All the Cool Upstate People Wear This Dainty Tick Protective Gear
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In the Hudson Valley, people talk abouttickslike city folk talk about subway delays: They’re annoying, but inevitable. Relatively new to the upstate lifestyle, I knew it was the season ofbugswhen my friend Addie, who had just moved to a farmhouse down the road, told me she’d driven 45 minutes to secure a “bug suit” so she might walk her dog and drink her morning coffee in peace.
While there are plenty of ugly mesh bug suits available at REI or Bass Pro Shops, there’s only one that matters up here:Zapware. Developed and handmade by a local textile artist namedBecca Van K, a self-proclaimed “mosquito magnet” who has had Lyme disease, Zapware is an actually cool-looking solution to a buggy world. It’s made of NoSeeUm mesh, which means the fibers are tightly netted so as not to allow (most) bugs from getting in. Every opening has elastic drawstrings so you can pull them tight around wrists and ankles, once again closing off any points of entry for the bugs. However, the real draw is that Zapware is functional without compromising style.
“I love that if I’m wearing an outfit I already like, you’ll still be able to see it, pretty much,” saysNikki Chasin, a fashion designer and clothing-shop owner who lives in the Hudson Valley. When I saw Chasin wearing her Zapware jacket, she had on a silk polka-dotted dress underneath it that was not skewed by the mesh overlay. I watched with envy as she peacefully sipped wine at Dairy Drag (a drag show on a dairy farm … duh) while I swatted away flies and mosquitoes. I found myself thinking,Do I need Zapware?
Before Zapware, Chasin said she’d accepted that she’d no longer sit in the grass for fear of bites and bugs. After buying some chairs from Van K (whose mixed-media fiber art is still exhibited around the area), she followedVan K on Instagram, intrigued by her content about ticks. When she saw her prototyping bug gear, she ordered some immediately. “I’m still not, like, sitting in the grass … but I feel like I can go to a picnic and be on a blanket and not worry as much if I have this on,” says Chasin.
Zapware’s lore spreads by sight and word of mouth. Chasin says she’s always getting comments about hers and pointing people to where they can get a set themselves. David Gensler, the founder ofVanish Outdoor, heard about it from Sal Fabbella, the owner ofCatskill Outpost. My friend Addie saw hints of it on Instagram, and others were intrigued when they passed Zapware’s stand atBasilica Farm & Flea.
Zapware’s offerings include a shirt and pants, sold separately and as a set. They’re stitched with a signature lime-green thread, are available in black, white, or mixed mesh, and are not treated with any kind of insecticide. Sizes range from XS–XL, and the fit is loose and airy. The jackets seem to be the most popular and versatile option, although many of the people I spoke with shared the sentiment that they wanted to wear the pants more often.
Just note: The Zapware is not a foolproof solution for ticks. “We think of protection against tick bites as the three T’s,” says Dr. Thomas Mathers, a tick expert who teaches public health entomology at the University of Rhode Island and is the director of URI’s Tick Encounter Resource Center. “One is tucking, for sure— tucking pants into socks, tucking shirts into the waist. Another key is wearing tight, compression-fitting clothing that the ticks can’t get under. Then, the third T, of course, is to wear treated clothing.” In other words, if you’re trudging through high grass in a particularly tick-prone part of the country, it might be good for you to combine a couple of these T’s with the Zapware. Or at least tuck your socks in. And, of course, head-to-toe body checks have become my norm.
Still, even if not perfect, the Zapware at least offers some protection. As I sit here being attacked by early-evening mosquitoes, I’m about to add Zapware to the list of items I never imagined spending money on before I moved out of the city.
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