I sleep under a tarp or nothing, with my dog. I found 2 ticks on him last weekend. During the night I felt an itch on my back and then later on my neck - both instances were ticks. I sleep with tyvek on the ground then pad on that then homemade dwr ripstop bivy that has a pu coated floor. I use a quilt in warmer temps. The tyvek is optional, and I use it to keep stuff clean mostly. The bivy is mostly to keep the dog off my bag - he is wet most of the time.
I can't sleep with the ticks crawling on me. Those nasty parasites freak me out. I think they are coming from the ground (maybe the dog).
Has anyone ever used permethrin on tyvek or on pu coated materials. I want to be safe and not poison myself or my dog. I had this happen last year as well. Also I had changed clothes just before I got in my bedding- so I doubt that the ticks were already on me.

“Has anyone ever used permethrin on tyvek or on pu coated materials.”

Putting permethrin on tyvek sounds safe. I’ve sprayed my tarptents with it --- but only on the netting. I haven’t seen any ticks in my tents in the Midwest.

Digressing--- Some days I get a lot of ticks on my socks (Hmmm, I wonder why?)--- especially in the Ozarks of MO. But my socks are treated with permethrin. At the end of the day, I shake all the curled-up ticks off my socks. They never had a chance <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />.

When I’m talking about permethrin, I’m talking about the spray from walmart (etc.,). I bought a concentrated quart of permethrin from a pet store (to save a lot of money!) and mixed up my own diluted batch. I made it 0.5% like walmart’s. However, it did not seem to perform as well, and I don’t know why; so I’m still experimenting with that mixture.

-Barry

I might try an enclosed bivy with net, but not sure it would help, Had some entomologist friends tell me once that most ticks didn't crawl around looking for victims, they climb stuff (grass, branches) and latch onto who walks by. Once that happens they then wait for you to stop moving and only then crawl up/down to find a good spot and latch on, when you notice them. so your permethrin may be doing nothing if they're coming in on you or your clothing.

The ticks may already need my help, but I'll be darned if I'm going to give them any. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> (he runs from thread, ducking and grinning)

They're coming from both, and like phat said, they'll hitch a ride on your cloths when you walk through grass, trees and brush.

I use picaridin spray on my skin to keep from getting bit. It's not near as nasty as DEET and not as smelly or oily as Lemon Grass mixes. It works great for both ticks and chiggers. You can spray your clothes and dog with it too. It will help keep them off him. It won't kill ticks like permethrin, but they don't like it and they'll jump off after awhile.

If the ticks are thick I'll spray some permethrin on my shoes, but I almost never use it on pants, and never on shirts I wear.

That creepy feeling that keeps you up all night thinking they're crawling all over you looking for a place to bite will probably subside after a few years. You'll start to think of them more like mosquitos, a nuisance, but not so much a menace. That's what happened to me anyway.

Bill