Accessories home - Insect Repellent
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Quite simply the only insect repellent you should pack for your safari or adventure holiday! Scroll down to find out why RID is the king of repellents!
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These are the extras that will ensure a good nights sleep, or relieve an itching bite should you forget to use your RID.
RID: The Ultimate Insect Repellent, no Doubt About It!
It has always been our mantra at The Safari Store to only stock the ultimate travel and safari products, products we choose to travel with as they are simply the best. We have been searching
for some time now for the ultimate insect repellent. We knew all along what we were looking for, but did not believe that we would find a repellent that actually works
against mosquitoes, but which also repels the Spitfire of the insect world, the tsetse fly. This large African fly is as tough as nails, and delivers a painful bite that feels like
a hot needle going into the skin. The flies also carry sleeping sickness, and the bites cause swelling in some people too. Up until the end of last year,
we thought that we were never going to find a repellent effective against these flies, and decided to stick with a 50% and 100% DEET product, believing that the more DEET the better (see below).
Sitting aroung a camp fire one night while on the Bhangazi Horse Safari in South Africa, Steve brought up the fact that he wished that someone had made a product that would be equally effective against mosquitos and tsetse flies.
He mentioned that "absolutely nothing" could possibly work against the flies. The owner of the Bhangazi, Australian born and bred Sarah Burrows, immediately retorted that she knew of an Australian product which did work. Ever the cynic, and
believing that Sarah may have been in the sun for a while too long that day, Steve asked her to put her finding in writing, and this is what she wrote in an e-mail to Steve: "Rid is fantastic, I have used it for years in Botswana if anywhere near Tsetse flies.
It does not seem to have had any effect on my children (as yet) and it works for mozzies too."
Based on this we then ordered in samples from RID, and decided that the best place to really put RID through its paces was Western Tanzania. On previous trips to the Katavi and Mahale National Parks we discovered that both areas not only had healthy mosquito populations,
but seemed to be the epicentre of tsetse fly heaven. Every game drive, walk, or swim (in Lake Tanganyika) was accompanied by a squadron of tsetse flies who dive bombed us at will. Our cow tail fly swats did little to stop the onslaught, and we were all bitten.
On hearing that Diana White (Okavango Tours & Safaris) was on her way to the Katavi to get to know the area and lodges, we decided that this would be the perfect test for RID. If it kept Diana mosquito and tsetse bite free in the Katavi, then it would definitely work in all
other areas in Africa. The test was a success! In Diana's own words, when asked whether or not she would recommend the product to her clients, she replied: "Regarding the RID. It is a yes yes yes from me. We all used it and while they pestered us quite a bit we did not get bitten where it was sprayed. I ended up spraying a lot on my shirts and shorts so we recommend it for anyone going to tsetse infested areas."
And the rest, as they say, is history, with our fist consignment of RID arriving from Australia in January 2010.
Product focus
RID Tropical Strength Insect Repellent Spray
If you want the best protection, pack RID. It is as simple as that. This is a handy 100ml spray bottle ideal for applying to your skin and clothing.
How RID works:
The success of RID insect repellent lies within the formulae. Invented in the paddocks of tropical Queensland, RID has been perfected over 53 years. The active ingredients in RID produce an invisible chemical barrier around and on the body and clothes where it is applied, repelling incoming insects. RID will protect you from all biting bugs (mosquitoes, sand flies midges, ticks, fleas and tsetse flies), mosquito borne diseases, and those pesky flies, ants and leeches, just as it has been doing for the last 50 years. RID also contains two additional repellents, including a fly repellent, that other insect repellents do not include in their formulae. Furthermore, RID contains Antiseptic to kill a wide range of bacteria (introduced by the insect bite or by scratching the area around the bite) which helps stop infection spreading. The range is medicated too and contains Vitamin E for moisturizing, Chamomile for its soothing relief, and Triclosan (an anti-bacterial/inflammatory agent).
DEET - You Do NOT Need more than 20%, and that is a fact:
TRUE: DEET is a very effective insect repellent. FALSE: The higher the concentration of DEET, the more effective the repellent. The makers of RID have proven through extensive tests that the effectiveness of the insect repellent does not increase once the level of DEET rises above 20%. What does increase is how long the product lasts on the skin. A standard 20% DEET repellent will usually last 4 to 5 hours . A product with 80% DEET will last for 8 to 10 hours. RID 19.5% tropical strength formula, as stocked by The Safari Store, lasts for at least 6 hours (tests show it is usually between 7 and 8) due to it's additional repellent and synergists that extend the length for which the product is effective. Through RID's own research, levels then have to jump to over 70% DEET to attain between 8 and 10 hours protection. DEET at high concentrations is also corrosive, to your precious camera gear and binoculars - and to your skin! The World Health Organisation and most medical authorities reccomend that DEET products be below 50% as levels higher than this are know to cause severe skin irritation. They also reccomended that DEET products for children and infants be a maximum of 7% (which is the level of the KIDs RID product). In RID's 54 year history they have not received any complaints regarding skin irritation and in Australia, and KIDs RID is the only product specifically available for children.
