Summer Hiking Pants - Ticks (house, buy, live in)

[inquisitive24]

Have been going hiking in MA during the summer and I know the ticks are infested with Lyme disease. So I want to wear long pants, only the weather is really hot. What kind of long pants can be recommended for this for a male? I did some looking and found some pants advertised as rugged, all-weather, which I imagine might be too hot. The second factor is do particular kinds of pants provide more protection against ticks than others? Thanks!

[CaseyB]

It's deer ticks that carry Lyme disease. They are tiny so you should examine your skin after you've been outside.

I would guess pants that have some sort of elastic closure or a snap at the ankle would be better than something more open. Wear socks, long sleeves. You want to keep the ticks from coming in contact with your skin

[robr2]

REI offers a great selection of hiking pants. They are lightweight and many zip off below the knee.

Best to wear long socks when hiking to keep the ticks away from your skin.

[OutdoorLover]

If you have parks nearby with wide open trails free of grass and brush, rail trails, carriage roads, etc, stay on those and you'll be a lot safer than if you're walking through brush or tall grass. Ticks are slow, and they get on you primarily from jumping off vegetation onto your body as you brush through it. Therefore, if you're not touching any vegetation with your body, and your only contact is via dirt and rocks through the soles of your shoes, there's little opportunity for them to access you - following this rule makes a huge difference.

If you want to use clothing as a barrier, they do say that re clothing, wear long pants with cuffs tucked into your socks, long sleeves, and you can spray the clothing with permethrin, DEET, etc

[Shrewsburried]

As someone who has to maintain a small field with no shortage of rodents and deer creating a perfect environment for ticks to proliferate, I have two suggestions:

1) buy pants with tapered legs so that you can extend your socks tightly over their exterior. This seals off or at least creates a torturous path for the ticks preventing ingress to your skin.
2) treat your footwear and cloths with permethrin. A number of the outdoor brands sell pre-tread permethrin cloths as well.

Permethrin treated boots, socks, and pants alone significantly cut down on my tick latches. The overlaid socks merely keeps the ticks on the surface of your cloths, as opposed to to your skin, as they migrate up allowing the permethrin to act upon them. The permethrin disrupts the ticks nervous system. Permethrin is also neuro toxin dangerous to cats and fish, but once treated and dry it’s safe for either ... be mindful of this.

[FCMA]

Check out Insectshield, a company that will soak the clothing you send them in permethrin and then send it back to you. You then get to watch the ticks suffer and fall off.

I also enjoy thin layer synthetic hiking pants, the kind that converts into dorky zipoff shorts from REI or EMS. Light-weight but surprisingly durable. Get gray or khaki colored ones and simply stay vigilant while you wander.

[porterhouse]

Take a hot bath (as hot as you can stand) after hiking.

[Tupaloop]

Even though I'm not from MA (yet), I live in the NJ Pinelands where black-legged (Lyme-carrying) ticks are rampant. These are the precautions I take, even during a heatwave:

1) Before getting dressed, cover your skin with a non-toxic tick repellent. I like Herbal Armor and No Bite Me because they are viscous and last longer on the skin. Be sure to dab a little inside and all around your ears, belly button and the hairline at the back of your neck. Apply the product more heavily anywhere ticks my find an entry point (shirt neckline, sleeve openings, etc)

2) If you have long hair, braid it or tie it up in a bun. Wear a hat.

3) Wear long sleeves and long pants, no matter the temperature! Preferably the shirt will have a high collar. I wear thick, tight-fitting yoga pants and pull my socks up over the the pants. EDIT: For men, you can wear something like these under skinny jeans and be sure to pull your socks over the jeans. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The reason I like tight-fitting pants is that it makes it harder for the ticks to get between the pants and your skin and crawl up. Ticks tend to crawl up. Tuck your shirt into your pants.

4) Once dressed, stand in shower and spray another tick repellent (I prefer non-toxic - permethrin is carcinogenic) over every inch of clothes, hair, hat and exposed skin.

5) Once at the hiking trail, I spray Deet (Deep Woods Off) on my hiking boots and pant legs.

AFTER HIKING

1) Undress in an area of your house where the ticks will not find their way to your body, such as the basement or garage. Then put the clothes straight in the washing machine.

2) Do a thorough tick check in a full-length mirror and check every inch of your body. Black legged ticks in the nymph stage are about the size of a grain of salt. After the visual check, (and this is VERY IMPORTANT) do a TOUCH CHECK. If you lightly run your fingers over your skin, you can feel even the tiniest tick if they are attached to you. Have someone to a visual and touch check of your back.

3) Since it's hard to do a visual check of your scalp, do a thorough touch check, lightly running your fingers over your scalp in small circles.

3) Immediately take a shower and do another tick check after.

If you find a tick attached to you, don't panic. Remove it properly (google how). I believe it takes something like 24-48 hours for a tick to transmit disease. If you find a tick that has been attached for a day or two, call your doctor and ask about a prophylactic dose of antibiotics to hopefully prevent Lyme. I believe it is 200mg of doxycycline. This prevention method is not effective if the tick has been attached for longer than 72 hours. But I am not a doctor, so please do your own research and talk to your doctor.

[yesmaybe]

I got bit like 2 weeks ago. I don't think it was attached for very long but took a bit of effort. I took a bath after getting it off.

Called the doctors office the next day. Screening sounded like they were willing to prescribe over the phone had I answered the questions suggesting that I was at risk.

[lrfox]

I have a few good pairs from the Eddie Bauer outlet that were both affordable and work really well. 2 are lightweight pairs that I wear in the summer.

We hiked the Franconia Ridge loop last weekend and did a section of the Long Trail this weekend in Vermont. I found 2 ticks on me - one crawling on the pant (khaki/light brown, easy to see the tick), and one latched to my forearm. I’m glad I had the pants, but I still saw a lot of people in shorts. Northern New England is usually a bit less ticky, but this year it’s bad everywhere. Pants are the right choice.