Does DEET damage gear?

The gear fear is real. Apply some DEET and you might see the overspray permanently damage your watch face or sunglasses, or start to destroy your fancy raincoat. We’ve had hundreds of people share similar stories with us. It’s hard not to think, “If it’s doing that to the plastic in my clothes, what the hell is it doing to the plastic in my harness, rope, or webbing?” Definitively proving that no bug spray will ever damage any climbing gear is practically impossible, but we tested the most common chemicals used for bug spray on the most common fibers used for life supporting gear. The 4 most common chemicals used for bug spray are DEET, Permethrin, Picaridin and Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus. We found the most popular spray with each active ingredient in the highest common concentration. We then filled up a glass jar with each product and added slings. You might say that isn’t a realistic test, "I don’t soak my climbing gear in bug spray." I hope not, its super gross. Our thought is this is worst case exposure, if this doesn't damage your climbing soft goods, a spill in your backpack or overspray won’t either. HMPE, Nylon, and Polyester are the three most common fibers used in life-supporting ropes, slings and harnesses. Of course, there are variations depending on the manufacturer and treatment. We chose to test slings bc they have the fewest variables and are easy to test. The slings we used. https://hownot2.com/products/pes-sling-16mm https://hownot2.com/products/8mm-bio-dyneema-o-sling https://hownot2.com/products/tubular-pa-20-o-sling See all the data here https://hownot2.com/pages/bug-spray-on-climbing-gear See the sunscreen episode at https://youtu.be/R44CWWezq0o 👉 Learn and SHOP at https://www.hownot2.com/ 👉 Best EMAILS on Earth: https://www.hownot2.com/signup 👉 10% off ROCKY TALKIE by clicking https://www.hownot2.com/rocky