I agree with you on the pleasures of DEET, and there are a number of more user friendly products on the market now-a-days. I've tried a few of them and still always end up going back to DEET when I'm up there. They just seem to grow more voracious skeeters in AK. I just got back and it only took about 3 days for the scent to finally wash away. Good luck, the runs are very strong up there this year.