Posts tagged #Harry Roberts

Tips from the Archive #008

Harry Roberts - Movin' Out By, 1975

Harry Roberts - Movin' Out By, 1975

A tip from Harry Roberts' "Movin' Out" first published in 1975. This is only a thin book but it goes into more detail than most, with exhaustive information about what to look for when choosing each piece of kit, delving into the pros and cons of different stitching and seam constructs and the architecture of pack-frames. Roberts was a freelance photographer and writer spending some time in the 70s as the editor of "Wilderness Camping Magazine", he was also a certified cross country ski instructor and examiner.

Tip 008 – A Novel Insect Repellent

For those of you who dislike chemicals with strange names, I offer a novel insect repellent technique I learnt from one of my Habitant kin years ago. Take a garlic bud and slice it up into little pieces. Swallow them whole and wait a while–say a couple of hours. Pop a fresh bud about every twelve hours, and the bugs shun you. Perhaps it alters the scent of your perspiration, but if it does, its not noticeable. That’s all right the USDA doesn’t really know why deet works, either.
— Harry Roberts - Movin' Out, 1975

Interesting stuff, the way I understood it was that bugs were attracted to exhaled breath, which means eating garlic makes some sense. One last bit of foolproof advice, however, is to simply hike with me, I attract mosquitos like no other human, making life very pleasant for everyone else.

Posted on April 28, 2013 and filed under Tips from the Archive.