# Best mosquito repellant?



## bfunk13 (Jun 9, 2012)

Took the family for our first camping trip of 2012 this week. 
We had a blast other than the mosquito bites. We have always used the OFF and Deet type sprays. 
Unless coated in it at all times, they still swarm. Anyone tried the thermocell type? I was told they don't work very well at high altitudes. We live at 7000 and camp higher than that. I can deal with them and don't mind being doused in spray, but my little guy sure got bit up this trip. We kept a good eye on him and sprayed often but still got bit. Thanks for any suggestions!


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## GAMMA RAY (Jun 10, 2012)

Bfunk, I remembered this thread from a while back and was able to find it for ya. They discuss the Thermocell. Someone in the thread called the thermocell 866 number with questions..might be a good idea for you to do with your question before purchase. Dennis is a firm believer of them. Seems like some good info for ya. Here is the thread.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/mosquitoes.69955/#post-881480


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## bfunk13 (Jun 10, 2012)

Thanks for the info!


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## Mrs. Krabappel (Jun 10, 2012)

Just don't get one of those electric bug zappers.  They kill many beneficial predator bugs.   Because they generally have a longer life span, it takes their populations longer to recover than the prey bugs like mosquitoes.   Therefore, you end up with more pest bugs.


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## bfunk13 (Jun 10, 2012)

Makes sense.


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## nate379 (Jun 10, 2012)

12 gauge with bird shot, that's how we tackle the ones here... !!

Try repel, get the good stuff (there are 2 or 3 strengths) with all the warnings that it gives you cancers, makes you sterile, and you go blind. It works well, and I can still see.


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## Seasoned Oak (Jun 10, 2012)

Somehow i have a problem spraying toxic chemicals on myself or my kids.  Cant be a good thing. perhaps theres a natural repellent.


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## Mrs. Krabappel (Jun 10, 2012)

True that.  The insect is benign in comparison.


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## BrotherBart (Jun 10, 2012)

Yeah. That great can of Deet loaded spray has been sitting on the shelf by the back door for twenty years. Probably time to chuck its unused self in the trash can.

What bugs can do scares me less than what I have seen chemicals do to folks over the years. Or meds as far as that goes.


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## bfunk13 (Jun 11, 2012)

Probably true.


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## nate379 (Jun 11, 2012)

If you had to deal with the bugs we get here, I don't think you'd question it too much to be honest. It's either that or get aten alive.
I forget to bring a can while cutting wood today and my arms and neck are all swollen from all the bites.  I swear I musta lost a quart of blood!



Seasoned Oak said:


> Somehow i have a problem spraying toxic chemicals on myself or my kids. Cant be a good thing. perhaps theres a natural repellent.


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## bogydave (Jun 11, 2012)

For most areas, we just spray down the kids clothes not their skin.
Gloves, head net & no exposed skin if you go in the woods in the evenings.
BUT
I hear some brave comments, don't want to come to alaska hunting &  fishing or do many outdoor activities if bug dope scares you . 
I'm just say'n. I've seen black bear with a gray face, bet he'd have liked some bug dope. I've seen dogs with their eyes swollen shut. I've worn netting & the buzz & gray cloud around your head drives you nuts. & they keep coming. 
Some areas are worse than others. Stay in open areas, around pavement, dry areas or mowed areas.  
But after the first few hundred bites, in a few weeks you don't even feel the bite or notice them until they get bad. I guess we build up an immunity to their bites. 

I have a Mosquito Magnet for the yard. It keeps the population down. Clear the brush & weed whack allot  around the yard helps, but in the woods is another story. A breeze helps too. 
Most times when sunny, very few mosquitoes. Evenings, cloudy days or in the woods is a different story.

They'll start dying off in a month & not be as bad as now.
I usually get a few big coffee cans full out of the MM in June, it slow down the eggs being laid & the rest of the summer is tolerable.
Lots of snow last winter insulated their eggs so they are pretty bad right now. 

Remember "*Only the Females bite*"


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## Seasoned Oak (Jun 11, 2012)

Im sure the locals had some home remedies before the chemical age.


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## firebroad (Jun 11, 2012)

Although malaria is rare around here, west nile virus has been found in birds, and in a few cases, old folks who succumbed.  I like to use the "Off" brand that doesn't smell horrible and feels smooth to the skin.  I think it is called Smooth & Dry, sometimes hard to find and more expensive.  'Skeeters seem to have an affinity for me, I once found about a dozen or so trying to bite through my jeans while I was picking strawberries.


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## bogydave (Jun 11, 2012)

Some say you can tuck a "bounce"  under your hat & let it hang out the back to keep them away from you head area, never tired it.


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## Gary_602z (Jun 11, 2012)

I think they were saying Avon "Skin so Soft" worked good.

gary


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## bogydave (Jun 11, 2012)

Gary_602z said:


> I think they were saying Avon "Skin so Soft" worked good.
> 
> gary


 
Tried it. Don't work on our mosquitoes, they think it's an "appetizer"


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## Seasoned Oak (Jun 11, 2012)

Talk to the old timers, they know the secrets( like moose pee or some chit) ,thats all natural.


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## nate379 (Jun 11, 2012)

Yeah no joke, not to mention it's super greasy and stinks too.



bogydave said:


> Tried it. Don't work on our mosquitoes, they think it's an "appetizer"


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## greg13 (Jun 11, 2012)

Gary_602z said:


> I think they were saying Avon "Skin so Soft" worked good.
> 
> gary


 
Bees love it!!


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## PapaDave (Jun 12, 2012)

Well, we went to ye old feed store south of us yesterday and I found some stuff with Pyrethrin in it.
I mixed up a gallon batch and put it in a spray bottle. Today is testing day.You apply it to your clothes and let it dry.
Supposed to kill ticks and also repel skeeters. We'll see.


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## firefighterjake (Jun 12, 2012)

bogydave said:


> For most areas, we just spray down the kids clothes not their skin.
> Gloves, head net & no exposed skin if you go in the woods in the evenings.
> BUT
> I hear some brave comments, don't want to come to alaska hunting & fishing or do many outdoor activities if bug dope scares you .
> ...


 
Very appropriate thread . . . I was talking with my sister who was visiting from Wasilla and she said their lab went out at the start of the season and came back with his eyes all swollen shut. She ended up going to the vet for some special dog-mosquito repellant. She and her husband Jon are big fans of Thermocells . . . they looked into the Mosquito Magnet and similar devices, but after having bought a house this year they are still working on improving the house.

I'll be up your way in a few weeks BD . . . hopefully you can kill a few more skeeters before I arrive.


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## charly (Jun 12, 2012)

I use essential oils from Young Living. About 10 drops in a quart spray bottle of water, clove, lemon grass, peppermint, citronella, cedarwood, etc. Non Toxic. Dogs get sprayed as well.  When using clove oil, just don't touch your eyes or lips. Remember anything you put on your skin get absorbed into your body, so I'm not a fan of harsh chemicals.


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## chuckie5fingers (Jun 13, 2012)

Has no one heard of "skin so soft" by Avon?
That stuff is the best as far as bug repellant is concerned IMHO
chuck


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## Jags (Jun 13, 2012)

chuckie5fingers said:


> Has no one heard of "skin so soft" by Avon?
> That stuff is the best as far as bug repellant is concerned IMHO
> chuck


 
From the boys up north it sounds like the skeeters think skin so soft is gravy.


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## Delta-T (Jun 13, 2012)

if I know I'm gonna be in the woods for a while, I load up on B vitamin and Iron supplements..they thicken your blood and make you less appatizing. I only use Deet products on ankles (socks and pant bottoms), elbow pits, just behind arms on shoulder blades and back of neck....the areas most targeted by biting savages. After Rocky Mtn. Spotted Fever I give no quarter to blood suckers.


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## Delta-T (Jun 13, 2012)

I remeber hearing that the average human can only withstand about 250,000 bites in a 24 hr period before you lose enough blood to die....cover up out there.


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## FanMan (Jun 13, 2012)

Back in the 1960's I remember my Dad using a product called 6-12... it came in a spray for people, and in a tiny glass bottle that Dad would add to kerosene torches on the patio, Presumably it was some horrible stuff as I haven't heard of it in years.

The reason I mention it is I'm wondering if there's something similar that I can add to kerosene for torches today... citronella oil sold for torches is absurdly expensive when you have a lot of torches, kerosene is a lot cheaper but will it keep bugs away by itself? I now have a cabin just a few doors down from the one we had when I was a kid, and they don't send the spray truck with DDT around any more...


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## nate379 (Jun 13, 2012)

Thermocells is what they were talking about at work a few days ago, I need to find where they sell them.

Skin So Soft doesn't work at all.  My Mom used to spray us with that stuff when we were kids... I don't think it worked on the bugs in Maine either.  But just thinking of the smell right now almost makes me sick.

Repel doesn't really smell and it works pretty well.


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## bogydave (Jun 13, 2012)

This works:


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## Hoot23 (Jun 14, 2012)

Skin so soft works for the kid and I, the dragon flys have been doing there part. Plus the fire pit is usually going.


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## firefighterjake (Jun 14, 2012)

When I used to work on the golf course as a greenskeeper this is the stuff I used to combat the hordes of black flies and mosquitoes . . . smells like a combination of pine pitch, turpentine and moose pee . . . but it worked and worked well . . . plus it kept all the old lady golfers well away from me.

http://oletimewoodsman.com/


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