personal experience with these or similar bug repellents

Themacell used in Alaska. First one a gift from camper we met north of Fairbanks. We were existing outside in screened tent. They were enjoying the outside. When we asked how they managed she said thermal cell. We've since gifted to family and told others. We use in our gazebo at home and it's not screened.

We've had a Thermacell for many years. It works great as long as there isn't stiff breeze.
Absolutely worth having!

We have the OFF power pad lanterns.
They use the same active ingredient, but the heat source is a candle, rather than a butane cylinder. They work very well. We have 2 in the camper and 2 in the trailer as they are the things that get missed moving from one to the other, and we don't like to be without them.
They are good for 4 hours and then the candle is done.
Brian

My son is a Park Ranger at a Florida State Park. The parks are sometimes given products to be tried out. We were introduced to the thermocell in this manner, also to NoNatz, a natural product with no chemicals. We also use net jackets with hoods, and yes we do use products with 100% Deet PRN. He has a combination of products that he likes; whatever works. lizzie

Members of the 24th Infantry Division used to buy Avon Skin-So-Soft by the gallon to fend off the no-see-ums (sand fleas) in Georgia in the field. Of course, it was rather humorous to observe a heavy mechanized infantry division head out on maneuvers smelling like a French bordello. The stuff worked, though...

Rob

For no-see-ums I've found that Pyrethrins work the best. While at the Everglades my younger son was getting absolutely eaten alive by the bastiges that were small enough to fit through the mesh in the top of the tent, at the advice of the rangers we bought some coils that contained Pyretherins and once we lit them in our tent you could literally see a light rain of dying no-see-ums falling out of the air as the smoke reached them. They say not to use them in the tent, but when your kid looks like he has chicken pox because he's been bit so many times the minor health effects of breathing in the smoke seem pretty trivial.

We each got a pair of the Off clip-ons when we went to Alaska several years ago. Been using them on the hunting stands since. The ones with the little vial of green 'stuff' in it worked great so long as you're not walking/hiking.

I say "worked" because the new refills are very different from the old ones (no visible vial of repellent, think it's embedded in the pad) and I haven't had the opportunity to try them out yet.

We have the Thermacell lantern. It's suppose to cover a 15x15 area. Our seasonal site can get breezy, so it usually doesn't cover that large an area, but it does work.

If you camp a lot, you can buy the refill packs in bulk online and save money. Buying 1 pack at Lowe's/Walmart/etc. can get expensive.

-Michael

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I think I'm going to try one of these Thermacell units.

lucy6194, ScottG , Mgirardo,

There are several different units. I am looking at the Backpacker model which works off a gas cylinder. Is that what you are using? Guess the chemical is the same. Just a matter of how it is dispersed.

edit: any luck with no see ums with this type unit?

Don't get me started on No-see-ums. I am a 78 year old native Floridian and when I was a kid we used to go out and spray the screens with kerosene to try to keep them out. They just eat me up! You have to use something oily and cover every inch of your body that is exposed. OR, you can wear bug repellent netting (which we did not have when we were kids). My idea of hell is a infestation if No-see-ums. lizzie