I've always bought the Sawyers stuff until this year. Always had good luck. I’ve watched ticks on my pants just start acting weird and fall right off within minutes.
In the spring I bought a bottle of 10% permethrin from tractor supply for spring turkey. Figured I’d mix up my own to save some cash.
I did 1oz of Permethrin to 20oz of water to get it down to .5%, same as Sawyers.
Didn't find any ticks on me in the spring but I wasn’t in a very high tick population area.
10 days ago I mixed up another batch... treated my socks, shoes, pants, shirt and vest. Like normal
Late last week after a hunt, I saw a tick on my dogs head on the drive home. I tried to get it off but missed it and it fell. Once I got home I found the tick on my shirt. Kinda wondered why and how long it had been there.
The other day while hunting I found one on my pant leg when we stopped to take a break. I watched it for 8 minutes and it seems generally unaffected. After that I flicked it off and continued on... later on I found another..Flicked him off right away. All three ticks got me thinking.
Permtherin has been applied 10 days ago and pants have only been washed once.
Got curious and did some reading. found this article
Permethrin-Treated Clothing May Disable Ticks, Study Finds
Now,
a new study by CDC researchers has found that just a minute or two of contact with permethrin-treated clothing caused ticks to become incapacitated or fall off fabric
That tick shouldn’t have lasted 8 minutes on my pants.
another source states that the concentrate permethrin isn’t as effective on clothing cause it don’t have the chemicals that help the Sawyers bond to the clothes. wonder how true it is.
either way I’m done with the concentrate stuff for now.. just ordered some Sawyers from Amazon.
we’ve got a lot of ticks on our area and I’m not taking chances over a few bucks.