Sun Block

[ECP1989]

It's starting to get sunny here and I had some questions about Sun Block. What kind do you guys use? And here's a kind of dumb question, does Sun Block make it so you don't get tanned? I wanna get tanned and was wondering if Sun Block would prevent it?

Thanks

[Nick B]

Well getting tan depends on your skin type, but Im guessing you tan. Sun block will not prevent you from getting tan depending on the SPF level you use. THe lower the number the less protection.

[VABasser]

I usually use 30 spf, I think thats good enough though you should reapply a couple times if you are out for a long time. I'm sure any brand is fine though I prefer sunscreen that is a little more runny, it doesnt feel like you are rubbing toothpaste onto your skin so much then ;D. Sunscreen helps from getting burnt but can't totally prevent it. I know when I lived in Hawaii you just accepted that you would get burnt some when you went to the beach for most of the day and its the same when I go fishing. I just try not to get fried out there and keep the burn to a minimum. So what I'm trying to say is that you will still get tanned even when you wear sunscreen.

[paparock]

Bullfrog and it is waterproof. http://www.bullfrogsunscreen.com/

[George Welcome]

SPF Factor: the SPF number indicates the number of minutes between applications to maintain protection. For example if using SPF 50: If you stayed out for 8 hours, (480 minutes) and you only applied twice, you would be unprotected for 300 minutes or 5 hours.

Based on the SPF number apply protection as the number indicates. SPF 50 - every 50 minutes.

Also, apply the 1st application prior to sunrise.

[RoLo]

As most people know, there are two fractions of ultraviolet light that are implicated in photo-damage:

'ultraviolet-A' abbreviated UVA, and 'ultraviolet-B' abbreviated UVB.

UVB radiation is less serious than UVA, and causes "acute" skin damage such as sunburn and tanning.

UVA however is the BAD BOY, which causes "permanent" photo-damage such as discoloration, wrinkles

and skin cancer.

What most people don't realize is that the SPF (sun protection factor) refers "only" to UVB

and has no bearing at all on UVA, the Killer Ray.

What's more, there's no number on a sunscreen container that offers a clue as to UVA protection.

The best I've ever seen is the sketchy phrase, "UVA/UVB protection", which could be said of lard oil.

As always, it behooves the consumer to do his homework. There are only three sunscreen agents

that are useful against UVA which protect against photo-damage, wrinkles and skin cancer.

The three agents, in descending order: Zinc Oxide, Avobenzone (parsol 1789) and Titanium Dioxide.

Those unsightly white blobs we used to see on the noses of lifeguards were zinc oxide.

Today we have transparent metallic oxides variously referred to as microfine, micronized

and ultrafine that cost about $12 per ounce. Don't leave home without it.

Roger

[bassmasta7]

I was on the lake for 10 hours last week and didnt put on any sunblock except on my neck with like 2 hours to go. My arms got extremely dark, unfortunately i was wearing a shirt so now i have the world's best farmer's tan.

[Rebbasser]

Bullfrog SPF 30 spray on-keeps it off my hands and therefore the bait I am using.  Does a great job keeping me from burning or worse.  I wish I had been using it for a long time before I started using it all the time-the basal cell carcinoma they carved off my right shoulder is proof of that.  Or rather the inch long scar is.  Do yourself a favor-get some and USE IT!

[Will]

I also go with bull frog, it goes on and seems to dry pretty fast without leaving the oily feeling that others will.

[bassnleo]

I purchased Blue Lizard a few weeks ago, have used it 2 times so far, didn't get burned and only had to apply it 1 time.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I've been using Blue Lizard 45 for a year and it's been the best I've tried so far, put on an hour before going outside, then once every hour if I remember to do it. It's easier to remember these days after having 3 squamous cell carcinomas cut out of me from fishing most of the time since 1959 without any at all. It's nothing to ignore.

Jim

[j-bass]

Pretty much the only sunblock I use are my clothes, shades, and hat.  I usually have some wicked farmer's tan going on with some raccoon eyes and a stripe across my forehead where I had my hat backwards.  Its a look that really impresses the ladies.

[alhuff]

Bullfrog...

Alfred

[Matt Fly]

Long sleeves, a wet bandana around my neck, a good hat and pair of shades.  Or I go Natural, just not totally natural.  

[Poor Richard]

:-[  Listen, guys and gals--pay attention to the warnings in here from your fellow anglers.  My neighbor just had half his nose excavated; they filled the hole with fat from his temples.  A famous local golfer LOST his nose entirely, and the business column writer for our newspaper came close to losing his and wrote a good article about it.  I have had rosacea on my nose for at least two decades.  This makes me look like an old drunk, and if I have to look like an old drunk, I want to go ahead and be one!  I can control it, but this a bit expensive and awful fussy.   A good dermatologist can read your facial skin like a book; go see one and find out how far gone you are.  I vote for zinc oxide (baby bottom paint) and a wide-brimmed hat.  Protect your lips, too.  Nothing is lovelier than a great big oozing sun blister, a regular haven for herpes as well.

A nice tan is, well, nice--but she won't be looking at your tan; she'll be checking out your damage.  

Our sun really is more dangerous than it used to be; it doesn't take long to mess you up good.  Don't forget, you're not going to be aware of the damage until it's much too late.  If the atmosphere gets any worse, we'll all be wearing papers bags with little eye holes.

-------------------------------------

"Only that day dawns to which we are awake.  There is more day to dawn.  The sun is but a morning star." -- HDT    8-)

[grahamb]

SPF Factor: the SPF number indicates the number of minutes between applications to maintain protection. For example if using SPF 50: If you stayed out for 8 hours, (480 minutes) and you only applied twice, you would be unprotected for 300 minutes or 5 hours.

Based on the SPF number apply protection as the number indicates. SPF 50 - every 50 minutes.

This is not exactly true.

SPF is not minutes between applications. It is a multiplier. See the quote below -

"In theory the SPF is a multiplier that can be applied to the time taken to burn. For example, someone who would burn after 12 minutes in the sun would expect to burn after 2 hours (120 minutes) if protected by a sunscreen with SPF 10."

Taken from -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunscreen#Sun_protection_factor

It's effectivness depends on your skin type. BUT, as others have said, you shouldn't be using it just to avoid a sunburn, but also to avoid complications further down the road.

[bassnleo]

PR, amen. My father has had skin cancer and I'm determined not to follow that path. I'm fair skinned and always use sunscreen.

[Siebert Outdoors]

I tan very easily and quickly.  I always wear sunscreen usually SPF 50 sometimes 30.  I dont want cancer later in life.  You guys may laugh at me but I use water babies sunscreen.

[.ghoti.]

Blue Lizard. Use it every time you go out for more than an hour. You young guys, pay attention to us old farts. Been there, done that, got the scars. "nough said.

[Guest avid]

Skin cancers are no joke. So far all we have talked about is the basal cells. I had one on my neck. It was removed but the scar is 1/2 ". But I had a squaimous cell carcinoma on my nose. What's the difference? Well a basal cell, will look like a big insect bite except it doesn't go away, and will ooze (cute eh?) a squimous cell will bleed like a pig. I was at an out of state soccer tournament with my son. We stayed at a motel and I was in the shower. Scenes from "Psycho". I saw blood swirling down the drain, I opened the shower door, looked in the mirror and started screaming because the enitre front of my body was a sheet of blood.

Both of these are sun induced carcinomas that I got from fishing. I used to start at ice out when the sun was weak and by the time summer came, I was so tan that I didn't need "suntan oil" or so we called it in the 70's.

Oh, and just in case you think that all skin cancers can be fixed with a little surgery, just remember that melanoma, which is another form of skin cancer has an extremely high fatality rate.

You may laugh at my "big hat" in some of my photo's and so do I because it is funny. But trust me, when the doctor looks at YOU and uses the "C" word. You will wish you wore a sombrero.

[Will]

I got a friend that learned the hard way, he is a quite a bit older than me, but never wore sun screen as a kid. Now his face is almost always red, and sometimes it will turn into a dark purple. He went to the doctor, and fortunately there wasn't any cancer, but just been in the sun long enough.

[KenDammit28]

My father had to have part of his nose removed due to skin cancer.  The general thought on how it happened was that the reflection from his sunglasses onto his nose had "magnified" the process.  Now he has a rough(very poorly done)spot where the normal nostril would be and I'm sure it has to bother him sometimes.  

I don't use any sunblock because I sweat very easily, so it all runs off and gets to be a hassle after a bit...but I don't stay out in the sun very long at a time(good thing about sweating a lot...I want shade!).  Fortunately for me, I tan easily, so its not a big deal when you get the best of both worlds.  

Anyway, if you know you're gonna be out in the middle of water for a long day, PROTECT YOURSELF.  The reflection of the sun off the water surface intensifies the rays, and it can do more harm than normal sun would.  Remember those pictures of women holding those little "mirrors" in front of their face while tanning?  Thats what water and sunglasses and reflective surfaces will do.  

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

It's worth repeating. The dermatologist claims my damage was done in my youth. Back then no respectable boy wore sunscreen around crusty river rats. Wearing thin mesh ball caps got me a SCC (squamous cell carcinoma) in the scalp, the surgery leaving a hole 1/2" deep and 1.5" across. It looks like a bowling ball slammed my head. I have a scar across the back of my left hand spanning the knuckles, another SCC. The last surgery left a 3" long scar and blotched skin from eye to ear from a third SCC. I have blotches everywhere from years of liquid nitrogen freezing to remove Keritosis, the precursor to cancer. Every day you begin using sunblock is probably a day of delay seeing a dermatologist, and that will delay you being told you had better stop fishing days or you might end up wearing your butt skin on the face. Get a brand with zinc oxide and rated at least SPF 30 and keep it on every two hours, sweating or not. You won't sweat it all off. The protection slowly diminishes as it wears off. If you sweat more than average use a sports blend. Wear a floppy straw hat with a liner inside and a green colored inside brim over the face to deal with reflected light off the water. You pay now with inconvenience or pay later with misery.  

Jim

[Dodge456]

You ignore protection at your own peril

In my sixties I have two thirds of both ears gone, an eye reconstruction, and grafts and repairs from postage stamp to mango seed size.

When younger no worries about the sun which I now regret; covered up well today but its to late now as excisions are a way of life from here on.

All the doctors curse caps as useless and urge brimmed hats

You will get caught if you ignore the warnings

[telecaster]

Ive also had friends with cancers removed from there noses and scalps.Its not something you want to mess with ,things like that can get outta hand fast..If your on the water alot ,your mega exposed to harmfull  sunlight.Long shirt sleeves(lightcolered) and pants,good quality poalrized glasses,hat,and sunblock on the nose and cheeks is a must. Getting a little tan is one thing,protecting yourself from skincancer or even an extreem burn is another.BE SAFE