Best Bug Suit

[nomadicbohunk]

I'm DIYing bears in Maine (yes, I know it would be cheaper just to go guided). I went to the one property to check up on it this week and drop a barrel off behind the cabin. Holy deer flies and mosquitos. I've never been there prefrost and was told it was bad. My wife said the bugs were as bad as she remembers working a few summers on the north slope hiking transects in wetlands all day long. That's bad.

Who makes the best bug suit? I was going to run a thermacell anyway, but yeah that isn't going to cut it.

 

[djewell87]

I use a thermacell and treat my clothing with permethrin.

 

[USMC22]

I'm from Maine. Live in New Hampshire now... I haven't found anything short of sweating it out in clothing that keeps the bugs off.

 

[plebe]

Bug Tamer (Shannon Outdoors)

 

[Wrangler13]

Was just up in Baxter for a few days. The bugs are definitely oppressive right now. Wore a long sleeve sun shirt, shorts with deet on exposed legs and bug net. Got bit some but with pants would not have been bit at all.
I’d recommend one of these for a bug net, you can actually see through it like it’s not there. https://www.simblissity.net/ultralight-mosquito-headnet.htm

 

[Beendare]

I use a thermacell and treat my clothing with permethrin.

I too spray a set of clothes with permethrin when I know I'm going to be in a buggy spot like Alaska. One 10 day drop camp in a swampy area resulted in only one bite.

 

[WanderingFarmer]

I’ve spent some time in the swamps of Michigans upper peninsula. If bug pressure can get worse than what I experienced there, I don’t want to know. My red atv would turn black from the bugs attracted to the heat…

A few lessons

1) permethrin treated clothes are a godsend
2) a wide brimmed hat with a net around it and draped over shoulders helps with feeling like they’re right in your face
3) deer flies seem to be most interested in in the highest thing that’s moving. Tucking a branch in your hat that sticks up seems to help with our local flies.
4) the single best piece of clothing we used was a 3d mesh bug suit. Full body structured mesh so that mosquitoes and such couldn’t actually reach your skin. We gave them away with the cabin when my family sold it, there was nothing remotely close for getting through spring chores where the bugs were so thick you’d inhale them. Shannon Outdoors Bug Tamer seems to be the closest thing I can find with the spacer mesh and what I’d would buy if I had any expectation of sounding serious time in heavy bug pressure again.

 

[jahaze]

Bugshirt.com These things make life in the northern woods tolerable this time of year. It was the only thing that made field work tolerable in the UP of Michigan.


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[nomadicbohunk]

Bugshirt.com These things make life in the northern woods tolerable this time of year. It was the only thing that made field work tolerable in the UP of Michigan.


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Thanks everyone!

Any idea how they compare to the Bug tamer suit? You mentioned field work, so I trust that. I used to do a lot of field work. I met an old forester on the Gaspe who had the best looking bug jacket ever, but I can't figure out what it was. I'm wondering if it was an old bug shirt they don't make anymore or it's something from Quebec I can't find googling in english.

People really like the bug tamer suits, but they look a little harbor freighty/bass pro quality. A lot of folks think those bug shirts are the best. Others swear by rhynoskin and netting. I can't find a straight comparison. Did anyone try anything different?

Basically, all my clothing will be permetrined. I do that anyway. I'll also have a thermacell. That was my plan anyway. I'm running two sites. One is at the end of a narrow "ridge" that leads into the middle third of a 1000 ish acre swamp. It's like 10 feet above the swamp at max elevation. There's a large running stream about 300 yards away. My other site borders a massive swamp. That ones not as buggy as the first one. But yeah, that one site is BAD. My record was killing 7 deer flies in one swat and ate a bunch of mosquitos. I'm more worried about the deer flies than mosquitos. My wife was like, "You're going to have a lot of fun! Better you than me!" I've been around bad bugs before and been fine. This is on another level.

 

[mgmicky]

I used a Bug Tamer suit when I hunted the piedmont and eastern NC early bow season. The suit works as intended, but it was heavy and hot. Might not be an issue farther north, but I’d be looking for something different if hunting in the 90s with high humidity.