Eager hikers demo bug repellents

YAKIMA, Wash. — Anybody who hikes in the Cascades as much as the Cascadians knows all about mosquitos and biting flies. If you don’t pack along some bug repellent along with your water and lunch, you become lunch.

I don’t know about you, but I hate the smell of most DEET-based repellents. I’ve been meaning to put some non-DEET substances to the test for a while now, and the Tuesday hikers going to Earl Peak were willing to become test subjects.

The products:

• La Fresh all-natural, biodegradable towelettes , for which the active ingredient is peppermint oil. If anything, our group underused these; the product directions say adults “may need to use more than one towelette,” though each of our testers was given a single towelette.

• The “Don’t Bite Me! Patch,” a skin patch that’s Vitamin B1 and aloe-based and is reportedly good for 36 hours.

For someone wishing not to have that awful DEET smell when they’re out among the bugs, well, the results seemed pretty good for both of these products. While it wasn’t a particularly bad day for mosquitoes, the biting flies were out in force, and that made it interesting, since neither product makes any claims about protection against them.

Of the hikers who tried the patch: Pat Sexton had no bites of any kind, Ed Miley had one fly bite and JR Phillips was sufficiently impressed: “There was one fly lit on me,” he said, “and it left.” I had the patch, and I had two fly bites, but I seem to be a bug attractant, so by my standards that was a pretty good result.

Of the people who had the wipes: Mike McCutchen had one little fly bite, but after he did a second wipe with his towelette (he was the only tester who did a second application), he was bug-free for the rest of the day. Esther Lanphier had one mosquito bite and one fly bite. Greg Wallace said he had “a couple little fly bites on my legs, but I’m not sure if I put any on my legs.” And Sue Gunderson had no bites of any kind.

All in all, pretty good numbers for not having to put up any smelly repellent, right? But diligent, “prove it” shoppers might also want to consider our “control group,” the two hikers who used nothing at all.

Maurine Peck had one fly bite before she broke down and put on some DEET. And Ted Gamlem had no bites at all.

• The La Fresh towelettes are sold in travel stores and U.S.-Canada duty-free stores, or online (http://lafreshgroup.com/travel-wipes/outdoor-care). The “Don’t Bite Me! Patch” is available locally at Rite-Aid stores or online (www.dontbitemepatch.com).