There isn't a reliable repellent yet that will do much against the Black Fly. They will surround you like a cloud of smoke and will make any place they reside, the most miserable place to be.
With this helmet and this substance called Tangletrap. When these insects start attacking your head, they will stick to the Tangletrap and never get a chance to bite you! At the time of this writing, the Helmet costs $7 and the Tangletrap costs $9. The Helmet lasts forever and the Tangletrap should last one person over two years.
When the flies and mosquitos attempt to land on your head, they are stuck to the Tangletrap. Even if they fall off, they are covered with it. Most of the worst types of flies and mosquitos attack the head because they generally find you from either detecting the carbon dioxide you exhale and/or your heat source, both of which are strongest by your head. That is why the Bug Helmet works on many different kinds of biting flies and mosquitos.
I live in the Adirondacks, probably one of the buggiest places in the United States. After trying repellent after repellent to get rid of Deer Flies, I came across some of the research of Dr. Russell Mizell (Paper Here). His findings showed that Deer Flies were attracted to certain colors and locations on the body. With that he surmised that some sort of hat could be created to mimic the traps he had made. So out of desperation, I threw this hat together from pieces I found on Amazon.com. I literally covered the entire hat with Deer flies the first day I used it. Later, I tried it with Black Flies too and it worked well.
This will stop the majority of the bites from these types of biting insects. Occasionally some will get through and bite you, but it has been my experience that it catches 98% of the Deer flies that come after you. Black Flies are harder to measure because they are so numerous, but during the worst part of the season (generally late May here), I can go several hours while only being bitten a handful of times, providing I am also wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans.
I find I end up using both because certain mosquitos will try to bite you everywhere, not just your head and for them, the repellents seem to work better than they do on the Deer and Black flies (which no repellent seems to do anything for). When there are no other flies but Black or Deer flies, then I rarely use a repellent.
Probably, but not as silly as being covered in welts, yelling at insects and being utterly miserable while camping, hiking and living in the Adirondacks. I am sure one could try other types of hats of the same color. A 1970's style batting helmet comes to mind, but for me, the hardhat made more sense because the mount inside, raises the hat from your head, allowing for good ventilation. Other types of hats don't have that.
I have seen these and they do work, but not to extent this does. Those small patches catch only a small percentage of what the helmet does simply because they are so small. Most insects will attack all over your head or different parts. For example, the Black Fly tends to aim for your forehead & your eyes, whereas the Deer Fly goes for the back of your head and the ears. Unless you want to cover your entire hat with patches (which will get expensive), this is a much better solution.
You can scrape off the bugs with a putty knife or anything with an edge and then reapply more Tangletrap. When I store mine away for the season, I will remove the remaining Tangletrap with vegetable oil and then wash the helmet is soapy water.
No. While I could collect a small commission if you click any of my links to Amazon, I otherwise have no affiliation with these products. This simply is the only thing I could find that works in the Adirondacks for these kinds of flies. It should work anywhere for insects that attack the head region in search of blood.
