Guest Talarik InsectShield SickTick Band Review:
I stumbled on (Talarik InsectShield) SickTick bands this spring, thinking they might be a good addition to my outdoor gear line-up as I spend a significant amount of time working and recreating in tick country from Kansas to Tennessee to Alabama. Like most people, I’m generally skeptical of new products like this. I figured I would give them a whirl and I’m glad I did.
I used them extensively this spring and early summer, always wearing a combination of both ankle bands and the waist band. This, to me, seems the most logical and effective method. The waist band was worn at the waistline over whatever I had on at the time, regardless of whether I was wearing a conventional belt or not. It is very easy and comfortable to wear, does not tend to ride up or down and is light enough that I often completely forgot it was even on. I wore the ankle bands in three positions at different times or with different gear; over my pants at the top of my boots, under my pants below the knee and over my pants below the knee, towards my ankle. I believe all three to be effective depending on what you are wearing and the type of conditions you may be in.
Some explanation of that may be necessary. The first method I used, which seemed to work well with any height shoe or boot, was to wear the ankle bands over the pant at the very top of the boot. This method forces anything you encounter below this point to cross the band and anything above it will encounter the waist band. This method also seemed to be the most sensible when used without the waist band as it effectively seals most ticks out of the inside of your pant leg and I believe a high percentage that you encounter will cross the band when worn in this general location. The only downside I found to this method is that when worn with shoes or low top boots, the bands had a tendency to want to move to above the shoe (on the ankle) if not placed snugly on the top of the boot. I found I needed to either place them on my ankle and "tie down" my pants with them, or place them over both pant and boot upper and leave them there.
When working in the field, wearing low cut boots or shoes, it seemed logical to place them under the pants at the bottom of the knee. They stay there fine, do not rub or chafe. Your calf muscle keeps them from sliding down and I found this location to be very comfortable. My thought process was that any insect coming up the inside of my leg would encounter the ankle bands, anything climbing up the outside of my pants would eventually encounter the waist band before finding a way in. The only downside to this method is that it leaves the ankle/shin area vulnerable. I did not find this to be a problem with ticks during testing. Over the years I've had very few tick bites in the shin area, they seem to move upward until they find softer skin behind the knee or around the waistline. It may not be the most effective location if chiggers are a concern, however.
Additionally, this method protects the ankle bands from being dragged through the brush. They seem to be pretty durable to this, as after several weeks of regular use they look much the same as they did when I first put them on.
Thirdly, I wore them quite a lot over my pants below the knee. This makes sense when you have high top boots, such as rubber or snake boots. Placing it at the top of the boot makes great sense in this instance, as neither ticks or chiggers are going to get at you through your boot and they will encounter the band and be repelled as soon as they get to the top of the boot. This placement also works great if you wear gaiters of any kind, placing the ankle bands right at the tops of the gaiters. I regularly wore both snake boots and knee high snake gaiters during testing and found this method extremely effective and comfortable.
Regarding the bands themselves, they are of course contact mediated, so an insect must actually cross the band to contact the chemical. This must be kept in mind, their ability to repel anything at a distance is very limited. They're totally safe, stable and durable. They come ready to wear and require no treatment of any kind to be applied before use. Functionally they are easy to wear and unobtrusive. My first hand experience with them is that they are very effective. I watched numerous ticks cross the band and within seconds drop off with apparent disorientation or loss of mobility. It appears that this takes a few seconds to take effect, every tick I have seen cross the band did so without any apparent reaction for about 10-15 seconds. Then suddenly they would drop off and progressively over the next minute or so progressively lose more and more mobility. I never saw a tick cross the band that, after a period of time, did not show these symptoms to some degree. Talarik has this video on the product page, check it out.
I never saw a tick cross the band and contact the repellent
then continue to be interested in biting,
which is a huge plus.
The long and short of the product is that, discounting bugs you may pick up on another part of your body (hands, head/shoulders, etc), this product will significantly reduce exposure to ticks and chiggers and dramatically reduce the number of bites. If an individual insect crosses the band, they are repelled. I very carefully did not use any other spray or repellents throughout the trial and over the course of several months in excellent tick habitat and around high tick and chigger density (others with me were regularly covered in them) I was never bitten by a chigger and did not have to remove any ticks.
A handful of times I would remove the bands and almost immediately begin to notice ticks on my pant legs where earlier, with the ankle bands on, I had seen none. Ultimately I don't know that I feel comfortable telling people that they flat "won't get bit" because clearly there is the possibility of one getting to your skin without crossing the bands, but with intelligent placement they are super effective and a great option for people who do not want to coat themselves or their clothing with spray. The reality is ticks and chiggers can get to you from any direction like a hand brushing through the underbrush or used for stability, or perhaps when in thick cover you might pick some up on your upper body.
Honestly I feel lots of people will be very pleased at the reduction in tick and exposure they will see from these bands, especially those opposed to the regular use of chemical sprays. For the ultimate protection, the bands could be used in conjunction with spray on other parts of your clothing and the combination would be extremely effective.
I am glad I found (Talarik InsectShield) SickTick bands, they are exceptionally effective. I will be wearing them from here on out.
-Monte
*Note, this review was written when these were marketed under a different brand name. They have since been rebranded under the SickTick brand, and the photos have been updated to show the new product branding. Check it out, the line of products has since expanded!
