Repel HG-406T Lemon Eucalyptus 4-Ounce Insect Repellent Pump Spray

Product Details

• Item Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001DRJE1K
• Item model number: HG-406T
  

By : Repel
List Price : $14.99
Price : $11.10
You Save : $3.89 (26%)

Product Description

Extreme conditions call for extreme protection. Outdoor enthusiasts trust Repel products for mosquito protection that's as tough as they are. With a complete line of insect repellents designed for sportsmen, all clearly labeled with the level of protection for any terrain, Repel products keep bugs from getting between you and the great outdoors.

Product Details

• Item Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001DRJE1K
• Item model number: HG-406T
  

Product Features

• Effective, plant-based insect protection won't stain or damage fabrics or surfaces
• Repels mosquitoes, sand flies, ticks, midges, stable flies, and more for up to 6 hours
• Contains 40% oil of lemon eucalyptus, a natural and renewable resource
• Active ingredient recommended by the Centers for Disease Control; and Prevention (CDC)
• Made in USA; 4 fluid ounces

Customer Reviews

As a biochemist, I don't leave my repellents to chance. I insist on reading some of the peer-reviewed scientific studies before switching away from DEET repellents. Some papers on Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, aka OLE or PMD (the synthesized version) caught my attention which made me read further. I looked for information through the Center for Disease Control (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/RepellentUpdates.htm) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Both sites indicate that OLE is indeed tested and effective, albeit not equivalent (hourly) to 30% DEET. I found that the EPA also evaluates repellent data for safety and hourly effectiveness for brand name products including 30/40% Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus; this can be viewed at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/mosquitoes/mosquito-tick-product.html . Armed with this information, I decided to take OLE on a trip to an island (with swamps) in Belize. We loved this product. Although 30% DEET was more powerful as a repellent when we were walking directly next to the swamps, the Repel Lemon Eucalyptus product was plenty effective and so much more pleasant when we were in more usual mosquito (and sand flea) territory back at our base camp. We particularly preferred using it at bedtime in our cabins, since we were not sleeping in a tight, air conditioned room. Lemon Eucalyptus is also a more pleasant product to use on the face, neck, and scalp (avoid the eyes) than DEET. Before the end of our trip, we had finished the Repel Lemon Eucalyptus oil and wished we had brought more. I will take many bottles of REPEL 30/40% Lemon Eucalyptus oil and also some DEET on my trip to Madagascar next month. If you decide to purchase OLE, make sure you are NOT buying lemongrass oil or essential oils of lemon eucalyptus, as these are mixtures of oils as they come straight from the plant, and the percentage of OLE (PMD) may not be high enough to be effective. I highly recommend the REPEL product.

My family and I used this during a week-long camping trip to Lassen National Park in early spring. Here is our experience in brief:

Pros

Pleasing scent - We found the scent to be pleasing, if a bit strong at first. It does smell of eucalyptus and lemon and not of chemicals, which is nice. Though strong at first, it quickly dissipates to a more mellow background aroma

Effective - The mosquitoes against which we used this product were extremely aggressive and voracious, drilling through layers of clothing that I had thought would stop them. They didn't. When giving our exposed skin and clothing heavy doses of this, we noticed an immediate effect: The skeeters would hover around, but not come near, and certainly would not land on us.

Cons

Awkward and ineffective pump - The spray pump worked well enough when it worked, but was stiff to operate. Besides that, it would frequently experience some kind of vapor lock and would cease to function, requiring us to take it off and apply the product by hand. It may be that we got a bad bottle, and I'll allow for that as the rating I give is only for the product, not the packaging. Still, I think it's important to report on our experience, especially as the package affected our use of the product.

Short Term Effectiveness - Mind you, I've read the studies and reviews of this product and also the many glowing reviews and all I can do with this review is report on our direct experience of this repellent. While noticeably very effective at first, we experienced a sharp drop off of performance well before six hours. I would expect a gradual tapering off of performance of any similar product, either of manufactured or natural derivation. But we experienced significant intrusion of mosquitoes after two hours' time. (that is to say, they were landing on us and sucking our blood) Others' experiences can - and obviously do - vary; to what extent the variety of mosquitoes, climate, and personal chemistry play into the overall effectiveness of this repellent, I do not know. What I do know, however, is that in order to maintain ourselves relatively mosquito-free, we had to reapply this product every two hours during peak skeeter activity: morning and evenings.

Other thoughts

Would I use this product again? I have to say yes, I probably would. I still prefer this to deet-based products, though I don't have any scientific evidence that having this on your skin for hours is any less detrimental to your health than deet. I do know that I don't like having to reapply it so frequently, however, and I've got to dock it two stars for that. I never expected this to be miraculous, but I did expect that the repellent effect would be significant up to six hours, as the labeling led me to believe. My personal experience with this was that it was significantly effective for about two hours, after which the skeeters would start to move in.

We used this product exactly as recommended and let me tell you we were fairly saturated with the stuff. Let me also say again that this was very noticeably effective right away - it just didn't last. Clearly, others have had better experience with this product, and that should definitely be taken into account. I'd just say go ahead and use this stuff, but don't leave the bottle behind at the camp when you go out for a day hike in skeeter territory, 'cause you may be bummed when you arrive at a really nice, trouty stream and find that your repellent isn't working so well any more.

It may be that my skeeters were commando-trained; it may be that my body chemistry negated the effect of the repellent; or it may be that I just got a bad bottle - still, I've got to give it three stars because in the end, it gave me two hours of protection, not six.