Skin so Soft

[btheis13]

We all know that permethrin is a must have in RSA to protect against ticks.

But I keep hearing that Skin so Soft is also highly recommended for Tsetse flies. Is this needed in Limpopo and is there a certain product that seems to work better than others? I see bug guard plus picaridin and bug guard plus ir3535 sunscreen.

 

[PARA45]

No Tsetse flies in Limpopo that I know of. I hunted in Jul and there were no bugs, with the exception of ticks.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

But hey, you will have soft skin!!

 

[btheis13]

But hey, you will have soft skin!!

I already do

 

[HookMeUpII]

Here in NJ we have biting greenhead flies, chiggers, and gnats in the marsh. I've always thought Skin so Soft was the biggest gimmick known to mankind. It doesn't work. I can tell you I've battle tested it here in NJ and greenheads don't give a gnats you know what about it. The gnats conveniently stick to you with it on and bite.

DEET. Period. Yeah it's not great stuff to use all the time but it works and the amount you'll have to use it in Africa is probably limited. We did not see a single tsetse in Limpopo last May.

 

[Just Gina]

We all know that permethrin is a must have in RSA to protect against ticks.

But I keep hearing that Skin so Soft is also highly recommended for Tsetse flies. Is this needed in Limpopo and is there a certain product that seems to work better than others? I see bug guard plus picaridin and bug guard plus ir3535 sunscreen.

I used Skin so soft on my kids when they were little. It works well, at least it did back then. However, I can tell you from personal, awful, experience that none of the skin so soft, or skin so soft bug repellent worked at all on tsetse flies in Tanzania. No amount of DEET, not a single thing I used deterred these little flying spawns of satan. The bug suit I wore helped a little. My son will still buy the skin so soft bug repellent and use it and he uses it on his kiddos.

 

[Ravensview]

Here in NJ we have biting greenhead flies, chiggers, and gnats in the marsh. I've always thought Skin so Soft was the biggest gimmick known to mankind. It doesn't work. I can tell you I've battle tested it here in NJ and greenheads don't give a gnats you know what about it. The gnats conveniently stick to you with it on and bite.

DEET. Period. Yeah it's not great stuff to use all the time but it works and the amount you'll have to use it in Africa is probably limited. We did not see a single tsetse in Limpopo last May.

I have the same thoughts on it, sure doesn’t seem to work very well in the areas that I work in, I regularly have the pleasure of a lot of biting insects pleasure, and it seems like deet is the winner

 

[Sh1kar]

We all know that permethrin is a must have in RSA to protect against ticks.

But I keep hearing that Skin so Soft is also highly recommended for Tsetse flies. Is this needed in Limpopo and is there a certain product that seems to work better than others? I see bug guard plus picaridin and bug guard plus ir3535 sunscreen.

It used to work. It doesn't anymore. The active ingredient is no longer in it

S

 

[Trophyhunter01]

As said permethrin pre-coat on clothes. Take some high content deet spray for extra layer on your boot clothes. No bad bugs in Limpopo that I have experienced such as flies or mosquitos. Ticks can be an issue. Your PH will like the deet product you leave as they cannot buy deet containing products there.

 

[375Fox]

There are no tsetse flies in Limpopo. I don’t think there are tsetse flies in South Africa because tsetse flies and cattle are not compatible. They only exist in the truly wild areas. Permethrin on your clothes and some deet for mosquitos at night if there are any is all you need.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

For the love of all that is holy, why must people try to avoid the stuff that sctually works?

The US military has a vested interest in ensuring that troops are protected from insects and they have an essentially unlimited budget. They have done the research for us. Permethrin and DEET. Ideally, Ultrathon, which is time-released so that your DEET doesn’t wear off before the bugs do.

 

[375Fox]

For the love of all that is holy, why must people try to avoid the stuff that sctually works?

The US military has a vested interest in ensuring that troops are protected from insects and they have an essentially unlimited budget. They have done the research for us. Permethrin and DEET. Ideally, Ultrathon, which is time-released so that your DEET doesn’t wear off before the bugs do.

Because deet has zero effect on tsetse flies. Skin so soft can give a few minutes of relief while it’s wet and a little after that.

 

[btheis13]

For the love of all that is holy, why must people try to avoid the stuff that sctually works?

The US military has a vested interest in ensuring that troops are protected from insects and they have an essentially unlimited budget. They have done the research for us. Permethrin and DEET. Ideally, Ultrathon, which is time-released so that your DEET doesn’t wear off before the bugs do.

Silly question. If the Permethrin is for ticks, and there are no mosquitoes or tsetse flies in Limpopo then what's the DEET for?

 

[375Fox]

Silly question. If the Permethrin is for ticks, and there are no mosquitoes or tsetse flies in Limpopo then what's the DEET for?

There are mosquitoes depending where you are, but most hunts are during their winter/dry months not their summer. Who said there are no mosquitoes?

 

[btheis13]

There are mosquitoes depending where you are, but most hunts are during their winter months not their summer. Who said there are no mosquitoes?

Many members of this site. Our trip is the last week of May.

 

[375Fox]

Many members of this site. Our trip is the last week of May.

There are mosquitoes depending where you go but your hunt is in the winter and the dry season. Lower elevations like near Kruger are warmer and will have some mosquitoes. Higher elevation near Johannesburg will be cooler and not have nearly as many or any mosquitoes.

 

[glblanchard]

I used skin so soft with permethrin while buffalo hunting Zambia in October. Worked great for me aganist the tsetse fly and other bugs. My PH thought it worked better than DEET. I left all I had had with him when I left. At SCI the next year I brought him some more.

 

[everett]

I started using skin so soft over deet at home. I blame some negative impacts on wood, plastic/rubber, and metal on over exposure to deet (on guns, binoculars, etc). May be wrong about that, but only thing I could point to to explain it.
Also makes me smell nicer than deet.