Getting cactus quills out of pants?

[Conroy]

I have a pair of pants that have cactus quills stuck in them in a bunch of places. I have tried tape and picking them out with tweezers. No matter what I do there are always more inside them when I wear them. Does anyone have a remedy for this besides throwing them away, which I am about to do?

 

[jolemons]

Been there. One idea woukd be to turn inside out and lightly sand them. The thought would be to knock off the tip of the thorn to make them less irritating. I wear a base layer under under my pants that are embedded with pokey objects.

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[Trial153]

Dammed if I know.....

 

[FlyGuy]

Wish I knew. Eventually they go away but they are a PITA until then. I'm headed out to hunt in South TX later this week and I won't wear my Sitka gear there anymore. Those cactus are just brutal.

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[codym]

I don't know why these companies don't make like a briar/southwestern pant with some kind of cactus resistant material on the lower leg, maybe to the knee and on the ass. Then use the good stretchy material in the thighs and crotch. For us upland/coues/southwestern hunters they would be perfect.... It's my idea so whoever steals it and makes them owes me pants for life!

 

[jolemons]

Wearing gaiters definately helps

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[FlyGuy]

Wearing gaiters definately helps

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I disagree. They slide right through my Sitka gaiters like butter. I quit bringing them b/c it just seemed like they wouldn't be waterproof for long like That!

Some guides out there have some locally made leather gaiters that I need to try and find.

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[Conroy]

Gaiters wouldn’t have helped me. I tripped over something and turned to protect my rifle and fell right in a cactus. Got my calf, thigh, ass and hand. It’s been 2 weeks and I’m still feeling them at times. The big ones were easy to see, they were bleeding. It’s the small hairlike ones that suck.

 

[El Gavilan]

For getting the tiny cactus spines (glochids), out of skin you can apply some Elmer's wood glue in a thin layer, let it dry, then pull it off, most of the glochids should come out. For clothing you can try scraping with a metal blade, or try an electric razor. Might even try soaking in soapy water for 3 to 5 days and then scraping.

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[cuerro viejo]

Gaiters wouldn’t have helped me. I tripped over something and turned to protect my rifle and fell right in a cactus. Got my calf, thigh, ass and hand. It’s been 2 weeks and I’m still feeling them at times. The big ones were easy to see, they were bleeding. It’s the small hairlike ones that suck.

Gorilla or duck tape. And yes it will look funny with hair patches missing, but it works very effectively.

 

[PantherCity]

If in the skin I use a sharp knife while in the field to shave them off, that way they don't rub anymore and they work themselves out later, You get a little rash but you can get back to hunting and worry about that later, its not too bad.

In the pants I do the same thing, shave them off.

 

[Conroy]

Thanks for the replies everyone. As for the ones in my skin, I just hunted the rest of the week like normal. It was irritating, but not that bad. Now there are just small bumps where the quills were as all of the parts exposed have either broken off or are just gone.

I used tape and then tried using the knife as suggested above. Seems to have helped a lot. I washed the pants last night and will be wearing them Friday so I will know for sure then.

 

[n2horns]

I hunt Arizona and wear Carhartt double front or fheir ripstop pants. The thorns dont stick and the few that do, easily come off. You still will bring some home in shoe laces and socks. I have ruined good pants by the thorns. A comb or knife to knock/shave them off.