Overall Impression Finally, an adventure travel vest designed with a woman’s figure in mind!  After trying several that I found to be mere scaled-down versions of the men’s counterpart, I was delighted by the Scottevest Women’s Travel Vest. With its discretely tapered waist, the hip-length vest was flattering enough for casual wear about town, while its lightweight brushed cotton blend water-repellent outer shell made it well suited for sport activities. Since my original intent was to use this vest as a substitute for an adventure travel daypack, I was immediately attracted by its many pockets, 21 in all, inside and out.

They came in a variety of sizes and purposes. The manufacturer conveniently delivered the garment with suggested use cards in each pocket and also stitched tiny cloth reminders in the seams. There were pockets inside of pockets, with Velcro, snap and zipper closures. They kept my contents tidy, safe and easy to access. There were clever surprises as well, such as a detachable chamois cloth tucked inside the zipped compartment marked “glasses.” A pocket just the right size for travel documents piggybacked on a larger pocket intended for reading material. These same pockets turned out to be perfect for storing camera lenses, while two separate tiny Velcro-secured slots on either side of the front zipper, intended for MP3 ear buds, were just right for storing camera memory cards.

Although the vest was designed for techno-gadget devotees, complete with a patented Personal Area Network (PAN) system that provided a network of conduits and easy release Velcro tabs within the lining to facilitate the use of all manner of personal electronics, it proved perfect for a variety of unrelated uses. It was so versatile that it made my pocketbook obsolete on shopping trips, replaced my personal items carry-on bag for air travel and my daypack/camera bag on adventure excursions. The thoughtful design and placement of the pockets allowed for even distribution of the weight of the items carried, while the no-bulge pockets kept a streamlined look.

One minor inconvenience was the polyester lining that made the vest warm for hot weather wear; I remedied that by keeping the vest unzipped. Thanks to its clever structure even with most pockets loaded the vest remained well balanced and comfortable on my body when I wore it open. Through months of repeated use, I have been amazed by how much I could carry in complete comfort and in a broad range of situations. My Scottesvest is fast becoming a trademark travel accessory while I continue to discover new ways to maximize its functionality.

Colors Black Lava, Red Rock and Desert Sand (mine was Desert Sand)

Machine Washable Recommended washing instructions: machine wash cold, delicate cycle with like colors. Tumble dry low. No bleach, iron or steam press. Do not dry clean.

Made In China

Made Of Shell was 65 percent cotton/35 percent nylon; lining was 100 percent polyester.

Manufacturer-Distributor Scottevest, Inc.

Retail Price $100

Size XS-2XL (I tested XL)

Type Of Product Travel vest

Weight 1 pound and 2 oz.

Features My Classic Travel Vest featured 21 pockets and compartments, DuPont Teflon treated water repellent fabric protection; patented Personal Area Network (PAN) licensed by TEC (Technology Enabled Clothing) that provided a network of conduits and Velcro tabs concealed within the lining to easily wire gadgets. It was possible to store ear buds in collar loops and miniature pockets. Zipped pockets included extra large and deep external, internal and back pockets. Alternate magnetic closure offered additional safety for external pockets. Convenience items within the pockets included a built-in extendible and removable key holder, a chamois eyeglass cleaning cloth and an elastic loop to secure a water bottle.

Countries Tested France, Mexico and USA

Date Of Review April 2008

Number Of Days Tested Several months

Reviewers Article and photos by Josette King

Would You Use This Product Again? Yes

Overall Impression With its SPF 20+ rating, this lightweight wide-brimmed hat delivered superior sun protection without sacrificing style or comfort. Its generous three-inch brim offered excellent face and neck protection, and featured a navy lining that effectively reduced glare. The hat was made of patented loose-weaved Solvarveil® fabric, a complex yarn structure touted for its superior breathability, wicking properties and the ability to block UVB and UVA rays.

It was hand washable and dried in minutes. It flattened and folded easily to take no more packing space than a handkerchief. It could be extracted from the most overstuffed bag wrinkle free and ready to wear to any outdoor activities, from city sight-seeing to hiking in the wilderness.

Colors White with navy brim lining

Made of 100 percent polyester with plastic slider locks in the back and chin strap

Made In China

Manufacturer-Distributor Solarveil America, Inc.

Retail Price $19.50

Size One size fits all

Type Of Product Women’s sun hat

Washable Hand wash. Do not dry clean

Weight 3 oz.

Features The Solarveil Sun Hat featured an adjustable slider lock in the back to comfortably fit all head sizes, and an adjustable chin strap to secure the hat in windy conditions.

Country(Ies) Tested USA and France

Date Of Review March 2007

Number Of Days Tested Several weeks

ReviewersArticle by Josette King

Would You Use This Product Again? Yes

Overall Impression Using public restrooms can be challenging, especially while on a trip and for travelers with medical conditions or mobility limitations. Sometimes, even restrooms are an extravagance. This is the case in remote areas, while camping and in the bush. In South Africa, for example, national parks usually have rest stops including public facilities but there are no toilets in the bush.

Even luxury bush lodges and camps can only accommodate their guests so far. Game viewing guests on sunrise and sunset game drives during which staff usually offer hot and cold beverages and snacks must await the end of the drive or make a “bush stop.” The drives, on 4×4 vehicles over rough terrain in the cooler times of the day, usually lasted two hours (we’ve been out four, even six hours). By the middle of the drive, even the hardiest may be tempted by a nature break. Using Freshette meant an easier, faster and potentially less risky “bush stop.”

Before getting started, it was necessary to learn how to use Freshette. Practice makes perfect and in the case of this device it also meant keeping shoes and clothes dry. It was necessary to carry the Freshette pouch which was feather light. The pouch began to tear soon after purchase and required a replacement bag. As a reusable tool, it was necessary to rinse the director after each use. Sometimes this task had to be postponed until there was running water available (this was the case in the bush). When public toilets were undesirable or unavailable, Freshette offered a convenient environment friendly alternative.

Color The main piece or trough was flesh colored and the extension tube was clear

Made In U.S.A.

Made Of Plastic

Manufacturer-Distributor International Sani-Fem, Inc.

Retail Price $23

Sizes One size fits all. The standard extension tube was 6” and the company offered longer tubes: 36” and 48”

Type Of Product Reusable urinary director for women offering “bladder relief while standing, sitting or lying down” with minimal undressing

Weight 1oz

Features A spout and extension tube that allows women to urinate standing, plastic zip lock travel pouch and small sheet with instructions

Other The manufacturer offered a medical system, longer extension tubes, disposable collection bags, and a carrying pouch.

Country(S) Tested U.S.A., South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana

Date Of Review February, 2007

Number Of Days Tested Three weeks

Would You Use This Product Again? Yes

Overall Impression This convertible pocket crazy and technology friendly jacket performed well on the road, especially in cool weather. It had the advantage of versatility, making the wearer look well dressed or more casual depending on the occasion. It had discreetly placed pocket space for lots of stuff like small books, wallet, notepads, cell phones, MP3 players (including designated space for the wires), keys, pens, and much more. Somebody put a lot of thought into designing the jacket and its 33 inner and outer compartments in varying sizes and it shows. It was well constructed inside and out with pockets in the front and an oversize zippered pocket in the back where you could place the sleeves if you took them off during an outing.

There were pockets inside pockets, reminding us of a Dr. Seuss rhyme. The nested compartments, sometimes well hidden in the lining or deep inside the jacket fabric, were secured with Velcro, zippers, mesh, straps, elastic bands, a clip for identification or nothing at all. These closure options made the jacket a pocket lover’s dream. The challenge sometimes was remembering what pocket I had put things in when I needed to retrieve them.

The sleeves were easy to remove, making the Scottevest more comfortable in warm weather. In case of inclement weather a removable folded hood was attached with Velcro to the collar. In addition, the multiple pocket option made the jacket ideal for airline travel. With all the carry-on luggage restrictions and crowded overhead compartments it provided additional carry-on space.

Colors Olive or stone (ours was stone)

Machine Washable Machine wash cold, delicate cycle with like colors. Tumble dry low. No bleach, iron or steam press. Do not dry clean.

Made In China

Made Of The shell was 100 percent nylon, the lining and yoke lining were 100 percent polyester

Manufacturer-Distributor Scottevest, Inc.

Retail Price $150

Size M-2XL (we tested the 2X)

Type Of Product Men’s jacket

Weight 2 lbs 5 oz.

Features It had 33 pockets and compartments, DuPont® Teflon fabric protector (water repellent, Patented Personal Area Network (PAN) licensed by TEC (Technology Enabled Clothing®), wire gadgets through lining, zip-off sleeves, built-in key holder, collar loops hold earbuds/cell mic, zippered pockets. Magnetic wind flap, extra large inside and back pockets. TEC offers a patented system called a PAN that allows wearers to connect electronic devices to each other and to headsets for hands-free use. For example, it’s possible to connect an MP3 player to headphones and a cell phone to a PDA.

Country(S) Tested South Africa, France and USA

Date Of Review June 2006

Number Of Days Tested Several months

Would You Use This Product Again? Yes

Overall Impression We chose the RedOxx Safari-Beanos Bag PR6 because it was spacious enough to be used as a main check in luggage bag, yet narrow enough and tall enough to still fit into a charter plane luggage space for our trip to Africa. It is a soft sided bag made of durable 1000 weight urethane coated Dupont certified Cordura nylon. We particularly liked that all zippers are self-locking and the seams are double stitched. Our khaki colored bag was easy to carry and to handle.

The Beanos Bag has one large storage area with six assorted size side pockets. One of the key features for our purposes was its 12″x12″x31″ size which fit well into a small charter aircraft luggage space, yet provided enough space to carry 10 days worth of clothing and gear with room to spare for additional items purchased in the field. The Beanos Bag held up well through 13 airport transfers without any tearing or problems. We found it best to transport sturdy items unlikely to break easily; because it is a flexible bag we would not use it to transport fragile or breakable items again. We recommend the Beanos bag for our friends who are looking for a good light weight and durable bag that fits well into cramped charter aircraft spaces.

Color(S) Amethyst, Black, Bordeaux, Coal, Forest, Khaki, Mariner, Midnight, Olive, Red, Saffron, Safari

Machine Washable It is possible to wash this bag by hand, but the manufacturer does not recommend putting it in a washing machine because of the heavy hardware.

Made In U.S.A.

Made Of The Beanos bag is made of 1000 weight urethane coated, Dupont certified Cordura nylon fabric

Manufacturer-Distributor RedOxx

Retail Price $200

Sizes 12″x12″x31″ Capacity: 4,464 cu. inches (the size of the PR6 that we tested). There were also Beanos in 11″x11″x27″ capacity: 3,267 cubic inches; 10″x10″x24″ (carry on) capacity: 2,400 cubic inches and 9″x9″x19″ (carry on) capacity: 1,539 cubic inches

Type Of Product Travel Bag

Weight 4.5 lbs

Features Zippers were #10 YKK self locking, Thread: #92 bonded SolarMax nylon, All seams double stitched and bound

Country(S) Where It Was Tested U.S.A., South Africa, and Zambia

Date Of Review November 2005

Number Of Days Tested 10

Reviewers Article by Chester Godsy

Would You Use This Product Again? Yes

Overall Impression We have tried a number of digital cameras and none of them met our standards for use on one of our trips. Our standards have been based on using Canon 35mm SLRs . We were looking for a digital camera, which would address our complaints thus far. The Canon Digital Rebel met this bill and exceeded our expectations in several areas.

The Canon Digital Rebel is a compact lightweight digital SLR camera with 6.3 Megapixals , high speed, 7 point AF, and 12 shooting modes. The Digital Rebel was compatible with all the Canon lenses we had already purchased and used in the past on our Canon SLR 35 mm Elans , and Canon SLR 35 mm Rebel cameras. The Digital Rebel produced a 1.6x lens multiplier while using all of our existing lenses. This benefit can be achieved because the digital CMOS image sensor in the Digital Rebel is more closely positioned to the lenses than in a 35 mm film camera. The 1.6x multiplier came in very handy for longer shots, and gave us our best overall auto focus performance with our largest lenses.

The Digital Rebel had a set of operator friendly controls very similar to our other Canon camera controls that we have grown accustomed to. This meant we didn’t have to re-learn a whole new set of controls to use the camera; a big plus for those who are technically challenged and already familiar with Canon’s Rebel camera controls.

Our Digital Rebel came with a rechargeable battery and a battery charger rated for 120-240 VAC @ 50-60 Hz Power. Using power connector adapters we were able to recharge our batteries in all locations. We purchased an extra battery so that we would not run out during periods of extensive picture taking. A battery would typically last one day, which would amount to around 250-500 pictures. While we used the LCD display screen a fair amount to review photos in the field, we normally left the display off, to save battery power. The type of lens we used also made a big difference in the battery life. As a general rule, the bigger the lens, the more power necessary. Our largest lens (a Canon EF 100-400mm) drained the battery down much faster than the smaller lenses.

One of the pleasant surprises was how well this camera performed in low or natural light without a flash. We give the built-in flash with its focus light assist a good rating (a good rating for a built-in flash). The flash mode lacks any exposure compensation on this camera. The auto focus, which performed quite well, also continued to work in low light or night settings (with the built-in popup flash and focus assist).

We like to take pictures of wildlife. To get good pictures of wildlife it’s important to have a camera that will respond very quickly because wild animals are not apt to stop to pose for a picture. Our Digital Rebel has internal high-speed cache memory to hold pictures when they are first taken. Then the camera moves the images from high-speed cache memory to compact flash card memory. We took rapid-fire pictures for 4 to 12 images (depending on which picture mode we selected); when the cache memory became full the camera slowed down. The camera moves pictures from the cache to the compact flash module as quickly as it can. Purchasing faster compact flash memory can result in some performance increase. However Canon doesn’t publish exact figures on these speeds so it is hard to talk about specifics. We purchased Kingston CF/512-S 512 MB professional speed compact flash memory modules for use with our camera. In comparison to this, a 35 mm SLR film camera will shoot at its full rated speed until it runs out of film; it’s necessary to plan for reload/rewind time prior to taking pictures again.

We cropped some digital images where the subject was a little too far away; then we re-cropped the images using Photoshop on our home computers. We found the Digital Rebel had a slightly less dynamic color range than our 35 mm film cameras. To make prints from our pictures we took the images to our local photo retailer who printed excellent photos off the standard CD we gave him.

We highly recommend this camera to our friends who have grown accustomed to the performance of 35 mm SLR film cameras and want a digital camera. In summary, we were pleased with Canon lens compatibility, camera speed, low light performance, image quality, battery performance, and ease of use.

Battery : One Lithium ion rechargeable battery. Included a battery charger rated for 120-240 VAC @ 50-60 Hz

Colors Sliver and Black

Made In Made in Taiwan

Manufacturer-Distributor Canon U.S.A. , Inc.

Retail Price $999

Size (W x H x D): 5.6 x 3.9 x 2.9 in. / 142 x 99 x 72.4mm

Type Of Product Digital SLR Camera AF/AE

Warranty 90 day limited warranty

Weight 19.7 oz

Written By CAG

Features 6.3 Megapixals , high speed, 7 point AF, 12 shooting modes, compact, lightweight body, direct print capability, compatible with more than 50 EF lenses, EF-S lens and most EX series speedlites .

Other Operating Temperature: 0 – 40 deg C ( 32 – 104 deg F)

Operating Humidity Range : 85% or less

Recording Medium: Type I and II CF memory cards

Compatible Lenses: Canon EF including EF-S lenses. ( focal length conversion factor is equivalent to approximately 1.6x compared to 35 mm format.

Lens Mount: Canon EF mount

Type: High sensitivity, high resolution, single plate, color CMOS

Pixels: Approximately 6.3 mega pixels

Aspect Ratio: 2:3 (vertical: horizontal)

Color Filter System: RGB primary color filter

Recording Medium: Type I and II CF memory cards

Image Formats: JPEG and RAW, Exif 2.2 compliant

File Sizes:

Country(S) Tested South Africa , Botswana , Zambia , and USA

Date Of Review March 2005

Number Of Days Tested 300

Would You Use This Product Again? Yes

Overall Impression There are times in a traveler’s life when disposable underwear can be heaven sent. For many, the concept is appealing for everyday use, hospital visits, unexpected situations, gym and spa visits, camping, and medical conditions to name a few. The OneDerWear was perfect for many of our travel needs. Laundry and dry cleaning can be a challenge during a trip; even luxury hotel s encounter problems and deliver damaged, stretched, faded, torn, shrunk or otherwise unusable clothes to guests. This is especially likely traveling internationally and in remote areas where washers and dryers may not be available. We have encountered eco friendly properties in isolated places where there is no running water or electricity. We think the 100 percent cotton OneDerWear ideal for these situations.

An example of a OneDerWear type of trip is a safari in Southern Africa . Visitors to those destinations though rewarded with fabulous game viewing, luxurious accommodations and attentive staff, may have luggage weight restrictions. In Botswana , for example, transport to the game lodges is usually by chartered small airplanes which can only carry a limited amount of weight. Passengers on those trips have to consider every item they bring with them, its use on the trip and weight. Although complimentary hand laundry service is included in the daily rates, water is limited and some properties will not accept underwear (for social reasons). It is in cases like these where the OneDerWear can come in handy.

We tried the bikini and classic brief styles. We appreciated the choice of styles and found the women’s panties practical, comfortable, washable (wearers are not required to throw them out immediately) and hygienic. Each pair was individually wrapped in plastic. We look forward to taking the OneDerWear on future trips including African safaris.

Colors white

Machine Washable yes in warm water with non-chlorine bleach, tumble dry low when necessary. OneDerWear , though reputed to tear after a few washes, survived repeated washes (without chlorine)

Made In Vietnam

Made Of biodegradable 100 percent cotton fabric approved by Cotton Incorporated

Manufacturer-Distributor Break Room Concepts

Retail Price OneDerWear come in packages of five with the following prices per package : women’s bikini and thong: $7.99 women’s classic brief $8.99

Men’s brief $8.99 and boxer brief $9.99

Sizes S, M, L, XL, XXL (women’s thong was only available in S, M, L). We tested the bikini and classic briefs.

Styles There were three women’s and two men’s OneDerWear style choices.

Type Of Product Disposable underwear for men and women

Weight less than 1 oz each

Other Break Room Concepts also makes disposable socks

Country(S) Tested U.S.

Date Of Review March 2005

Number Of Days Tested three weeks

Would You Use This Product Again? yes

Overall Impression After flying for two days from the U.S. through Europe, we were tired and jet lagged. The last thing we wanted to do was drive around a strange city famous for its high crime rate, in an unfamiliar car (and on the opposite side of the road). Everything worked out like a charm thanks in great part to our newest travel technology, the iQue 3600 from Garmin. Before leaving the U.S. we purchased the City Select South Africa software. It allowed us to navigate accurately and easily through South Africa’s two major cities, Cape Town and Johannesburg, their environs and the Kruger Park in the North.

The iQue’s voice instructions were excellent and simple to follow with commands like “in five hundred meters, turn right” or “off course,” when we took a wrong turn. Even night driving was a breeze. It took a little getting used to the distances and the imagery on the IQue screen. In the case of City Select South Africa, we found that only urban areas were well mapped. Whenever we strayed from the cities, the detail in our maps faded, but waypoints and major roads were still a confidence builder. For us, the ideal combination was to have one person drive while the other focused on the iQue commands and images.

A dashboard antenna, purchased separately, allowed us to hold the iQue comfortably on our laps while navigating and driving around. A cigarette lighter charger fueled the iQue so we didn’t have to worry about batteries running out (this was also where the external speaker for the navigation was located). Battery life and power consumption when running the GPS were issues for us in remote parts of the bush. If the iQue ran completely empty of power, all the information in its memory would be lost and have to be reloaded from the laptop. We brought the Laplink USB cable which was invaluable for charging and synchronizing with the laptop.

The iQue’s organizer software was practical and efficient, allowing us to store and manipulate contact information and keep it synchronized with Microsoft Outlook. Documents to Go allowed us to view and manipulate Word and graphic files. The full color screen offered a high resolution and plenty of details for our purposes. We found the 3600 an ideal travel tool, especially in far away and unfamiliar places. It was fun to be able to mark waypoints across remote Botswana and determine our position and altitude. We look forward to continuing to use the iQue organizer and its integrated navigation functions in the future at home and for trips.

Applications PowerOne Personal Calculator and trial editions of: Astraware Game Pack, Documents to Go, DataViz Mail, Palm Reader, StarCaddy, Vindigo, WorldMate. We upgraded Documents to Go to take advantage of its capabilities to handle many tyupes of Microsoft Office documents.

Battery Internal Lithium-ion battery. A cradle was included to charge the iQue

Display : 2.16″ x 3.24″ (54 x 81 mm), 320 x 480-pixel, high-resolution color with virtual Graffiti™ area

Included Autopack with iQue 3600, USB recharging cradle, black protective cover, A/C power adaptor, Palm Desktop set up CD, two map installation CD’s, Map Source unlock code sheet, two Graffiti stickers, Quick Reference Guide, and Set Up Guide The package included a 256 Mb Secure Digital (SD) card to hold additional maps and documents, larger SD cards were available.

List Price Garmin: $643 and City Select South Africa: $233

Manufacturer-Distributor: Garmin

Release Date August 2003

Size 2.8″W x 5″H x .8″D (72 x 128 x 20.3 mm)

Support Though we had some trouble with the website using the mapping software unlock codes, but technical support responded quickly with an easy workaround. There was furthertroubleshooting information on the Garmin website

Technology And Built-In Devices Global Positioning System, GPS, antenna, display, speaker, microphone, touch screen, Palm OS 5.0, memory: RAM– 32 MB, processor– Motorola 150 MHz, input device: stylus, touch-screen, scroll button, wireless: IrDA

Type Of Product Palm Hanheld Organizer with GPS (global positioning system) integrated capabilities as well as U.S and South Africa map software

Warranty One year from date of purchase with an original or copy of the purchase receipt from the retailer where purchased. An online auction purchase confirmation was not acceptable for warranty purposes. Garmin had the option to use rebuilt (or new) parts when repairing a product under warranty at their sole discretion. It was unclear whether the owner would be notified which type of parts were used following a warranty repair. Owners wishing to have their products repaired under the warranty were required to mail them to Garmin directly and pay for the cost of mailing. Out-of-warranty unit owners would be subject to a minimum $150 repair fee and the cost of shipping.

Weight 5.7 oz

Features : 200 MHz processor, Palm OS 5.2.1, integrated Que technology , with Garmin GPS and mapping software, flip-up integrated GPS patch antenna speaker for voice guidance commands, MP3 player, message playback, built-in 32 MB of memory useful to download map data, and ARM 9 processor. There was an integrated SD card slot to provide additional non-volatile memory.

City Select South Africa integrated trip and waypoint management functions, detailed maps of select cities and towns in South Africa, map detail included motorways, national and regional thoroughfares and local roads with attributes such as turn restrictions, speed categories, displayed points of interest such as food and drink, lodging, gas stations, and hospitals, automatically created point-to-point routes in MapSource.

Other We loaded the worldwide base map, which provided major political boundaries, rivers and large highways. We were able to load the entire South Africa City Select and the U.S. maps around Florida into a 256 Mb SD card. A much larger card would be required to load all of the U.S.

Countries Tested : U.S.A., Botswana , South Africa and Zambia

Date Of Review November 2004

Number Of Days Tested Six months

Would You Use This Product Again? Yes

Overall Impression The idea of the anti-bacterial wipes appealed to us from the moment we heard about it. Due to weight limitations we carefully scrutinized every article we considered for inclusion in our African safari trip. Every item selected, including the Anti-Bacterial Wipes, played a useful roll. Though we stayed at luxury oriented comfortable and clean lodges and camps, the wipes came in handy a number of times during our travels: on flights, at airports, at border crossings, during game viewing drives, and in the car driving through the Kruger National Park or between lodges. When we returned home we kept using them. We found the seal of the package held the wipes moist for months at a time. The towellettes were light enough to carry in a handbag, computer case or briefcase for those times when soap and water were not immediately available. We plan on taking the Anti-Bacterial Wipes on our next adventure.

Available At Magellan’s

List Price $4.85

Made In U.S.A.

Made Of Active ingredients: Benzalkonium chloride (antiseptic) .45% (as applied). Inactive ingredients: Water, SD Alcohol 40, sorbic acid, cocamide DEA, disodium EDTA, aloe barbadensis gel and fragrance.

Manufacturer Nice-Pak Products, Inc.

Quantity Two packets of 20 5×8” towelletes

Size 5 in. x 8 in. (12.7 cm x 20.3 cm). In packages of 20

Type Of Product Resealable pocket pack of disposable wipes with anti-bacterial cleaner and moisturizer to kill germs and help prevent “the spread of colds”

Weight : 6 oz

Date Of Review October 2004

Number Of Days Tested Two months

Places Tested Botswana, France, South Africa, United States and Zambia

Would You Use This Product Again? Yes

Overall Impression When we are in the African bush we take mosquitoes very seriously. Being bitten is cause for concern. Some types of malaria, a disease transmitted by certain mosquitoes, are hard or impossible to treat effectively. As a result, mosquitoes become not a small annoyance but a life threatening menace. The first time, several years ago, we treated our clothes with insect repellent in preparation for a trip to a malaria zone; we had to dip them using a special container, which we later disposed of. It was a big production and the clothes felt slightly stiff after they dried. The Sawyer spray was much easier and practical to use. Our clothes remained intact after we sprayed and air dried them. There were no unpleasant odors, no damaged fabrics or other side effects that we noticed; nor were we bitten by any insect while we wore the clothes we had sprayed, even after they had been washed several times at the African camps and lodges we stayed at.

An added advantage was that because the spray was non-aerosol we were able to take an additional supply with us for a second application during our five week trip. It was a bit challenging to determine how long to keep the left over spray bottles, because the containers didn’t have an expiration date. The Sawyer spray allowed us the freedom to wear any clothes we chose. As long as we sprayed them, it didn’t matter what brand they were. Certain synthetic fabrics, though not counter indicated in the instructions, seemed like they would be less likely to absorb the insect repellent. All in all it was a great improvement to the past dipping experience. The spray was reasonably priced considering how much easier it was to use or the cost of new pre-treated Buzz Off clothing, which of course were very convenient. For our next safari trip we will likely treat some clothes with the Sawyer spray and take some Buzz Off clothing too.

Machine Washable the permethrin spray was absorbed by the fabric and held fast according to the manufacturer’s label for two week. We brought additional spray with us for a second spraying session during our Southern Africa trip. Instructions indicated clothes should be washed at least once before spraying a second time.

Made In U.S.A.

Made Of the active ingredient was permethrin (0.5%)

Manufacturer-Distributor Coulston Products and Sawyer Products

Retail Price $7

Type Of Product Insect repellent spray for clothes

Weight 6 oz

Features after through spraying and drying, it protected clothes and the wearer against mosquitoes, mites, chiggers, and ticks for up to two weeks.

Other one half bottle of spray was necessary per outfit, according to the instructions. The Sawyer spray was for use on clothes only. It should not be sprayed directly on skin, face or eyes; or clothing on the body (while worn). Care in disposing of the empty bottle was advised as the residue was toxic to fish and aquatic organisms. Using the spray “in a manner inconsistent with the labeling” was against U.S. Federal law

Country(S) Tested Botswana , South Africa , U.S.A. , and Zambia

Date Of Review August 2004

Number Of Days Tested two months

Would You Use This Product Again? Yes