Mosquitoes, ticks, red bugs, this isn’t your average camp chat. We’re talking real field-tested bug defense and how it ties straight into keeping your faith sharp and your walk strong.
In this episode of the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast, host Chris Speir takes you deep into mosquito season with no fluff and no gimmicks—just real outdoor experience. Broadcasting from under the tarp at Camp Wut-Da-Heck, Chris shares personal stories of getting eaten alive by bugs, the dangers of mosquito-borne illnesses like West Nile and Lyme disease, and his hard-learned lessons from red bug bites and backwoods blunders.
We walk through:
Real risks: West Nile, Zika, Alpha-Gal, and more
Why natural repellents like dog fennel and American beautyberry work—and how to make your own tinctures
Which commercial repellents are actually worth using (Permethrin, Thermacell, Picaridin, and more)
Common bug myths that don’t work (bracelets, dryer sheets, essential oil patches)
DIY candle experiments with garlic powder, coffee grounds, and citronella
A spiritual parallel: how bug defense mirrors preparing for spiritual warfare
Practical steps to get spiritually ready: Scripture intake, prayer, obedience, and accountability
Chris ends the show by tying together real camping advice with raw biblical truth. Because it’s not enough to know what gear to pack—you also need to guard your soul.
(upbeat music)
Welcome to the Primitive
Camping
and Bushcraft
Podcast.
I'm your host,
Chris Speir.
So here we're
gonna talk about
gear,
red and the kind
of stories you
only get around
the fire.
It's all about learning,
adapting
and keeping your
faith strong.
So whether
you're a
seasoned outdoorsman
or just looking
to
unplug and reconnect,
you're in the
right place.
So pull up a chair
by the fire and
let's get
into it.
All right, welcome
back to the
Primitive Camping
and Bushcraft
Podcast.
And we are down
here
at Camp What the
Heck
underneath the
tarp.
And I got everything
set up.
It's starting to
rain a
little bit on
and off.
I got some
thunder
in the background,
so don't be
alarmed.
It's all 100%
natural.
It's 100% natural
gray day.
But today we're gonna
be talking
about skater
defense.
As Bill put it on
our Primitive
Camping and Bushcraft
group
I put out there.
Hey, give me some topics
that y'all
wanna know about.
And Bill, he
decided to
go ahead and
reply back,
skater defense.
So today we're
gonna
talk all about
mosquitoes
and critters and
bugs and natural
ways
and store bought
ways and
all these different
ways
as we're watching
the dogs rummage
through the weeds
in the woods here
and
try to find some
turtles.
So bug season has
officially
arrived
here in South
Mississippi.
And actually
I don't
think it ever
went away.
It kind of goes away
a little bit
during the wintertime.
We really
don't get
that heavy of a
winter.
We get maybe three
or four weeks of
solid freezing
cold,
but the rest of
the time
is just camping
weather.
And you have
probably
already been swatting
skaters
just like I have
been every time
you go outside
the door.
And it's just an
ongoing thing.
So today's
episode
is all about
that.
It's no hype.
It's field tested
and
what you're gonna
hear here
actually works in
the woods.
And also we're gonna
go over a
spiritual
reminder
to keep you
sharp.
So let's talk
briefly
about the real
dangers.
You know, why
mosquitoes
are more than a
nuisance.
And the real dangers
of mosquitoes
are like West
Nile,
Zika, you know, and
then you got
ticks and stuff
like that
that carry Lyme
disease and
alpha-Gol
syndrome.
And you know,
West Nile
virus is the most
common
of the mosquito-borne
illnesses in
the United
States.
And it can cause flu-like
symptoms.
And in rare cases,
severe
neurological
damage.
There's constant
cases of
West Nile virus
going on
in Mississippi
every year.
You get several
different counties,
you know,
people getting the
West Nile.
And then the
other one,
which is the Zika
virus
has been linked to
birth defects
and it's relatively
rare in the US,
but now it's
gained serious
attention
because of
outbreaks in South
America.
I know they have
had
Zika virus in
Florida
at one point a year
or two ago.
Another one of
these
things is Lyme
disease
is carried by the
black leg ticks
and early symptoms
include the
rash, fever and
fatigue.
But if it's untreated,
it could
cause joint pain,
severe system
issues.
And Lyme disease,
from what I understand,
is like a
permanent
type deal, you
know.
And the ticks also
carry the
alpha-gal
syndrome
and it is
what they
call the red meat
allergy.
It's triggered
by a bite
from the lone
star tick
and it causes delayed
reactions
after eating beef,
pork or lamb.
Then there's the
common
ones and the
other ones
that are common from
years back,
like malaria,
yellow fever and
dengue.
And they're
not as
commonly transmitted
here in the United
States,
but they still are
serious risks in
many parts of the
world.
And I know you
had to
get different
vaccines
and stuff like that
if he's going
to different
places
in the military
when
I was in the
military.
And you're not,
you're
always gonna be
susceptible,
susceptible,
how do
you say these
words,
susceptible to different
things at
different places.
You know, these risks
for these
malaria and yellow
fevers
and dengue is always,
you know,
particularly in tropical
regions.
And if you ever
travel abroad,
especially
Central
and South
America,
Africa and Southeast
Asia,
mosquito
protection becomes
critical.
You know, you need
to make sure
that you are
protecting
yourself from the
bites.
You know, I have
had,
I got several little
short stories
to share with you
about, you know,
being ate up.
And one was I was
younger and me
and some friends,
we decided that we
were gonna go
camping out on
the river
in the middle of
the summertime
and fish all
night
long and eat the
fish
that we caught on
the bank.
And we was gonna
cook it over
a fire
and we were gonna
camp out on the
sandbar and it
was good.
And we didn't have
a tent, we
didn't have
anything.
And we got there
and
we didn't bring
any kind
of mosquito repellent
at all.
And I'm telling
you,
I've never been
eaten
by so many mosquitoes
in my life.
There was not a spot
on my body
that did not
have a
bug bite on it,
you know,
except for the,
like
your breeches and
underwear
where they
couldn't get up
in there.
But, you know,
I had
mosquitoes all
over my legs
and my arms, my
back, my neck,
my head.
I mean, I
was just
covered in bites
to the point
to where I felt like
I was having a
allergic reaction
to all the bites
from these mosquitoes.
And it's a wonder
that I did not
come down with
something.
Or if I did, you know,
I was just
never diagnosed
with it.
But we stayed on
the sandbar that
night
and the only
way to
keep the mosquitoes
from actually biting
us was to bury
ourselves in the
sand.
It was stupid or
get into the
water.
If you got into
the water, you
know,
then the alligators
were coming in
the look
and we could see
the alligators
swimming up and
down
throughout the
night.
And I was like,
man, this is
miserable.
So, well, we, we
tucked it out.
We stayed
there and
we ended up
catching
a few fish and
everything.
Like I said, we
were young.
But there was another
instance
where I got into
the red bugs
or, you know, the
chiggers.
This was, this
was horrible.
Red bugs,
if you've
ever had red bugs
before,
a few hundred bites
from a red bug
will make you
wish like
somebody would just
end your life.
I mean, it's
stupid.
It's stupid, I know,
but still,
they itch
insanely.
It's the most
insane
itch I've
ever had.
Me and my son
went on
a early season
bow hunt
in Southwest Mississippi.
And we got on a draw
hunt out there
and we got
to go to
one of the state
parks.
And this place
is known
for some very
large deer.
And so we were
out there.
We were out there
walking through
all kinds
of stuff,
scouting it out and
everything.
And when we got
there,
it was, I want
to say,
it was like 70
degrees.
Yeah, it was around
70 degrees,
something like
that all day.
And then it might've
dropped down
into the fifties.
It wasn't
too cold.
It wasn't
too hot.
It was fall.
And we got into
the woods.
And man, let me tell
you, we walked
through some
ferns
and I looked down
and
my legs were
covered
by thousands upon
thousands of red
bugs.
And man, let
me tell
you, they got
inside
and they were, got
inside my pants
and got inside
my shirt
and they got
everywhere.
And they just ate
me alive.
It was ridiculous
how
many bug bites
we had.
And they itched for
two weeks and
you scratch them.
And what you're doing
is you're
taking the
bacteria
that's all
on these
bugs and you're
rubbing it
into the sore
and it
causes you to get
sick.
I wish I remember
what
they caught, what
it was.
After that, I was
deathly
sick for about
two weeks
after getting
ate up
with these red
bugs so bad
that I thought I had
Lyme disease,
but it was another
way.
It was rickettsia
is
the name I really
had.
I had rickettsia.
Dude, I'm talking
high fevers.
It was all the
symptoms of Lyme
disease.
They put me
on the
doxycycline and
everything.
And that took a
good 10
days for it to
go away.
But man, I was
so sick.
And from that day
forward, you can
bet your bottom
dollar,
I had some kind
of protection
whenever I went into
the woods.
So that is my little
personal
stories about
this.
So the thing about
it is modern,
modern repellents
are great.
But a lot of times
modern
repellents cause
like different,
the side effects are
worse than the
actual disease
sometimes.
The side effects
to like
deets and stuff
like that
is that you're
putting a
heavy duty chemical
on you
and it could cause
some cancer or
it can cause
burns.
It could cause
allergic
reactions, stuff
like that.
Whereas you're
putting this deed
on you
just to protect
you
from a few mosquito
bites.
You know, deep base
sprays are most
common these
days,
but they leave
a very
greasy light
residue.
And if you get it
on your gear,
it kind of
destroys
like plastic
gear.
It damages your
plastic or synthetic
gear.
Has a real strong
chemical smell.
And it'll damage
like your watch
faces.
If you have sunglasses,
it'll
damage your sunglasses.
It, I mean, it
does different
things.
Tense material, tent
materials,
it will actually burn
through them
or render them non-water
resistant
or waterproof
anymore.
So it's really, it's
really very,
a lot of people
complain about
the cost
and the constant
having
to reapply this
stuff.
And it doesn't matter
if you buy
high quality
sprays,
it's still gonna
be expensive.
The high quality
stuff
is gonna be
expensive.
And if you're
going
on multi-day
trips,
you have to
take a
ton of it
with you.
And even so-called
natural options
often wear off
very quickly
and they require
frequent reapplication.
So no matter what
you're gonna do,
you're gonna have
to frequently
reapplicate these
things
and try to figure
out what actually,
I mean, what is a good
way to do it
because it depends
on
how much you're
sweating.
Has it been
raining?
Has it, you know,
stuff like that.
That is going to
determine how
often you have to
reapply
these sprays and stuff
like that.
Now I can't stand
mosquito off.
I cannot stand
DEET.
I don't like
having
to spray myself
down
with that stuff.
I do it because
it works
and it works on a
broad spectrum of
insects.
But you know, like
in deer season,
you can't use the
DEET.
And we're gonna
get into that,
what I actually
use
there a little
bit later.
But there
are some
more natural type
things.
Smoke, smoke is
a natural,
it is nature's original
repellent.
Sitting in the
smoke around the
fire
is, it has
a bunch
of benefits
to it.
Sitting in the
smoke of a good
campfire
helps keep the
bugs at bay.
It also helps get
rid of bacteria
on you.
And it actually eats
away all the
nasty smelling
bacteria.
So you're gonna
smell like a
campfire,
but you're not gonna
smell a stinky
type, if you
follow me.
It's relatively
helpful.
If you add some
green
pine needles to
the fire,
you add some sage
or some cedar
bark
or some kind of something
oily or
something to that
effect,
it will, it gives
off real good
repellent properties
too.
And you don't
have to
build such a hot
fire.
You can make a little
bitty fire
in the middle of
the summertime,
and just put you
some
natural stuff
in there
and let the
smokes
go ahead and
linger
and get rid
of some
of these skater
bugs,
all these things
around camp.
But here is one
of my
favorites is dog
fennel.
You've heard me
talk,
if you've read
my book,
if you watch
videos on
my spare outdoors
channel
or TikTok
channels
or anything like
that,
you've seen me use
dog fennel
in this kind of application
before.
And it is an extremely
useful weed.
I mean, not only can
you start your
fires with this
stuff,
but you can also
use
it as a bug
repellent.
And I've done several
videos on it.
You can rub it on
your skin.
You can wipe it
onto your skin
and actually use
it that way.
The oils will transfer
from the
actual plant to
your skin
and that will
help.
It's not as
effective
that way, but it
will help.
You can take the actual
dog fennel
and you can lay
it down
on the coals of
a fire
and let it sit there
and smolder.
And that will put
off a smoke
and the bugs don't
like that smell
or don't like
that.
I guess there's some
kind of oils
in that smoke or
whatever.
And like I said,
you can
actually rub it
on your,
directly onto
your skin.
And some folks will
actually take
the dog fennel
itself
as it's green,
because
it's got all the
oils in it
when it's still
alive and it's
green.
And you'll take that
dog fennel
and you'll
soak it
inside of some
70% or higher
isopropyl alcohol
or
like vodka or
Everclear
or something to
that nature.
Don't use methanol
and don't use
denatured alcohol
for that.
You wanna use just
the isopropyl,
or green alcohol
with it for,
you don't know if
you're gonna be
allergic to this
stuff
if you've never
used this stuff
before.
So be very careful,
rub a little
bit on your skin,
make sure you don't
break out first
before you do it.
Now, another
application to
this is that
any of these things
that I'm
talking about
naturally,
where you're
using
chemicals, not
chemicals,
but you're using
natural
leaves and herbs
and plants
and stuff
like that
mixed with
alcohol,
that's gonna turn
the alcohol
green.
And if you spray
it on your
clothing or white
clothing
in particular,
it's
gonna turn it
green.
And it's very
hard
for it to
come out.
So now as with any
field remedy,
this isn't a perfect
repellent,
but it is very effective
whenever
you don't have
smoke
or commercial
sprays
or anything like
that.
So it is effective,
it's better than
nothing,
and it does work,
and it actually
works in conjunction
with the smoke
even better.
So one of the
things that you
wanna do
is you wanna wear
long sleeves.
You wanna wear
loose pants.
On here, I got hoods
and bug nets,
but I don't wear
hoodies.
I don't wear bug
nets
because it's
cumbersome.
You wanna
keep your
wrists and your ankles
covered.
I never do, some
people do.
I'm seeing now
where
people are using
duct tape
and it's catching
ticks and stuff
like that.
It's all over the
socials.
And the social webs,
the social
webs of the
interwebs
or whatever you
wanna
call it, the
Googles.
You wanna avoid high
activity times
like dawn
and dusk
when mosquitoes are
the thickest.
You wanna
tuck your
pant legs into
your socks
if you're hiking
through tick prone
areas.
Stuff like that.
When we were in
the military,
we used to have blousing
straps.
You blouse your pants
over your
boots, stuff like
that.
Now, there are
repellents that really
do work,
and we're gonna
talk
about these in just
a minute,
but I wanna cover
one more natural
thing,
and then we'll
get
into some DIY
type stuff.
And American Beauty
Berry is
extremely, extremely
effective
and it was used
by settlers.
It was used in early
civilizations.
It's a shrub size
plant.
It's a very loose
arching shrub
that usually
grows
about three to six
feet tall,
sometimes taller
in ideal conditions.
Its leaves are
opposite
oval shaped and
toothed,
say that a thousand
times fast,
along all the
edges.
It keeps it rough
looking,
is kind of rough
looking with a
dull green color
on top
and a lighter,
slightly fuzzy
underside.
When crushed, the
leaves give off
a very distinct
earthy smell.
And remember,
we was
talking about an
earthy
or a distinct
smell
with a doll
fennel.
Now, the thing that
sets American
Beauty Berry
apart
is that it has
berries.
That's why we
call it
American Beauty
Berry.
They're purple.
They're a very beautiful
purple
color, purplish
color.
And they are the
real giveaway.
They're bright
purple berries
that grow
in tight clusters
around
the stem, not at
the ends.
They grow around
the
stem in several
places
up and down the
stem.
And these clusters
look almost like
somebody hot glued
them together.
Like they
were hot
glued there on
purpose.
And the berries
appear late in
summer and into
the fall.
And you can't
miss them.
Like if you see
American Beauty
Berry,
you're gonna know
what it is.
And a lot of
people see these
plants
and don't know
it is
American Beauty
Berry.
And they're
like, I
don't know what
that is.
I've done videos and
they're like,
oh, that's the plant
in my yard.
I've had it there
for years.
These berries are
edible.
They're 100%
edible.
You can eat them.
You can make jellies
out of them.
You can do whatever,
you know,
survival food or
anything.
The stems of this
plant are thin,
flexible,
and they're almost
like
a light brown or
reddish
and not very woody
like a tree.
And you typically
find it in open
woods
along field edges
or in shady
ditches
across the South
Eastern United
States.
It thrives in
poor sandy
soil and partial
shade.
Now the American
Beauty
Berry is what I
have used
countless times
with
70% isopropyl
alcohol.
And I'll take a jar
and I will fill
it up with the
leaves
and I will fill it
up with the,
I will cover the
leaves in the
alcohol.
I like to use the
90% actually.
And I'll fill it
up above
and let it sit
for, you
know, a week or
10 days.
And then after
that,
you're gonna have
a very dark
green,
almost looks like
it.
You remember dyeing
Easter eggs
when you were
younger?
That's exactly what
it looks like.
It looks like the
Easter egg dye.
And the Poss,
P-A-S-S, Poss or
whatever,
Easter eggs dye.
And you add the
vinegar and that
little peel
and it turns it to
whatever color.
(laughs)
My hands were
always
constantly
stained.
The juice
that this
thing's gonna
make,
the tincture it's
gonna make,
it is gonna be like
a thick green.
And that stuff really
does work.
And these leaves,
they, you can
take the alcohol,
rub it all over you
or spray it on
you and rub it
around.
And it's gonna
keep the,
it's gonna
keep the
scooter bugs away
for sure.
And, but you
gotta keep
constantly reapplying,
especially in humid
conditions or
when it's
real hot.
Now, I got some DIY
solutions here
that I've been going
through that
I've been working
on.
And I'm gonna be doing
some videos
on this here
soon.
Is coffee
grounds,
making some candles
with coffee
grounds infused
with it.
And the grounds
are
added to the
hot wax
and they're
used to
give off an
aroma.
And we're gonna
test
the coffee grounds
with,
I know which will
work
is the garlic
powder.
Do a candle with
garlic powder
in it.
Not only will it
smell pretty,
it's going to
actually,
the garlic will
actually get
rid of,
the garlic smell
will get rid of
the scooter bugs.
Hey guys, back in
the studio here
and I'm doing the
editing for this
video.
And I just wanted
to
drop in and let
you know
that I'm also gonna
be doing some
more experiments.
And I'm thinking
about
using some real
dog fennel
and some candles.
And I'm really gonna
use some
American beauty
berry
in a few candles.
Well, just to see
how that goes.
All right, now back
to the show.
Citronella, lemongrass,
tea tree
oil, stuff like
that,
applying it to your
clothes and
using it in
candles.
It does work
in it,
but it's gotta be
reapplied very
frequently.
And it's best
for a
static camp type
setup.
You put your
citronella candles
out there.
Everybody knows
citronella does work
to a degree
and it's somewhat
effective.
Everybody has citronella
for their
back porch or
whatever,
stuff like that.
Now, repellents
that do work,
and we're
gonna go
over some
of these,
is the sawyer,
percaridine,
percaridine, percaridine.
Sawyer makes a
spray called
percaridine
spray.
It's odorless, it's
gear safe,
and it lasts very
long for a long
time.
Now, there's another
one that we'll
get to in
a minute.
Deep works good.
It's still, it's
effective, but
it's greasy
and it damages your
synthetic gear
or any kind of
plastic
gear, stuff like
that.
But it works in
a pinch
and it's the most
common.
Everybody's gonna
use it whenever
they go out into
the woods
or to go fishing
or you
go hiking or
whatever,
you're always
gonna
spray down with
off.
Everybody
does it,
almost everybody
does it.
I'm guilty.
I'll get out
there
and I'll spray
it down.
I don't like the
way it makes
me feel
and I have
to take
a shower afterwards,
but that's the nature
of the beast.
Permethrin or
pimethrin,
whichever way you
wanna pronounce
it.
This stuff is very
effective
and this is
what I
use all the time.
It was originally
developed for military
use,
believe it
or not.
It's gotta be diluted
down.
You could
find this
stuff in the
outdoors,
camping stores
in a
can, saw your
mate some
and it's pimethrin
and you spray
your clothes down
with it.
There's another
kind that you
could do
and this is what
we had
to do in the
military.
You go to your
little, your co-op
store,
your farm supply
store, your feed
stores,
stuff like that and
you could buy a
bottle of pimethrin,
but it has to be,
it's the super
duper concentrated
stuff
and this is what
they
use to spray on
your horses
and stuff
like that
to keep the flies
away.
Spray it around
your barns
and stuff to keep
all the insects
down.
But I have used
this
with extreme
success
and I don't have tumors
growing or
anything like
that,
to my knowledge,
but it has been
used
for a long time in
the military
and I have
used it
in a civilian
setting.
I dilute it down.
There is different
formulas out
there for you to
dilute it
and the dilution
formula is going
to be
on the package insert
that you buy
it from the feed
store.
So on the bottle
of the
stuff, it'll tell
you,
you got to dilute
it
down to 0.5%,
0.10%,
something to that
effect.
And you just
dilute
it now with
water.
Now, the bad thing
about pimethrin
is the fact
that it
is lethal
to cats.
If cat comes in contact
with it
whenever it's wet
and it touches it
and gets it on
there,
it will kill your
cat.
That's something
there.
But, dilute it down
according to
your package
directions
and then you're
going
to take your
clothes
and you're going
to soak your
clothes in this
pimethrin.
And then you're
going
to let them air
dry.
Do not put it in
a dryer.
You're going to,
because
the heat from the
dryer
is actually going
to break it down
and render it
ineffective.
But you're going
to soak your
clothes in this
stuff
and then you're
going to hang
it out
and you're going to
let it air dry.
Now, here's the
kicker.
When it's
wet, the
first time you
apply it,
when it's wet, put
on gloves.
It's the carcinogen.
So put on gloves.
It's a neurotoxin,
I
believe it is or
whatever.
Too much exposure
to it's bad for
you.
But once it dries
out,
then it's rendered
safe
but it's still bad
for the insect.
So go figure.
It's probably still
bad for us.
But this is, it works
for weeks
and you can actually
wash your
clothes multiple
times.
I think six
weeks.
You can wash your clothes
six times
and it's still be
effective.
So, I mean,
that's a
pretty good
solution
to your mosquitoes
and
ticks situation
there.
If you are into that
sort of thing.
Now, one of the
things
that I use constantly
is the thermosail.
And a lot of deer
hunters use the
thermosail
and it is huge
down here in the
South
because thermosails
work.
You buy you a
thermosail unit
for $20.
You buy you a refill
unit for $20
and you get 12, 24,
36 hours worth
the mosquito free
use out of it.
And it uses a
propane or
butane little
cartridge
that you insert screw
in there.
And then you put
these
little cards in
there.
They're a chemical
pad
and these have a
Lutheran,
A-L-L-E-T-H-R-I-N
on them.
And they heat
up and
it generates
a smoke
and that smoke
generates
a 15 foot protection
area.
So if you had
two of
them, when you go
camping,
case in point,
my last
video where Dave
and I
went camping down
the river, he
brought his
thermosail
and set it up in
the camp.
We didn't get bit
by one
mosquito all
night long.
And a thermosail
is amazing.
And I use it everywhere
I go.
If I am going to
be camping,
I usually have my
thermosail
with me.
If I'm going hunting,
I dang sure
got my thermosail
with me
because you can't
use your deets
or any of your
other
things while you're
hunting
because you're going
to get off,
give off your scent,
your location.
The deer is going
to
smell you,
whatever.
But you can
use the
permethrin on your
clothing.
And I've done
that
with great
success
and I've still
harvested
deer and stuff
like that.
But the thermosail
is field proven
and it is, I've
used
it during deer
season
sitting in the
tree stand.
So it's going
to get a
little loud here
guys.
I got the rain going
and so we're
just going to
keep on
pushing through.
We got a little
bit more to go
here.
So we did the
thermosail.
Now, Flextail has
one that is just
like the thermosail.
Flextail has
a, it's
called a tiny
repel.
And this thing is
the similar
basis,
but it doesn't
use propane.
It uses electricity.
You charge it
up and
you get like
eight hours
or nine hours on
one charge.
Then they have another
one which
does the same
thing.
It's a lightweight
little lantern
and it has the
pads in there
that you can
actually
put the pads in
there
and it does the
same
thing as the max
repel.
It does the same
thing as the
thermosail.
It puts off a
little
smoke, a little
mist.
It gets rid
of all
the skitter bugs.
Now the thing
that
the thermosail
has
that the other one's
don't is the
thermosail is
propane
and you know it's going
to warm up.
It's going to
heat up.
The other one is battery
operated.
So the more you
charge it
and the more you
use it,
the faster your batteries
are going
to start draining
in the long run.
So now let's talk
about what does
not work.
Mosquito bracelets,
essential oil
patches,
sound frequency
devices,
dryer sheets,
oils that
evaporate
quickly without
reapplication.
And these items
do not work.
I can't tell
you how
many times people
are like,
oh, I got that little
citronella
bracelet I put on
and I go out with
it and it works.
It probably works
because you're moving
too fast
for the bugs to keep
up with you
when you're
hiking.
That's probably
why,
because the bracelets
do not work.
They do not work.
Either that or they
do not work in
South Mississippi.
And I can tell you
that right now.
So the dryer
sheets,
that was a little
fag going around
there for
a while.
People thought
the
dryer sheets would
actually
keep the bugs
away.
It does not work.
It is often a
gimmick
and it's not what
everybody thinks
it is.
It's just a dryer
sheet.
So all your essential
oils,
you have to constantly
keep
refilling these
things.
I mean, you could
probably, they probably
would,
depending on what
you got.
I know certain
flavors like
spearmint
and all your mint
flavors are
designed
to keep flies away
and stuff,
but mosquitoes, it
does not work.
Now look, all this
talk about bugs,
it might seem
just
like another camping
trip,
but when we're
out
here in the
woods,
it's a reminder
of
something a lot
deeper.
You can't always
see
what's trying to
get to you.
Mosquitoes don't
announce themselves.
They sneak in,
they bite,
they leave you scratching
long
after they're
gone.
That's a lot like the
way spiritual
attacks work too.
You know, 1 Peter
5,
chapter five,
verse eight,
says, quote, "Be
sober, be
diligent,
because your
adversary
the devil walks
about
like a rowing
lion
seeking whom he
may devour."
You don't always
hear the
mosquitoes before
it bites.
It's the same thing
with the enemy,
silent, patient,
and deadly.
And if you're not
watchful, hmm.
He waits for the
moment
that you drop
your guard.
And when you're tired,
whenever
you're distracted,
and then he slips
in unnoticed.
And that's why covering
yourself
beforehand
matters,
because not just
with
repellent in the
woods,
but with prayer.
Gimmicks and
shortcuts won't
keep you safe.
They don't
keep you
safe in the
woods,
and they're not
gonna
keep you safe in
your walk.
A bug bracelet might
sound a lot
easier than the
spray
or something, you
just throw it on
your wrist or
whatever.
But if it won't
hold up in the
swamp full of
mosquitoes,
it's the same
thing with your
faith.
Quick fixes, feel
good quotes,
and surface level
stuff like short
daily devotionals,
ain't gonna carry
you
when the real
trials hit.
Now I'm not
cutting
down on daily
devotionals.
They can't feed
you,
they can't help
you.
But if you
are not
getting into your
word,
and you're
reading
just the daily
devotionals
and counting that
as your Bible
time,
then that's not gonna
be effective
whenever you get
attacked.
Those things
aren't bad,
but they don't
replace
digging into the
word
of God for
yourself.
You need real stuff,
and let's go
over what's real.
You need to start
your
day off with
Scripture,
not a verse of
the day.
You need to go
ahead
and pull out a
chapter,
read a chapter, open
your Bible,
and actually read
it slowly and
fully.
And then ask the
Lord to
speak to you
through it.
Pray before your
day starts,
before the enemy
gets a
foothold in your
thoughts.
Give God the
first word.
Cover your day in
prayer,
like you sprayed
on
your bug repellent
before you hit
the trail.
Go ahead and
memorize the
Scripture.
Don't do it for
show.
Do it for
the Bible
whenever you need
it.
When temptation
hits, you need
truth,
and you need
to be
ready to fire
back.
Stay accountable.
Don't walk alone,
find a friend,
find a brother in
Christ who sharpens
you
and holds you to
the standard.
And for example, me
and Dave went,
we went fishing
the
other day
kayaking,
and we caught a
couple fish.
You know, when I
say couple, one
each.
And he was like,
"Man, let's go
to Ward's
and get us a
hamburger."
And I was like,
"That's a great
idea.
Let's go to
Ward's."
And he said, "Wait
a second.
You can't go to
Ward's?"
I said, "Why
not?"
He said, "Because
you're on
a diet."
That is accountability.
He helped me be
accountable to stay
on my diet
and not to veer
off just
because it was
something
I wanted to
go do.
Now, I know that's
nothing to do
with the devotion,
but that's just a
little example
about an accountability.
Find somebody
that
help you stay
accountable.
Obey the small
things.
You know,
when the
Lord tells you
something,
delayed obedience
is disobedience.
If God tells
you to
lay something
down
or to pick something
up, do it.
Right then, right
there.
All these steps
are how
you prep for your
week.
It's how you prep
for your day.
It's just like
if you
would prep your
gear
to go on a trip.
When you go out
into the
woods, you prep
your gear.
You get everything
ready.
You get it out there
on purpose.
You don't take shortcuts
when
you're packing
your gear.
Why are you gonna take
shortcuts on
your spiritual
wall?
You don't spray bug
repellent on
after you've already
been bitten.
I mean, sometimes people
get bitten
and that's their
reminder to put
it on.
You know, you have
to prepare
before that
trial.
Yeah, my personal
story is that
I was laying in an
emergency room
bed looking at
the ceiling
thinking I was
gonna
die having a heart
attack.
I went into
A-field.
They were gonna have
to shock me.
Whenever they do
cardio versions
and stuff like
that,
there's one or 2,000
chance that
you don't come
back.
And I was sitting
there laying
in bed
and looking
at the
ceiling and I'm
like,
Lord, it's time I
gave my life
to you.
And it's crazy
that it takes
something
like that
to get you going in
the direction
that you need
to go
to actually follow
in the Lord.
So smoke drives
off bugs.
The Holy Spirit
pushes back the
things
that try to
distract,
discourage and
derail us.
He will do for
you what the
mosquito spray is
gonna do
to keep the bugs
away.
He's gonna be
that shield.
And just like all
these other
sprays and stuff
like that,
you have to continually
reapply it.
Every day reapply
God's word to
your heart.
His mercies are new
every morning.
What that
means is
that it's new
every day.
Every single day.
But that's
gonna do
it for the day,
guys.
Thank you so much
for this
wonderful fireside
talk.
And I hope everybody
enjoyed this.
If you like what
you hear,
go ahead slip into
the Primitive
Camping in Bushcraft
group
on Facebook and
there's a post
there with,
hey, what do you
wanna hear this
week?
And leave
a comment
and we'll talk
about it.
All right, guys, thank
you so much.
And we will see
you on the next
one.
God bless you.
Thanks for
sitting
around the fire
with me today.
If this episode
gave you
something to think
about,
it may help you
feel a
little bit more
prepared
or it even
stirred
your faith a tiny
bit.
Go ahead and
share
it with someone
else
who might need it
as well.
We don't go
camping
to run away from
life.
We come out
here to
slow down and
reach heart.
So grab another log,
throw it on
the fire and remember
this.
In all your ways,
acknowledge him
and he will direct
your path.
I'll see you next
time.
God bless you.