How Do You Protect Your Legs.....

2937 Views 40 Replies 30 Participants Last post by tkrabec, Jun 17, 2004

MomInGa

Discussion Starter · Jun 5, 2004

I may have missed this somewhere so will ask it here. How do yall protect your legs, etc, while working outside?
It soon will be so hot here and wearing jeans and all in the summer heat is hard to do. Wearing shorts, or summer dresses is much cooler. But with so many bugs outside that bite, what do yall do to protect yourself? I really hate using products like OFF and such. (dont like putting toxins on my skin)
What do yall use to protect yourself when outside, in the yard?
In the woods, I think I would always wear jeans pretty much (snakes,etc) but when working in the yard, with animals, or gardens,... what do yall do?

1 - 20 of 41 Posts

countrygrrrl

· #2 · Jun 5, 2004

I think it depends on how far along your place is, in terms of cleanup, critters not liking coming onto your land, etc. My neighbors run around hither and yon in little shorts, but I ALWAYS wear jeans, no matter how hot it is. I wear sandals or go barefoot in the immediate yard, but always wear boots when i get further away.

I spray the clothes with bug spray.

The jeans help protect against stuff flying around (mowing etc) and make it more difficult for snakes and other critters to bite. !! The boots protect against all the junk in the ground.

Someday maybe i won't have to wear jeans. But I'm not there yet. YMMV.

Strange Bear

· #3 · Jun 5, 2004

I will usually wear supplex nylon pants that I bought from Land's End years ago. They wear like iron, I snagged on pair with a saw and there is barely a hole. Cooler than jeans but then I am sure that Indiana is a little cooler than wear you live. I am not sure where to get any now though, maybe try some of the camping, backpacking sources. Good Luck
P.S. I also don't have to worry about snakes here, just ticks.

Jagger

· #4 · Jun 5, 2004

I wear leggings made out of brain-tanned buckskin. The buckskin breathes really well. Mine goes just above my knee, i then use garters to hold in place. I usually will wear shorts with them, i sometimes will wear a breechcloth. Of course i wear center-seam moccasins. I wear this outfit while working in the yard or while im galavanting thru the woods.

Jagger

MelissaW

· #5 · Jun 5, 2004

I have the same problem, MominGa. Jagger, do you have any buckskins that go below the knee? If so, how do they wear in the knees? I wear jeans all year for protection when I'm working, but I blow the knees out so fast, that it hurts when I kneel. I've been looking for something that wears hard in the knees. I don't like kneepads because they cut into the backs of my legs. Thanks. Good luck, MominGa! I don't know of any good solution!

Jagger

· #6 · Jun 5, 2004

Melissa,
Yes you can cut the leggings to any desired length. Mine are attached at the knee via garters then the extra 5 inches or so just kinda stand up on their own or i'll fold it down. You could take a favorite pair or 2 of jeans and sew some leather patches on the knees. These leggins are great if made out of wool and wear in the winter time over your pants. They really ad warmth without bulk.

Jagger

Sarah J

· #7 · Jun 5, 2004

MomInGa said:
I may have missed this somewhere so will ask it here. How do yall protect your legs, etc, while working outside?
It soon will be so hot here and wearing jeans and all in the summer heat is hard to do. Wearing shorts, or summer dresses is much cooler. But with so many bugs outside that bite, what do yall do to protect yourself? I really hate using products like OFF and such. (dont like putting toxins on my skin)
What do yall use to protect yourself when outside, in the yard?
In the woods, I think I would always wear jeans pretty much (snakes,etc) but when working in the yard, with animals, or gardens,... what do yall do?

I drink sakanjabim. Those middle ages people had it right! This is sort of a medieval Gatorade...it's a vinegar and sugar drink. We start drinking a glass a day starting about now. Within a week or so the bugs *don't like you* at all. Continue drinking a glass a day - the vinegar in your system keeps the nasties away. It doesn't help with things like sunburn, flying objects from the lawn mower, getting scratched by your protective roosters, etc, but it *does* make a terrific alternative to Deet - keeps ticks off, too!

2 quarts water
4 cups sugar
Heat over medium flame until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Add 4 fruity tea bags (I like blackberry or raspberry), 4 sliced oranges (peel and all - just toss it all in!), and 16 ounces of red wine vinegar. Cover and let it cool for several hours. Remove the tea bags and oranges, squeezing them out as you remove them. Bottle the syrup or put it in jars. We prefer it cold so refrigerate it or keep it in a cooler when we're camping. But it's *vinegar and sugar* so can sit on a shelf just as easily. DON'T try to drink this straight! This is a syrup - you mix it 1 part syrup to 3 parts cold water. My sister prefers hers warmed up but I can't stand warm drinks in the summer time!

We hear a lot of complaints about ticks and gnats and flies all summer long, but we just don't get bothered by them much.

-Sarah

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Ana Bluebird

· #8 · Jun 5, 2004

Just like the men, around here you can tell the true farm-ladies because we have white legs and very brown arms because we wear jeans of some kind to protect our legs. Spray all over with deet and make the most of it. A hat of some kind keeps the bugs and sun off your head.

chickflick

· #9 · Jun 5, 2004

Jagger said:
I wear leggings made out of brain-tanned buckskin. The buckskin breathes really well. Mine goes just above my knee, i then use garters to hold in place. I usually will wear shorts with them, i sometimes will wear a breechcloth. Of course i wear center-seam moccasins. I wear this outfit while working in the yard or while im galavanting thru the woods.

Jagger

WOW!! What a picture!! No wonder your wife is so ?? "Supportive" LOL!!

Cyngbaeld

· #10 · Jun 5, 2004

Living in the high mt desert of NW CO we mostly had cedar gnats and face flies to deal with. I took very fine nylon net and made 'gnat suits.' Use a dark color because you can't see thru the lighter color very well.
I made pants with elastic at the waist and ankles. Always wear closed shoes and socks. Made long sleeved shirt with elastic at the wrists and waist and a hood over the head and face that was sewn to the neck of the shirt. If you make the hood big enough you can put on a broad brimmed hat, then pull on the shirt over a light wt cotton shirt and you can wear shorts with it as well. Not sure how this works with skeeters. We did not have many of those.
Here is a picture of one that is sold retail. If you find a good price on the material you can make enough suits for several for less than it costs to buy one.

http://www.bug-out-outdoorwear.com/Premiums.html

sisterpine

· #11 · Jun 5, 2004

Hi: I know this may sound silly but it does get hot here in montana at seven thousand feet. If I am just doing yard work or not working with dangerous tools I wear mens pajama pants with the bottoms tucked into my socks to keep bugs/ticks off my legs. The fabric is light and air flows through it. When bugs are really bad I wear a pair that gets a light dose of bug off spray that never come in the house or go to the washer very often. I know it looks funny but it really works and is very cool and comfortable!

Jena

· #12 · Jun 5, 2004

well, i'm a "real" farmer and i where shorts. i can't stand the way jeans cling when i get sweaty and interfere with my movements. skirts are just a good way to trap an angry insect in there with you, though they are cooler. i wear sneakers or boots depending on what i'm doing. i will go barefoot occassionaly, but i think having barefeet or sandals on is asking for a foot injury.

i don't use bug spray. i get bit sometimes, but not too much. i get scratches, scrapes and such, but that's part of life.

jena

Oilpatch197

· #13 · Jun 5, 2004

If I'm in rattlesnake country I wear "snake Proof" pants, the kind you see in the cabela's catalog.

bgak47

· #14 · Jun 5, 2004

How about bear grease? Of course you have to have the bear, & then...

goatlady

· #15 · Jun 5, 2004

I usually wear sweat pants in the winter and knit cuffed "scrubs" in the summer. The scrubs are light weight cotton, cool, big handy pockets, and having the knit cuffs with socks over them keep the bugs from getting in at all. Easier to wash and dry and cooler and more flexible than jeans.

southerngurl

· #16 · Jun 5, 2004

I believe the vinegar makes the protein in your blood unavailable to biting insects. I typically just get bit, scratched and poked. I am almost always barefoot. My feet are so tough, I can run down a dirt road barefoot (till I hit some glass).

Someone was talking about tan patterns. Last year I had a major farmer's tan on my arms, and I was white all over, ecxept a football shaped area on my back. That was from bending over in the garden, my shirt would come up enough to expose part of my back. I had a nice golden tan strip on my back. :haha:

Caitedid

· #17 · Jun 6, 2004

I work all day in jeans and knee-high rubber boots, because I'd rather be sweaty than up to my knees in manure when cleaning pens. As far as bugs go, can you just wear heavy jeans like the unbleached Wranglers? I bought some when I lived in Montana, and although you have to run them over with the truck to soften them up, they definitely offer the most protection that I've found. As far as the heat, I try and enjoy the squish in my boots when I walk, and the general pruniness of my skin. :yeeha: Caite

southerngurl

· #18 · Jun 6, 2004

Geh! I'd rather the bites and scratches than sweat. Chillbumps are even preferable to being hot. :haha:

Caitedid

· #19 · Jun 6, 2004

Ah, I'm from Iowa. We don't need saunas, we have July, and my family doesn't believe in A/C! Ah, the masochistic tendencies of the rural midwesterner...

southerngurl

· #20 · Jun 6, 2004

I think A/C is necessary for human survival here.

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