Bite protection at camp: mosquitoes, ticks, and the layered defence that actually works
One bottle of spray does not solve this. That is the misconception to clear away first, because it shapes every purchasing decision that follows. Mosquitoes and ticks bite differently, live in different places, and are stopped at different moments — before the outing, during it, and after it. Canadian public-health guidance never describes a single product doing the whole job. It describes layers: what is worn, what is applied to skin, where a person walks, and what gets checked afterwards. Each layer is unglamorous. Together they are the defence.
General information only, not medical advice. This guide summarises public-health guidance on bite prevention and tick removal; it does not cover symptoms, diagnosis, or treatment. Questions about repellent use for children or during pregnancy, and any concern after a tick bite, belong with a pharmacist, clinician, or local public-health unit.
Layer 1: what you wear, and what the clothing is treated with
Clothing is the first layer because it works continuously and needs no reapplication. The public-health formula is consistent across sources: light-coloured clothing, because ticks are easier to spot on it; long sleeves and long pants; socks and closed footwear; and pant legs tucked into socks, which keeps ticks on the outside of the clothing where they can be seen. Hastings Prince Edward Public Health and New Brunswick's public-health guidance give the same list, and both pair it with the clothing treatment below.
Permethrin is the treatment, and its Canadian status is the detail most often garbled. Permethrin is not licensed as a topical repellent in Canada — it does not go on skin. What it can be applied to is clothing, bed nets, and camping gear, where study material aligned with the Canadian Paediatric Society puts its retained effect at about two weeks or six washings; New Brunswick's guidance likewise notes that permethrin-treated clothing repels ticks through several washings. Treat the outer surfaces ticks meet first — pants, socks, footwear — let treated items dry, and keep the skin layer for the products actually approved for skin.
Layer 2: what goes on skin
| Repellent | Status in Canadian guidance | Application rules that matter |
|---|---|---|
| DEET | Named in Health Canada-approved repellents recommended by public-health guidance | Apply to exposed skin and clothing, not under clothing; check the label for younger children |
| Icaridin | Named alongside DEET in Health Canada-approved repellents recommended by public-health guidance | Same application rules; check the product is approved as safe for younger children before use |
| Permethrin | Not licensed as a topical repellent in Canada; clothing, gear, and bed nets only | Never on skin; effect lasts about two weeks or six washings on treated fabric |
The choice between DEET and icaridin matters less than the application rules around either. Apply repellent to exposed skin and to clothing, but not to skin underneath clothing. Do not apply repellent to children's hands. Spray in ventilated areas, away from food. Once the group is indoors for the day, wash repellent off with soap and water. Those four rules, drawn from New Brunswick guidance and Canadian study material, prevent more misuse than any brand comparison — a correctly chosen product applied under clothing, or left on overnight, is the layer failing at the easy part.
Layer 3: where you walk
Ticks have habitat, and habitat can be routed around. Blacklegged ticks live in and along wooded areas, in woody shrubs, and in tall grasses. The behavioural layer follows directly: walk in the middle of trails, and avoid contact with tall grass and leaf litter at the edges. At the campsite, the same logic favours the maintained centre of the site over long grass at its margins. This layer costs nothing, works all day without reapplication, and is the one most often skipped in favour of buying a second bottle of spray.
Layer 4: the check, and the removal procedure
The last layer happens after the outing, and it is a procedure, not a glance:
- Check the whole body after coming indoors — the full body, including creases and the scalp, where ticks are easy to miss.
- Shower within two hours of coming indoors, as Hastings Prince Edward Public Health advises; the check and the shower belong to the same routine.
- Check pets as well. Pets can bring ticks indoors, so a tick found on the dog is information about the whole group's exposure.
- If a tick is attached, remove it with tweezers: grasp it as close to the mouth as possible and pull straight away from the skin. Do not grab the body, do not squish it, and do not burn it.
- Wash the area afterwards and monitor the bite site. Any symptoms or concerns after a bite go to a health professional — that step is deliberately not this guide's job.
What success looks like: the post-outing routine happens every time, not just on buggy days — full-body check done, shower taken within two hours, pets checked, and any attached tick removed the same day with tweezers, close to the mouth, pulled straight, with the area washed.
Choosing your layers by trip
Not every outing needs every layer at full strength, and deciding in advance beats improvising at the trailhead. A maintained campground with mown sites and gravel pads calls for the skin layer in the evening and a quick check after any walk through long grass. A trip that routes through wooded trails, shrubs, or tall grass calls for the full stack: treated clothing, repellent on exposed skin, middle-of-the-trail discipline, and the complete post-outing procedure. Children tighten the rules rather than loosening them — the label check for younger children and the no-repellent-on-hands rule are not optional extras on a family trip. The framework is simply the layers in order, matched to how much tick habitat the day actually crosses.
— Sofia Marino, Travel Writer