This the recipe I use. It is 30 drops of tea tree oil, 10 drops of Geranium Oil, a teaspoon of vegetable glycerin and top the 3 oz. bottle off with water. I added a few drops of Neem Oil to my spray (optional), which means you will have to shake each time before you spray because the Neem always floats to the top. You can use Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds and hot water to emulsify the Neem, but it still tends to separate. It 100% works - 100% of the time.
People considering survival if stranded in the woods consider things like water and food and wild animal attacks but seriously dealing with insects needs to be right up there on the list. Thanks for info.
Thank you, Lonnie, for being so long-suffering to show us how well the plants worked. And thanks to Mrs. Lonnie for being willing to film through the onslaught. The mosquitoes here in our area of Wisconsin are terrible right now, so that we cannot spend much time outside at all. You've inspired me to discover what local plants might work for us! ~ Michelle
Virginia and I eat garlic in practically everything and are never bothered by mosquitos. While others are slapping and scratching themselves, we aren't bitten at all. Of course, it might be that we're so old the mosquitos likely don't want aged blood? Thanks, Clark & Virginia
marthajf73 I have the same problem! No matter how much garlic I eat or onions in combination, I still get bit. Maybe I should try to slather garlic oil as a carrier for these recipes instead 😂
That's what I thought Lonnie, the Cree and Ojibway of Eastern Manitoba have used it for thousands of years and a seasoned medicine woman that I personally interviewed said as much. Temperance and wisdom in all things . . . thanks for your perspective!
Hi Lonnie.Another bushcraft brother from Transylvania, i also live in the mountains,(Carpathians), pretty simmilar enviroment as yours; I use to gather amanita muscaria, and put some piwces in a plate with milk. It atracts and kills the flyes and mosquitos Very efficient😉 All the best to ya!!
wow them skeeders sure wanted to carry you away. Mr.Moose was also a treat to see, you sure got his attention. great spot you 2 picked for the Cabin in the woods. Happy Trails From The Maritimes In Canada " GOD BLESS "
Yes, I usually mix a little labrador tea with spruce needles, nice bushcraft blend as I spend most of my time in the muskeg and out of the wind in our arctic winters. I was told by Wintertrekker that Labrador may be toxic but that was the first I heard of it.
This video made my day!!! Just the awesomeness of this outdoorsman. The plant knowledge is amazing and then the MOOSE!!! HAHAHAHAA!!! It cannot possibly get any better. =D
Another great video. I can imagine many people would go nuts just sitting in a non-biting swarm of mosquitoes. Great information for sanity and survival.
to make a tincture with herbs, I bring my water to a boil take off let seep for 24 hrs. then I some times add a small amount of vodka as a carrier. vodka helps keep it fresh. I also use cocoa nut oil plain by self, no skeeters for 4-5 hours.. skeeters, ghants many flies hate oil..thanks for your informative video!
Good demo Lonnie, and the camera woman gets special credit! I am quite happy with my 25% DEET (DW Off in the pump spray bottle), but you have given me some ideas for experimenting with plants. Lab tea is common around here and where I canoe trip in the boreal, and its close relative dwarf lab tea out on the tundra. Inside a tent I burn a about a 1 inch piece of mosquito coil, which is harsh smoke, but works quickly. I use a pee bottle so I don't have to exit the tent at night! :o)
You never realize how large moose can be until one suddenly steps out of the tree line and says hello... I was 9 years old when I saw a moose for the first time and I ran right back into the cabin as soon as he stuck his head out of the pines. It was awesome to see him, but ten feet is just a little too close for comfort when a creature could easily step on you and kill you. Thanks for the advice and the footage.
Thanks for getting bitten up to share with us! Had the same bad luck with yarrow myself. The pennyroyal oil Nessmuk recommends worked to reduce the bites, but not as well as he described in his book. I guess I should have added pine tar like he said :) Thanks for giving me a use for the red elderberry we have around here, I'd heard it could be made edible but here's another one! Very cool, much appreciated.
I checked out your other videos and not much for the warm climate like Florida, except this video. Apparently the plants you used in this video like the Elderberry and the Wild Geranium we have in Florida,I think we have some elderberry around the pond in my backyard, I will check to see tomorrow. We don't have the Lady Fern, but I have some Bracken Fern in my back yard I will try tomorrow. I always wondered how people lived in early time without bug repellent, now I know. Thanks for sharing.
I sure will, we have clouds of mosquitoes here just like in your video. They follow me around when I walk the dog, so the Bracken Fern is close by and I will rub it in as we start our walk to see how it works. Then I will have to look and make sure we have the Elderberry like I think. It seems we do, but when you don't have a use for a plant you tend to over look it. I hope I remember where I saw it. If not, there are lots of lakes and swamps around here so I am sure I will find it somewhere.
Thanks for the tips! I know this is an old video but hopefully you can see this: would you be able to do a plant series on how to identify these plants in the various places you travel? How to find mosquito repelling plants such as where they grow in what areas (hillside, mountain, northern direction, etc), how to identify the plant from other possible ineffective or possibly dangerous plants, and any other helpful tips for someone a bit ignorant to plant identification of those types. (I can at least identify mint, but that's about it since I'm not sure if the rest grow where I'm at. But I love to travel, so knowledge from plants of anywhere is still helpful.)
That would require a book. Several of the plants if not all of them that are applicable here, will not be where you are at. and so would be useless for me to go in depth on teaching how to ID the plants. If these plants did indeed happen to be available in yor area, they would be available to very few others and so would be of little interest to the majority of my video's viewers. Here is what i would recommend. Go to your local library and check out any books that they have on local plants and begin to expose your self to local plant knowledge. You can go to pfaf.org and select "repellent" which located about halfway down the pager and then select "SEARCH". Now you will have a very large list of plants/trees which you can compare to your local plants/trees.
plantain we have lots of out here, so good for an itch eh. I have a decent knowledge base, but need to learn alot more to call myself good at edible and medicinal plants.thanks bud
Erin Owl I thought for sure that this video would have been a very popular video because there was nothing out there on the web that had "found in the woods" repellent info at that time. The video had info that just wasn't out there anywhere else. The video has been disapointingly low in popularity. I'm glad you enjoyed it
Maybe there aren't many of us that are so well liked by Mosquitoes!! And the measure of the VALUE of your video may not be in how many people WATCH it, but in how genuinely HELPFUL it is to those who do. There ARE videos out there on Mostquito repellant herbs, but they just pick a handful of this or that and demonstrate rubbing it on. There is NO video out there (that I have seen) that "imitates" the old "deep woods off" commercials where a man sticks his arm into a box of mosquitoes. It BECAME REAL when you did NOT put anything on for mosquitoes and then used what YOU said worked - and we watched ( CLOSE UP not 20 feet away) to see if you were telling the truth. "I believe!" :) Thanks again !
Erin Owl Thank you Erin for the encouraging words. I do enjoy doing these videos and I figure those that *want* to see them will and those that don't wont. I just assumed that there would have been a lot more interest than there was.
Lonnie, I was watching the video and when the mosquitoes were landing on your arms I was rubbing them off of mine and I didn't even have any mosquitoes on my arms, those things liked to have worried me to death ! I felt sorry for your dog buck I think he needs some mosquito repellent too , it looked like they were worrying him to death too ! Thank's to You and Connie for the video ! ATB PS: I have decided that Alaska's national bird is the mosquito !
Lemon Grass works for bug repellant. their recipes call for using alcohol but using water for a solvent worked also. no reason to think vegetable oil wouldnt work too.
Brave man! lol I'm having flashbacks from the yarrow experiment now. I think I'll do what you said though and try slow cooking some local plants in oil. It looks like the plants you showed were working to keep them skeeters at bay. Great demonstration! Thanks for sharing Lonnie,
Love this video and excited to watch more of your videos, my husband and I want to move to Alaska an live as much as we can off grid. I've only heard that yarrow is good to rub on a bite after you get the bite!
Yarrow is considered quite effective at helping to stop bleeding. The plant called plantain is considered to be very good for neutralizing insect bites.
A great moose encounter too btw. Looks like an older bull? Doesn't look like we have red berried elder around here but will definitely try the others. Love the smell of labrador tea and it seems to be rich in oils.
Those skeeters in Alaska are terrible. I lived there 1 yr. and 9 months. I lived in a tent 9 months of that time. Them bugs are worse than any bear or moose I came across! lol Thank you for the great info! That's awesome knowledge!
Would love you to make a video where you brew up some of this in a portable oil container. I think it would be very popular. I've tried a few recipes - lemon, lavender etc... and it hasn't been good. Thanks.
We have some different species where i live, but one thing is for sure, i intent to find out, if any of them works as repellant, well when spring arrives i guess. Thank you so much, for sharing your knowledge.
I heard that the smoke from burning Chaga fungus will repel mosquitoes, but I have never tested it. I have not heard it kills mosquitoes like a mosquito coil does. It might be an interesting experiment burning some chaga inside the cabin to see what happens.
Glad I found this, after a trip to Minnesota and getting eaten alive even with over the counter options , this will make me investigate other options for sure.
WOW been so busy working outside setting up for pigs and a garden, I haven't had time to come in and watch your videos. I'm sorry now I didn't. You answered my question here. I'm going to infuse some geraniums that I have and see if I can give the pigs some relief. Poor things are just swarmed with the little buggy critters. Not really sure if it is an elderberry that I have so I will stick with what I do know, the geraniums. Thanks for the video.
I'm going to be trying a few things here soon, but you might want to check out Lonnie's latest video. He is phreshayr and has posted a few comments on this video as well. He shows a few plants that we might be able to find here where we live and used oil to extend their effectiveness. that's what I'm going to be trying next.
How long have you lived in the woods of Alaska Lonnie? I have meant to ask you this before, but I figure why not ask now. I am so impressed with your knowledge of the woods that it seems like you have been at this a lifetime. Thanks!
Yes, I watched this video by Lonnie just before replying to your posted reply. :) It's absolutely miserable here. We have a possum sneaking into the chicken coop, eating the eggs almost ready to hatch, and I can't stand to be outside long enough to track it down and shoot it.
Great video, Brother. You can also use alcohol to help extract the oils from these plants. Cedar oil, sage, and rosemary also work well, as well as most types of pine, fir, and hemlock needles.
Yes I have used alcohol but the alcohol evaporates too quickly when being used and the repellent requires more frequent application then. I feel like the oil based extract lasts longer between applications although it is perhaps more messy
I’ve always heard they like athletic people...maybe the sweat attracts them? Lilac, citronella, basil and lemongrass is what I use. This is plant form as well as the essential oils. My grandma plants marigolds around to help her while sitting out on her porch in the evening. Tfs. Atb, Nikki
I've found yarrow and pineapple weed to be moderately effective for black flies, but nothing else. By moderately effective, I mean if you had ten going after your arm before you put it on, afterwards you might have 3. Guess bugs are like people, some have stronger constitutions than others. I wonder how mugwort would be... Too late in the year to find out now, I'll have to start experimenting with different things next year that are common in the Eastern woodlands. Thanks for braving the bugs Lonnie, Connie, and Buck!
If you go to pfaf.org and select repellent, then scroll to the bottom of the page and select "Search" you will get a huge list of flora which will no doubt contain plants local to your area among the many listed.
Thank you for your videos! Your knowledge is very impressive. Thank you for taking your time to share it with others. Also, I envy your lifestyle, but probably would never have the courage to give up the "modern life" I have been raised in. Thanks again
If your friend calls it swamp tea it`s the same Muskeg tea Swamp tea , Little white flower comes out in late august or so by the hundreds , You let it dry then brew it like a booze then do what ever with it .
Thanks Lonnie for another very interesting and informative video! I guess if all else fails with the plants provided its not winter time, we can always go with the mud bath. hehe!
lemon balm seems to work good, but Ive never saw it in the wild here in the southeast lower 48, although my granma kept it on each end of her garden and it seemed to keep a lot less bugs in the garden and on that side of the house, ( i have rubbed it on before too, we lived in a creek bottom with a swamp area behind us, and there were plenty of flying carnivores around, but not on me), so I used the lemon balm and avon skin so soft on my small little ones, instead of the deet thats in most store repellents these days. good info, Im gonna search out a few more natural ones myself, I have a theory that theres a cure for everything growing somewhere, we just have to find out which ones they are, have a good one
I like your theory and also believe it. I go one step further though and believe that there is most likely a *LOCAL* plant / plants for almost all needs. To learn what wild plants you may have in your area that are effective as a repellent I recommend pfaf.org there is a search function somewhere on their site where you can type the word "repellent" and it will search it's database and give you a long list of applicable flora. You will then need to be familiar with your local flora in order to know which listed plants may be found locally.
Yes, that makes alot of sense. If only school was made to be more fun rather than just some competition, memorization, and regurgitation of institutional jibberish then it could be alot more fun, meaningful, and alot more children would progress further. I am wondering if there is still some cheap land that is available in Alaska to purchase. I was thinking of buying some land in the event shit hits the fan and I need an exit route. Thanks!
I read that the seed podss of the english plaintain work if you eat 2 a day seemed to work as long as I ate 2 everyday the mosquitos weren't landing on my skin but just on my clothes.
Just curious the fiddlehead I`m thinking of is a one stem fern like this , Oh ya the Labrador tea you speaking about is it the little white flower that`s in the muskeg areas I`ve picked them with a native fellow once he called it Muskeg tea .
Greetings Lonnie Just finished watching. Your one tough hombre to let those little beggars feed on ya like that lol. Was wondering if you could list all the different plants that work. Haven't seen the skeeters this bad all my 46 years here on the Kenai Thanks Lonnie Great video
LOL I thought you were replying to my video about yarrow as a bug repellent. It's cooled off a bit here and the skeeters have slowed down, but I'm sure they'll be back in force in no time.
Geez lonnie, your tough buddy. Your going to be itching like a mad man and full of bumps. Geez you had a three or four boting at a time at times geez. till you applied the repellent but . thanks for showing. I have no clue what to use here in southern new brunswick.. Besides muskol or deep woods off lol
thanks man, maybe ill research some plants in my area. Tho i dont know alot of plants around here. i know the basics but alot i dont know and admit that. thanks buddy. bet you itched alot.
Walking in to some of these 99p shops nowadays the stink of pcb's plastics is somthing else OR whatever concoction of mised chemicals;Hope to get back to nature soon
Hi phreshayr, Great video and loved the Moose shot. Just wish I know about some of the natural gnat repellant when I was working on the building, as they used me as a take away!
I want to come live at your cabin, your having to much fun. I heard that garlic works too, but you have to eat it, to me it wouldn't make a difference. It would keep people away too ( some I wouldn't mind if they would stay away ) I haven't tried it yet I want to try it this summer. I want to spend a few weeks this summer in the wild, just for myself, to know I can. Something I always wanted to do, you might say it's on my bucket list of things to do. I don't know if I'll ever get to Alaska, but if I do I would like to meet you.
I did enjoy the moose... Thank you dearly for subjecting yourself to those blood suckers! I would have believed you but to see the effect was very good. Was Tansy one of the ones that didn't work? I have used it but didn't notice any difference except the colour of my skin.
That was awsome thankyou for taking those hits for us. Braken fern is everywhere in New Zealand, cool must try it out. I've heard dead smeared mosquitos put the others off but I don't know if its true.
August 2023 , still a HUGE fan of Lonnie and Connie . Thanks for all the videos . Ontario Canada .
Plants that worked:
wild geranium
red berried elder (sp)
northern lady fern or bracken fern
This the recipe I use. It is 30 drops of tea tree oil, 10 drops of Geranium Oil, a teaspoon of vegetable glycerin and top the 3 oz. bottle off with water. I added a few drops of Neem Oil to my spray (optional), which means you will have to shake each time before you spray because the Neem always floats to the top. You can use Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds and hot water to emulsify the Neem, but it still tends to separate. It 100% works - 100% of the time.
Wow. I would have lost my mind with all those skeeters. But you sat there as cool as can be. Great video.
People considering survival if stranded in the woods consider things like water and food and wild animal attacks but seriously dealing with insects needs to be right up there on the list. Thanks for info.
Great Video! Thanks for sharing and for taking a few mosquito bites for the team!
Thank you, Lonnie, for being so long-suffering to show us how well the plants worked. And thanks to Mrs. Lonnie for being willing to film through the onslaught. The mosquitoes here in our area of Wisconsin are terrible right now, so that we cannot spend much time outside at all. You've inspired me to discover what local plants might work for us! ~ Michelle
When I first started to hear that jet passing by, I was like, wow listen to'em swarm. lol
Virginia and I eat garlic in practically everything and are never bothered by mosquitos. While others are slapping and scratching themselves, we aren't bitten at all. Of course, it might be that we're so old the mosquitos likely don't want aged blood?
Thanks,
Clark & Virginia
Virginia Bradley- I eat lots of garlic and take garlic capsules, but mosquitoes love me. I have O neg blood type. They love O type blood.
Sorry for your misfortune!
Clark
marthajf73
I try to be optimistic. My blood type is B positive. 😉
Virginia Bradle
marthajf73 I have the same problem! No matter how much garlic I eat or onions in combination, I still get bit. Maybe I should try to slather garlic oil as a carrier for these recipes instead 😂
That's what I thought Lonnie, the Cree and Ojibway of Eastern Manitoba have used it for thousands of years and a seasoned medicine woman that I personally interviewed said as much. Temperance and wisdom in all things . . . thanks for your perspective!
Awesome tip. Kinda gave me the chills watching them Mosquitos crawling all over your arms.
The Swed, really like your stil or way to reach/educate with your calm way. Super!!!
These plants really work! This is hard to watch but worth it. Thanks for taking one for the team. lol
You need to put some of that herbal oils on your dog, that poor guy was getting chewed up by the mosquitos!
Hi Lonnie.Another bushcraft brother from Transylvania, i also live in the mountains,(Carpathians), pretty simmilar enviroment as yours;
I use to gather amanita muscaria, and put some piwces in a plate with milk.
It atracts and kills the flyes and mosquitos
Very efficient😉
All the best to ya!!
Good to know. Thanks for sharing that.
wow them skeeders sure wanted to carry you away. Mr.Moose was also a treat to see, you sure got his attention. great spot you 2 picked for the Cabin in the woods.
Happy Trails From The Maritimes In Canada
" GOD BLESS "
Yes, I usually mix a little labrador tea with spruce needles, nice bushcraft blend as I spend most of my time in the muskeg and out of the wind in our arctic winters. I was told by Wintertrekker that Labrador may be toxic but that was the first I heard of it.
This video made my day!!! Just the awesomeness of this outdoorsman. The plant knowledge is amazing and then the MOOSE!!! HAHAHAHAA!!! It cannot possibly get any better. =D
Isn't the mosquito the state bird of Alaska? :)
Oh that´s a good one =)
And Georgia
In Minnesota we didnt mistake mosquitoes for birds until the bald eagles came back
Now it's hard to tell the difference from afar! :)
You made me laugh with the awsome comment 😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
Another great video. I can imagine many people would go nuts just sitting in a non-biting swarm of mosquitoes. Great information for sanity and survival.
Geraniums do work, boiled in oil lasts longer. Great videos.
to make a tincture with herbs, I bring my water to a boil take off let seep for 24 hrs. then I some times add a small amount of vodka as a carrier. vodka helps keep it fresh. I also use cocoa nut oil plain by self, no skeeters for 4-5 hours.. skeeters, ghants many flies hate oil..thanks for your informative video!
You never wrote the name of the plants you are using in the description box...
Good demo Lonnie, and the camera woman gets special credit! I am quite happy with my 25% DEET (DW Off in the pump spray bottle), but you have given me some ideas for experimenting with plants. Lab tea is common around here and where I canoe trip in the boreal, and its close relative dwarf lab tea out on the tundra. Inside a tent I burn a about a 1 inch piece of mosquito coil, which is harsh smoke, but works quickly. I use a pee bottle so I don't have to exit the tent at night! :o)
Lonnie I put a cup of virgin olive oil
And take juniper berry and ukeliftes least soak for an hour on low heat and pour into a spray bottle. For oils
Thanks for sharing your knowldge. Almost went crazy just with audio. Lol
Interesting video, didn't know Labrador Tea leaves could be used as repellant, i'll have to give it a try, thank's for sharing ..!!
You never realize how large moose can be until one suddenly steps out of the tree line and says hello... I was 9 years old when I saw a moose for the first time and I ran right back into the cabin as soon as he stuck his head out of the pines. It was awesome to see him, but ten feet is just a little too close for comfort when a creature could easily step on you and kill you. Thanks for the advice and the footage.
that was one of your best ever, I really enjoyed that.
I am going to experiment with the plants down here in BC and see what works.
Thanks for getting bitten up to share with us! Had the same bad luck with yarrow myself. The pennyroyal oil Nessmuk recommends worked to reduce the bites, but not as well as he described in his book. I guess I should have added pine tar like he said :)
Thanks for giving me a use for the red elderberry we have around here, I'd heard it could be made edible but here's another one! Very cool, much appreciated.
I checked out your other videos and not much for the warm climate like Florida, except this video. Apparently the plants you used in this video like the Elderberry and the Wild Geranium we have in Florida,I think we have some elderberry around the pond in my backyard, I will check to see tomorrow. We don't have the Lady Fern, but I have some Bracken Fern in my back yard I will try tomorrow. I always wondered how people lived in early time without bug repellent, now I know. Thanks for sharing.
I sure will, we have clouds of mosquitoes here just like in your video. They follow me around when I walk the dog, so the Bracken Fern is close by and I will rub it in as we start our walk to see how it works. Then I will have to look and make sure we have the Elderberry like I think. It seems we do, but when you don't have a use for a plant you tend to over look it. I hope I remember where I saw it. If not, there are lots of lakes and swamps around here so I am sure I will find it somewhere.
You Sir, saved me from mosquitoes in the Himalayas. Thank you.
Lionel Messi 9
OMG...just watching the Mosquitos land makes me aggressive and itchy! Hate those critters! Thanks Lonnie!!Billy
Thanks for the tips! I know this is an old video but hopefully you can see this: would you be able to do a plant series on how to identify these plants in the various places you travel? How to find mosquito repelling plants such as where they grow in what areas (hillside, mountain, northern direction, etc), how to identify the plant from other possible ineffective or possibly dangerous plants, and any other helpful tips for someone a bit ignorant to plant identification of those types. (I can at least identify mint, but that's about it since I'm not sure if the rest grow where I'm at. But I love to travel, so knowledge from plants of anywhere is still helpful.)
That would require a book. Several of the plants if not all of them that are applicable here, will not be where you are at. and so would be useless for me to go in depth on teaching how to ID the plants. If these plants did indeed happen to be available in yor area, they would be available to very few others and so would be of little interest to the majority of my video's viewers. Here is what i would recommend. Go to your local library and check out any books that they have on local plants and begin to expose your self to local plant knowledge. You can go to pfaf.org and select "repellent" which located about halfway down the pager and then select "SEARCH". Now you will have a very large list of plants/trees which you can compare to your local plants/trees.
Thanks for sharing with us Lonnie. This will surely come in handy. Really enjoy watching your videos.
Keep up the good work
plantain we have lots of out here, so good for an itch eh. I have a decent knowledge base, but need to learn alot more to call myself good at edible and medicinal plants.thanks bud
Thanks so much Lonnie. I have learned so much from you and your wife. Enjoyed the moose as well. Many thanks again my friend
Thank you for doing a real mosquito test. Can't argue with that! WOW!
Erin Owl I thought for sure that this video would have been a very popular video because there was nothing out there on the web that had "found in the woods" repellent info at that time. The video had info that just wasn't out there anywhere else. The video has been disapointingly low in popularity. I'm glad you enjoyed it
Maybe there aren't many of us that are so well liked by Mosquitoes!! And the measure of the VALUE of your video may not be in how many people WATCH it, but in how genuinely HELPFUL it is to those who do. There ARE videos out there on Mostquito repellant herbs, but they just pick a handful of this or that and demonstrate rubbing it on. There is NO video out there (that I have seen) that "imitates" the old "deep woods off" commercials where a man sticks his arm into a box of mosquitoes. It BECAME REAL when you did NOT put anything on for mosquitoes and then used what YOU said worked - and we watched ( CLOSE UP not 20 feet away) to see if you were telling the truth. "I believe!" :) Thanks again !
Erin Owl Thank you Erin for the encouraging words. I do enjoy doing these videos and I figure those that *want* to see them will and those that don't wont. I just assumed that there would have been a lot more interest than there was.
Lonnie, I was watching the video and when the mosquitoes were landing on your arms I was rubbing them off of mine and I didn't even have any mosquitoes on my arms, those things liked to have worried me to death ! I felt sorry for your dog buck I think he needs some mosquito repellent too , it looked like they were worrying him to death too ! Thank's to You and Connie for the video ! ATB PS: I have decided that Alaska's national bird is the mosquito !
That was fantastic! Lots of mosquitoes here in Hawaii, and no moose. So thanks for sharing both. Mahalo
Lemon Grass works for bug repellant. their recipes call for using alcohol but using water for a solvent worked also. no reason to think vegetable oil wouldnt work too.
There's a plant in woods, It grows the bottle "off".
Lonnie good video man.
Hi from NH it is our state bird here !
Brave man! lol I'm having flashbacks from the yarrow experiment now. I think I'll do what you said though and try slow cooking some local plants in oil. It looks like the plants you showed were working to keep them skeeters at bay. Great demonstration!
Thanks for sharing Lonnie,
Love this video and excited to watch more of your videos, my husband and I want to move to Alaska an live as much as we can off grid. I've only heard that yarrow is good to rub on a bite after you get the bite!
Yarrow is considered quite effective at helping to stop bleeding. The plant called plantain is considered to be very good for neutralizing insect bites.
A great moose encounter too btw. Looks like an older bull? Doesn't look like we have red berried elder around here but will definitely try the others. Love the smell of labrador tea and it seems to be rich in oils.
Cool Lonnie. Just got a natural spray with cedar oil and other plants haven't tried it yet .
Those skeeters in Alaska are terrible. I lived there 1 yr. and 9 months. I lived in a tent 9 months of that time. Them bugs are worse than any bear or moose I came across! lol Thank you for the great info! That's awesome knowledge!
Would love you to make a video where you brew up some of this in a portable oil container. I think it would be very popular. I've tried a few recipes - lemon, lavender etc... and it hasn't been good. Thanks.
We have some different species where i live, but one thing is for sure, i intent to find out, if any of them works as repellant, well when spring arrives i guess. Thank you so much, for sharing your knowledge.
thanks im looking forward to trying that pfaf site. hey good videos !!!
I heard that the smoke from burning Chaga fungus will repel mosquitoes, but I have never tested it. I have not heard it kills mosquitoes like a mosquito coil does. It might be an interesting experiment burning some chaga inside the cabin to see what happens.
Pretty much any smudge will keep mosquitoes at Bay - as long as you're in the smoke! LOL
Glad I found this, after a trip to Minnesota and getting eaten alive even with over the counter options , this will make me investigate other options for sure.
WOW been so busy working outside setting up for pigs and a garden, I haven't had time to come in and watch your videos. I'm sorry now I didn't. You answered my question here. I'm going to infuse some geraniums that I have and see if I can give the pigs some relief. Poor things are just swarmed with the little buggy critters. Not really sure if it is an elderberry that I have so I will stick with what I do know, the geraniums. Thanks for the video.
I'm going to be trying a few things here soon, but you might want to check out Lonnie's latest video. He is phreshayr and has posted a few comments on this video as well. He shows a few plants that we might be able to find here where we live and used oil to extend their effectiveness. that's what I'm going to be trying next.
How long have you lived in the woods of Alaska Lonnie? I have meant to ask you this before, but I figure why not ask now. I am so impressed with your knowledge of the woods that it seems like you have been at this a lifetime. Thanks!
Yes, I watched this video by Lonnie just before replying to your posted reply. :) It's absolutely miserable here. We have a possum sneaking into the chicken coop, eating the eggs almost ready to hatch, and I can't stand to be outside long enough to track it down and shoot it.
Great video, Brother. You can also use alcohol to help extract the oils from these plants. Cedar oil, sage, and rosemary also work well, as well as most types of pine, fir, and hemlock needles.
Yes I have used alcohol but the alcohol evaporates too quickly when being used and the repellent requires more frequent application then. I feel like the oil based extract lasts longer between applications although it is perhaps more messy
Great info, thanks Lonnie and Connie!
I’ve always heard they like athletic people...maybe the sweat attracts them? Lilac, citronella, basil and lemongrass is what I use. This is plant form as well as the essential oils. My grandma plants marigolds around to help her while sitting out on her porch in the evening. Tfs. Atb, Nikki
I think your breath is what attracts them
In Florida pine needles work well as a repellent.
I've found yarrow and pineapple weed to be moderately effective for black flies, but nothing else. By moderately effective, I mean if you had ten going after your arm before you put it on, afterwards you might have 3. Guess bugs are like people, some have stronger constitutions than others. I wonder how mugwort would be... Too late in the year to find out now, I'll have to start experimenting with different things next year that are common in the Eastern woodlands.
Thanks for braving the bugs Lonnie, Connie, and Buck!
If you go to pfaf.org and select repellent, then scroll to the bottom of the page and select "Search" you will get a huge list of flora which will no doubt contain plants local to your area among the many listed.
thank you. that moose looks so cute!
Thank you for your videos! Your knowledge is very impressive. Thank you for taking your time to share it with others. Also, I envy your lifestyle, but probably would never have the courage to give up the "modern life" I have been raised in. Thanks again
Great info as always! Often wondered what natives would have used in the past, perhaps some of these very things? Thanks for the vid.
If your friend calls it swamp tea it`s the same Muskeg tea Swamp tea , Little white flower comes out in late august or so by the hundreds , You let it dry then brew it like a booze then do what ever with it .
Great video Lonnie. You cant beat proof like what you videoed. Skeeters drive me nuts....lol
Hey Lonnie, thanks for sharing your knowledge
Thank you for sharing ..will try your plant formula.. Cheers .
Another great video,
I really enjoy your videos. Thanks for the great information
Thanks Lonnie for another very interesting and informative video! I guess if all else fails with the plants provided its not winter time, we can always go with the mud bath. hehe!
lemon balm seems to work good, but Ive never saw it in the wild here in the southeast lower 48, although my granma kept it on each end of her garden and it seemed to keep a lot less bugs in the garden and on that side of the house, ( i have rubbed it on before too, we lived in a creek bottom with a swamp area behind us, and there were plenty of flying carnivores around, but not on me), so I used the lemon balm and avon skin so soft on my small little ones, instead of the deet thats in most store repellents these days. good info, Im gonna search out a few more natural ones myself, I have a theory that theres a cure for everything growing somewhere, we just have to find out which ones they are, have a good one
I like your theory and also believe it. I go one step further though and believe that there is most likely a *LOCAL* plant / plants for almost all needs. To learn what wild plants you may have in your area that are effective as a repellent I recommend pfaf.org there is a search function somewhere on their site where you can type the word "repellent" and it will search it's database and give you a long list of applicable flora. You will then need to be familiar with your local flora in order to know which listed plants may be found locally.
couldn't see the first two plants,but thanks for your efforts
Wild geranium and red berried elder.
@@Far-North-Bushcraft-Survival Thank you Sir
Yes, that makes alot of sense. If only school was made to be more fun rather than just some competition, memorization, and regurgitation of institutional jibberish then it could be alot more fun, meaningful, and alot more children would progress further. I am wondering if there is still some cheap land that is available in Alaska to purchase. I was thinking of buying some land in the event shit hits the fan and I need an exit route. Thanks!
Buck needs some !
so cool to see your evolution, and watching your beard grow. keep at it!
Please, would write down the exact names of these plants?
I can't understand why i'm getting itchy like that.
Nice demo Lonnie. Thank You.
I read that the seed podss of the english plaintain work if you eat 2 a day seemed to work as long as I ate 2 everyday the mosquitos weren't landing on my skin but just on my clothes.
Just curious the fiddlehead I`m thinking of is a one stem fern like this , Oh ya the Labrador tea you speaking about is it the little white flower that`s in the muskeg areas I`ve picked them with a native fellow once he called it Muskeg tea .
Greetings Lonnie
Just finished watching. Your one tough hombre to let those little beggars feed on ya like that lol. Was wondering if you could list all the different plants that work. Haven't seen the skeeters this bad all my 46 years here on the Kenai
Thanks Lonnie Great video
LOL I thought you were replying to my video about yarrow as a bug repellent. It's cooled off a bit here and the skeeters have slowed down, but I'm sure they'll be back in force in no time.
bring water to boil, then throw in herbs no cook just let seep.. this was to clarify, thanks
Geez lonnie, your tough buddy. Your going to be itching like a mad man and full of bumps. Geez you had a three or four boting at a time at times geez. till you applied the repellent but . thanks for showing. I have no clue what to use here in southern new brunswick.. Besides muskol or deep woods off lol
thanks man, maybe ill research some plants in my area. Tho i dont know alot of plants around here. i know the basics but alot i dont know and admit that. thanks buddy. bet you itched alot.
Walking in to some of these 99p shops nowadays the stink of pcb's plastics is somthing else OR whatever concoction of mised chemicals;Hope to get back to nature soon
Hi phreshayr,
Great video and loved the Moose shot.
Just wish I know about some of the natural gnat repellant when I was working on the building, as they used me as a take away!
Got to respect a man with a shotgun strapped to his back. Great video
i hope your making this video worth the trip to a good fishing hole.
well done Lonnie
Great videos, can't get enough!
I want to come live at your cabin, your having to much fun. I heard that garlic works too, but you have to eat it, to me it wouldn't make a difference. It would keep people away too ( some I wouldn't mind if they would stay away ) I haven't tried it yet I want to try it this summer.
I want to spend a few weeks this summer in the wild, just for myself, to know I can. Something I always wanted to do, you might say it's on my bucket list of things to do.
I don't know if I'll ever get to Alaska, but if I do I would like to meet you.
Cool video.
I did enjoy the moose... Thank you dearly for subjecting yourself to those blood suckers! I would have believed you but to see the effect was very good. Was Tansy one of the ones that didn't work? I have used it but didn't notice any difference except the colour of my skin.
Great video Lonnie... Digger
That was awsome thankyou for taking those hits for us. Braken fern is everywhere in New Zealand, cool must try it out. I've heard dead smeared mosquitos put the others off but I don't know if its true.
Could have done with this info yesterday, was eaten alive in the UK, and walked past plenty of bracken.