We do plenty of testing on our products and the competition. When something new comes out, we'll try it, make some notes, and keep the results to ourselves.
Normally, we do not like to disparage anyone's
product but sometimes we need to provide the facts. Because the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has come out in support of Picaridin
as an alternative to DEET, we'll make a few comments, in addition
to our press
release.
An insect repellent with 7% Picaridin provided less than 15 minutes protection from only a handful of mosquitoes (<20) on several individuals around a campfire. This test was performed on June 10, 2005 just after dusk near McGregor, Minnesota (Big Sandy Lake). We thought, OK, that's fine. The stuff isn't that great and people will try this new ingredient once and never use it again.
BUT, when we saw this (below), we had to say something. The young man was at Boy Scout camp near Longville, Minnesota the last week in July, 2005. He was literally soaking himself with 7% picaridin to try and stop the mosquitoes from biting his lower legs. His brother had the same problem. They commented, "That stuff was like water. It did absolutely nothing to stop them!" After a couple days, the poor kid resorted to long jeans and hiking boots in 90+ degree heat to protect himself. His mother was appalled - she had done the research, heard the press reports, and thought he was going to be fine.
We took these photos almost 2 weeks after
his ordeal and several dozen welts are still visible.
A "Clean Feel" Insect Repellent
This was new to the market in 2006. It only contains 5% picaridin and we expect it to perform at parity, or worse than, the Advanced stuff.
Please see our press release and the associated links.
Picaridin Insect Repellent
