No they were not Asians... they were just a couple of young Whitey Organic Trendy REI Hiking Uniform wearing American's with absolutely no common sense.

Yep, loads of skeeters on the NF Big Pine last week. Good times .. see fedak's pic above

Personally I don't use 100% deet, just this stuff -

http://www.rei.com/product/686229



Note that deet usually shouldn't be applied to clothing. You can treat your clothing before your trip with this stuff -

http://www.rei.com/product/768970



And now for a little entomology. Mosquitoes don't bite because they are hungry. They bite because they want to produce eggs (ie. make more mosquitoes). More specifically, only the females bite.

http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/moslife.htm

SoCalHiker wrote:

The Chief wrote:Ran into a couple of "Organic Hiking Trendies" completely covered up from head to toe and I in just my short sleeve shirt and shorts, a couple of weeks ago on the NF of Big Pine just below Sam Mack Meadow. They noticed that I had not one of them pests on me while they were in total misery and wore at least 30 of em on their bodies and were ceaselessly swatting away.

They immediately asked what I was using to repel the pesky poking vermits. I instantly told them nothing less than 100% DEET. They responded that they could never apply that chemical on their bodies. I then replied with no hesitation... "Then I suggest that ya'll shut up and take the pain!"


Unbelievable!

Were those Asians? I ran into many of them last weekend here in the local San Gabriels completely covered up with gloves, face net, and so on by almost 90 degrees out there. They were all Asian, mostly Korean I think. Must be a cultural thing more than anything. Looks very uncomfortable to me though.

Asians usually cover up like that to avoid the sun. Gloves, long sleeves, etc... no matter how hot. The lighter your skin the higher level in society you likely are. But that doesn't explain the face net on the folks you saw.

The Chief wrote:No they were not Asians... they were just a couple of young Whitey Organic Trendy REI Hiking Uniform wearing American's with absolutely no common sense.

nice description...

mrchad9 wrote:Asians usually cover up like that to avoid the sun. Gloves, long sleeves, etc... no matter how hot. The lighter your skin the higher level in society you likely are. But that doesn't explain the face net on the folks you saw.

Yeah, that's what I thought too. I was sweating just looking at them... You could not see one square inch of skin.

100% DEET doesn't have any harmful affect on 50/50% cotton/polyester mix materials. The material weave allows the DEET liquid to penetrate the material and be absorbed onto the skin of the person yet allow the deterring affect to be potent enough to scatter the poking varmits.

It Works.

.[/quote]
Actually, there are NO mosquitos in Center Basin. None whatsoever. And plenty of water. Go figure.

(as of July 3-6)[/quote]

You just missed the hatch. As of July 11-12, Center Basin was one big cloud of mosquitoes.

FTR, the plural of mosquito is mosquitoes, not mosquitos.

Lake Reflection was as bad as the Sierra ever get- swarming, and all day long (not just morning and evening).

And Chief, your self-righteousness truly knows no limits.

MoabPeakBagger wrote:And Chief, your self-righteousness truly knows no limits.

You sound like a mosquito bit you square in the ass..... put on some 100% DEET and it won't happen again.

I'm sure your mosquito-addled friends are posting on their own message board right now about this guy they met who condescendingly lectured them and made them feel like shit, all while he was supporting the production of toxic chemicals, and introducing them into pristine ecosystems.

Just because you're a climber and a hardass and you live on the East Side doesn't make you better than everyone else on the planet. Different people live different ways and that's alright. I'm sorry to lash out this way, I frequently enjoy your rants and certainly the actual content you post, but some of the mean-spirited shit, well... I feel it needs to be called out.

I went up the Whitney trail to Mount Muir yesterday - no mosquitoes in the morning and then very few when I was coming down later in the day. I was surprised.

He was right to make those comments.

I was told by someone who seemingly knows his shit-encyclopedic mind- that 100% Deet can be found in your bloodstream within 7min. of putting it on. Don't know if it's true or not, but, I tend to use 30% or less.

Fletch wrote:Where might some hardworking REI type with an affinity for 100% DEET come across such elixir???

100% DEET is commonly available, there is no military grade vs other grade, and 100% DEET is 333% better than 30% DEET.

No need to ration it. Just type DEET in the REI search window and many options are available.