https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,2536479 Edit: As noted above, the bugs can be merciless. Blackfly season will be over in August (except that around the Penobscot River there seems to be a second season late in the summer) but there will be lots of mosquitos, and no-see-ums that can come through window screens. Good insect repellent is a must. My dad was a forester, and would wear Old Time Woodsman's Fly Dope, that had pine tar and oil of citronella in it, and would not only keep away the insects, other people would keep their distance too.
www.thebetheljournals.info/Skiing/Viking_Village.pdf Walter’s Way, in 1971, was a partially overgrown, clear-cut swath that had been roughed out for a future road. Sunday River had buried a water line along the edge with shutoffs at each surveyed house lot. The “road” was in no way prepared for year-round travel. In May 1973 we built our house with the “help” of black flies and Old Woodsman’s fly dope
https://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0917/p23s2.html
One time I had gone to Kennebago to meditate (angling is the contemplative man's recreation), and after a modest breakfast of steak and with-its I packed a lunch, rubbed on fly dope, and set out to see if Blanchard Pond was in a relative mood
https://www.suncommunitynews.com/articles/the-sun/bug-battle/ Over the years, I've used a variety of natural products including Green Ban, Z'off, Naturapel, Bug-B-Gone and BuzzAway. Some work, most don't.
However, the most effective I've found is "Ole Time" Woodsman Fly Dope, which is also DEET free.
https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2017/08/adirondack-deerflies.html#comments One trick that works exceedingly well for me while hiking, is to cut a small live branch from a shrub and carry it with the foliage draped over my head. It seems to confuse them, and no swarming.
The other is to use the repellent Ole Time Woodsman, which contains pine tar. Deer flies will NOT swarm around you at all with this on.
http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=113346 I picked this stuff up a few years ago on a trip to Maine, it was highly recommended at the time by a guide. "Ole Time" Woodsman Fly dope. It has been around since 1882 and was developed by northwoods loggers. You don't apply it to your skin directly but to a kerchief or another piece of clothing. It smells of pine tar
Just took this camping this weekend, put some on a bandana just like when I was a kid. Not a bite! Thank you!
DCambio