What’s your tried-and-true way to avoid biting bugs on your travels? A whole lot of DEET? Staying indoors? Wearing clothes that cover every inch of skin? Staying home?
All of that sounds like a lot of overkill. I’m a fan of ExOfficio BugsAway clothes, and lately, the Collette Long-Sleeve tunic.
In warmer locales, long sleeves can be way too hot. But this tunic is lightweight—made from a 58-percent cotton/42-percent Tencel lyocell weave. Not only does the breathable fabric keep you from overheating, it’s also quick to dry, letting you wash and wear it the same day. My secret is to wash at the end of the day so it dries overnight, and then I have it ready in the morning. Not such a secret, I know.
Like other ExOfficio BugsAway products, the tunic is treated with Insect Shield, which binds permethrin to the fabric fibers of the garment and lasts through 70 washes. That way, you keep the insect repellant on the clothing and not your skin and minimize the repellant on your skin to smaller places and not all over your body. It’s effective against mosquitoes (that carry Zika, Chikungunya, Dengue, and West Nile viruses), ticks, chiggers, flies, midges, and ants.
The longer tunic length of this shirt and the drop-tail hem makes it more versatile to wear with leggings and gives move coverage than your average shirt. And if the weather is just too hot for long sleeves, you can roll them up and make them shorter with the sleeve tabs to keep them in place.
Just think of all the bugs you’re keeping away now.
The ExOfficio BugsAway Collette L/S comes in carbon (gray) and Icelandic (light blue) and lists for $80 on the ExOfficio site.