We have the tiny black west coast deer ticks in California that are harder to see than the bigger reddish ticks of the Rockies. Any backpack on the coast or in the coastal ranges result in many ticks on my clothing. I keep them from getting on my skin by eliminating open spots where then can crawl from clothing onto me. I always wear knee-high gaiters. I put rubber bands around my long sleeve shirt. I wear a tight kerchief on my head, under a hat and braid my hair so there is not a lot of loose hair for ticks to hide in. I do use DEET on the rim of my hat and around my neck. I have some "bugs off" clothing that I now use too.

My hard-fast rule is never to wear daytime clothing inside my sleeping bag. I have hiking clothes and inside tent clothes. I put my hiking clothes in a sealed plastic bag. I am very careful to fully zip up my tent door. I do a good tick check before I go inside the tent, but hard to check your backside when solo!

One time I used a tarp instead of a tent at Henry Coe State Park. I ended up covered with ticks! So now, I always use a tent in tick country.

Even with all these precautions, I still will end up with several ticks on me. I think I get them when I squat to pee! Once I had to dig one out with a knife (ouch). The "slowly pull so they back out" does not always work. If I see an embedded tick at when home I will sit in a bathtub for hours- they eventually back out.

Nevertheless, I never have had any tick carried diseases. Years ago when in the Rockies, I would get the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever immunizations.