Deer fly deterrence for runners: the backward-cap experiment : Conferences That Work

Here’s an update on my earlier post about deer fly deterrence for runners.

That post described a method I’ve used successfully for years to prevent painful deer fly bites while running: sticky patches placed on the back of a ball cap. I also mentioned a possible hack: wear the cap backward and put the sticky patch on the visor/bill, rather than in the manufacturer-recommended position on the back of the cap.

Intrigued, I tried the hack during deer fly season this year.

Here’s what I found.

What I like about this hack

The hack works, as my photo illustrates! Since the patch manufacturer recommends a different placement, I wasn’t sure whether putting the patch on the bill would be effective.

Wearing the cap backward also makes it harder for deer flies to bump into the back of your neck. In fact, I don’t remember this happening at all this year. In previous years, flies would occasionally bash into this exposed area.

I’ve never been stung on the back of my neck, but having insects slam into your skin is, at the very least, disconcerting. So eliminating this occasional annoyance is a nice benefit.

A possible drawback

The bill-mounted patch caught fewer deer flies than the back-of-cap patches I used in previous years.

However, every deer fly season is different, and my subjective impression is that there were fewer deer flies around this year. So I can’t conclude from my experience that a bill-mounted patch is less effective than the traditional placement.

Regardless, I didn’t get bitten this year, which is what matters most.

(Although, early in the season, a deer fly managed to zoom so perfectly into my mouth that I swallowed it. Gross! Fortunately, there were no apparent ill effects.)

Conclusions

Both patch positions work. You get to choose between potentially reducing those annoying neck collisions and using the traditional position, which may catch more flies.

For me, the backward-cap/bill-mounted version worked well enough that I’ll probably use it again next year.

Happy running! If you have any experience or comments on this deer fly patch position hack, please share them in the comments below!