Combo sunscreen/bug dope?

[Buckeyebowman]

I guess this is where this thread belongs. If not, maybe a mod could move it.

The last time my buddy and I were out we went to play a course we don't get to very often. It's pretty far out in the boonies, and bordered by heavy woods and farmland. On quite a few holes we were set upon by clouds of black gnats that were pure misery! We also got pretty well baked by the sun. It seems to be setting up for a long, hot Summer here. I'll take it over last June, with its 25 days of rain out of 30 days in the month!

I was going to stick a can of bug repellent and a bottle of sunscreen in my bag, then began to wonder if someone offers a good combination product that does both. I haven't seen one around. My thinking is why apply a sunscreen if it will be rendered ineffective by spraying bug repellent on top of it, or vice versa. Obviously the products needs to be non-greasy.

Any suggestions out there? What do you use?

[Fourputt]

The only comment I have on this is that I have never found any insect repellent to be effective against anything but mosquitoes.  We have some nasty biting flies - little black ones that seem to focus on your lower leg and ankle - and nothing discourages them.  You can't feel them land, and the pain of their bite is all out of proportion to their size.  I can't begin to count how many times they have gotten me during a swing.

I will say that when I was in Africa, the safari cars in Zambia used smoldering elephant dung to keep the tsetse flies away when we were out in the bush.  You might try that. 

[boogielicious]

8 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

I guess this is where this thread belongs. If not, maybe a mod could move it.

The last time my buddy and I were out we went to play a course we don't get to very often. It's pretty far out in the boonies, and bordered by heavy woods and farmland. On quite a few holes we were set upon by clouds of black gnats that were pure misery! We also got pretty well baked by the sun. It seems to be setting up for a long, hot Summer here. I'll take it over last June, with its 25 days of rain out of 30 days in the month!

I was going to stick a can of bug repellent and a bottle of sunscreen in my bag, then began to wonder if someone offers a good combination product that does both. I haven't seen one around. My thinking is why apply a sunscreen if it will be rendered ineffective by spraying bug repellent on top of it, or vice versa. Obviously the products needs to be non-greasy.

Any suggestions out there? What do you use?

It could be that DEET requires a different base formula type than sunscreen or they are not compatible together in a base. Sunscreens generally are made like other skin creams. Because their active is an OTC drug, the makers have to show that the product is stable for three years. This includes showing efficacy test results. DEET may inhibit the efficacy of the sunscreen active. I have not worked with DEET, but I have worked with sunscreen actives.

Putting it on in layers is probably a better idea anyway. Sunscreen should go on first as most of them are water resistant. I spray the bug spray on my hat too. That seems to keep the gnats a little further away.

[Chilli Dipper]

I'd recommend BullFrog Mosquito Coast if you're looking for an all-in-one sunscreen and insect repellent.

[RickK]

I have never found anything that works for both mosquitoes and gnats.  I use Cutter for mosquitoes.  Gnats have been really worse than mosquitoes the past couple of years.  I use full strength clear vanilla extract. Just dab it on my ears, behind my ears, forehead, nose, cheeks and it seems to do a very good job. 

The reason I use clear vanilla is regular brown colored vanilla stains my clothes and make you look like you are trying to wear cammo face paint.

[dennyjones]

Great article about sunscreen and bug repellent

[Buckeyebowman]

56 minutes ago, RickK said:

I have never found anything that works for both mosquitoes and gnats.  I use Cutter for mosquitoes.  Gnats have been really worse than mosquitoes the past couple of years.  I use full strength clear vanilla extract. Just dab it on my ears, behind my ears, forehead, nose, cheeks and it seems to do a very good job. 

The reason I use clear vanilla is regular brown colored vanilla stains my clothes and make you look like you are trying to wear cammo face paint.

Cool tip! Takes me back to the days when "The Friendly Trapper" was on the radio here. He was a pest control guy who advocated natural remedies. He claimed that lots of critters, especially insects, couldn't handle volatile compounds like vanilla, garlic, or mint! He suggested peppermint oil for a lot of problems.

46 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

Great article about sunscreen and bug repellent

Kind of what I thought. How can you get one product to not degrade the performance of another.

Edited June 19, 2016 by Buckeyebowman

[jamo]

I forget the brand name, but I have seen combo sunscreen and bug spray. 

[newtogolf]

13 hours ago, Chilli Dipper said:

I'd recommend BullFrog Mosquito Coast if you're looking for an all-in-one sunscreen and insect repellent.

Does it work well?  The "Deet Free" seems like it would be less effective than regular bug spray.  

[Chilli Dipper]

25 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

Does it work well?  The "Deet Free" seems like it would be less effective than regular bug spray.  

I've found it more effective than any other combo sunscreens I've tried. That said, if your primary concern is heavy-duty insect protection, a two-layered solution (as others have mentioned) would be preferable.

[jamo]

1 hour ago, newtogolf said:

Does it work well?  The "Deet Free" seems like it would be less effective than regular bug spray.  

 

38 minutes ago, Chilli Dipper said:

I've found it more effective than any other combo sunscreens I've tried. That said, if your primary concern is heavy-duty insect protection, a two-layered solution (as others have mentioned) would be preferable.

One thing to note: the link @dennyjones posted said that with how frequently you need to apply sunscreen, applying that amount of bug spray with DEET could be toxic (obviously, depending on the DEET concentration). So they likely don't use DEET in that combo because they don't want to risk that.

[Fourputt]

5 minutes ago, jamo said:

 

One thing to note: the link @dennyjones posted said that with how frequently you need to apply sunscreen, applying that amount of bug spray with DEET could be toxic (obviously, depending on the DEET concentration). So they likely don't use DEET in that combo because they don't want to risk that.

It's a myth that DEET is generally toxic.  Some people may be sensitive to it, but even that is relatively rare.  Read THIS article from Popular Science.

Quote

Now, recent review of DEET’s effects on human health has found the insect repellent is safe to use on the skin. The review is one of several that researchers have done over the past 20 years, all finding that DEET is generally safe. In fact, there’s no direct evidence using DEET normally harms the nervous system. Bad reactions to DEET, when applied to the skin in bug sprays, are extremely rare, but not non-existent.

 

[Gator Hazard]

On June 17, 2016 at 10:37 PM, Fourputt said:

The only comment I have on this is that I have never found any insect repellent to be effective against anything but mosquitoes.  We have some nasty biting flies - little black ones that seem to focus on your lower leg and ankle - and nothing discourages them.  You can't feel them land, and the pain of their bite is all out of proportion to their size.  I can't begin to count how many times they have gotten me during a swing.

I will say that when I was in Africa, the safari cars in Zambia used smoldering elephant dung to keep the tsetse flies away when we were out in the bush.  You might try that. 

Imagine how popular you will be as a single player pairing up when you whip out a cow tird and lighter. If anyone has ever seen that on course I want the story.   Do you think there is a way to safely attach the smoldering cow dung to your golf shoes?

[Patch]

I dont use any bug repellent at all. I am never bothered by bugs, except for the common house fly. 

I should probably bathe more often. 

[jamo]

3 hours ago, Fourputt said:

It's a myth that DEET is generally toxic.  Some people may be sensitive to it, but even that is relatively rare.  Read THIS article from Popular Science.

 

Good to know. Thanks for posting that. 

[Buckeyebowman]

9 hours ago, Fourputt said:

It's a myth that DEET is generally toxic.  Some people may be sensitive to it, but even that is relatively rare.  Read THIS article from Popular Science.

 

That's a mind easer. When I and my buddies would make our annual fishing pilgrimage to the Canadian bush, we slathered on enough Muskol 100% DEET to change our DNA! Or at least that's what we figured.

But, it was the only way to keep the blackflies off you. Compared to them, mosquitoes are easy! We did discover one thing. Don't have DEET on your hands and grab the plastic paddle on the handle of your reel because it will melt! That's right, 100% DEET melts plastic!

[RickK]

Sorry, when I responded about using clear vanilla extract for gnats, I never said anything about sunscreen.  

Most of my friends give me a hard time because I only use an SPF 4 sunscreen.  And, I only use it on my face and ears.  I just don't burn much.  

But, the sunscreen I use is Coppertone Dry Oil Spray.  I spray it on my ears, and forehead (being careful to not get it in my eyes.  Then I spray it on my fingers and apply to my nose, and rest of my face.  I do that before I leave for the golf course.  Once I get to the course, I get out the clear vanilla extract and dab it in several spots as I stated above.  

I don't see that one degrades the other since the sunscreen has already dried by this time.  

Edited June 20, 2016 by RickK