>>Until then, those of us heading for the woods still need to soak our gear in permethrin, use bug spray, and get our significant others to help us do daily tick checks.

Even with a Lyme vaccine, keep the daily tick checks - Lyme isn't the only bacterial infection carried by ticks.

Also, bug spray/lotion with picaridin seems more effective at deterring deer ticks than DEET (just my N=1 observation). Permethrin's great for boots and gaiters, but, as it's a neurotoxin, I'm a bit shy about using it on anything directly against my skin.