Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have never been a fan of putting Deet on my skin. It doesn't feel right to me and I do not care for the smell. I spend lots of time outdoors hiking and going on multi-day backpacking trips, so I need something that gives me good protection from biting insects. I have tried many of the natural repellents. They hardly worked at repelling insects but helped to repel humans. The smells were too intense and I regretted putting them on. I read about Picaridin as a gear safe alternative to Deet and that it had been used for years in Europe with great results. My first weekend using this product turned out to be a low mosquito weekend. Everyone else in the group had ticks on them and a couple had chigger bites. I had not one tick nor chigger bite on me. I was instantly sold on it and bought more. Subsequent hikes while using Picaridin have left me without ticks and chiggers. Hikes without using the stuff always ends with chigger bites and more than half w/ a tick or two on me. I have now used Picaradin on a handful of weekend trips and here is what I have noticed: The good: - It is much nicer on the skin than Deet. The scent is nicer as well. - Ticks and chiggers really do hate this stuff. If that is your concern, buy this. You will not regret it. The bad: - It does not seem to cover the same area as Deet - What I mean by that is that I with Deet products, I spray them trying to cover every inch of exposed skin but am sure that I miss some. This has not been a problem in the past. When using Picaradin, I can tell exactly where I missed because I will have 5 mosquito bites all in a line in a hard to reach area of my body (i.e. the back of my arm elbow). - I find myself using a larger quantity of this per usage than I would with a Deet product. - I think this product would be great as a pre-moistened wipe to help with the overall coverage. I currently am using Picardin on the lower part of my body where ticks and chiggers are hanging out and use a Deet product on my upper body. This seems to give me the best protection from all biting insects.