Tick protection for hiking
The trail is narrow, the grass leans in, and every step brushes something. Six hours in, you are not thinking about ticks any more. That is exactly the problem.
What you are up against
The trail edge is where ticks wait
Ticks climb to roughly knee height on grass and low vegetation, extend their front legs and hold. It is called questing. They cannot jump and they cannot fly. They just wait for something to brush past, and a single-track trail through summer growth guarantees you will.
A long day is a long exposure
A short walk is a small risk. Six hours of continuous contact with trail-side vegetation is not. And by hour four you have stopped scanning your legs, because you are watching your footing and your water.
Spray fails exactly when you need it
Permethrin-treated clothing wears out somewhere between 20 and 70 washes, and there is no indicator. Your favourite hiking trousers from three seasons ago are almost certainly untreated by now. You would not know until it mattered.
How Bug Away handles it
Protection that does not degrade
There is no treatment to wear off. The mesh gauge is the protection, and a weave does not expire. The jacket you buy this year works identically in five years, wash count irrelevant.
It breathes on the climb
This is mesh, not a membrane. Under 45 grams for the jacket, and air passes straight through. You wear it as a layer over a t-shirt on the ascent instead of stripping it off at the first switchback.
No gap at the boot
The pant leg and foot cover are one piece. Nothing to tuck, nothing to ride up over the sock during a long descent, no opening at the exact height where questing ticks are waiting.
Built for this
Pick a size and add it straight to your cart. Free shipping on US orders over $150, and the combo sets come in under that on their own.
Worth knowing
- Walk in the centre of the trail. Most bites come from brushing the edge.
- Check behind the knees, the waistband and the hairline afterwards. Ticks move to warm, thin skin.
- Light colours make a tick easier to spot during a check. It does not stop anything, but it helps.
- A tick usually needs many hours attached to transmit anything. Finding it the same day matters.
Protection that cannot wash out
No permethrin, no reapplying, nothing to wear off. Just a weave that ticks and mosquitoes cannot get through.