We swat mosquitoes for a pretty good reason. They’re annoying, they bite and make us scratch where they just dined on our blood. We use all sorts of lotions and sprays to keep them away, but they still seem to find our most vulnerable and exposed flesh. Ticks are just as sneaky. They find all sorts of ways to leap on to our bodies then borough into our skin like mini-vampires. Although we can try to escape from skeeters and ticks in our moving pontoon boats, the skeeters are very good at finding us when we slow down or stop.
I was recently exposed to a line of clothing that will help keep those nasty pests off of us when we’re boating, fishing, hiking, biking or whatever we want to do in the field and woods. Sitka Gear is the company making clothing that is bug resistant. While some other clothing companies are shrinking (sorry, no pun intended) the folks at Sitka Gear are expanding their product lines and the number of stores around the country. I was invited to visit the grand opening of their new store in the Chicago suburb of Vernon Hills, IL. By the time you get to read this, their new store in Columbus, OH will also be open.
Great graphic on the wall of their new IL store.
The grand opening had customers lined up around the block.
I had to admit, I was unfamiliar with the brand. Two of my boating and hunting buddies heard I was headed there and had to bring me up to speed on all the stuff they had in their closets with the Sitka brand.
While they have a wide variety of clothing and accessories for just about any outdoor activity, I was immediately drawn to the line of clothing that helps keep bugs to themselves. Recently my wife was mobbed by a pack of chiggers. They’re nasty little buggers too that left her scratching her legs for weeks.
Although I’m writing this in the midst of a mosquito-free snowstorm in Wisconsin, I am chomping at the bit to do more of a firsthand test of their “Equinox Guard” clothing. No, I’m not going to just wrap my wife in a hoodie and pants, send her out in the woods then call her on her cell phone to see if it really works. For the brief time I tried it in the late fall, it really seemed to work.
Ok, it works but how? Inquiring minds want to know (yes, I stole that old quote). I should first let you know that Sitka Gear is a division of the “W.L.Gore & Assoc.” company, the “Gore-Tex” folks. That’s why and how their products stop bugs “mechanically” as well as chemically.
The tightly knit, stretch fabric creates a barrier to the insects. As many of us have experienced, the Gore-Tex folks designed their fabrics to be breathable and help to wick moisture away from our skin. The design of this fabric does the same thing. It is light enough (6.5 oz for the hoodie and 13.5oz for the pants) to wear when Wisconsin gets warm again. The hoodie and pant I have are in their olive green and gray. It comes in six other colors including three camo patterns. They have gloves too but I didn’t get any of those, yet.
These are studio photos of the product because I’m not really a runway model.
Mechanically, the knit of the fabric is so that when a bug lands on the material they can’t penetrate it to get to your tasty epidermis. That knit also provides the UPF50 sun screening. The “chemical” repellant is branded “Insect Shield”. The garment is imbedded with “permethrin” insect repellent that is said to stick with the clothing for around 70 dips in the wash machine. It repels various insects including mosquitos, ticks, chiggers, ants and midges (no see-ums).
Unless you get it really dirty, the “Polygiene StayFresh” treatment of the fabric claims to be able to help keep the garment from being too offensive to your family and friends while requiring fewer trips to the wash.
Great face protection.
I’m not a big hoodie fan but because this material is so light I can just tuck the hood inside the back of the hoodie and not really notice it. At speed, under way, I don’t like a hood flapping around and slapping the back of my head. The hood design doesn’t have a brim but stretches over a brimmed hat very easily and doesn’t feel too snug around my ears. It also has a pull-up face mask for more protection. I have some hard-core fishing friends who wear a similar style hoody for sun protection, and they were all over my hoodie not only for the design but are very interested in the bug repellent feature.
Now that my horizons have been broadened to the Sitka Gear line, I’m sure I’ll add more things to our collection. I have to admit, I’m amazed at their selection of outdoor wearables. Their web site is https://www.sitkagear.com/ and worth a tour. The Illinois store I visited was well stocked and have great people there with exceptional product knowledge that is essential when helping customers understand all the features of their different items.
