The Outdoor Gibbon
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The Outdoor Gibbon
35 Tick Awareness and Protection from Rovince
The invisible menace lurking in tall grass and woodland areas poses a serious threat to stalkers and outdoor enthusiasts across the UK. Ticks – those tiny arachnids capable of transmitting devastating diseases – are becoming increasingly prevalent, with many stalkers reporting alarming encounters during recent outings.
For Darren from Rovince, tick protection isn't just business; it's personal. After watching a close friend inadvertently put his daughter at risk by bringing tick-infested deer carcasses near his home, Darren's quest for effective protection led him to a revolutionary solution. Originally developed for the German military, Rovince clothing utilizes permethrin locked into fabric with a special polymer to create what they call the "hot foot effect" – making ticks literally dance away from treated surfaces.
The science behind this technology targets the Haller organs on ticks' front legs – their primary sensory system. When these organs contact the treated fabric, the tick experiences disorientation followed by thermal discomfort, causing it to drop off rather than attach to the wearer. With protection lasting through 70-100 washes, this specialized clothing provides durable defense against an increasing danger.
Climate change has dramatically altered tick behavior across the UK. Milder winters mean tick populations no longer go dormant for extended periods, leading to year-round activity and higher populations. Combined with changes in land management practices like reduced sheep dipping, conditions are perfect for tick populations to thrive in areas previously considered low-risk.
While no solution provides 100% protection, incorporating specialized clothing into your outdoor gear arsenal significantly reduces risk. For those who've experienced the life-altering effects of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, this additional layer of defense is invaluable. Regular body checks, proper tick removal tools, and awareness remain essential components of comprehensive tick protection.
Ready to enhance your outdoor safety? Visit rovincecouk and use promo code GIBBON15 for 15% off your order. Whether you're a professional stalker or weekend wanderer, effective tick protection delivers peace of mind when exploring Britain's beautiful landscapes.
https://rovince.co.uk/
Hello and welcome to the Outdoor Living Podcast. Hello and welcome to the Outdoor Goodwin podcast. Today's podcast is probably one of the most relevant and right on time podcasts to bring out. It is talking with Darren from Rovince, who make tick protection clothing Not something that I've got myself, but some people swear by and everybody says it's a piece of kit they wouldn't go stalking without. It is definitely tick season.
Speaker 3:Last weekend out stalking and pretty much every time had ticks, either crawling on the gloves during the growlick or finding a tick on your leg or attached under your watch. So it's one of those things that we do need to be mindful of and with the ever increasing cases of Lyme's disease, it's worth making sure you're protected. Anyway, we will get on straight away and we will talk to Darren and find out what he's got to say. So before we start this podcast, I'd just say if you are looking for tick clothing, remember to go to rovincecouk and if there's any clothing on there, put it in your basket and when you get to the end, you can use the promo code gibbon, that's g-i-b-b-o-n-1-5 and that'll get you a 15% discount. By using that code, you are supporting the podcast and I can keep producing relevant content.
Speaker 3:Hello and welcome to the Outdoor Gibbon podcast. Today we have got Darren, who is the UK agent for Rovince, which is the tick, basically tick. What's the word I'm looking for?
Speaker 2:Tick, repellent clothing. How you doing Very good, peter. Nice to speak with you, nice to meet you. Yes, thank you.
Speaker 3:On this rainy afternoon, I must say, in the UK, but nevertheless, oh, we're not doing too bad. North-east of Scotland, we haven't got rain at the moment. The sun actually did pop its head out again, but I think we were just discussing ticks and all the rest of it. Just then, the sun comes out, the ticks come out, don't they?
Speaker 2:Well, of course they do. Of course, I mean, obviously this time of year is a prime time for everybody to raise their awareness with ticks. Um, I mean, ticks are now everybody's aware of them to a degree. Uh, but we we really need to work on that and make the awareness better. Um, ticks are generally about all year round anyway. Now, um, although this time of year we really do go into a period where they're very, very active I was going to say it does seem to be.
Speaker 3:I think I did a post a couple of days ago. I had a lad out stalking last weekend and every night I got back it was either a tick found on me or you were grolicking out the deer and you look at your gloves and there's all these nymphs just crawling around on you.
Speaker 2:So it's absolutely crazy yeah, yeah, I mean I I do a lot with ticks, as you can imagine, but awareness is my key thing, you know making people aware if they're not already aware. Make them aware initially. If they are aware, just increase their awareness.
Speaker 3:Basically I think it's one of those things I think people do. Some people are a bit complete sort of uh, complicit with it, aren't they? They kind of just go out stalking, they don't think to come home and check themselves and then a couple of days later they realize there's something stuck to them and all the rest of it. But it's a simple thing if you've been out stalking or something like that, just check around your hands, around you, around you where your socks come up, and that's a good starting point, because if you, that's where they're going to come in, basically into you, isn't it really it?
Speaker 2:is yeah, I mean you're right, so you need to. You need to almost have a routine really. I mean, back in the day before we got involved with the clothing, we had a routine and you'd come in wherever you were, stalking, whatever ground you were on. Some areas, you're aware, have got a heavier tick burden than others, but nevertheless you take it seriously when you return, you do your checks, you're vigilant and you and you just make sure that you're not carrying anything back in or you've got anything attached or crawling around on you. Yeah, so absolutely it's a routine and once you follow it, you get into that routine. You do it, you do it on a daily basis and you do it every time you go out.
Speaker 3:Then obviously you're going to help yourself if there's anything on you I was going to say and, and it's not every tick that carries limes, I believe, but there are certain points in the country where the the percentage of limes disease is considerably higher, I think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, it's a difficult one because I mean, obviously, tests and and how you can carry out tests. There's a lot of ticks been taken and sent off for an analysis and there's been quite a big project to try and find out the numbers. But, yeah, yeah, you're right, I mean some areas are hotspots for ticks and also for infected ticks, and some areas are not so much so. But every single tick needs to be treated with respect, because that could be the one I mean.
Speaker 2:It's interesting, in my line I speak to guys. I mean we live and breathe and drink ticks, to be honest with you. But you know, I know professional guys in their career that have taken thousands of tics off themselves, probably in the early days, not in the correct manners, but in the later days, with the knowledge that they're doing it correctly now and they think they're OK, you know, and they probably are all right. But then I also know people that have just had one and that's been a bad one and it's gone wrong for them and and and they've ended up with, uh, with with lyme or or other associated problems yeah, no, I can.
Speaker 3:I can relate to that because one of the stalker well, the stalker I I'm on the hill with he's had lyme disease and it's it. It just basically ruins you kind of thing. It's people take it kind of, oh, you'll be all right, but actually no, it's, it's it, it just basically ruins you kind of thing. It's people take it kind of, oh, you'll be all right, but actually no, it's, it's pretty awful and it's, um, yeah, it's, it's not something you really want to contend with in the rest of your life and so just, yeah, it's that vigilance about checking yourself. If you has, if something has bitten onto you, get it off with the correct tool and and monitor, basically, isn't it really?
Speaker 2:it is really, really. Yeah, I mean time is the essence. The quicker you get these things removed if you've got one attached obviously the better things are. The problem, as you were saying earlier, with the nymph ticks they're obviously very small and I point people towards these as being quite a serious problem because as you get older, your eyesight deteriorates slightly. They're very small, they're crawling around in your skin. You might have tattoos on you which which camouflage them slightly, and they're so tiny, but these are the ones that can sort of latch into you and be there for some time before you realize, and then obviously by that time that it might be two or three days down the road. So, yeah, time is. Time is the key thing.
Speaker 3:Assuming you can get onto anything that's on you and get it removed in the correct manner, then obviously the better things can be so that leads us really nicely on now to, as I said at the introduction, you are the uk agent for a distribution of a clothing that basically is sort of an anti-tick clothing. So let's go into sort of the fundamentals of that and and what it, what people can do with it yeah, well, obviously I come from a bit of a stalking but shooting background myself.
Speaker 2:You know, I've sort of shot in one form or another all my life and from a very early age out with my granddad to where we are now. And over the time we did a lot of stalking in Scotland. We always were aware that when we went north or even into Norfolk and certain parts of the south as well, that there was hot spots, but in the local sort of area you weren't too bothered, but you knew that when you went to Scotland it was going to be a problem and you raised your awareness, uh, but over time we realized that this was becoming a a country-wide problem. You know, we were starting to see problems on our own ground, locally, and and and areas where we'd never seen ticks were all of a sudden we were seeing tick burdens and we and we were, we were seeing the problem. Um, so we were, we were aware of it as anybody were in in in the field, and it became a real problem. You know, you, you you're checking yourself more, you you've sort of you're out on your ground trying to do a job and you've concentrated more on what's crawling around you and where you are and, yeah, and, and, and it starts to become, you know you don't really enjoy doing what you used to enjoy. Um, and and, like I say in scotland, we'd be up, we'd come off the hill on a late afternoon, early evening, we'd all sit around and have a dram and discuss how things had gone and you could see everybody doing the usual feeling of the face and picking things off their arms and you know something's crawling in my hair and all the rest of it and it became really uncomfortable.
Speaker 2:But there was a real turning point for me when a close friend of mine we were doing a fair bit together and we'd shot some deer and he'd took them home and larded them in his chiller in the back of his house and the following morning his daughter had got a tick on her knee. So obviously taking those deer through the gate there and out into the back and these ticks were covered in. These deer were covered in ticks, so they were quite a heavy burden and in the process of doing what he loved to do he'd put his daughter at risk. So that increased the thoughts that not only are we putting ourselves at risk here, we could also be putting our family and friends at risk. You know, when you're carrying ticks back off the field, you're carrying carcasses through through the property or you're ladded in the garage or whatever you're doing, uh, and, and I set about finding solutions to this and in the, in the early days, we used to spray potions and we got all the creams and lotions and, and that in itself was a bit of a task and we used to have a running joke that we felt that sometimes when we're heading out onto the hill, if someone lit a cigarette in the, we'd blow the bloody thing up, sort of thing, you know, because there would be that much going on in there.
Speaker 2:But finally it came to a good solution, really, when we had some German guys over wearing the Roving's clothing and we did the usual thing. You know, be aware of ticks, they're a real problem and there's, I mean germans, they know about ticks, believe me. But they said we, we don't have to worry, we, we've got this clothing and this clothing protects us. And uh, and it works really well. Of course we looked at them with a bit of a okay, sort of thing. You know, this is interesting.
Speaker 2:And sure enough they spent a few days with us and uh and it worked. You know, I could see that they they didn't really worry about the ticks, they didn't have any on them, um, and I got interested in this product and from there I contacted the uh, the owners of the company, and after several conversations about how the tick burden in the UK is increasing, I managed to get some gear and I started wearing it. Obviously, as soon as we started wearing it we seen that it really did work, and then from there I made it my sort of goal to get this available for other stalkers and country users in the UK as a form of protection.
Speaker 3:And that's basically how it started users in the UK as a form of protection, and that's basically how it started. So let's just dive in and actually get into the nitty-gritty of the clothing. So is there something in the how does this clothing have its property to be anti-tick?
Speaker 2:Okay, well, they use a permethrin solution. Now, permethrin has been used against ticks since the 70s and it's very, very effective, um, but it's also a very serious product and obviously that in itself comes with concerns, um, but, uh, the original product was actually developed for the german army, um, and it was actually implemented into their uniform to be worn on a daily basis because they, in the field, in, in, in the, in the fighting field that the soldiers are obviously in, they were also were becoming susceptible to tick-borne diseases and problems. So it became a functional uniform for the german army, and and the company that supplied that were doing all military uniforms. And then what happened? It was similar to myself.
Speaker 2:A couple of guys in Holland had their own tick problem and were looking for a solution, and they contacted this company and they managed to get the the civilian rights to this. So, okay, you've got the military side going on and and you've got two guys from holland that um captured the civilian side. Now, these two guys were called robin vincent and that, in essence, is where the name rovings comes from, which is quite a simple thing, but but still interesting. You know, two passionate guys, passionate hunters, with a tick problem, um, and they're finding a solution, and the solution works for a lot of people now, absolutely. And so, going back to how it works, obviously, excuse me, the permethrin, like I say, is a serious product.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a serious insecticide, isn't it Pretty much? It will kill virtually or repel virtually anything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I mean, obviously when you're bringing it into textiles and fabrics, uh, obviously then there becomes a lot of uh restrictions and a lot of sort of development in that and fortunately, with all the development that went into the military side, that was already taken care of because they were already producing this product sort of worldwide for for military users. Um, but, but to give you an idea how it works, basically the the solutions, locked into the fabric with a polymer, and so obviously a stretchy polymer polymer. This holds it into the fabric and it does two main things first of all locks it in so you can wash it, so our products, you get between 70 to 100 washes and secondly, it gives a very slow release which has been scientifically proven to be safe for the user but still effective against ticks oh fantastic, yeah, yeah, yeah, no.
Speaker 3:So that's really good, especially that it's the 70 to 100 washes, because I think that's where people would probably initially would worry that they've got this product that's coated, I can't wash it, because if I wash it I'll lose its its defense. It's like waterproof stuff and all the rest of it. So that that's that's really interesting to know that, yeah, you can stick this through the, but does that have to go through a particular type of wash, or is that just through the laundry or?
Speaker 2:well, we recommend well, I personally recommend a cool wash with a non-bio um product like similar to anything, any other sort of um sort of top end, sort of outdoor clothing. Yeah, um, one key thing to to mention with laundry and is is not to tumble dry the product. Um, obviously, because it's a polymer, the polymer stretchy. If you heat it up, you're, obviously, because it's a polymer, the polymer's stretchy. If you heat it up, you're going to relax it and obviously reduce the lifespan of the clothing. But under normal washing conditions. I mean, it shows how well it's locked into the fabric. I mean, initially, just to get 70 to 100 washes is quite a good number. No, it also shows that, for example, if you were out and it was raining, as it quite often is, and you're getting drenched, you know you're not sort of, you're not sort of spreading this product, about the product's locked into the fabric, you know. So you stand in a burn and and and the and it's rushing past you and it's not coming out of the product, it's staying in the product and it's locked in there. So it's, it's good from a point where it doesn't affect non-target species. Um, it's obviously been developed to be safe for the user, um, but still, which is the key thing, effective against ticks, um, and, and just to highlight on that a little bit, um, obviously there's a lot of knowledge of ticks out there.
Speaker 2:Now, hopefully, um, well, interestingly, I was just listening to the radio and it was on radio too. Jeremy vine was talking about it. So that shows the general awareness. But if you, if just a few tick tick facts, minor tick facts, if you see the general picture of a tick that you see in most, uh, wildlife magazines and tv programs, you see they're waving their front legs around and this is one of the key things and this really helps our product to work.
Speaker 2:Really, because the reason they're doing that is because the sensory organs on the tick are on the front legs and these are called the hella organs. So the tick itself hasn't actually got a head, it's got a mouth. The sensory organs are on those front two legs and because they're waving them around, as soon as they come into contact with anything, whether it be a host or a fabric or vegetation, they're touching it with these front legs and the hella organs to sense what, what it is, and that's how it gets into the tick and gets the initial knockdown. So you mentioned earlier it's a repellent. It is actually a contact protection and the tick.
Speaker 3:The tick has to actually make contact with you, feel the effect and then obviously get the knockdown from there so once it's, once it's got the effect of the, the actual promethane that's in the, in the fabric, is that. Is it still going to grab on, or does it just sort of retract away and and not actually manage to to take, take hold?
Speaker 2:well, there's. There's two um reactions obviously. The first one, as I said, is it shuts the nervous system down um, which disorientates the tick. So it sort of lost its uh, initial plan, uh, but secondary we it gets what we call a hot foot effect, which is quite interesting. I've got a few videos that I show customers. Basically, the tick feels a thermal effect and doesn't actually want to crawl on the fabric. So if you're well on a horizontal fabric it sort of dances about. We we call it the hot foot effect, but in a vertical sense, which is how it affects most of us, the tick will latch on, feel the effect not really like it, feel uncomfortable and just drop off oh, absolutely that.
Speaker 3:That's fantastic, isn't it really?
Speaker 2:yeah, it is. I mean you get a lot of guys. They come out and they say, well, I've got nothing on me, well, you won't have because you you haven't seen what has been on you, but it won't stay on you no, that that's, that's really.
Speaker 3:That's, that's really good. Now, obviously that still doesn't do. Rovins, do things like gloves and stuff like that, because obviously, yes, it's great that it's it's on your body, but what happens if your hands which normally, as we as stalkers are doing we brush the grass or brush past the tree you can still pick a tick up at that point. I'm assuming that's still something we've got to look out for.
Speaker 2:It is. It is. I mean, obviously we do a wide range of clothing and we're looking at developing stuff all the while. We did used to do a glove. We no longer do that glove because it was too heavy. It was a heavyweight glove, okay, and it didn't really fit in with our sort of product range because predominantly we're warmer weather and we are working on a lightweight glove for for the application that you just mentioned there, peter.
Speaker 2:But uh, that will come, um, but but regarding everything else, I mean we do the trousers, we do socks, we do uh polo shirt, shirts, zip uh pullovers, we do fleeces and outer jackets, so we cover the main part of the body and and I always, I always ask customers what their, what their sort of outdoor activity is. I mean, if, if they're stalking, for example, if it's woodland stalking and they're predominantly walking and stalking, then trousers are the initial point that you want to be starting at and we we've done a lot of sort of uh, looking at tick bites over the years and we found a good number, a bigger percentage of number around actually the waistline, where they've gone on to the front of the legs or the back of the legs, they've gone up the body over the belt and they've gone in around the waist. Yes, um, but then coupling that with if you're a hill stalker and you're doing a lot of crawling about, then you really need all over protection because you you're spending a lot more time crawling and absolutely.
Speaker 3:You're virtually facing the heather, aren't you? So it's like ticks.
Speaker 2:Have the ticks, have the ability to go anywhere on you at the end of the day that's right, and and quite often you'd be lying there waiting for something to stand up and all of a sudden you think, oh my word, they're, they're everywhere.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. And then you're there trying to pick them off and hope the guest doesn't see that you're trying to get rid of that tick, that's on you and they've got their eyes on the target kind of thing. So yeah, been there, done that.
Speaker 2:It's worse when you're looking at the client and you can see one crawling up and you think, oh no, I've got to flick, it is here before it goes in.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, but so that that's fantastic.
Speaker 2:So I'm assuming you said it's more of a lighter weight clothing, sort of a summer weight, sort of summer stalking type of clothing you've got there yeah, well, I mean, the product, as understandably, was originally developed for the european market, um, so they're obviously summers are hotter, their winters are a lot colder. So the whole range is mid to lightweight, predominantly for use in the summer, although, having said that, we're now looking at some sort of winter products as well, because we are aware all over the country that ticks are prevalent all year round now. So we have brought out a thicker trouser for later on in the season and also a bigger jacket now that will take you through the colder periods as well but still offer tick protection.
Speaker 3:It's almost like you need like a tick-long johns and a base layer kind of thing, and then you're sorted, aren't you? Because at least you've got like this under armour that's protecting you from all of that Almost like a tick onesie, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Well, almost yeah. Yeah, I mean, obviously, with the protection being a contact protection, it's important that it is on the outside. You know you want those ticks to obviously feel the reaction and get the impact as they come on to you. But having said that, you know, know, I mean you, you wear it underneath and if anything does get through then obviously it still will feel the effect. But uh, on the outside is obviously more advisable no, no, no, that's really interesting to know.
Speaker 3:So okay, so you say you get to your 70, 100 washes, because you could be a listener, that's that's very keen on making sure their stalking clothes are clean and, like me, that it stays there for the entire season. What happens after that? Is there a reproof method or is that it the the time's up kind of thing?
Speaker 2:well, currently there's no reproofing. No, I mean, it's quite an extensive process that the fabric goes through in order to put this protection in there. Uh, so it's not the sort of thing that you can just spray on or coat or dip and it's actually locked into the fabric. And I mean obviously, like, like you say, is it interesting world? You know, similar to myself, you, you say I'm not, my clothing gets washed when it needs to. Um, but there are. We do sell into some workwear applications where obviously washing is a key thing because you're wearing it as a work PPE. Yes, so obviously you do need to be aware of the numbers of washing, but when we say 70 to 100 washes, it isn't finished at that point but it starts to reduce at that point it good.
Speaker 3:It's good for people to know, I suppose, because at the end of the day, hopefully your average stalker shouldn't well, that should be a good number of years that that clothes well a good number of years, almost to the point where it's worn out that that clothing will give them protection. Um, and realistically, yeah, as you say, you get past 100 washes. Yes, it starts to reduce efficiency, but it's still doing the job yeah, yeah, it's still doing the job to a point.
Speaker 2:Obviously, that's the point in time where you need to be looking at replacing it if, if you're in a real heavy tick burn. I mean, I've got some of the very early products and that I that I wore right back in the beginning, um, and and they're still functioning well, um, but obviously I I wash my gear as a stalker. Would you know as and when it needs it, as opposed to every every other day yeah, no, I.
Speaker 3:It's one of those things a lot of people ask. It's like, yeah, why, why don't you wash your clothes? It's like, well, it's what? It's one of those things when you're out stalking row, you don't want to smell all that fresh, you'd rather smell like a bit of mud and blood, because if the wind does change, yes, they're still going to get your scent, but at least you've got half a chance, haven't you? Well, they might be more interested in you than not at the moment. Well, there is that as well. It's quite funny. But, yeah, so is there any? You were saying about new products coming to market? You, you mentioned, obviously, some lighter weight gloves. Is there anything else that is going to be hitting out there?
Speaker 2:yeah, there will be. I mean, we're constantly discussing um. Obviously it bounces between the uk, which is a relatively small market, to to the european market and I and I do get governed essentially by what does I'm in europe, um, but we're always in discussions. I mean, the guys are coming over next month for a meeting where we're going to be discussing where we're taking the product next, um, so obviously, anybody who follows the product and wears it just keep your eye on the websites and and, and you'll see new products coming as they come yeah, fantastic.
Speaker 3:I think it's one of those things now that with the uk, as it is the cold, the winters aren't as cold every I was discussing it today you don't get those really cold, long pronounced winters that we used to get, and I think that just means we're going to see greater tick burdens and things like that and so stuff, anything that gives you an advantage or a protection. It's not a hundred percent, but it's something, isn't it? It?
Speaker 2:is. It is, I mean, interesting fact. You know I mean it over the years there's, you know we talk about it a lot, but the colder winters did. Did it make a difference? Now, a lot of people used to say the old myths that that the cold winters used to kill the ticks a difference. Now a lot of people used to say the old myths that that the cold winters used to kill the ticks off, but that that's not actually the case. I mean, obviously, what it used to do was slow down the breeding process. It used to slow everything down. You know, everything went dormant for longer and everything slowed down. Now, with the milder winters, inevitably, things don't slow down.
Speaker 3:So you know, the the, the breeding process is, is more vigilant now than it's ever been really yeah, we're still pulling ticks off our dogs in the winter and it's things like that, and I think I think the hill used to be a. Well, we talked about scotland. The hill used to be a lot, probably a bit cleaner, because once upon a time they used to put the sheep out there and bring the sheep back in and really dip them in some nasty chemicals, but nowadays that that doesn't happen well, no, that's right.
Speaker 2:I mean they used to mock a lot of the ticks up and and obviously reduce the burden out there, um. But but as you said, peter, I mean obviously nothing's, uh, nothing's 100 percent. And we always recommend that you're vigilant whether you're wearing the product or not, and just carry out, as we said at the beginning here, you know, just carry out your regular checks what our product does. We call it a put on and go solution. You don't have to worry about anything else. You put the clothing on and you know that you're protected and you get on with your job. But obviously you still remain vigilant, but you feel a lot more comfortable in the environment yeah, and I think that's the key for everybody.
Speaker 3:I think I think anybody listening it's like don't think this is gonna be 100 tick proof. You still do need to check yourself. And don't get complacent. Oh, I was wearing this, I'll be fine, it's still. Yeah, still go through your same routine check your arms, check your hands, check your ankles. Get somebody to check you because, at the end of the day, if just one of those gets in the wrong place, yeah, it could be game over, kind of thing well it can be.
Speaker 2:And you mentioned earlier about someone you know that that suffers with Lyme, um, and and I know a lot of people and and it. That's another interesting sort of area. You know, I know people that have had it, had treatment for it, sort of cured it, and it's gone away. But I also know people where it reoccurs. They can't really get rid of it and every sort of 12 months, 18 months, they go through a relapseapse of it and just feel generally lousy. And I also know other people where it's completely finished them. You know they've had to finish what they're doing and take up something else.
Speaker 2:And worst case scenario is obviously, you know, you can be blind from it and you can be put in a wheelchair from it. So it is a serious problem. We talked about lime, but but there's others. I mean there's tick, burn, borne encephalitis, now there's, there's other things and and there's also just secondary infections from the bite mark. You know where, you know where people have you got like sensitive areas where you've been bitten, and basically prevention is better than any sort of cure in this, in this sort of area.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I think yeah, because I think the big buzz. People talk about Lyme's, but when you actually look at the list of things that ticks actually do transmit, it isn't just Lyme's disease. There's a lot of other transmittable diseases that those nasty little insects can actually pass around the place and not in the in the UK. The uk we've got we talk about lions, but you go over to the states and places like that and there's there's other horrible, horrible bugs they carry yeah, well, that's right.
Speaker 2:That's right. I mean that's that's without the inconvenience and the and the sort of way it makes you feel that you've been invaded by one of these things and it's latched into you. I mean there's just something about it. When you see one, it just there's just something about it. They're horrible little things. Really. The only good thing about a tick is the fact that their sensory organs are on their front legs, so they're they're vulnerable in that, in that aspect yeah, no, absolutely that's.
Speaker 3:Uh, yeah, it's just if, as I say, it's this time of year and I think I've been doing a few social media posts about it, as I say, had one tucked under my watch strap the other day the worst one I've had is the one that was on my eyelid a couple of years back and my wife's like have you scratched yourself? Oh no, you've got a tick up there, let me try and that was an awkward one to try and get off. I tell you that it's uh it. There is good news. I believe it's. It's in testing. Now, in human testing, there's actually potentially a um, a lyme disease, vaccination or cure, I believe, or something like that.
Speaker 2:So yeah, yeah, I mean obviously they've been working on this side of things for quite some time and I think it is it is finally becoming some sort of to a point where it's going to be useful. I mean that can only help massively. Exactly, I mean obviously it might take the lime aspect away, but you've still got to be vigilant and you've still got to be aware of these ticks, because there's other things they carry and just the inconvenience of them being on you. I mean, one of my worst guys was actually a forester and after a session of streaming he took well, he estimated about 150 off of him. So you imagine that task. I mean you take just one or two off you and it's a task when you're looking at 150, that's out of the job.
Speaker 3:I was going to say that's like of the job. I was gonna say that's just that does that's like open, lift it open in the legs of one of those deer and you just look at it and go, you poor bugger, you've got that many on you and, yeah, to have that on your body, I just start just makes you even just talking about it now. It's one of those things. This is probably going to be one of those podcasts where everybody's going to be scratching and itching while we talk about it.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I am now to be quite honest with you. But the interesting thing you mentioned tick burns. I mean, obviously you know that's another thing when you go up to your car because once a shot's been placed and obviously you have a quick inspection and you see a tick burn and some jump out at you and you think, well, this is bad, you know, and some not so bad, but it's like everything you know. And some not so bad, but but it's like everything you know. I mean, it's like the farmer that tells you to go out to shoot his rabbits. He's seen 5,000 of them. You only see two, but it's the same with a deer. You know what you can see is only a fraction of the tick burden that that deer has got. And when they go into the chiller and and you know as a professional guys with numerous carcasses in the chiller you start to really see the tick burdens on some of these deer.
Speaker 3:Oh, when we, when we do the stags, if you take the head off and you just leave it on the floor of the chiller and you come back in the morning up the antlers, it's phenomenal. There are, it's like a little christmas tree with decorations all there. And I think we're just discussing it. I've got a video up now on on my socials page a bucket with three row head in it and it's got a like a piece of foam over the top of it at the moment and literally lift that up and it is. They've all crawled up to try and find the highest point and it's like lots of little black dots and it's just, yeah, and they haven't. They're obviously they're looking for their next host and they're just riding around on a deer, hopefully, uh, find it, waiting to find something else to move on to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, there's a classic example. You know what you've first seen. It probably looked like a tick burden, but when they start moving, you know once their feed has stopped and they're moving, looking for another host, like you say, there, then they become. You really see them then. I remember coming back from pit lockery and I'd got I've got three stag heads in the back of the car and I got down I was, I was on the m6 in the services. I thought I better just check these and I opened the boot to see exactly what you've just said there. I thought, oh my word, it was quite a sight to see me in there, services on the m6, with three stag heads in the car part trying to get all the ticks out the boot.
Speaker 3:It was horrendous I was gonna say I stalked around pit lockery once and I was. I was absolutely shocked how it's almost the the dirtiest hill I've ever been on for ticks. I would say, um, yeah, the head I brought back. I'm glad I've got a pickup and it goes in the back of it, because exactly that went to it the next morning and it was just like that is. That's pretty bad. Yeah, they're trying to scrape them off and like, right, I'm going to incinerate all of those because I don't want them anywhere near anything else, but just the way it is.
Speaker 3:Anyway, I don't really want to take up any more of your time. I think we've covered. We've covered the clothing very well. We've explained to people about checking themselves for ticks. So I think it's a really it's a short podcast, I know guys, but really it was to just hit home and say, look, there's something out there. You can get hold of um. If you've got any questions, you can always bounce them over to to darren. Um, I'll put the links in for for where to get stuff or fire them to me and I'll ask the questions for you. Is there anything else we we haven't covered?
Speaker 2:no, no, I think it's been like you say. It's been quite a condensed sort of podcast, but but, uh, quite impactive on a problem that everybody needs to be aware of and hopefully will raise awareness, um and help guys out there in the field yeah, definitely, and I think what we'll do is we will actually come back to darren at another point and we'll grab him for a longer podcast.
Speaker 3:We can talk about his hunting experience, his shooting and all the rest of it. We'll get to know him a bit better. We'll probably touch on on the clothing side again, but we'll do that in the future. But I think this one's really important just to go out now, because it's it's that key time of year when the tick problem is at its greatest.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally agree, and I look forward to it, peter.
Speaker 3:No, absolutely Well. Thank you ever so much for this time, and we'll draw this one to a close now, so thanks very much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 3:Thanks very much for listening and hopefully there was something of use in there. Even if you go out and buy yourself a set of tick tools for just removing ticks correctly off your skin, again, it's one of those things. There's nothing that's's 100% proof to stop a tick getting on you, or the only way to be 100% proof is to live in a box and not go outside. But we all want to go stalking, so do your checks you can have. The best advantage is potentially trying some of this clothing. Keep checking yourself over. If you do find a tick on you, don't panic. Just remove it in the correct manner manner. So a set of tick tools are really important and they're not expensive. You can buy them on amazon or anywhere like that and just enjoy being outside and don't worry too much about it. As I say, not all ticks are deadly, but always worth it.
Speaker 3:So that brings me back to if you want to get hold of any of this clothing from Rovince. You can go to their website, couk. Go through, add a load of stuff that you want to buy to your basket. They've got some great stuff from shirts, fleeces type of things or jackets to trousers, even socks on there and, I think obviously the gloves coming back at some point.
Speaker 3:And when you get to the end and it says do you have a promo code? You do Pop in Gibbon that's G-I-B-B-O-N 1-5. That will get you a 15% discount straight away and by using that promo code you will be supporting the podcast. So the more you use, more people you recommend that code to, the more I can help get this podcast growing and get more information out there that's relevant, especially things like the tick situation, and we will come back to revisit a full podcast with darren because I think there's a lot of interesting stuff he's got to say, not just about tick clothing but hunting and shooting. I think he's a man after my own heart, a bit of a tika user. So at some point in the near future, watch this space and we will. We'll find out about his hunting background and everything else he gets up to, but for now we will catch you very soon on the next one.