[Closed] Do you carry a Tick hook in your Camelbak ?

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 ......[url= http://www.otom.com/how-to-remove-a-tick ]O'Tom[/url]

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 [url= http://www.tickremover.com/en/default.php ]these[/url] last year -
[img] [/img]
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 ****ers 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
[img] [/img]

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.

After the last ride round Cannock Chase through some deep undergrowth here and there in shorts and the STW stuff re Ticks I will have removal tool in Camelbak when its delivered.

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

makes you smell like single malt?

That's just an added bonus 😀

yes. Mine are like tweezers but narrow and curved at the end. Millets sell them.

Been near ticks (in the countryside) and getting any of this? - Night fevers, crazy dreams and dreams within dreams, mild or severe visual disturbances, headaches, fatigue, lack of concentration, feeling of "other worldlyness", light sensitivity, anxiety/paranoia, joint pain, rashes..... get to a doctor ASAP it gets worse if left and you can end up mentally or physically disabled or you could die.

You need to get them off asap. If you dont they crawl up somewhere dark(hair, armpits, groin etc) latch on and start to burrow in making them harder to get off. Once they've done that they can transmit diseases.

Also the longer they are there the more chance they give you something awful. More than three days and the chance is supposed to be very high.

Some of these guys are tiny, the size of poppy seeds so really hard to see. A good thing to do is put any kit that doesnt always get a wash (shell/camelback/gloves etc)on a dry spin cycle in the washing machine, any live ticks crawling around on it will die; rather than crawling off into your house..

Autan active for me from about now onwards. I'm the guy that all the bugs like.

I don't check when I'm actually riding - I'd never get anywhere!

Tick check in the shower when I get home.

Last year I forgot to put the repellent on I got 13 in one hit, but they were all nymphs except for one in my armpit.

None to one or two usually, with about a maximum 'latch on' time of around 6 hours

+1 on teh Autan.

I started using the 'protection plus' after my scare last yr and it does keep them off

I've never had a problem getting my finger and thumb around the tick close to the skin and then giving a short sharp tug. If I struggle to get them off the dog then I smother them in vaseline and they fall off pretty quickly.

It is a nasty desease but the odds of infection are only maybe an issue if you are an avid Daliy Mail reader, especially if the tick is an immigrant on benefits.

In 25+ years of walking and riding on the Quantocks I've only ever been bitten by a tick once. My dogs used to pick them up for a pastime when I walked them up there, but they move pretty slowly and I'd quite often see them climbing up the dogs legs when I got back to the car and just brush them off. They appear to need a bit of time to find a suitable spot (under the dogs collar was favorite) and latch on.

I had never even heard off ticks until coming on this forum. Never had one either, saying that I've also never been bitten by a mosquito or similar. They dont like me!

But I may invest in a removal tool anyway.

Thinking though, if you wore tight Lycra wouldn't they only be able to latch on to visible skin?

The guys at the Ben Nevis Distillery said a few spots of diesel on your cap to keep midges away, might work with tics, a few drops on your riding shoes? And it's only slightly carcinogenic 😉

I wonder how many people who have been diagnosed with ME actually have Lymes Disease. Sent the link to the website to a mate whose girlfriend has exactly the symptoms described but has been diagnosed with ME.

Seems to me from reading that lots of people who have had Lymes weren't aware of it for a very long time until they sussed it by chance. Makes me wonder how many cases go undiagnosed.

Tool on order