Repellents in DEET-ail

Ben’s 100

Boasting a concentration of almost 100 percent DEET (contains 5 percent inert ingredients), it is a wonder Ben’s 100 doesn’t melt its own blaze-orange plastic bottle. It’s hard to tell whether it’s the chemical or the smell that repels flies and mosquitoes, as well as every other living thing. For all the DEET, it really only worked about as well and as long as OFF!, which contains far less DEET.

Off! Deep Woods

Milder, with an effective concentration of 25 percent DEET, this repellent has at least a couple hours of staying power and is by far less offensive to the nose, making it my favorite and most frequently used repellent. Forget the pine trees or the salty seaside air, in my mind, it is the smell of summer in Maine.

Cutter Skinsations

Aloe and Vitamin E? Repels insects and moisturizes skin? Too good to be true, you say? Well, yeah, it kinda is. Skinsations is part of the new generation of repellents on the market proclaiming to do the job with more skin-friendly concentrations of DEET (around 7 percent). I found it to be reasonably effective, especially for the short term (under an hour). But if you find yourself deep in the woods on a hot August night with just a bottle of this stuff, God help you.

Buzz-Off

This DEET-free insect repellent from Maine-based Lewey’s Eco-Blends is by far one of the most effective botanical-based repellents and, unlike the new milder DEET-based products, it smells nice without trying. With lemongrass, peppermint, thyme, geranium and rosemary oils as the effective ingredients, how could you go wrong? However, I found that it needed to be reapplied after about an hour and that when I was really swarmed (see above), I still found myself reaching for the Deep Woods.

Annie’s Safe Escape Lotion

Another DEET-free, botanical-based repellent from Maine. With many similar active and inert ingredients, I found that both its smell and effectiveness were on par with Buzz-Off. Both come out of a squeeze bottle, but Annie’s compound is less oily and runny (more like the consistency of sunblock) which made it easier, as well as less messy, to apply and stash in the backpack.