Anti Insect Supplements - Vit B12?

[Britboy]

Hey hey,

I am always a mosquito or midgie magnet when outdoors. It being summer again and with me likely to get eaten alive once more, I ask you, the good people of MP.net, if this is true:

After a long trip to somewhere with a totally tropical taste, where I got suitably eaten alive a few years back, I was sitting in the departures lounge to get back home when I find myself sitting next to an American girlie who had been out and about as I had been.

She said 'you should've taken vitamin B12, it keeps the bugs away'.

I could have slapped myself for not knowing beforehand and saving myself the drama of getting abused by flying insects nonstop!

But then she said 'Garlic is good too, and they may go after you because of your particular bloodtype, whereas someone with different blood will not get eaten so much'... which made me think 'Eh, what??'

Did a search on google but there are few results and all v ambiguous... So does anyone here take anything to keep the bugs away, and what works and what is an old wives tale?

Its got to be better than drenching yourself in DEET everyday after all...

Regards
BB

[FreshMag]

I have heard that the British used quinine pretty effectively to battle the bugs when India was part of the Empire. The good news is that the quinine in tonic water matched up pretty well with some good gin and a splash of lime. Who knows, it may not have worked worth a crap but after a few G&T they didn't much care.:)

[Britboy]

Yeh, don't know if it kept you from getting bitten but I think it made you less likely to develop malaria... Maybe old style gin/tonic was stronger. Still, its a pretty refreshing drink for a bloody hot day...

Have you seen the film K19, with the lumnescent liquid inside the reactor? Apparently that was tonic, quinine glows in the dark or summat.

[FreshMag]

I did see K-19. That is a great movie. Anything with Sean Connery in it I will watch. I did not know that tonic/quinine would glow like that. I do know that I must have been glowing pretty brightly over the weekend.

[orionhawk]

Sean Connery wasn't in K-19. he was in The Hunt for Red October. K-19 was Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson.:cantbeli:

I used vitamin B-1 (Thiamine Mononitrate) to keep mosquitoes away when I was a kid. The trick was, if you hadn't been bitten at all, and you started taking B-1, you'd get swarmed. If you were already getting swarmed, and you took it, you'd pretty much start getting ignored.

Michigan, where we have to shoot the 'skeeters down with stingers...

[FreshMag]

Oops my bad. You are correct of course. Not to get off topic but are there any other submarine movies besides K19, Red October and Das Boot that come to mind? Also, BB if you have trouble with chiggars in your neck of the woods I would suggest a sulpher sock. No BS. It kind of stinks but buy some regular sulpher powder and put it in an athletic sock and knot the top. Use it like a chalk bag and dab it behinb your knees and around your ankles. You will smell kind of funny but you will not be scratching your legs off.

[orionhawk]

U-571, Crimson Tide, multiple versions of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Down Periscope, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Deep Star Six, Leviathan, On the Beach, 1941, Run Silent Run Deep, Blue Submarine (Anime), The Abyss, several Bond movies...

[Britboy]

U-571, Crimson Tide, multiple versions of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Down Periscope, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Deep Star Six, Leviathan, On the Beach, 1941, Run Silent Run Deep, Blue Submarine (Anime), The Abyss, several Bond movies...

Above Us The Waves, We Dive At Dawn - but those are older I think...

Cheers for the advice guys - although sulphur does sound a pretty extreme solution! I may be best off just doing the traditional thing of 'DEET lotion, headnet, and permethrin my togs'... Does anyone elses lips go numb when they rub DEET on their face though? Hmmm :p

Will give some of those vitamins a go too, thanks. Also found a site that says its B6 you need, apparently it makes you smell but keeps the nasties away...

[deagle]

doesn't that make you more tasty to the mosquitoes ?? i think there are also some sunscreens with insect repellant in it as well..

[Hawkeye4077]

Michigan, where we have to shoot the 'skeeters down with stingers...
I hear ya there. I was out shooting with my dad yesterday and my legs look like they have Chicken Pox now

[Vince S]

Above Us The Waves, We Dive At Dawn - but those are older I think...

Cheers for the advice guys - although sulphur does sound a pretty extreme solution! I may be best off just doing the traditional thing of 'DEET lotion, headnet, and permethrin my togs'... Does anyone elses lips go numb when they rub DEET on their face though? Hmmm :p

Will give some of those vitamins a go too, thanks. Also found a site that says its B6 you need, apparently it makes you smell but keeps the nasties away...

Ebay, find some Nam bug juice, should take care of those buggers, but of course containing 75% DEET you might only keep it as a collectible too lol

[Scrim]

Ive heard the one about taking garlic pills from several sources, dont know if it works though. I know lots of people who swear by "Skin so soft" . smells pretty and no deet. Doesnt do **** for me though., I think everyones diferent.

[Henry's Fork]

B12 works great if you have the correct body chem, or what ever its called. Back in my youth my whole Scout troop would start taking b12, 3 or 4 day before a outing. Majority of us never got bit, although it seemed that to a couple kids, it never worked with them and they always got munched.

We did a 13 day canoe trip up through Minnesota and Canada, where the horse flys, ticks and skeeters are as thick as rain. Thoes of us who were on the b12 plan didnt have any need for bug juice and rarely got bit. The fools who didnt use the b12 ran out of bug juice ended up looking like they got a case of the hives after being munched on for so long.

Trick with b12 is that you start taking it a few days before you go into skeeterville, and continue everyday while there. Only drawback i can think of is that it makes you stink when you sweat. Thats why i wouldnt use it for hunting anything other than birds or varmits. The deer will smell your b12 dosed up arse.

[Henry's Fork]

Ive heard the one about taking garlic pills from several sources, dont know if it works though. I know lots of people who swear by "Skin so soft" . smells pretty and no deet. Doesnt do **** for me though., I think everyones diferent.

Same here, SsS seems to only work on me when i am fighting off skeeters from Montana or Idaho. California skeeters seem to love the stuff and i get chomped up.

[seraosha]

I used this in Louisiana and Haiti with great results, and it now comes designed as a repellent, not just a lotion to smell pretty. Malaria pills really are horrible, just an FYI.

Skin So Soft (http://shop.avon.com/shopc/product_list.asp?level1_id=300&level2_id=303&pdept_id=344&dept_id=421&cat_type=B)

I think only Avon sells it, and I wouldn't suggest drinking it, but in case the B-12 doesn't pan out.

[oldsoak]

When i was in Oz and NZ, I was taking Berrocca - a Vit B + C supplement in fizzy tablet form, it didnt stop them but it seemed to lessen their attention ! If you are not keen on DEET, theres other products Life Systems do a natural one that worked for me in Queensland. I've been informed that midges dont like geranium oil, so you want to knock up your own mix of citronella, eucalyptus and geranium oil - all known to work . Some people advocate a diet of peppercorns - you sweat out the volatile oils that irritate the mossies. In NZ I have used DIMP.

also try www.shoo.org

[supercontra]

Vitamin C or lemons has worked OK for me. The mosquitos don't seem to like it. Also wear light colored clothing (if possible) and treat your hygene since mosquitos are attracted to sweat or something in it and dark areas/clothing.
The best bug repellent I've tried is known in Sweden as russian oil which is birch tar. You heat the white bark of birch trees and collect the oil. The side effect is that it repels people as well but it has kept me bug free in lapland which is quite a feat.

Edit: It is also antiseptic and can be used to clean minor wounds. I also did an online check and it's used mixed with badger fat to water proof shoes

[FROGFOOT-MKDN]

I've also heard that garlic helps alot, but you might need to be careful with B12 vitamin, it might have some side effects if hypervitaminoses develops, since human body needs only around 50 micrograms daily or something like that.

Interesting how garlic works against blood sucking creatures. Vampires beware!

[oregongrunt]

My men and I started smoking cigarettes in the marshlands of Iraq to keep the mosquitoes off of our faces, and I usually don't smoke!

[Henry's Fork]

I've also heard that garlic helps alot, but you might need to be careful with B12 vitamin, it might have some side effects if hypervitaminoses develops, since human body needs only around 50 micrograms daily or something like that.

Interesting how garlic works against blood sucking creatures. Vampires beware!

Its proabably a good thing that the b12 sold here comes in very small amounts. Never thought about ODing on it.:oops:

[loganinkosovo]

My men and I started smoking cigarettes in the marshlands of Iraq to keep the mosquitoes off of our faces, and I usually don't smoke!

Cigars, Good Cigars work much better and you don't have to inhale. I used to take a box of cigars to the field and once you get that smell into your clothes they won't bother you much. When they get bad keep a cigar lit and they will go elsewhere quick.

This stuff is not quite as long lasting but works pretty good....and smells good too.
http://www.repel.com/ProductCategories/Insectrepellents/LemonEucalyptus/

[gilgoul]

A pretty good repellant available commercially is AUTAN® from Bayer corporation, not to do any promotion for my former employer (I'd rather not).
It last pretty long, keeps the skeeters away, as well as tiques and other suckers, doesn't melt plastic like the old generation repellants, but has this typical smell that may make it non relevant for tactical use.
The stick version doesn't smell as much thought, and stays in a pocket without noticing.

[Remington Rand]

I have no evidence to back it up, but a vet (thats animal doctor, not veteran) once told me that brewers yeast contains a B vitamin (not sure which one) that repels a number of insects. I dont take a supplement, I prefer to get my brewers yeast from the bottom of a microbrew- that silt at the bottom of a bottle-conditioned beer. Anyway, whatever B vitamin is contained in brewers yeast suppposedly works as a bug repellant when you eat it. For a more effective bug repellant, when I am out in heavy brush, I use a clothing dip from Sawyer. Dip your BDUs, dry, and for 6 weeks (even after being washed) it repels (and kills) mosquitos, ticks, and chiggers. I have used it many times and it works like a charm. It looks like you were requesting a chemical free alternative but I thought I would throw that in. RR

[armchairpundit]

PMD based stuff works nice. It's refined oil from the lemon eucalyptus tree. Usually sold in roll on solution with citronella and rose oil. Smells very fresh, is all natural and about as effective as DEET. Is on US Center for Disease Control's recommended list of effective repellants.

I've been using it for 15 years now and prefer it over my old combo of tick-strength DEET and oil of rosin (aka beckolja.)

[naturalhealth]

I definitely swear by garlic. It really seems to help a lot. The garlic helps with all insects as well...ticks, mosquitoes, etc. I even know of many people who give it to their dogs to prevent them from getting ticks. So I definitely use garlic (http://www.seacoastvitamins.com/product_info.php?products_id=1892) to keep the pests away, and think it works well.

[Royal]

The guys at 45 and Commachio used to swear by Avon moisturising cream.

It didn't seem to do any harm, but I'm not convinced.

Cover up, keep your sleeves down. Stay inside at dawn/dusk (if possible - that's the worst time) and take some hydocortizone cream to deal with the bites, if like me, you finish up looking like the elephant man...

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

The guys at 45 and Commachio used to swear by Avon moisturising cream.

It didn't seem to do any harm, but I'm not convinced.

Cover up, keep your sleeves down. Stay inside at dawn/dusk (if possible - that's the worst time) and take some hydocortizone cream to deal with the bites, if like me, you finish up looking like the elephant man...the Avon stuff seems to work Ok but I have to hear if it is effective against Skye Midges.

[Royal]

the Avon stuff seems to work Ok but I have to hear if it is effective against Skye Midges.

You need goalkeeper to deal with Syke midges...

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/ORD_CIWS_30mm_Goalkeeper_ROKN_lg.jpg

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

You need goalkeeper to deal with Syke midges...

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/ORD_CIWS_30mm_Goalkeeper_ROKN_lg.jpgWe tried everything but WMD's to keep them at bay, burning oily rags work for a bit but they soon get used to it. I remember seeing guys that came back from winkle picking on Rhum that looked like extras from some plague movie.

[JoaMei]

I started smoking when I was 25. I was a Mosquito magnet before that but they leave me alone now.