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Surviving bugs
By TIM ROBINSON | February 2026
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"Ahhhh they're everywhere!" Yes, there are flying blood-suckers that like to eat you when camping, but they do not have to dominate your experience of the wilderness. One of the most often cited reasons for not enjoying spending time in the wilderness is the bugs. Let's talk about these little beasts and some strategies for dealing with them, and maybe this will help you still have a fabulous time out there in the backcountry.
Bug spray
Before we get into the details about various bugs, let's start with the most effective preventative measures.
DEET
I suggest using it. I'm personally not scared of DEET's possible health side effects. Health Canada says it's ok and has some recommendations around it. Also, there just aren't that many days of the year that I need it, sadly. Now, if I lived in a very buggy forest, maybe I wouldn't want to put on DEET daily, but on a week-long canoe trip, ya, I'll spray it up.
DEET generally works by masking your own human odour with one they find nasty. So it will discourage them to even be near you, but if they do land on you, they'll hate that even more since they "taste" through their feet and they do not like the taste of DEET. Most of them will abort and run. Some, however, will brave it and still bite. I guess those are the really hungry ones.
I recommend keeping your bug spray accessible in your "boat bag" (a 15-20L dry bag of things that you want accessible from within the board or on portages) so you can have it ready when you need it. Adding it in the morning doesn't help much if it rains later or if you go for a swim (intentionally or not), since it will wash off. Sometimes you'll land at a portage and can see the clouds of mosquitoes coming—you'll want to pull out that spray fast.
There are, of course, other kinds of bug sprays that have been proven to do something, which you can read about on Health Canada's website.
Permethrin
If you thought DEET might be bad for you, check out Permethrin, which you're not even supposed to get on your skin. This on is a true insecticide, not a repellent. You apply it to your clothes, and if they land on it, they die. (Or will likely die). The spray bonds with the fabric fibres of what you're wearing and lasts for at least 6 weeks, and can even last between a few washings. It works on all the major nasties: mosquitoes, black flies, ticks, as well as sand, deer and horse flies. Not bad. It comes as a spray bottle, and you pre-treat your clothing before the trip. It's important to let the clothes completely dry. Here are some instructions on how to use it.
Health Canada is ok with Permethrin, but says to keep it away from babies. So don't spray it on the onesies. :)
Physical barriers
Worn
Putting up a physical barrier to keep bugs off you is the most effective way to avoid them. There are bug head nets and full bug jackets that put a screen between you and the bugs. Wear them with pride! No shame in protecting yourself from the bug-demons. They can get a little hot in the summer, though, even though it's just a screen, and they do tend to make eating and drinking more difficult. I don't personally use a bug jacket, but I do always keep a head net handy. I don't use it a lot (thanks to the bug spray!), but it is a critical piece of gear when the bugs come in clouds. You need to wear a hat underneath it to keep the netting off your face. It's a good idea to keep it stored in your small 'boat bag' for easy access without needing to dig into a barrel or large dry bag on a portage.
You can also restrict mosquito access to your skin by wearing a loose, long-sleeve shirt. Button the thing right up to your neck, and if you have socks, pull them up over your pants, and wear a buff around your neck. You'll look amazing.
Shelters
Another strategy is to use a bug shelter. We use the Eureka No Bug Zone quite heavily during bug season. It's the best thing going for backcountry bug shelters right now, since there are no poles, and it works great—as long as you close the zipper door behind you. The shelter gives you some shared hangout space that's a far superior experience to hanging out in a tent. These, combined with a few good lightweight camping chairs, make evenings in the backcountry luxurious. Note that these don't have poles and depend on the presence of trees.
The Eureka No Bug Zone shelter, a head net, and a Thermacell.
Gizmos
There are a whole variety of little gizmos that claim to repel bugs, especially mosquitoes. Try whatever you like, but if something actually works (like DEET) it will already be super common. There's a massive demand for something that works and you're not likely to be on the cutting edge of some new tech that solves this old problem. Whether it's ultrasonic systems, UV zappers (with just the right frequency of UV of course), patches, bracelets, pills, candles and, of course, garlic. All of it has scant evidence of doing anything, but sure, experiment all you like.
However, there is one gizmo that has apparently been independently proven to work.
Thermacell Mosquito Repeller
It's hard not to still feel skeptical, but this Thermacell device appears to produce reliable results according to third-party researchers, and we're not receiving any money from Thermacell to say so.
The Thermacell is a little device that fits onto either a butane fuel canister or a battery-powered unit. It works by heating up a liquid that creates a 6m wide cloud of insect repellent in the air. Mosquitoes and Sandflies generally avoid it. It takes 15 minutes to build up the cloud, but it won't work if there's a breeze.
I don't love the butane containers, but the battery life on the rechargeable ones lasts 6 hours, while the butane canister lasts 90. So, there's definitely that to consider.
I don't have one and I don't yet know if I'd buy one of these, but since I'm trying to create an exhaustive list of bug defence strategies, I included it here.
The mind game
The biggest piece of advice I can give you about dealing with the bugs in the backcountry, is to be ready for the battle in your brain—the mind game. They will drive you nuts and break your sanity if you let them. The high-pitched whine of a mosquito near my ear is often enough to make me lose it, but I pull out all of the mediative calming energy I can, and let it slide before I let it get to me. Use all the strategies discussed above, but they will only get you so far. If you're paddling whitewater, you're likely going to encounter a lot of bugs and they will drive you nuts. Your appreciation of the whole trip will depend more on how you handle the bugs inside your head than the ones buzzing around it. Just remember, the bugs are out there bothering you only because you are out there, in the backcountry, on an adventure. You didn't stay home. The kind of small suffering that the bugs create is a kind of baptism to the bush.
The bugs
This next part discusses the individual bugs that you'll find out there (and yes, I'm aware that "bugs" is technically another term for Hemiptera classification of insects, but I'm using the pop-term here—insects are bugs! :)
Now, if this stuff creeps you out, you don't need to read on. There are strategies offered for each species, but if that's not worth enduring the creepy factor, then it's not that important.
Mosquitos
These little flying vampires can make or break a trip, so it's good to be ready for them. As I said above, just put on the damn bug spray.
Mosquitos tend to not like the cold so the mosquito season in Ontario, Canada, where we're from, is mid-May to mid-September. Paddling trips in September are amazingly bug-free. The risk of cold rain is a bit higher though. That could be less fun.
Remember, they can bite through tight-fitting clothing.
Black flies
Black flies are brutal. The little jerks will actually bite a chunk out of your skin, causing you to bleed, and then lick up the blood. It's called "pool feeding." How rude!
Fortunately, there's usually a limited season for black flies in Ontario. It depends on where, but it's usually just a few weeks in May and June and then they're gone. The farther north you go, however, the longer this season is. And in wet places like the James Bay Lowlands, they are there all summer and are insufferable. If you're planning on a trip in June, look up when the black fly season is for that area. Sometimes it's just a two-week window, and you might be able to avoid it by picking another time to go.
To compound their cruelty, their larvae need moving water, so they live around all the great places to paddle.
As for some good news, DEET works on black flies too, so don't be shy with it.
Black flies love dark colours. I guess it looks more like the kind of animals they are trying to find. You'll have fewer black flies around you if you wear lighter colours. I wear a white Mountain Hardwear Canyon shirt during this season. There's also a bit of luck involved since black flies just like the smell of some people more than others.
Black flies will also circle the highest part of your body, which is usually your head. If you need a few seconds of relief, put your hat on a stick and hold it above your head. The black flies will circle the hat instead of you.
Deer flies and horse flies
These horrible beasts aren't everywhere, but when they're around, you'll feel some pain. Similar to black flies, they pool feed, but are far more aggressive about it. They hurt. Their mouths have these serrated sawblades that lacerate your skin to release blood and lick it up. I think that makes them not cool.
Deer and horse flies don't bother with giving you a mild anesthetic like mosquitoes do, so you'll really feel it. They do give you an anticoagulant so that you'll keep bleeding throughout their meal. Also rude.
These little devils fly and hunt by sight, not smell. So they're super hard to swat (but it feels so good when you get one! And the crunch a little bit too). Since they don't care about how you smell, DEET doesn't work with deer and horse flies.
So you're mostly stuck with physical barriers like loose clothing. They'll bite right through tight clothing. We like to wear tights with shorts when in whitewater, which turns out to be not ideal when there are deer and horse flies around. Cover up and seal off your skin to not let them in.
They also like dark colours, so your light coloured paddling shirt is ideal.
There are some fun gimmicks that are apparently somewhat effective. There are deer fly patches that can attach to the back of your hat—the kind where the fly lands on the sticky pad and can't get away. I haven't used this myself, but I want to. Sweet sticky justice.
There has apparently been some success with those fake dragonflies which catch and eat these flies with an astounding success rate. Since they hunt visually, they may avoid you if they see a dragonfly hanging around. We also haven't tried these yet, but I might be willing. They don't do anything for mosquitoes or black flies that hunt primarily by smell.
Deer fly
Horse fly
Stable flies
I don't like to hate things in nature, but I hate stable flies. They're the worst. These are the flies that look like harmless, cute house flies in the wild, and then they give you an incredibly painful bite. They are also as good or even better at flying than house flies, so they're really hard to kill. They are quiet and hide out in your canoe, waiting to strike.
They are almost exclusively lower-body biters—they are after your ankles. You'll swat them away and they'll hide somewhere, and then come back to the same spot again a minute later.
Like with deer and horse flies, your best defence is physical barriers, but they too can bite through thin, tight fabric.
Apparently, bug sprays with "Picaridin" in it work better than DEET for stable flies. They don't like the wind, so paddling away from shore, where it might be windier, may blow them away. You'll see that they will hide out in your canoe, using it like their own personal air-eddy.
No-See-Ums and sand flies
These tiny 1-3mm flies can somehow puncture human skin and drink our blood (also pool feeders). They like dawn and dusk, and since they're so small, they're blown away by the slightest wind.
Fortunately, DEET works on these guys.
Treatments for bites
If the "pool feeders" got you pretty good, a hydrocortisone cream is ideal to stop your dirty tripping fingernails from giving the site an infection when you scratch it. It's also a steroid that reduces swelling and inflammation, which is great for black fly bites that swell up.
Keep some Benadryl (topical cream and pills) in your first aid kid if a nasty reaction or bad swelling kicks in. Don't take the pills while you're still travelling since they can make you drowsy.
Lidocaine spray/cream is a topical anesthetic that numbs the skin and can be helpful for extremely itchy patches.
After Bite is an ammonia-based solution that neutralizes the acid left behind by mosquitoes and black flies, potentially giving some itch relief.
You can do it!
It's a great sign if you've read this! You can do this. At times, they may be relentless, but with strategies—and some meditative, mind-over-matter, peaceful thinking—you can enjoy the backcountry alongside the little bloodsuckers.
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