Well, my dad has gone through a lifetime of wading through poison ivy and related stuff, and he has never developed a case of it. You are right, I am probably not immune to it, as I have developed a light, non-itching rash after I have been in the woods. Perhaps luck will be on my side, like my dad, and I will keep the "resistance" throughout life. I think from now on I will smear on some jewelweed and put on some protective clothes before I go in to the woods, just to be safe. Hiking in winter is better, as the dangerous leaves fall, and it is not as easy to make contact with the oil, unless you cut the plant, causing the sap to leak out. Fall is also a good time to hike, as a lot of the poison ivy leaves are blood-red, making them easier to see and avoid. One of my friends said that his goats ate the p.i. leaves like salad, and then, when he drank he milk they produced, he said it gave him a resistance for quite a few months, and although it eventually wore off, he just drank more milk, renewing the resistance. Yep, p.i. is pretty nasty stuff. I will use extreme caution next time I am handling it. Kind Regards, James