Repel 100 Insect Repellent (98.11% DEET, HG-94108)

Published · Researched 2026-09-21

2026 lineup note: Repel 100 remains the maximum-strength consumer DEET on the market in 2026 — 98.11% DEET, up to 10 hours of protection, in a 4 oz pump spray (HG-94108, the reference size) and a 1 oz travel pump. Made by United Industries (Spectrum). This is the "severe conditions" bottle — oilier and harsher on synthetics than anything else here. All claims gathered 2026-09-20; re-verify live before buying.

Version lineage (2023–2026)

• Pre-2023: Repel 100 is the long-standing answer to "what's the strongest DEET I can buy" — 98.11% DEET (the balance being inert ingredients), EPA-registered, CDC-recognized DEET chemistry for 50+ years.
• 2023–2025: Formula and packaging stable — 4 oz pump spray HG-94108 and 1 oz travel pump; aerosol 4 oz variant also circulates at Walmart.
• 2026 (Sept): Still current; PriceAnalyser shows the 4 oz Amazon price bouncing in the $7.10–$7.48 band through May 2026. Dick's lists it at $8.97 (crawled 2 days before research).

Smart-buy advice: 98.11% DEET is overkill for most camping — it's genuinely the choice for severe conditions (Alaska June, deep woods at dusk, tick-dense spring). The 1 oz travel pump is the smart buy for the glovebox/vest; the 4 oz pump is the home-base bottle. If you don't need 10 hours of absolute defense, 30% DEET (Ben's, Sportsmen IV) does the job with less oil and less synthetic-melt risk.

Overview

Repel 100 Insect Repellent — 98.11% DEET pump spray for severe insect conditions. Up to 10 hours of mosquito protection; also repels ticks, gnats, biting flies, chiggers, and fleas. Repels mosquitoes that may transmit Zika, West Nile, Dengue, and Chikungunya viruses. Apply over exposed skin and/or outer clothing; do not use under clothing. Do not apply to children's hands. Wash treated skin with soap and water after returning indoors. DEET at this concentration will damage plastics, synthetic fabrics, and finishes — the Walmart review threads are full of melted watch bands and sticky decals.

Key Specs

Pricing

• 4 oz pump (HG-94108): $8.97 — SOURCE: Dick's Sporting Goods ($9.99 list, crawled 2 days before research). OBSERVATION DATE: 2026-09-20. Note: page showed "not available to go to cart" — availability UNVERIFIED; re-check.
• 4 oz aerosol: $9.27 — SOURCE: Walmart ($11.99 was, $2.32/oz, crawled 16 days before research). OBSERVATION DATE: 2026-09-20 (slightly stale).
• 4 oz pump: $7.10–$7.48 — SOURCE: PriceAnalyser Amazon price history, May 2026. OBSERVATION DATE: 2026-09-20 (history through 2026-05-07; re-verify).
• 1 oz travel pump: ~$7.78–$8.19 — SOURCE: Amazon (crawled 147 days before research; stale).
• MSRP: UNVERIFIED — not published on pages seen.

In the Box

• One bottle (4 oz pump or 1 oz travel pump). No accessories.

Warranty

Manufacturer's satisfaction guarantee (per Amazon product spec). No written duration found — retailer returns are the practical route.

Support & Parts

• Sold at Walmart, Dick's, Amazon, sporting goods, outdoor retailers.
• Support via United Industries/Spectrum (Repel brand) consumer channels.

Community Verdict

Repel 100 is the "nuclear option" the community reaches for when nothing else works — the Walmart reviews are vivid: swampy-woods properties where 40% DEET lasted ten minutes and Repel 100 lasted hours. It's respected, not loved: "super expensive for the amount you get but this stuff works" is the representative take. The complaints are proportional to the strength — it's oily, it smells strong, and it will eat synthetic finishes (the melted-project-rock-decal story is a cautionary classic). Nobody buys this as their daily driver; it's the severe-conditions bottle. No fabricated scores used.

Images

• repel-100-1.jpg — PRIMARY: exact-model 4 fl oz (118 ml) pump spray, "REPEL 100 … 98.11% DEET … Protects up to 10 HRS" — Tractor Supply product page (HG-94108)
• repel-100-2.jpg — exact-model 4 oz pump, bear-silhouette label generation — hikerstore.co.uk product page
• repel-100-3.jpg — exact-model 4 oz pump, red-badge label generation — hikerstore.co.uk product page

All three images visually verified as the exact model (Repel 100, 98.11% DEET, 4 fl oz / 118 ml pump spray, HG-94108) on 2026-09-20. Images 2 and 3 are different packaging generations of the same product.

Research date: 2026-09-20. Prices and availability change frequently; re-verify all figures live before purchase. Where two sources conflicted, both are shown and the conflict is labeled UNVERIFIED.

Top-up 2026-09-21 (images 4–6):

• assets/img/repel-100-4.jpg
• assets/img/repel-100-5.jpg
• assets/img/repel-100-6.jpg

Long-term durability & warranty-claim reality (enrichment — Sept 2026)

• Shelf-stable for years — DEET doesn't meaningfully expire; the pump bottle is the limiter (seals, clogging). Old bottles from the gear bin still work.
• The pump is the wear item — travel-pump nozzles clog or leak after seasons in a pack; the 4 oz pump is more robust. Decant into a small bottle for flights rather than flying the whole 4 oz.
• "Satisfaction guarantee" is marketing — no documented warranty-claim process surfaced; treat as consumable.

Version history — year by year (enrichment — Sept 2026)

• 2023: Repel 100 current in 4 oz pump and 1 oz travel formats.
• 2024: Amazon price hovers ~$7–8 for the 4 oz pump.
• 2025: Continues as the max-DEET reference; PriceAnalyser low $7.10 (Oct 2025).
• 2026 (Sept): Still current; price band $7.10–$9.27 across channels; Dick's listing ($8.97) shows stock uncertainty.

Head-to-head vs closest rivals (enrichment — Sept 2026)

• vs Ben's 30% DEET (bens-30-deet): 98% vs 30% DEET. The honest science: protection duration scales with concentration more than repellency strength — Repel 100 buys you 10 hours vs Ben's ~7–8, at the cost of oiliness and synthetic damage. For a normal camp evening, Ben's is the sane pick; for dawn-to-dusk severe conditions, Repel 100.
• vs OFF! Deep Woods Sportsmen (off-deep-woods-sportsmen, new this round): Sportsmen IV is the 30% workhorse can; Repel 100 is the severe-conditions specialist. Sportsmen IV's aerosol is friendlier to apply; Repel 100's pump is friendlier to fly with and to dose sparingly.
• vs Sawyer 20% Picaridin (sawyer-picaridin-repellent): picaridin is the fabric-safe, skin-friendly everyday pick; Repel 100 is the opposite end of the spectrum — maximum chemistry for maximum bugs. Most campers should own picaridin and borrow Repel 100 only when the forecast says "severe."

Care & maintenance (enrichment — Sept 2026)

• Store upright, cool and dry; the pump seal is the weak point in a hot car.
• Apply sparingly — at 98% DEET, a little goes a long way; avoid overapplication (label warning).
• Keep off all plastics, synthetic fabrics, watch faces, sunglasses, phone screens, and tent fabric — DEET at this concentration dissolves finishes on contact.
• Wash treated skin with soap and water when indoors; wash treated clothing before re-wearing.
• Don't let children handle the bottle; apply to your own hands, then to the child — never on children's hands.

Buying traps (enrichment — Sept 2026)

• "98.11%" vs "100% DEET" — Repel 100 is 98.11% DEET + 1.98% inerts; listings that say "100% DEET" are rounding. Same product.
• Pump vs aerosol — the Walmart 4 oz aerosol and the Dick's 4 oz pump are the same formula in different delivery; pick pump for dosing control, aerosol for speed.
• More DEET ≠ more repellency — it buys duration, not a stronger force field. Don't buy 98% expecting mosquitoes to fear you more; buy it expecting them to fear you longer.
• The 1 oz travel pump's price per ounce is steep (~$8/oz vs ~$2.30/oz for the 4 oz) — you're paying for the pocket size.

Community Verdict — additional voices (enrichment — Sept 2026)

More sourced voices: Dick's incentivized reviewers use it for Costa Rica travel and post-tick-bite conversion ("got a tick on another brand, switched to Repel 100, no issues since") — the severe-conditions positioning lands. The Walmart swamp-property review is the archetype: 40% DEET failed in ten minutes, Repel 100 held for hours, and the user accepts the oiliness as the price. The health-concern return (one Walmart reviewer, May 2026) is the minority note — DEET at 98% makes some users uneasy, and the label's own warnings (wash off indoors, not under clothing) feed that. No fabricated scores used.

Key Specs gap-fill (enrichment — Sept 2026)

Active: 98.11% DEET (1.98% other ingredients). Duration: up to 10 hours. Sizes: 4 fl oz pump spray (HG-94108); 1 fl oz travel pump; 4 oz aerosol variant. Weight of filled bottles: UNVERIFIED. Apply to exposed skin + outer clothing; not under clothing; hands-first for face. Damages plastics/synthetics — keep off gear finishes.