Sawyer SP544 vs Ben's 30

Buy Sawyer SP544 when you want the 4-ounce pump of 20 percent picaridin, fragrance free, with the bullets that say up to 12 hours against mosquitoes and ticks and up to 8 hours against flies, gnats, and chiggers. Buy Ben's 30, model CMP1977, manufacturer part 0006-7187, when you want the 3.4-ounce pump of 30 percent DEET, UPC 044224071873, with the bullets that say 8 or more hours and a water-based formula that stays on the skin. One is picaridin. The other is DEET. The hours on the two cards are not the same sentence.

Short version. A water tablet does not stop a tick. A whistle does not cover skin. A small kit is for after a bite, not instead of the spray. A compass does not care which bottle you packed. Read the label on the bottle you are holding, and do not pour one active ingredient into the other's dose.

The Sawyer card is SP544, a 4-fluid-ounce pump, one bottle, item weight 3.2 ounces. The model number and the manufacturer part are both SP544. The UPC cell prints three codes: 792745519311, 050716005448, and 757274160977. The GTIN is 00050716005448, which matches the middle UPC. If the bottle shows a different one of those three, photograph it. The bullets say 20 percent picaridin, fragrance free, odorless, non-greasy, and quick to dry. They say it will not damage plastics or synthetic coatings, and they name clothing, backpacks, watches, sunglasses, and fishing line as examples. They say up to 12 hours against mosquitoes and ticks, and up to 8 hours against flies, gnats, and chiggers. They say it is more effective at repelling biting flies than DEET. That comparison is the card's sentence, not a lab report reprinted here. The warranty cell says a shelf life of 5 or more years. The item form says Liquid. The scent cell says Unscented.

Four ounces is the unit count. A 12-hour line is a maximum on the bullet, not a promise that one spray at dawn still works at dusk if you sweated it off or swam. The bullet that tells you to pair it with Sawyer permethrin is pointing at a different product, for clothing and gear, not at a second pump of SP544. Permethrin is not picaridin. Do not spray a gear treatment on skin because both bottles say Sawyer. The included-components line says one 4-ounce pump. That is the bottle. There is no second chemical in the box.

The Ben's card is a 3.4-fluid-ounce pump, 30 percent DEET, brand Ben's, manufacturer Tender. Model CMP1977 and manufacturer part 0006-7187 are both on the detail block. UPC 044224071873 is the barcode. GTIN 00044224071873 matches it. Item weight is 3.36 ounces. The scent cell says Unscented. The material cell says Fragrance Free. The item-form cell says Aerosol. The bullets say spray pump. Aerosol and pump are the mismatch to read before you decide you know how the bottle works. The first bullet says 30 percent is the minimum DEET concentration the CDC recommends for the mosquitoes, ticks, and biting insects that sentence names. The second bullet says 8 or more hours against insect-transmitted diseases including Eastern equine encephalitis, Lyme disease, and dengue, and other infectious diseases. That is the card's claim. It is not a vaccine, and it is not a reason to skip a check for ticks. The third bullet says the water-based formula stays on the surface of the skin rather than being absorbed. The size bullet says the 3.4-ounce pump fits in a pocket and is a TSA-compliant size. Included components say Ben's 30 3.4 ounce pump.

Sawyer SP544, 4 ounces, 20 percent picaridin. The UPC cell lists 792745519311, 050716005448, and 757274160977. Ben's CMP1977, part 0006-7187, UPC 044224071873, 3.4 ounces, 30 percent DEET.

Who should buy the picaridin, and who should buy the DEET?

Buy SP544 if you want 20 percent picaridin, a 4-ounce pump, and the 12-hour mosquito and tick line, and you care about the card's claim that it will not damage plastics and synthetic coatings. Sunglasses, a watch, a backpack, and fishing line are the examples the bullet gives. Fragrance free and odorless are on the card. Unscented is the scent cell. If you need a scented product, this is the wrong bottle. The 8-hour line for flies, gnats, and chiggers is shorter than the 12-hour line. Do not quote 12 hours for a deer fly. The shelf-life cell says 5 or more years. A bottle that has baked in a truck for five summers is not a fresh bottle. Read the label's own date if it has one.

Buy Ben's 30, part 0006-7187, if you want 30 percent DEET in a 3.4-ounce bottle the card calls TSA-compliant, with the 8-or-more-hours bullet and the water-based, stays-on-the-surface sentence. The CDC sentence is the card's, about the minimum DEET concentration that bullet recommends for the insects it names. It is not a reason to invent a higher percentage in a kitchen. Fragrance free is on the bullet and the material cell. The form cell says Aerosol and the bullets say spray pump. When the bottle arrives, the nozzle tells you which sentence was the hardware. Model CMP1977 and UPC 044224071873 are the reorder. A 100 percent DEET Ben's bottle is a different part number. Do not assume the 3.4-ounce size means 30 percent if the label says otherwise.

Do not buy either bottle and skip the rest of the kit. Treating water is still treating water. A compact kit is still what you open for a cut. Repellent does not purify a creek and does not close a wound. Do not mix the two bottles in one sprayer. Picaridin and DEET are different ingredients with different labels. Use one, as the label you are holding describes, on the skin the label allows.

What Sawyer SP544 is actually for

This is a skin repellent first. The 20 percent picaridin line is the active ingredient the title prints. The hour lines are split on purpose: longer for mosquitoes and ticks, shorter for flies, gnats, and chiggers. Sweat, rain, and swimming are how any hour line gets shorter than the bullet. Reapply the way the bottle's own directions say, not on a schedule you invented to match the 12. The plastics sentence is why people with coated sunglasses and plastic watch bands pick this card. It is still a chemical on a lens if you soak the lens. Spray your hands, then apply, away from the glasses, or spray the skin and keep the mist off the gear you were trying to protect.

SP544 and the 4-ounce unit count are the reorder. Three UPCs on one cell is a real annoyance. 050716005448 is the one the GTIN matches. If the bottle shows 792745519311 or 757274160977, you are still looking at a code this card printed, and you should match SP544 on the label before you call it done. The 3.2 ounce item weight is the shipped bottle, not four ounces of water. A pump has plastic. The shelf-life cell is 5 or more years. That is not an instruction to ignore a bottle that separated or changed color. If it looks wrong, do not put it on skin.

Do: apply to exposed skin the way the bottle says, and keep it out of eyes and mouth. Don't: spray it into a tent and call the air treated. Don't: substitute it for the permethrin the bullet named for clothing. Don't: quote 12 hours for chiggers. The chigger line is the 8-hour line. Don't: assume fragrance free means invisible to every animal. It means the card says unscented.

What Ben's 30 is actually for

This is a 30 percent DEET pump in a 3.4-ounce bottle. The CDC sentence on the first bullet is specific: it calls 30 percent the minimum DEET concentration that recommendation uses for the insects named there. The 8-or-more-hours bullet names diseases those insects can carry. Repellent is not treatment after you are sick, and it is not a reason to stop looking at your socks. The water-based bullet says the formula stays on the skin's surface rather than being absorbed. That is a claim about this formula. It is still DEET. Read the precautions on the bottle for plastics, for children, and for how often to reapply. The card's marketing bullets are not a full label.

Part 0006-7187, model CMP1977, and UPC 044224071873 are the reorder. 3.4 ounces is the fill. 3.36 ounces is the item-weight cell, which is close to the fill and lighter than a story about a heavy glass bottle. The TSA sentence is about the size, not about every airport agent. A 3.4-ounce bottle is what the bullet calls compliant. A larger Ben's bottle is a different part. The form cell says Aerosol while the bullets say spray pump and the included-components line says pump. Believe the nozzle. If you needed a lotion, the form cell does not say lotion. Fragrance free means you should not expect a perfume. Unscented is the scent cell.

Do: use it on skin the label allows, in the amount the label allows, and wash it off when the day is over. Don't: spray it on a phone screen, a pair of glasses, or a plastic watch and hope the Sawyer plastics sentence applies. That sentence is on the picaridin card. This card is DEET. Don't: call 8 or more hours a guarantee after a swim. Don't: buy a different percentage because the bottle was also 3.4 ounces. Part 0006-7187 is this 30 percent pump.

How to carry one bottle and still check for ticks

Put the bottle in a pocket you can reach, not in the bottom of a pack under the food. The Ben's bullet is explicit that 3.4 ounces fits a pocket. The Sawyer 4-ounce pump is the slightly larger fill, at a listed item weight of 3.2 ounces, so the bottle is still a pocket bottle if the pump is what you packed. Apply before the bugs are already on you. Reapply when the label says the hours run out, or sooner if you washed it off. Then still look. Ankles, waist, and behind the ears are the check. A repellent hour line is not a tick inspection.

Keep it off wounds, off eyes, and off anything you are about to eat. Water treatment stays in a different pouch so a repellent cap never loosens into a bottle you drink. A whistle stays on a zipper, not in the same small bag as an open pump. If the pump leaks, the whistle is not the thing you want coated.

Permethrin, if you use it, is the clothing treatment the Sawyer bullet named as a partner, and it is a different label with a different rule about dry fabric and skin. Do not invent that step from this comparison. If you do not own that bottle, you do not have that step. Skin repellent is the step these two cards are.

What actually fails on these two cards

SP544 fails when you quote 12 hours for flies. The fly line is 8. It fails when you treat permethrin and picaridin as the same liquid. It fails when you match the wrong one of the three UPCs and receive a multipack or a different size that happens to share a code family. Model SP544 and 4 ounces are the check. It fails when a bottle past a reasonable life, or a bottle that looks separated, still gets sprayed because the shelf-life cell said 5 or more years.

Ben's fails when you wanted a pump and the form cell's aerosol shows up as a different nozzle than you pictured, or the reverse. Look at the bottle. It fails when a 100 percent product or a different ounce size is ordered from the brand name alone. Part 0006-7187 is this one. It fails when the disease list on the bullet is read as a promise that you cannot get sick if you sprayed once. Eight or more hours is the card's protection line. It is not immunity. It fails on plastics if you assumed the other card's plastics sentence traveled with the DEET.

Both fail if they stay in the pack. A sealed bottle does not cover an ankle. Both fail as water treatment and as first aid. Both fail if you combine them to invent a stronger spray. Use one label.

What this comparison is not

It is not permethrin for clothes, not a tablet for water, and not a medical treatment. It is not a promise that 12 hours and 8 hours survive a swim. It is not a single UPC for Sawyer when the cell prints three. It is not a reason to ignore the aerosol-versus-pump line on the Ben's card.

It is two skin repellents with different active ingredients, different fills, and different hour lines. Pick the ingredient you meant. Then use it the way that bottle's label says, and still check for ticks.

So which repellent should you buy?

Buy Sawyer SP544, 4 ounces, 20 percent picaridin, when you want the 12-hour mosquito and tick bullet, the 8-hour fly bullet, and the plastics sentence, and you will match SP544 rather than a random one of the three UPCs. Buy Ben's 30, part 0006-7187, model CMP1977, UPC 044224071873, when you want 30 percent DEET in the 3.4-ounce pump, the 8-or-more-hours bullet, and the TSA size line, and you will look at the nozzle because the form cell says Aerosol. Do not mix them.