Reddit reviews Sawyer Products Premium Permethrin Clothing Insect Repellent Trigger Spray

Sounds like he should just treat all his stuff with Permethrin.

http://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Premium-Permethrin-Clothing-Repellent/dp/B007VCRX2S

Permethrin -http://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Premium-Permethrin-Clothing-Repellent/dp/B007VCRX2S

I would believe the best protection and comfort would be to wear nylon pants protected with permethrin

Deet would be a second layer of protection applied to the skin and dont forget about the upper body being protected.

In that part of the country you might want to be aware of deer ticks that cause Lyme disease. These are tiny cousins of the wood tick and are very hard to see on your body. Treat your clothes with this. http://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Premium-Permethrin-Clothing-Repellent/dp/B007VCRX2S

Where are you camping/hiking? What region? City/State?

I'm trying to get a read on whether you'll need to prepare for deer tick issues - NY State is rife with them right now, and you do NOT want to get into a problem with a deer tick - trust me.

Where are you camping?

Here are some essentials:

• Ditch the flashlight, consider instead a headlamp. Energizer x7 LED Headlights which you can pick up from ANY Home Depot right at the register - they're about $20 each. Trust me, if you need to take a leak in the dark, you'll need both hands free ;)
  
  
• Nalgene/water bottles - an empty Gatorade bottle also works. Don't bother carrying 2 gallons in with you, water weighs 1 pound for every liter - do the math - that shit's heavy. If you're camping by a river, consider using a filtration system instead and filter water as you need it. I use the Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System and it works a treat.
  
  
• Leave your knives at home - they're heavy - you're going to have to carry that shit around. Instead, for what you'll actually need a knife for, try a Leatherman Multitool. This thing has scissors, blade, tweezers, file, and a flat head screwdriver (can also work a Phillips head screw). $20, 1.4oz.
  
  
• Bug repellent. If you're in an area susceptible to ticks, you may want to consider treating your gear (clothing mostly) with Permithrin. Ticks hate this shit - in fact it kills them. Get this. Follow the instructions to the letter.
  
  
• Leave the hatchet at home - again, total luxury item that you won't need. And it likely weighs a pound.
  
  
• Zippo? Fuck that - take a box of matches, keep those in a Ziploc bag. Want to know a free method of tinder for making your fires? Dryer lint. Take a Ziploc bag of that shit with you - lights like a dream. Also, fluid? What are you, lazy? There's no better feeling than making a fire all by yourself, and in this climate with particularly dry environments, you shouldn't have a problem with building a nice roaring fire without using lighter fuel.
  
  
• Make sure your tents are rated for at least 10'F LESS than the temperature it's forecast for the nights you'll be staying out. Nothing worse than shivering all night - no sleep means miserable trip.
  
  
• EAR PLUGS. Whether it's your snoring buddy, or random noises in the night (snapping twigs, etc), ear plugs will ensure you get a decent night of sleep.
  
  
• First aid kit - essential. Bandaids, Tylenol/Aleve, antiseptic.
  
  
• Check to see what your state's rules are on bear/food safety. You will either be required to use a Bear Cannister (Bear Vault is an awesome product or you'll have to "bear bag" your food - essentially bear bagging is a method of hanging your food in high branches of a tree out of the reach of bears - you have to know what you are doing. Great article on that here.
  
  
• Do NOT go to bed with anything food related (or anything with an odor, ideally), ever. Bears can smell food from literally miles away - you do NOT want one trying to get inside your tent to sniff out that Snickers wrapper you left in your pants pocket.
  
  
• Food - take whatever you want, that's the beauty of eating out at camp. Make sure to take plenty of fatty foods for your hikes (chocolate, peanuts, etc) so you get plenty of carbs in you. A warm meal before your hike in the morning will not only give you some well needed energy, but it will also serve as a great moral boost. Remember, you need to pack in what you pack out.
  
  
• Booze. Leave this at home. Remember, cans, bottle, everything you carry in you MUST carry out. If you must insist on taking alcohol, maybe fill a Soft Platypus with your favorite wine or vodka cocktail.
  
  
• TOILET PAPER. For obvious reasons. Never take a #1 or #2 too close to a water source. It's considered a big no no to wash in a water source. For washing yourselves, or dirty dishes, fill a pot (or Nalgene, etc) and take it back to around camp and do with it what you will there away from the water source. Soiled water is known as grey water - never dump this anywhere near a water source - at LEAST 200 feet away.
  
  
• Cell phone. Emergencies. Make sure you have them.
  
  
• Batteries - those headlamps take AAA size - take at least a dozen if all you lads are taking a headlamp each.
  
  
• Clothing. If you're hiking quite far (let's say over 3-5 hours), don't wear cotton clothing. It will chafe the crap out of your bollocks, and wet cotton can kill (in low temps, obviously). If you have synthetic clothing for the hike, wear it.
  
  
• Spare socks. It's just smart.
  
  
• Camp towel. This can be a bandana, or other small cloth - wipe down the inside of your tent, wash your face, clean the pots, etc.
  
  If I think of anything else I'll post edits (running out the door right now).
  
  The most important thing... have an awesome time.

I would recommend spraying your clothing that you are going to wear beforehand with Sawyer Premium and then using Repel on your skin during the trip. Those are both effective. Don't use OFF! as it is only like 25% DEET. Repel is 98%.

Another option for a tarp if you don't want to or dont have time to put a lot of DIY work in would just be to buy a cheap utility tarp. A 6x8 tarp, hung in a "Diamond" shape would give you a 10 foot ridgeline. An 8x8 tarp would give you an 11' 8" rigeline.

This is obviously going to be a lot heavier that tyvek or plastic drop cloths, but it already has grommets attached so it is stow and go. It can be strapped to the backpack versus going inside of it so that it doesn't take up any pack space.

Definitely pick up a bug net though, getting eaten alive is no fun, especially on a longer hike like that.

One thing you might also look into is doing a permethrin treatment to your clothes and hammock/bugnet. You can buy the Sawyer spray at many outdoors stores. This works on ticks and mosquitos as well as other biting and stinging bugs.

I'm a big fan of permethrin spray when paired with long pants/a long shirt. Here's a link to the one I like the best. Basically you spray it on your clothes before you go and you then let it dry (don't put it on your skin). It also works great for chiggers, especially if you drench your shoes/socks with it.

http://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Premium-Permethrin-Clothing-Repellent/dp/B007VCRX2S

This will change your life...

I live in CO and hike almost exclusively at altitude, but I still use a bug net. Better safe than miserable, IMHO. Fire WILL NOT keep the bugs away. A far better option for repelling the bugs would be treating your sleeping equipment with repellent like this : http://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Premium-Permethrin-Clothing-Repellent/dp/B007VCRX2S. I've never tried it, but I've heard good things.