Tender Ben's 30% Deet 12-count Travel Wipes

Background: I got devoured by mosquitoes on a trip to Mexico in 2009, and the assault on my system was enough to land me in hospital 3 times in a single week. (During the first two visits to different hospitals, my condition was misdiagnosed and I was given the wrong treatments; the third hospital figured out that I had developed an allergy to the mosquitoes). It seems that because I was bitten so many times (over 50 bites), my body went into some sort of shock and ultra-defence mode. As a result, I now have a very heightened sensitivity to all bug bites.

With this in mind, I intended to use as many precautions as possible for my recent trip to Hawaii. Here's how I protected myself (I'll discuss Ben's wipes in a moment):

STEP 1:

Started taking Vitamin B Complex two weeks before departure. I chose one that had huge %RDA of each type of Vitamin B (I think B12 is the most vital), and always took it in the morning because it can cause really awful nightmares if you take it close to bedtime.

STEP 2:

I sprayed all my holiday clothes with Sawyer's Permethrin Clothing Spray, which I will review separately. (Short answer: it seems to have worked very well.) http://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-SP657-Permethrin-Clothing-Repellent/dp/B001ANQVYU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303674748&sr=8-1

STEP 3:

Covered all exposed areas with Ben's deet wipes every day. More specifics on this in a moment.

STEP 4:

Always had my "Zap It!" clicker tied to my handbag. I can't find these listed on Amazon, but I bought a pack of 4 online for about $30, and they each have about 10,000 clicks. This was one of my great investments! I definitely recommend it. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zap-It-Mosquito-Bite-Relief/dp/B0012GMT0A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1303674948&sr=8-2

STEP 5:

Kept some antihistamine tablets handy just in case I felt overwhelmed by itching, but luckily I didn't have to take any.

STEP 6:

I also kept some anti-itch creams at the ready, but the "Zap it!" made them largely unnecessary. (Combined with the fact that the other steps had minimised my bites in the first place)

....So, now that you know my 6-phase plan of assault, back to Ben's 30% Deet Wipes.

As bug repellent goes, these are very good. My travel companion got eaten alive, because he wasn't really protecting himself (and hadn't taken part in my patented Six Steps to Mozzie Freedom!). After one particularly bug-infested hike, I had 6 bites and he had about 25. So in terms of a side-by-side experiment, the wipes in conjunction with my other steps performed very well.

PROS:

I am asthmatic and these didn't aggravate my lungs at all. The odour is pretty low compared to "Off" spray or any others I've tried.

Being wipes, they're super easy to apply.

Having individual packs is SO convenient for hiking.

I think 30% Deet was just right for most of our hikes, but we were beseiged in some rainforesty areas, so I got a handful of bites.

Pretty fair price for a pack with three boxes in it. I have a few left over, even though we were in Hawaii for 2.5 weeks.

CONS:

No major cons, but I was always careful to wash my hands after applying because I had read that Deet tends to melt plastic. It did remove my toenail polish whenever I made accidental contact with it.

It's a little greasy, but that didn't bother me.

The main thing that annoyed me was that once in a while, I'd open a sachet and the wipe would be BONE DRY inside. There wasn't even the slightest residue; it was like it had never been treated with Deet. This was a bummer because I was worried about running out of wipes (I ended up over-rationing them, which resulted in a few bites).

The occasional "blank" wipe is why I'm knocking off a star. Otherwise these are a very decent product and I'd recommend them for any mosquito situation, including for those of us with allergies.

Happy Travels!

I bought this three-pack for our safari in Kenya because of the high (30%) DEET content. The wipes were easy to open and apply, and it was great to be able to just throw a few packets into my pocket before heading out on a dusk game drive. In 14 days, I did not get a SINGLE mosquito bite (to be fair, I did not see many mosquitos at all throughout the trip, and we did stay in nice lodges with mosquito netting around the beds). I am a mosquito magnet and allergic to boot (when something bites me, the bite swells up hugely and itches like crazy), so the fact that I did not get bitten does say quite a bit about these wipes. Nobody wants to rub DEET on their skin, of course, but if I have to again, I will go with these.

Buy Tender Ben's 30% Deet 12-count Travel Wipes Now

My husband purchased these last year and we used them all summer. I have a hard time going outside after 5pm because I get bitten so badly...the bugs seem to be drawn to me more than my husband! So I tried these wipes and went for a walk after 5pm...I saw bugs and gnats everywhere but they did not bother me! I didn't get one bite that evening. I've been using it ever since. Just put some on my daughter for a field trip where she had to go hiking and they warned of ticks. She came home without a single bite or tick. And the bugs really like her too. Thanks for a great product!

Read Best Reviews of Tender Ben's 30% Deet 12-count Travel Wipes Here

These wipes are the best thing I have found for applying repellent to my toddler. They are exactly 30% DEET (the max recommended by the AAP for kids), and there's no accidentally missing spots with the spray, or worse, accidentally spraying him in the face as he squirms to get away. Best of all, my child is normally a mosquito magnet, and he was able to go outside at dusk for an hour without a single bite. A first!

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I loved Ben's Insect Repellent. I used them in Asia and had absolutely no problems. they were easy to care and lasted. I will use these again/

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