I learned from a very knowledgeable birder this weekend,
that Deet and other such chemicals will also eat into the
optical coatings on binoculars -- very quickly.
As she put it: "your $2,000 bins may be reduced to the
equivalent of $150 glasses almost instantly."

						Leo Weigant


On May 30, 2008, at 11:36 AM, Marko, Thomas L. GS BUMED wrote:

> Blue Mash has always been a tick haven.
>  I  spray myself with Deet or some other anti-tick  
> repellent.        Be careful with Deet because it will eat into  
> plastic.  The crystal on one of my watches bears witness to that  
> effect.
>
> - Tom
>
>