A-Zone Poison Oak

[jfs82]

My dad was a firefighter for a long time, it's definitely a real thing, know a few guys who got hospitalized getting it in the lining of their lungs.

 

[MeatBuck]

I never used to get it but one day while doing some machete work at the duck blind I cut through some branches of it and then proceeded to jab my arm on the cut sticks on the next couple swings. Basically injected it into my skin. Been getting it ever since.
Worst is when u get it in your tight fitting garments like under armor while on a multi day hunt and there's no relief, just constant irritation from the garment rubbing the rash. The rash keeps the garment nice and oily so the cycle continues until you can get your skin and the garment oil free. Usually that's a couple weeks later.

 

[Blacktail_Packer]

Anybody got into smoke from burning poison oak?

I hear u can get it in the lungs and in your mouth, eyes, nose, etc.

My mom had a visit to the hospital after our neighbors threw a big pile of it on there burn pile when I was younger.
And bleach...

 

[orionsbrother]

That is an outstanding buck but looking at what he is in gives me a full panic attack. I have hunted A zone blacktail for many many years and get poison oak incredibly bad. So much so that it has changed where I have hunted in recent years due to PO overgrowth.

Some things I have learned are, you cannot avoid it so do everything you can to take precautions. When I get an animal on the ground, I am hyper aware of gloves and covering everything that will be touching the animal. Also learn to wash you clothes very well and the right way. What I mean by that is take your clothes off (anything that has potentially touched PO) and put them straight into the washer. I have made the mistake of throwing my clothes on the ground, getting in the shower, then carrying my clothes to the washer, only to have PO show up all over my chest/arms etc from exposure due to carrying the clothes.

Lastly, and this sounds kinda weak but I learned this from my brother who is a firefighter. Not sure if you all are aware of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint soap? Its kind of a hippy soap that you can get at Trader Joes and sometimes Costco. Anyhow, the peppermint suppresses the PO oils. I thought this was bs but my brother and all of the firemen he knows do this. Put some of that Bronners in a ziploc bag with some wipes of some kind. At the end of each day on a backpack hunt (only in PO territory), I wipe myself down with a wipe. It smells really good and also has completely suppressed my breakouts. If I do get PO, it is very mild compared to what it used to be. I cannot recommend this enough as hippy dippy as it sounds.

That hippy soap is great. It’s good with poison oak and poison ivy and it is the most effective soap that I’ found to wash anti-seize off my hands.

 

[fmyth]

Dawn Dish Soap

 

[firemanthornman]

I've had really good luck with Tecnu brand products. I worked for Cal Fire over 25 years ago now. They used to issue the stuff to us. They have a pre exposure product and a special soap to use afterward. I just use the post exposure soap now and I'm all good. You can buy it on amazon or at Walmart etc.

 

[Bisley45]

We don't have poison oak, but poison ivy here in Arkansas. I work outside as a biologist and have played outdoors my entire life. What the video above recommends is spot on. However, I still get a rash from time to time. What I do is hop in the shower and clean up good, then scratch the irritated spot until your tail is wagging. Once you get out of the shower; spray the area with Lysol, bleach, or alcohol. It will burn for a second then go away. The only itch you will have afterwards is dry skin healing.

What I think is happening is that the scratching exposes a new layer of skin and the lysol, bleach or alcohol is killing the underlining layer of skin, thus removing anything for the urisol oil to irritate.

 

[choovhntr]

Firefighter in CA and also a cattle rancher. Poison oak is just part of life hunting and doing things outdoors around here. To answer the smoke thing... yes it can and does happen although its rarer than you would think. I've used Technu for years and it has been hit or miss. What I have found is how bad you get it really depends on how well you wash after and with what. I've done the bleach thing, alcohol, calamine lotion, dawn, etc. Haven't tried the hippy soap yet, but have gone to this method and it has worked every time so far. Limit exposure to to other items, keep the clothes separate from others and wash asap. I take a shower right away and wash with a scotch brite pad and GOJO orange soap. Mechanics use it for grease, and it works better on that than anything Ive used. Figured if it works that well for grease, why not oak oils. It also has those exfoliating ball things in it. Wash with the pad scrubbing as hard as you can stand it. I alway end with cold water too (suppoosedly it closes the poors back up). Good luck and hope this helps.

 

[jfs82]

Firefighter in CA and also a cattle rancher. Poison oak is just part of life hunting and doing things outdoors around here. To answer the smoke thing... yes it can and does happen although its rarer than you would think. I've used Technu for years and it has been hit or miss. What I have found is how bad you get it really depends on how well you wash after and with what. I've done the bleach thing, alcohol, calamine lotion, dawn, etc. Haven't tried the hippy soap yet, but have gone to this method and it has worked every time so far. Limit exposure to to other items, keep the clothes separate from others and wash asap. I take a shower right away and wash with a scotch brite pad and GOJO orange soap. Mechanics use it for grease, and it works better on that than anything Ive used. Figured if it works that well for grease, why not oak oils. It also has those exfoliating ball things in it. Wash with the pad scrubbing as hard as you can stand it. I alway end with cold water too (suppoosedly it closes the poors back up). Good luck and hope this helps.

GOJO smells great too!

 

[kid44]

I get poison ivy really bad, would guess it would be the same for poison oak. I can dream about t and wake up with it. Good friend of mine in high school took his girlfriend out to the woods to do what high school boys and girls do, laid a blanket right in a patch of poison ivy. He had it EVERYWHERE, she wasn't allergic to it. Being highly allergic to it sure takes the fun out of a lot of things, spend more time watching for poison ivy than I do enjoying what I am there to enjoy.