>>2727761Theres hardly anything effective beside of avoiding the spots where they lurk. If you can't, check immediately.
I always carry a lighter for that reason, because they cannot be easily crushed, but easily burnt. Just flame over them for half a second and they instantly die and fall off. Wear long sleeves, put your pants into your socks and wear boots if possible if you want to go offroad into the bushes.
I also noticed they avoid grass that has been exposed to the sun all day, possibly because they dry out there, so you can safely pass dry grass but wet grass is where you need to be cautious. I find the larvae and nymphae to be the worst, they are so fucking tiny, the big ones TICKle a lot so they usually alert you in time.
But even when they bite you, the chance of infection is pretty low if you don't let them suck for days, they will not release their bacteria into your bloodstream before ~18h of feeding. Additionally only the large life stages of them carry diseases because they receive them from previous hosts.