The active ingredient is Icaridin, more commonly known as Picaridin. It is roughly as effective as DEET for mosquitos, looks to be somewhat more effective than DEET for ticks. I believe it also has a higher toxicity for aquatic life. 

Here is a decent article as a starting point:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4173961/
 

RCSpartan wrote:

It works but I wouldn't back that 12 hr claim, especially in June. 

I always just assumed the '# of hours of protection' for any bug spray is for the whole bottle, not per application.

I know that isn't the intent, but it sure feels that way sometimes... esp in June, as you said.

Thanks for the heads up Barry - I'll definitely check it out.
 

I’ve used it for a couple years- never used DEET, so I can’t compare. This is less toxic than DEET from everything I’ve read, and it doesn’t melt plastic (unlike DEET) so that’s worth something to me. 

Permethrin, the other effective insect repellant that people typically soak their clothes in, is incredibly toxic to aquatic life, and in my option usage around lakes and streams should be avoided.

PiActive has no effect against deer and horse flies, but seems to do the job pretty well with mosquitos. Haven’t tried it with black flies. So long as it works against ticks, I’m happy, that’s the only insect I really don’t want to get bit by. The rest I can handle.

nvm wrote:

Permethrin, the other effective insect repellant that people typically soak their clothes in, is incredibly toxic to aquatic life, and in my option usage around lakes and streams should be avoided.

Hilarious! Who is soaking their clothes in Permethrin? My instructions say a light moistening then dry for 2 hours. Ex-Officio Bugsaway clothing lasts 70 washings- that's with detergents. What makes you think a few dunkings when getting out of a canoe is going to poison anything? I'm betting swimming or washing off in the lake with DEET or Picaridin on your skin would be worse. 

These fact sheets from the same organization are the “general audience” ones and are a bit more readable than the technical ones...

Permethrin http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/PermGen.html
Deet  http://npic.orst.edu/ingred/deet.html
Picaridin aka icaridin  http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/PicaridinGen.html

@EGB. Lots of people soak their clothes in Permethrin. It’s the best way to make it last longer. There are lots of threads on outdoor forums about how to do this.

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That said, I agree, From what I’ve read, once the permethrin has bound to the fibres and dried, it is not going to wash out easily at all into a lake or river. And once it has dried, it is much less toxic to human skin. I’ve used the spray with good results in super ticky areas (south of Thunder Bay in the spring is a tick nightmare).

Marks WorkWearhouse now sells NoFlyZone pants treated with Permethrin. In Canada, they have a lining to prevent direct contact with skin. In the States, they do not. The lining makes them too warm, in my opinion, for June tripping. I still spray my regular outdoor pants each spring with permethrin.

As for picaridin/icaridin, I used it on a buggy June trip in Algonquin a few years ago. I found that it was about as effective than deet, but lasted a shorter time. Unfortunately, the spray I had (Sawyer) warned against reapplying more than twice a day. So I stopped using it.

I’m keen to try the pi active spray this year to see if it is better than the Sawyer brand.

Hope that info is useful.

Last edited by Methye (3/06/2019 12:14 am)

I follow the directions and it works great. Why would I want pesticide on the inside of my clothing? The bugs dont come anywhere near me. That's pretty effective. But please, continue to try and prove me wrong 

I ordered more Pemethrin last week. I started just spraying. I soak now. At least the heavy use items. pants, hat, couple of shirts. Soaking definitely works better .and buying  this 10-% solution and diluting down to the .5% solution of the Sawyer bottles is substantially cheaper.  .