Name: Heather Oakes Palmer
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Height: 5'5" (1.68 m)
Weight: 140 lbs (64 kg)
Email address: alekto-at-yahoo.com
City, State, Country: Atlanta, GA, United States

Backpacking Background: I consider myself an intermediate hiker and beginning backpacker for over five years; my longest backpacking trip being only three nights. Day hiking and weekend backpacking comprise most of my weekend warrior experience averaging one backpacking trip per month and two day hikes per month averaging between 10-15 miles (16.1- 24.2 km) per day. I tend to backpack in warm, humid climates, with a good amount of hiking in the southern Appalachian Mountains and I have rarely hiked in below freezing or snowy conditions yet. I am a lightweight backpacker and buy my gear accordingly, often splitting various objects and amounts of weight with my husband.

Product Information:

Manufacturer: Spectrum Brands
Web Site: http://www.cutteradvanced.com
Weight as Listed: 6 oz and 1oz (170 and 28.3 g) pump sizes
Weight as Delivered: Large pump 7.5 oz (212.6 g)
Small Pump 1.7 oz (48 g)
Single Wipe 0.2 oz (5.6 g)
MSRP: none listed

Locations:

I am testing the repellent primarily in day hikes and overnight backpack trips in the North Georgia Mountains. The average elevations I will be hiking in will range from 2000 – 5500 ft (610-1676 m) and late summer/fall weather will fluctuate wildly with temperatures from the 50’s- high 90’s F (10- 32 C) during the day, and maybe as low as 40 F (4 C) at night up in the higher elevations. The storms will both raise and lower the humidity, and the whole area will slowly cool off starting in October but bugs will stick around much longer depending on how much rain the area will get. Further south in Georgia and in hikes around the metro Atlanta area, the heat (and bugs) will stick around much longer due to lower elevations of around 1400 ft (427 m) and heat retained by the cities.

Report:

For initial impressions, please refer to my Initial Report.

Travel Size Pump 1 oz (28.3 g)

With its smaller weight and size, this product was used the most over the testing period. The travel sized pump is not as easy to spray as the larger one; the pump itself seems to stick and the nozzle is positioned in an awkward angle to the large orange cap necessitating direction adjustment to prevent me from spraying into the cap. At a car camping site just off the North Carolina section of the Appalachian Trail, the creek-side campsite and its many hungry bugs caused me to practically take a shower in the picaridin in order to keep my skin intact. There was no sweating or water to wash the repellant away, but I still had to bathe in the repellant twice over about a three hour period of setting up and sitting around camp. During a backpacking trip in Saguaro National Park East on the Rincon Peak trail, I ran into more mosquitoes than I had imagined in Arizona. A few got me before I could dig the repellant out of my pack on the trail. At camp I reapplied the spray but did not see many bugs at the site. I did use the spray the next day on the rest of the trip only in the afternoon when we were hiking below about 6000ft (1828 m). Overall the bugs tended to be on the trail either before I got to spray myself, or after I had hiked and sweat for a few hours. In Aravaipa Canyon, a good number of bugs were busy near and in the creek on either side. I sprayed myself on the legs and arms with the water washing the repellant off my legs as soon as I crossed the creek. While in the water, I barely needed repellant on my legs but the bugs still went after everything above the knees. The spray was needed all over at camp, especially during the pretty warm night. No bugs were spotted or felt the next day during the early morning hike to the car.

Large Pump 7.5 oz (212.6 g)

On many day hikes I chose to test the larger spray bottle because weight was not an issue, and I also wanted to see if that large bottle would break and leak all over my pack. The first test was actually in the city when I stood outside for several hours after Hurricane Katrina interviewing people and handing out supplies. After plenty of mosquitoes and sweat from the heat, the spray kept the bugs away making that first test of the repellant positive. From anecdotal experience I believe the bugs in the woods to be much more hard-core than their wimpy city cousins, but my first day hike test found the repellant holding up to the bug onslaught for a good four hour hike in North Carolina. While that hike caused minimal sweating and there was no water near the trail the next hike to Blood Mountain was a better test of the repellant. Due to illness I had to shorten the normally 12 mile (19.3 km) loop to 6 miles (9.65 km), I still needed one big reapplication of the product after I had sweat it all off. Those two applications worked pretty well, even while taking a short break next to a creek I actually sat there and watched the blood-sucking fiends fly by and not land. I then taunted them mercilessly.

As a comparison of products; during a 12 mile (19.3 km) day hike near Atlanta I began the trails with one leg covered in Spectrum Brands Insect Repellant and the other with a DEET product. Both products prevented me from getting insect bites, but there were differences in the amounts used and feel. The DEET product was used minimally as per the instructions, applied only once, felt greasy, and smelled bad. The Spectrum Brands product felt light, had no real smell, and needed two very thorough applications to work.

Wipes

The lightest of the three products, I first tested the wipes in the city during an outdoor festival that began at dusk and lasted another few hours into the night. After three days of non-stop rain, the bugs were out in force. I only needed to use one wipe to cover my lower arms, neck, part of my face, and all other exposed pieces of skin, I even wiped some of my clothing. The wipes worked well at keeping away the massive amounts of insects at the festival where I did not sweat nor was there any rain. Not only was the alcoholic smell much more pronounced with the wipes, they also felt fairly sticky before drying out my skin much more than the sprays. I really did not like how they dried out my skin, or the greasy medicinal-feel during application. I also have used the wipes during day hikes at a state park very near Atlanta. The trails can be made into a 12 mile (19.3k km) loop that I use often, following a creek and going through woods. Due to the heat and humidity, I sweat enough on these trails to necessitate reapplications of the wipes. On one trip to the trails I only needed one reapplication, but a second trip with higher temperatures caused me to need a total of three wipes over a period of about four and half hours.

Summary:

The Spectrum Brands insect repellant mostly satisfies the claims of its advertising. The product dries quickly and does not leave a sticky residue, is usually odorless and always colorless, has not harmed any materials it has come into contact with during my testing, and mostly keeps the bugs away. On the other hand, the product seems only effective in keeping away bugs when a large quantity is used often with multiple applications as the product seems to be less effective when mixed with water and sweat. A creek side camp site in North Carolina needed two applications of the repellant over a period of three hours setting up camp at night, and then two applications in the morning breaking camp to keep the bugs away using almost half of a small 1 oz. (28.3 g) spray bottle. While the wipes and small pump are the smallest and lightest of the three products tested and therefore carried most often, not one of the pumps have never spilled or broken when carried in daypack, purse, or backpack. I have successfully applied the spray to clothing with no damage to the fabric, and it did seem to help keep me bite-free. I regret not being able to test this product during the height of bug season here in Georgia, but even during this minor bug season the Spectrum Brands product can really only get an “OK” out of me.

Likes:

Dislikes:

Read more reviews of Spectrum Brands gear
Read more gear reviews by Heather Oakes

Field Report

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