Dress code camping/overlanding/Offroading

So, how many people live in CA? I bet it's a bunch.
CA averages less than 100 cases of lyme disease a year. What do you figure the odds are?
Ticks aren't a big deal. Use some bug spray if you're worried. Check yourself at the end of the day. Pull off what you find. Drive on.

As per the above comments about city people, it is kinda funny to us country folks how some people freak out about ticks and chiggers, but my city friends laugh at me when I go full kit to head to the city.

As far as tick diseases go, lyme can be easily treated with doxycycline if you get the classic rash. The tick disease that worries me is Alpha-Gal allergy. That would really suck.

 

My mom got Lyme disease a few years ago, it fucked with her system for a while and it’s rare enough that most doctors don’t think about it. It treatable but not curable so I definitely don’t want it.

 

Like most things, treated early is much better than treated late. Cure rate is darn near 100% if treated in the first few weeks of the bite.
We treat any rash from a tick bite prophylactically with doxy without getting a lyme titer. Most tick bites (I've had hundreds) cause very little localized redness and swelling. Anything that creates an obvious rash should be treated. Doxy is good because it also treats a few other tick borne illnesses.

I imagine your Mom did have a rough time of it if she was not diagnosed properly when symptoms first presented. Docs are constantly being reminded that tick borne illnesses are becoming much more common in areas outside of their traditional range.

That said, I'm in the woods all the time and even with bug spray and precautions I still get several ticks a month off of me. Not a big deal. Kinda like treatment. The sooner you get the tick off, the less likely it transmitted any disease. If you get a reaction that's obviously different than any other tick bite you've ever had, go see your doc.

 

Two of the most critical pieces of clothing are good walking shoes and a hat. Sooner or later you will need both.

 

Late response, but yes, typo on my part. Thanks for the hilarious catch and the correction: I prefer my crow lightly sautéed with hot sauce.

 

There is nothing wrong with suggesting people coat their clothes in a pregnant mares urine. It might work.

 

Wear whatever you want. Poison oak is the only worry I ever have and even then that hardly ever poses a risk. I did the JMT in boardshorts and an AFTCO shirt and only got bit by two mosquitoes the entire time.


Or you can go full tacticool and wear 5.11 pants and sweat your balls off