under your headgear.
• Shoes should be closed - sneakers, trainers; it is better if the shoes are high (for example, rubber boots) so that you can tuck in your trousers, but you can also wear high socks and trousers with elastic at the end;
  

  As a rule, ticks come to people from bushes and blades of grass, so it is necessary to protect the lower part of the body as much as possible.

• the material of the items is also important - thick fabric or dense, coarse weave, so that it is more difficult for the parasite to bite through it;
• It is better to choose light-colored items, so you can quickly detect parasites and shake them off;
• It's good if the clothes have a zipper, and not buttons or rivets, through the gaps of which a tick can crawl.

Even when wearing protective clothing, you should avoid walking or stopping in tall grass or thickets of bushes, as these are ideal habitats for ticks. When ticks land on a person, they move from the bottom up in search of a place to penetrate to an open area - the neck, armpits, head.

After returning from a walk in nature, carefully check your belongings and body for ticks. If you find a tick on your clothing, remove it, making sure there are no bites. If you find a tick attached to your body, seek immediate medical attention, as self-removal may result in its head remaining.

Treating items against ticks

The second step to increase the level of protection is to treat your hiking gear with special products that can both repel and kill the annoying parasite.

Pest repellents

Repellents are products that have a specific aroma that repels ticks:

• Biban;
• DEFI-Taiga;
• Off! Extreme;
  

  The specific aroma repels not only ticks, but also mosquitoes and horseflies

• Gall-RET;
• Deta-VOKKO;
• Reftamide maximum.

These preparations are intended for application to both clothing and exposed areas of the body.

The main active ingredient, diethyltoluamide (DEET), is considered safe among chemicals, so the product can be applied to the skin. Its effectiveness lasts up to 5 hours on the body and up to 5 days when applied to clothing. However, the drug's effect may be reduced by rain, wind or extreme heat. Therefore, re-processing is necessary.

Application: Apply in circular stripes around the knees, ankles, and chest onto the body or fabric. Upon contact with the repellent, the tick flees.

The main advantages of this method of protection are:

• low toxicity;
• the ability to treat skin.

Parasite-killing agents (acaricides)

Acaricides contain substances that paralyze ticks and prevent them from biting:

• Pretix;
• Reftamide taiga;
• Anti-Tick Picnic;
  

  When choosing a product, you need to carefully read the composition so as not to make a mistake in the application method.

• Gardex Aerosol Extreme;
• Tornado-Anticlesh;
• Fumitox-anti-mite;
• Gardex-anti-mite;
• Anti-tick breeze.

The active ingredient, alphamethrin (alphacypermethrin), is more toxic than DEET, so it should only be applied to clothing, avoiding any contact with skin. After receiving a dose of the nerve agent upon contact with the treated surface, the tick is unable to attach itself and falls off, dying within a few hours. The validity period is up to 15 days or until the next wash.

Application method: Only apply to clothing or equipment that must be removed first. After application, allow it to dry completely. The product is available in pencil form; use it to draw lines on items.

If the product comes into contact with skin, rinse with water and a baking soda solution. Allergic reactions are possible, especially in people prone to them.

Acaricidal preparations are very popular among professional tourists, geologists, and hunters who spend a lot of time in wooded areas.

The main advantage is the long duration of action.

Tick-paralyzing agents (mixed)

Insecticide-repellent compositions are a combination of two types of preparations - repellents and acaricides:

• Kra-rap;
• Mosquito-anti-mite.
  

  Paralyzing agents combine two types of drugs - repellents and acaricides

Accordingly, the active ingredients in them are alphamethrin (alphacypermethrin) and diethyltoluamide (DEET).

The method of application is similar to acaricidal preparations: only clothing or special equipment is treated. The duration of action is also up to 15 days or until the items are cleaned.

As a rule, such products are used for universal application - not only against ticks, but also against mosquitoes and midges.

Features of processing children's clothing

To protect children's clothing from ticks, it's important to use products with low toxicity levels. Repellents are more suitable in this case, but when choosing one, be sure to consider the concentration of the chemical DEET, which should not exceed 5-10%.

The safest ingredient in a child repellent is labeled IR3535. You can also choose products with natural plant ingredients. The most popular products are:

• Phthalar;
• Efcalat;
• Fir;
• Evital;
• Kamarant;
• Off-children;
• Biban-gel.

The last two are suitable for children from three years old.

Children love to run through grass and bushes, and the best protection for them is a special tick suit.

Due to the low toxicity of the substances, tick repellents for children have a reduced duration of action and therefore require more frequent re-treatment.

Tick ​​traps for clothing

When a tick lands on a person, it moves from the bottom up. Traps can be placed in clothing along its path to prevent the parasite from moving further.

The traps are specially sewn folds or pockets on the legs, stomach and sleeves. The inside of the traps is lined with bright, light-colored fabric to make the ticks easily visible. The traps themselves and the access points are treated with acaricides, which will render the parasites ineffective.

Clothing traps provide additional protection

As a rule, special anti-tick suits are already equipped with such traps.

Special protective suits against ticks

If forest walks are infrequent, it's enough to choose the right clothing from your wardrobe and treat it with repellents. However, for longer hikes, occasional fishing trips, hunting, or geological expeditions, special equipment is essential.

Special anti-tick suits are designed to make it as difficult as possible for parasites to move and to protect a person from the parasite getting onto exposed areas of the body. This type of clothing is made of highly durable fabric, making it difficult for ticks to bite through. Elements of the suit (traps and folds) may already be impregnated with acaricides.

The encephalitis suits supplied by various manufacturers are generally similar in configuration and contain the following elements:

• a jacket, either one-piece or with a fastening from the chest, put on over the head;
• a hood that is stored in a special compartment behind the back, some models come with a mosquito net;
• several pockets with flaps and zippers are located on the trousers and jacket;
• protective cuffs and elastic bands along the edges of clothing for a tight fit of the fabric;
  

  Each element of the suit creates an obstacle to the penetration of ticks

• traps impregnated with acaricidal preparations.

Table: The most popular brands of suits

Photo gallery: Popular types of protective suits for people and dogs

Video: Testing a protective suit

Reviews

Gardex Tick Repellent - Review A small group of us decided to go on a nature trip, and what would nature be without some creatures thirsty for human blood? So I grabbed this spray (I'd never used it before). I carefully read the instructions, which stated that the spray should only be used on clothing and equipment. Naturally, I applied it and went out to enjoy my vacation. No ticks or other nasty creatures showed any interest in me, just as promised. And all was well until I managed to touch my face with my sleeve. I immediately felt a slight burning sensation. Washing my face with water in the river helped briefly. When I got home, I ran to wash my face with soap; the burning went away, and I decided to soothe my skin with cream. And then I just howled. It felt like I'd put a mustard plaster on my face! So, after this, I tried everything to clean my face—soap, micellar water, and oily makeup remover—but nothing worked. I "enjoyed" the mustard plaster sensation on my face all night long. By the morning, the burning sensation had lessened, but it still remained. Incidentally, the instructions recommend using this spray in combination with the same brand's topical aerosol. Overall, my conclusion is that it works well, but I wouldn't use it again, so I don't recommend it, even though it works. If you decide to use it, be very careful!

A soft beige cotton jumpsuit (optional with a coating). It's well-made: lots of pleats, folds, ruffles, and pockets to protect your dog from ticks. The white zipper is a bit rough, but the advantage is that it fastens at the back. Unfortunately, we had to return the jumpsuit: we ordered the smallest size 25, and it turned out to be almost half as big as our dog. When choosing a size, please note that this garment is not suitable for small dogs, but is perfect for medium and large dogs!

I found the perfect solution for myself—the Biostop encephalitis suit, which virtually eliminates insect penetration. Furthermore, the suit is treated with a tick-killing agent. Besides providing excellent insect protection, the suit also looks quite good; you can even feel attractive in the woods. There's a small caveat: the Biostop can only be washed at 30 degrees Celsius and stored in its special packaging after use. It's actually sold in that packaging. For me, this suit is indispensable; I don't have to worry about what to wear outdoors, and I don't have to worry about ticks and other nasty insects.

A well-chosen wardrobe is the key to a safe and enjoyable outdoor experience, and when combined with anti-tick aerosol treatments, it's an effective means of combating parasites. It's important to remember that chemical products require adherence to instructions for use and are not always suitable for children. Despite their relatively high cost, special anti-tick suits are practical and effective, and with frequent use, they are well worth the cost.