Mesquitos

[paul33329]

My camper is old enough that I don't think I can shut out all the mesquitos. Do the newer ones have less spots for them to sneak in? I would guess that atleast a few would find there way into the camper.

The big question is, what is the best product to deal with mesquitos? Bug spray, mesquito nets, candles etc... Particular brands that are better? We are going somewhere this weekend that has mesquitos.

I originally put this in the product review section, but then as I reread it I decided that wasn't really the forum for it.

[kampingkoge]

I use a Blackflag brand propane fogger around the campsite, never had a problem inside the camper.

[AustinBoston]

My camper is old enough that I don't think I can shut out all the mesquitos. Do the newer ones have less spots for them to sneak in? I would guess that atleast a few would find there way into the camper.

The big question is, what is the best product to deal with mesquitos? Bug spray, mesquito nets, candles etc... Particular brands that are better? We are going somewhere this weekend that has mesquitos.

I originally put this in the product review section, but then as I reread it I decided that wasn't really the forum for it.

Mesquite is a wood often used for smoke flavor in barbecue.
Mosquito is the unofficial state blood-sucking bird of Minnesota.

I don't recall ever dealing with mosquitoes inside our pop-up.  We have had to deal with them in the screen room; no matter how careful, they still find their way in.

We don't use poisons unless it is really bad (i.e. requiring blood transfusions).  We will sometimes use a DEET containing bug spray when they become a bother, but more and more just use a fan to confuse them.

Fan?  Yes.  Mosquitoes don't find people by seeing them, they find them by smelling them - their breath and their perspiration.  By having a fan (a tabletop oscillating fan works for a good sized area), the substances they use to track you down are blown away, so they can't find you.  It works most of the time.

What doesn't work as well as one might expect is a combination of DEET and fan; the fan blows the DEET away as well.

Austin

[vjm1639]

What works well for everyone in our camping party is bringing ME along!  We can go somewhere and everyone rave about not seeing mosquitoes and I'll be eaten alive.  I have to use Deep Woods Sportsman's Off in the little 1 0z bottles at 98% deet!  Regular Deep Woods won't even work for me...  I will get bit no matter what time of day it is. I can't walk into my yard without several bites.   I hate it....  not even a slow down when i was taking some pretty strong B vitamins....   I keep telling DH I'm just that sweet.......  ;>

[wavery]

Mosquito is the unofficial state blood-sucking bird of Minnesota.

I don't recall ever dealing with mosquitoes inside our pop-up.  We have had to deal with them in the screen room; no matter how careful, they still find their way in.


Austin

YA!!!! In Minnesota you don't worry about mosquitoes inside the camper, you worry about them carrying your camper away :J

[flyfisherman]

'Skeeters are simply going to find a way in, especially when you have in and out traffic. Rather than going with the DEET products, which some health issues have been raised from time to time, especially with high concentrations and  children, I like the newer Picaridin based products. I found them to be just as effective and a lot more people and equipment friendly. For example, DEET will destroy a fly line, but the Picaridin is harmless to plastics. And I get back into some rivers and streams where these critters like to dwell.

For the flies (like black flies!), you might also want to hand one of those laundry static/softner stripps to the screen door (just use a saftey pin), so that when the door opens and closes, it kinda helps shooo the flies away (and who knows what else!).



Fly

[harleywolf]

What we do, and it seems to work well, in fact our last camp trip we really noticed a difference, we use Tiki torches with citronella fuel specifically designed to repel insects. At first we started using them for ambiance in our camp site. A few lit Tiki torches add a very nice touch to your campsite at night. Then we started lighting them during peak bug/mosquito times during the day. Our last trip I brought 4 of them. My brother and I had two sites next to each other and we put the doors to our RV

[chasd60]

We decided that a handheld rechargable vacuum will be one of the items added to our gear.
 
Camping on Assateague Island in MD we had a lot of mosquitoes get in. Changing to fluorescents lights seemed to attract many more.
 
We will just wait for them to gather around the lights and vacuum them up.

[AustinBoston]

We decided that a handheld rechargable vacuum will be one of the items added to our gear.
 
Camping on Assateague Island in MD we had a lot of mosquitoes get in. Changing to fluorescents lights seemed to attract many more.
 
We will just wait for them to gather around the lights and vacuum them up.

Bring a lot of vacuum bags!  :eyecrazy:

Austin (been to Assateague twice - I know)

[Morphine]

apparently the Thermacell works well and walmart carries them, I will pick one up and use it next week and report back.

[harleywolf]

Saw an article today on the MSN News website on how to battle the little critters. I cut and pasted the relevant info. Here ya go!

On what works and what doesn

[tlhdoc]

We decided that a handheld rechargable vacuum will be one of the items added to our gear.
 
Camping on Assateague Island in MD we had a lot of mosquitoes get in. Changing to fluorescents lights seemed to attract many more.
 
We will just wait for them to gather around the lights and vacuum them up.

Bring a lot of vacuum bags! :eyecrazy:
 
Austin (been to Assateague twice - I know)

After reading your posts, I just had to let you know that I have had 17 summer trips full of mosquitoes at Assateague Island (about 33 trips total).  I only saw 3 mosquitoes last week.  One bit me at the dumpstation and 2 were in the PU one morning.  The two in the PU had not bit anyone yet (no blood when I squished them).   We camped for 6 days on this trip.  It has been very dry there and there were no pools of water around the campground = no mosquitoes.  I only saw a few of the green headed flies too.

[punkmomto2]

apparently the Thermacell works well and walmart carries them, I will pick one up and use it next week and report back.

splurged on the thermacell after hearing from others how well it worked. Now either the skeeters just didn't come calling that night or that little expensive sucker really worked. I'm not into spraying all that chemical crap onto my skin...so was looking for alternatives. The little strip that went inside lasted the 4 hours just like it said and the propane thing will need replaced on the next outing but if it works it's well worth it.  2 camping trips ago I was so bit up I was literally sick to my stomach and had more bandaids on then I did skin.
 It was a nice relief to be able to sit outside and enjoy the outing. Let me know if it works as well for you.

[oregonbassman]

I have been using the Thermacell while bowhunting. That thing is a life saver when it comes to deterring mosquitoes. They also make a lantern that works the same way. We use the available belt holster for the portable unit while hiking.....works great!

[sacrawf]

The big question is, what is the best product to deal with mesquitos? Bug spray, mesquito nets, candles etc... /QUOTE]

I find that the best preventative is not letting them in the camper to begin with.  Check out all possible points of entry.  If you have any openings or a gap around the door frame to the camper, carry along some Air Conditioner Foam Seal, sold at Lowes and Menards. These 36" long 1 inch square grey foam strips without any adhesive compress well but fill up any voids to keep the insects out.  Also set up as quickly as possible upon arriving so that insects have a shorter period of time to invade the PUP before you get it sealed.  Avoid turning on interior lights until set up to keep from attracting pests inside.

The Coghlan's brass mosquito coil burner available at any Wal-Mart works really well.  It takes up very little space, won't break like the ceramic coil burners, and can burn broken pieces of the coil, and if you can light and burn the coil at both ends at the same time. It gives off a lot more smoke/scent than a bucket candle.  I light it and hang windward to the camper so the smoke drifts across the door of the camper allowing use of the door without letting as many the bugs in.  We are currently using the 99 cent for a box mosquito coils from Big Lots.  They seem to work better than the Off or Cutters brand coils, and have a distinctive but pleasant inscence smell.

The Off Candle that looks like a hurricane lamp and uses only it's own brand of replacement candles and citronella patches that slide into the top is rather expensive to buy refills, takes up a lot of space, and didn't seem to work very well. I let mine go in a garage sale this spring.

We use a high percentage DEET product in the woods and are pleased with the performance.

If the bugs got in anyway, a strip of masking tape works well as a sticky trap to catch the small ones flying around the camper interior lights.