First-Aid

A Bug Spray You Can Drink? CDC Promotes Grapefruit Extract "Nootkatone"

Online Editors — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 10:51:32 -0400

This must be a good year for insect repellant research. First it was a new type of pre-treated clothing. Now researchers at the Centers For Disease Control say they're working on a new all-natural insect repellant made from a citrus extract.From this story on NPR.
"...the CDC is pushing hard to develop a completely natural insect repellent made from a chemical called nootkatone, which is found in Alaska yellow cedar trees and citrus fruit. (CDC researcher Marc Dolan) says nootkatone "is nongreasy, dries very quickly, and it has a very pleasant, citrus-y grapefruit odor to it." He recently demonstrated its effectiveness as a mosquito repellent, rubbing some on his hand and then sticking it into a cage containing 50 hungry mosquitoes. When he holds the treated hand near mosquitoes, they try to get away in the opposite direction as fast as they can. Even after five minutes, Dolan has no bites on his nootkatone-treated hand.

Jim Baird's Arctic Adventure Diary: Ulukhaktok or Bust!

Online Editors — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:40:43 -0400

The adventure has begun! Well, kind of…

My brother Ted and I are stuck in Deline.

First, we were waiting on the auger to arrive. When that got here, we thought we’d be ready to hit Great Bear Lake, but then we had a slight glitch with one of our snow machines during the first leg of the trip. Now we’re just waiting for the mechanic to make the repair and then, fingers crossed, we’ll be on our way.

This delayed start gives me a chance to show you the route Ted and I will be taking. We’ll travel across a few different landscapes: spruce forests, massive Great Bear Lake, mountainous northern shield country, treeless barren lands, and the frozen Beaufort Sea ice finishing the trip in the stark but beautiful landscape of the Arctic Islands.

Here’s a breakdown of our trip, stop by stop:

Make a Log from a Newspaper + 57 More Hunting, Fishing and Camping Tips from the Readers of Field & Stream

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 08:39:38 -0500

Some of the best hunting and fishing tips that appear in Field & Stream every month don't come from the editors or writers at the magazine. They come from you, the readers. We get so many good tip submissions, in fact, that it's sometimes tough to select the winners for our "Reader Tips" section. But there was never any doubt about the tips in this gallery.

Make a Tic Tac Box Bait Dispenser + 44 More Hunting, Fishing, and Camping Tips from the Readers of Field & Stream

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:19:38 -0500

Beaver Attacks Fisherman in Georgia

Online Editors — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:25:50 -0400

First a Canadian beaver is shot after killing a large dog. Now a Georgia man is recovering from wounds he received after a beaver attacked him on a local river.

From this story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
There are some hazards that go along with fishing -- getting stuck by a hook, finned by a fish, sunburn. Getting attacked by an angry beaver is generally not considered a high risk. That's what happened, though, to an Atlanta man, who is recovering from wounds suffered when he was attacked by a beaver last week while fishing near Lake Lanier. Russ McTindal was fishing on the Chattahoochee River just below Buford Dam on Thursday when he was bitten on his leg and arm by the large beaver.

Leaping Barracuda Gashes Teenage Girl's Arm

Online Editors — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:08:15 -0400

Stuff That Works: Tecnu Oak and Ivy Skin Cleanser

Online Editors — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:52:28 -0400

I took my first Tecnu bath of the season last night. Yup, you heard me right - a Tecnu bath.

As we all know - fishing at times forces you to come in contact with poison oak and ivy. If you're like me, wet-wading small streams in the heat of summer is a must. With this wonderful right of summer comes some unpleasantries. Namely an itchy, oozing rash that lasts for weeks. I am almost guaranteed to get a nasty case of ivy at least once a summer simply by wet wading a few select streams near my house.

Fact Or Fiction? Top 8 Survival Myths

Online Editors — Sat, 15 May 2010 17:53:20 -0400

MY GRANDMOTHER INEZ used to stuff towels under her bedroom door whenever I came to visit. Steeped in Appalachian folklore, she believed that hoop snakes rolled downhill, that a milk snake would crawl into a crib to suck the breath from a newborn's mouth, and that a baby rattlesnake—“three times more poisonous than its mother”—possessed the devil's tongue. My fascination with the scaly creatures was a witch's curse in her eyes, and she was deathly afraid that a serpent would crawl from my pocket and strike her in her sleep.

DEET Resistant Mosquitoes Bred in Captivity

Online Editors — Wed, 05 May 2010 10:24:28 -0400

A half-century after its discovery, DEET is still the unquestioned king of mosquito repellants. But researchers have discovered that under the right circumstances the mosquitoes can fight back...

From this story on Wired.com:

How To Prevent Snake Bites? Wear Snake Boots.

Online Editors — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:42:48 -0500

This past October, on a cloudy dawn streaked by light rain, a 12-year-old Georgia deer hunter heard his grandfather, who was standing below the boy’s treestand, say “Ouch.” Less than an hour later, 68-year-old Richard Rupert was dead, having succumbed to a rattlesnake bite on his calf. The story made headlines because snakebite fatalities are rare (the FDA estimates that of 8,000 people bitten by venomous snakes annually, fewer than 16 die) and because the young man acted heroically in his attempt to save his grandfather.