Sawyer Products Premium Maxi- DEET Insect Repellent

We finally found the one!! We travel ALOT and just this year 2025, we went to Costa Rica and El Salvador. Two very humid places and we got a lot of rain in both countries. Wife is prone to getting 20-30 bites per vacation. This time, for both countries, we both got max 1-2 bites per vacation. It’s god send. We’ve tried so many sprays and devices. It’s the only one that protected us from mosquitos.

We primarily have Aedes mosquitos in my area, and they are the worst. I get bad swelling, inflammation, and a hot very itchy reaction from their bites for days, and they love to bit me over others around me because my blood type. This repellent works well. I slather it over exposed skin and rub it evenly, then I am able to wear shorts and long sleeves. Before, any exposed skin would definitely get bites if I left the house even for a few moments. The formula is strong and potent. Use high caution. It will eat away nail polish and furniture lacquer upon contact. It will also leave greasy visible stains on certain clothing fabrics. I got some on a bridesmaid dress once, and it showed up like a grease stain. It was bad. I have a faux leather bench, and I’m being careful not to sit on it if I am wearing repellent because I’m guessing it can damage it. All that said, it’s worth it to prevent awful mosquitoes. I wear it any time I want to have exposed arms or legs. I always pack it in my bag on vacation during mosquito season.

This stuff has a separate cap that you can use to transport it. Liquid won't leak out of the spray device in air transport! Bottle is perfect size for travel. It's super-strong and it lasted all day (and all night) while I was trekking though dense Costa Rican jungle (both day and nighttime, it didn't fail me once). Strong enough that one bottle lasted me two weeks, applying every day, twice a day. I didn't get bit once. The smell is not as strong as you might expect, given how effective it is, but there is still a 'bug spray' odor, thus I gave it 4 stars for not being perfect. Warning - don't get it near your mouth (as I did) or you'll have numb lips and be tasting it for hours! (My fault, in application error - not a fault of the product).

I used these during some travel to Central America for several weeks recently. I only got bit in places I DIDN'T spray. I probably refeshed or sprayed myself again once mid-day. I also used it a lot. I only had a couple of episodes of my skin drying out, probably due to my over use of the spray (I used it every day on my skin and clothes for weeks). The scent didnt bother me. Overall, the spray worked just fine and also fit well in my carry-on luggage.

Works great. Went in the Amazon jungle and never got bitten. I’d say that’s a test!

Definitely thought this was Tom Sawyer brand sunblock when purchased but - buyer beware - it’s NOT. Does do a good job of keeping away pests and small flying things and I’ve kept it despite my initial discomfort

In June of 2022 I hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, after which I traveled around the country for 10 days, including deep into the Peruvian Amazon rainforest to explore the jungle from a treehouse. I ordered two bottles of this stuff (one for me, one for my husband) and I have to say it worked quite well! That being said, when it arrived, it was a hot mess. The lids of both bottles were ill fitting and not sealed at all, so the liquid had leaked EVERYWHERE! It made a huge mess and a was a big pain in the butt to clean up. However, once I transferred the liquid into my own travel spray bottles, the bug spray itself was really top notch! Some of my travel companions bought the jungle juice from REI and we did everything together. We got bit way less than they did. Did we still get bitten? Yes. That's just part of the fun of the Peruvian jungle, but it was only a handful of bites total for the whole trip, which is pretty good considering where we were! I can definitely recommend this stuff as a product, but I can't recommend the packaging unfortunately. You might be rolling the dice with what you get in terms of the actual bottles they come in, but the liquid works! I sincerely hope this review has been helpful to someone else. And yes, I paid full price for it. Feel free to ask any questions!

Great insect repellent!