Having read other peoples experiences with the little gits, and also a slightly worrying article from the BBC,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9432000/9432605.stm

I might put a tick hook in my pack this summer. I’ve never picked one up, but I have to get them off the dogs fairly regularly.

A good article which tells you why a tick hook is much better than a pair of tweezers.

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/information/tick_removal.htm

Anyone else carry one as a matter of course this time of year ?

Myself and BigDummy picked up a load following a bivvy trip round Bristol/Cheddar. Spent a happy hour in the Cheddar public loos picking them off with some leatherman pliers!

Didn’t catch anything despite one of them being attached to me for about 3 days (under the band of my shorts). I think you’ll probably be ok until you get home.

Keep one in the bathroom at home. Touch wood never needed to use it despite rides in perfect tick locations

Always !!!!
One of these ……O’Tom

Yeah, carry one as part of my First Aid kit, although so far I’ve always managed to catch and remove the little beggars before they’ve attached themselves.

Bought one of these last year –

Weighs nothing, gets the whole beasty out, gets a grip of the smallest pin-head ones too. Had a practice on a couple of dogs first, mind… Reminds me I meant to order a couple more for the family.

With the exception of this forum i’ve never heard of anyone being bitten by a tick. I ride in the lakes, peak district and yorkshire, is this something that eventually i’m going to come across or is it a case of some people being prepared for everything?

Ticks seem to be so unpredictable – but over the years I have had loads from walking and cycling in the highlands.

Lyme disease is nasty so you want to get the tick out –

Always carry one, the Otom one i have it in both sizes

Wozza – depends on where you ride and when.
Half a dozen of the feckers from an mid summer’s evening ride wouldn’t be uncommon around my neck of the woods.

I always carry the O’tom tick removers. I used to average 1 or 2 per outing in the Summer but if I remember to put insect repellant on my legs I don’t seem to get any.

Rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it

I’ll get one, cheers.

Yup O’Tom here as well. In my pack and at home. They are so small and cheap, why wouldn’t you carry one?

Edit – it does seem that Avon Skin So Soft can be a good tick prevention measure. We use it to ward off the midges, but the incidences of ticks does drop dramatically as well when we use the stuff

no.. I wear trousers.

personally I wouldn’t be without my anti-tick suit

Dave, you don’t look anything like I would have thought.

Link for that Dave (hmmm.. on second thoughts maybe not at work) 🙂

With the exception of this forum i’ve never heard of anyone being bitten by a tick. I ride in the lakes, peak district and yorkshire, is this something that eventually i’m going to come across or is it a case of some people being prepared for everything?

Exactly my thinking too. Never had one, but I remember reading some posts from users who contracted Lyme disease, and thinking how nasty it sounded. I have a tick hook at home which gets used to pull the critters off the dogs after walking them through the long grass in the summer, but for the effort of remembering to pack a little plastic hook in your Camelbak this summer, I hope to avoid having to deal with such a nasty disease.

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/lyme.htm

For £3, it might end up being the best thing you ever buy !

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-accessories-tick-remover-poop-bags-c-628_189/o-tom-tick-remover-pair-of-hooks-p-2262

I didn’t and have never had a tick (as far as I know) then read that post a while back and immediately spent the £5 to buy one so now I do.

Given the downside of not taking them off properly it seems silly not to spend £5 and get the proper tool to do it.

Now I just need someone to practice on 🙂

Is the risk actually that great that you need to stop and pull it out there and then, would you even notice? I only ever noticed them in the shower when they didn’t wash off like the other flecks of mud.

I’d be interested to know some more precise figures as to what percentage of bites actually causes Lymes disease and what are the risks? Yes I know it isn’t a pleasant disease but are the chances of getting it actually that high? Doesn’t seem that way to me.

Ticks seem to be more common in some areas than others. On the Quantocks I’d get bitten regularly, never since I moved up to Newcastle, despite riding on similar moorland country side a lot of the time.

Chemists or vets to get a remover tool?

I’d be interested to know some more precise figures as to what percentage of bites actually causes Lymes disease and what are the risks? Yes I know it isn’t a pleasant disease but are the chances of getting it actually that high? Doesn’t seem that way to me.

You aren’t generally at risk of contracting HIV but wouldn’t you do everything you possibly could to avoid it?! Lymes can completely destroy someone’s life, if not treated early enough, much like HIV etc. Why take the risk, no matter how small?

My first experience of ticks was on Arran, when I picked up 9 of the bastards. I usually get one or two every summer in Scotland, and have picked up a couple in the Lakes before too.

Not been bitten myself so far but we have the O’Toms one too. Long haired spaniel so don’t notice them until we get home and check her over and I let Kate remove them as she’s a vet (her fault if it goes wrong then!). tbh I think I will stick them in my bag from now on, just never crossed my mind to do so.

Anyone else slightly turned on by the blonde in the catsuit?

I think this these threads must be started by people with shares in the tick removal tools 🙂 I’ve never had one nor have any of the people I ride with.

But…… After reading this, tick removal tool ordered. Thanks! thats more stuff in my camelbak for the “what do you have in your backpack” treads.

Got and had to use it. It’s a must in Scotland and getting that way int Pennines.

Cheapest I’ve found is £3.25 delivered here;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400204619060

I must have missed the thread we did on this a few weeks back

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/lyme-disease-3

but the link TJ post is very useful, and a must read for anyone who wants to be aware of the potential risks. I really don’t want to be a scare monger, and no I don’t have shares in a tick removal tool company :lol:, but re-reading some of the post, it really brings it home how debilitating lymes disease is. Really not very funny.

£3.25 off ebay from that link above, sounds good to me.

Dace that can’t be you it’s not Camo.

Nope I don’t carry one I still use the method of removal taught to me by my shepherd grandfather. The old hot match head and tweezers approach.

definately have o’tom ones to hand – one in camelbak, one at home and one in office (the latter was an additon after spending an unpleasant 20 mins in the loo at work last summer digging a tick outta my groin witha penknife 👿 )

Riding in the west of Scotland they are an ever increasing problem unfortunately. Had suspected Lyme’s disease last yr, halo, fever, horse strength antibiotics, but thankfully it never really materialised……

would a piece of duck tape and a twirling motion do the trick, . . . or do they have an aversion to being stuck from behind?

I had a Tick on my willy once.

It was French.

The tick, not my willy.

I didn’t die.

you need to avoid squashing them as they regurgitate back into you if you do that, thus increasing the chance of getting the badness from them, so duck tape would probably not be a good idea. If you have enough fingernail you can grab them right at the base and twist them off.

I’ve had them everywhere, willy, crack, sack…

Oh my dad used to live in africa, and once got a permanently blocked nose. He went to the doctor who had a look at found an elephant tick had taken up residence and gorged so big it filled his nostril. Which is nice.

Uurgh. That made me shiver…

Thanks for links, bought myself the device – do not want Lymes :-/

stuboy2uk – Member

Anyone else slightly turned on by the blonde in the catsuit?

I had to investigate, here is what I found:

A hot girl dressed in a shiny red full-body catsuit riding a bike! Isn’t this crazy? When she has arrived her favourite place in the woods she is stripping off her tight spandex clothes until she is totally naked. She really enjoys the attention she gets when she’s doing such crazy things. Finally she’s riding back home by bike totally naked! Don’t miss this freaky girl!

I’m guessing this isn’t in Scotland 🙂

Why not Scotland? Are you saying the lassies up there couldnae fit into the thing?

Wondering if I should just spray some frontline on the back of my neck…?

I had a Tick on my willy once.

It was French.

The tick, not my willy.

I didn’t die.

Classic STW. Genius.

Another trick is a capful of dettol in a bath the day before a day in the hills.

Another trick is a capful of dettol in a bath the day before a day in the hills.

makes you smell like single malt?