Repellent that WORKS on biting flies

Sawyer Products Premium Insect Repellent with Picaridin

Yes, it works even on those @#$%^&* biting flies !
I got some of this for my wife to try since she seems to be like catnip for mosquitos. Worked great for the mosquitos just as advertised. I wasn't expecting the same result with the black flies on Erie, but holy cow it works !
The first time I tried it I was moving around the lake a lot, so I wasn't sure if it was working or I was moving away from them.
Tried it again in a tournament on the Detroit River a few weeks later when my partner and I were being devoured, and I'll be damned if it didn't work again.

No bad smell or oily residue like DEET. Google "picaridin" for some information on the active ingredient.

I don't work for this company, and I'm not getting anything for posting this.
Just wanted to share my experience because I know all too well how miserable those little buggers can be.
I don't know that it would keep them off a boat, but it kept them from biting me !
Hope it works for you if you try it.

You can find it on Amazon. Just search for "Sawyer Picaridin" or just "Picaridin"

Thermacells work great for them too. Found out by accident this past year. Inexpensive and easy to operate.

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Originally Posted by dayze_awayze

Thermacells work great for them too. Found out by accident this past year. Inexpensive and easy to operate.

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You think Thermacells are inexpensive to operate??? Plus it's hard to get a thermacell to work in the wind.

Pathfinder, thanks for the info on the repellent. I will be looking for some of that to try out!

What kind of Thermacell are you using that makes it so difficult? I have two of them that I use quite often. I carry one in the woods with me well into November, and now leave a lantern style on the boat. There are battery and gas operated ones. You can buy a refill pack that lasts 120 hours for $45. That's less than $.40 per hour to run. Well worth the cost of not getting your ankles chewed off.

If it is that windy that you can't start the Thermacell, the flies aren't biting anyway.

Sorry to offend you Eyezcrazy. Just throwing out there another solution that I didn't realize worked during the season. I had one on the boat for nights getting eaten by mosquitos, and found out it also worked for biting flies.

Just checked Cabellas for Thermacells and the Sawyer Picaridin came up as well. In the description it said that it is meant to spray on your clothes and equipment not on your skin. Don't know what happens if you spray on your skin?

Sawyer makes some pyrethrin based repellents that are designed to keep ticks off clothing.
The picaridin based insect repellent can be applied to your skin. I just double checked the bottle.
It does say not to spray it on your face, but to spray on your hands and then rub on face.