Poisen oak tech
 

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1336679666.jpg


Beside rubbing it on someone is there another test that will tell me?

That doesn't look like poison oak to me. The leaves are usually rounded on poison oak not pointy.

leaves in groups of three, tend to look especially shiny

not great pic but that does not look to be the stuff there

I'd say not poison oak. I got it mercilessly when I was a kid - I know exactly how it looks. That looks like garden variety live oak.

Not Poison Oak...

open toe sandals are truly the best footwear for poison oak areas :D

i talk smack because it doenst affect me. yet. i am the idiot they send in with the machete to cut the stuff down at my archery club. i still wear tyvek, but really to keep it out of my truck and ultimately my wife.

Open toed sandals! yup and there's a ton of spiders down there in the leaves on the ground.

I still do :(

I hate you Vash :)...I'm the idiot that "gets it" by just looking at it, or even worse, clearing land just last week that I know has it but "what ya gonna do"...still waiting for it to disappear in a few more days :(.

ps: For those that it does affect...Hot showers (as hot as you can stand) brings hours of soothing relief.

Spent a day mountain biking just after landing my current job back in 2000. It had just rained and we were sliding all over the place, often clawing at vegetation to get up hills. At some point in the day I guess I scratched my balls.

Guess what? Poison ivy...poison oak...I'm VERY allergic to the stuff. Arms and legs swelled up and were covered with scaly, oozing scabs for two weeks. I took two benedryl every 4 hours just to keep from tearing my skin off. We hadn't picked our health insurance yet, so I couldn't afford to go to the doctor. I just had to suffer through it, wearing long sleeves and copious amounts of gauze bandaging.

Not poison oak.

That is a sapling Coast Live Oak. Not poison oak.

This is poison oak:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1336687130.jpg

It can be all green early season or all red late season.

I miss the days I could roll around in the stuff, now I get it from my dog very easily.

Poison Oak, Ivy, Sumac: I am allergic to it all. And it seems the previous owner of my house had a Poison Ivy farm out back. I get it quite frequently. I am so allergic -- if I look at Poison Ivy through binoculars, I will break out in a rash.

Matter of fact, just after seeing the second picture, my lower arm started to itch.

BTW: The best solutions I have found so far are two-fold:
- Pour the hottest water possible on the rash. (I know -- this just spreads the oil, but it will kill the itch, which will prevent me from scratching and spreading it more)
- A product called Tech-Nu. The wash with the scrubbing agent works best.

Just my $0.42,
-Z-man.

I tried the Tech-Nu when I was covered head-to-toe 'bout 6 years ago after clearing my girlfriend's fence line, didn't do much for me (but this was a few days after contact). It's amazing how a chainsaw & line trimmer can spray the oil. The oil will get on dogs, seats, clothing, etc. and "keep on giving", but ya can't spread it by scratching after the fact like my mom use to admonish :). Same with hot showers several days after...not gonna spread it, just soothing relief.

I've been using Tecnu for over a year now, washing faithfully in COLD water shortly after suspected exposure to poison ivy, and have not gotten more than a few dime sized patches - and I'm terribly allergic to the stuff. Don't wash with hot water, as it will open your pores and draw the oil under your skin. Gloves, long sleeves, and caution are your friend with this shyte.

That makes sense. I use the hot, HOT water to soothe the itching long after the oils are gone....days later. I used to get it "all over" as a kid, then went decades with nary an occurance...now in my 50s I've reverted back to my childhood...look at it hard and I've got it :(.

The last time I got poison oak was a few years ago. We went to the beach in Aptos. A bit of a trail walk to get there. The dog was running around in front of us. When we got down to the sand, the dog's feet were burning so I picked her up and carried her to where the sand was wet. Unbeknownst to me, she had run through poison oak back on the trail. I got a dose so bad on my ears that I looked like a dad gummed Ferengi from Star Trek.

Funny you should mention ears. Was using a chain saw to cut up some fallen logs in my yard a few years ago. Used ear protection - which I happen to place on the ivy covered ground during the whole process. Got it so bad on my ears that I had to get topical cream and pills to deal with it,

Not fun - but at least I didn't get it elsewhere...

Another fun fact. Each time you break out because of poison oak/ivy, your immunity to it breaks down. Each subsequent outbreak will get worse and worse.