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Poison Oak/Ivy/Sumac


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Thought I'd breach the subject as I know I am not the only one who deals with this; What do you do when detecting in areas that are thick with poison oak? Do you take any precautions with your detector, yourself, your other gear? Personally I use and carry Dawn dish soap which is probably one of the most well known preventative/treatments.

 

Some of the better areas I detect in are thick with this and I recently had a very bad bout with it after cleaning out a coyote hole, the entrance of which was covered with decomposing leaves (some of them poison oak - face, legs, and lungs all affected.)

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Prospecting and poison oak in Ca go hand in hand. I always wear a dust mask when digging placer spots and carry extra cloths in truck for drive home(bagging up trail cloths and using rubber gloves when in doubt) Soap up with dish washing liquid BEFORE getting hands/arms wet as the oils bind much better to the soap from your pours. Washing cloths in Simple Green works well for me. I also wear snake chaps over my BDU's and two layers of lite weight long sleeve shirts and leather gloves when diggin. Yeh i sweat like a pig but it beats having rash all over my body. When I get home i go into the shower with a bottle of dish soap and lather up from head to toe THEN turn on the water. If I have any doubts about it being on my detector or tools I'll wipe them down with a rag and rubbing alcohol. I always take my boots and chaps off/on with rubber gloves. Fun..Fun...Fun

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Prospecting and poison oak in Ca go hand in hand. I always wear a dust mask when digging placer spots and carry extra cloths in truck for drive home(bagging up trail cloths and using rubber gloves when in doubt) Soap up with dish washing liquid BEFORE getting hands/arms wet as the oils bind much better to the soap from your pours. Washing cloths in Simple Green works well for me. I also wear snake chaps over my BDU's and two layers of lite weight long sleeve shirts and leather gloves when diggin. Yeh i sweat like a pig but it beats having rash all over my body. When I get home i go into the shower with a bottle of dish soap and lather up from head to toe THEN turn on the water. If I have any doubts about it being on my detector or tools I'll wipe them down with a rag and rubbing alcohol. I always take my boots and chaps off/on with rubber gloves. Fun..Fun...Fun

 

Good tips! I'll be packing dust masks for sure, thought about that and one of those disposable painters suits for the next time I work this coyote hole. I hadn't thought about soaping up with Dawn before, that seems like a really good idea.

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My Dr suggested Zyrtec antihistamine. I took it everyday during a 2 week prospecting trip. I was exposed to a lot of poison oak, it was unavoidable. I still got the itchy bumps, but it never really broke out like before. In the past I've had to take non anabolic steroids to break up the reaction. Antihistamines worked for me.

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Give u an old redneck tip on poison oak...sumac ...ivy...etc... before u go into any area hiking bring some bounce drier sheets with u...not the generic ones but the real bounce sheets... take one or two and rub any uncovered areas of ur body then rub down ur clothes...this keeps the plant sweat from getting on ur skin ...ALSO keeps chippers ...mosquitoes...sand fleas..horse Flys etc away... back east I would be running hogs at night and sometimes be in the swamp with skeeters so thick u couldn't breath... an old timer taught me this trick... sounds crazy but it works...oh and DON WIPE SWEAT WITH ANYTHING THAT IS EXPOSED...keep ur sweat towel in ur pocket...

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Good advice here.  The Bounce sheets are a new one to me.  Convenient to pack, I'll remember that one.

I'm chiming in mainly to confirm my past positive experience with soap application as a preventative.   Also apply to body under your clothing "protected" areas since the nasty oils do get through fabrics when you're as heavily immersed as you describe.  

 

Consider getting your Dr. to give you 1) the steroid prescription in pill form to take with you to the bush and/or 2) prescription steroid cream.      Obviously not something to take routinely, however, if you're breaking out like crazy miles from nowhere ...     

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While in Tennessee a few years back I drove through some smoke from brush burning at the side of the road.  I ended up in the hospital for a few days with a poison ivy rash in my lungs.  After some shots and an inhaler I was okay, but I avoid the "leaves of three" completely.  Also learned that the oil stays on tools like an axe for up to a year--that rash was a surprise!  Calamine Lotion doesn't work for me, but Ivy Dry does.  Basically I just totally avoid touching the stuff.

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Thankfully no mutant ticks here!

Just a lovely little local called the common death adder, specialises in lying motionless and invisible under the leaf litter only to strike out without warning when your foot lands nearby

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