Thermacell?

[EvilKidsMeal]

I found the testimonial thread on the thermacell repellent appliance, but that thread is pretty old now.

Since skeeter season is quickly approaching I wanted to hear some more opinions.

Does everyone still love their thermacell? Will it still work pretty well wandering around the woods? I will be using bug spray as well for ticks.

 

[Fishersjohn48]

It works very well when stationary and in calm wind. Not so much in breeze or when moving.

 

[EvilKidsMeal]

I dont plan on moving all that quickly, and will probably stop often to look at things and mess around with stuff I find. I figured bug spray would help while moving and if the thermacell really works as well as ive heard I'd be well covered.

 

[ghuns]

Love mine. One in each car and a one in the garage. We use them a lot for baseball games and always seemed to leaving it in the other car or at home. I have tried using it when mowing the yard, it's not so great for that.

 

[nkhrfh]

+1 on the thermacell they work great

 

[Zoub]

It works even in the wind too. The key is if the bugs can get to you, then the thermacell will work too if you play the wind right. In windy situations I put the thermacell upwind of me, if I am stationary, try to sit in a partial windbreak like near a big tree. Last year was one of the buggiest years in 40 years in Northern Wisconsin and we live in the middle of a bog by a river. No where we went in the county had more bugs then our property and I spent plenty of time in the woods with those Thermacells on. Back patio too and wore it grouse hunting up until early November.

 

[teddy12b]

I've say in stands in Canada and I could tell when the thermacell would run out of juice by the assault of skeeters and black flies. As soon as I reloaded the thing the bugs were gone. I love my thermacell.

 

[Willie]

We live next to a wooded area and could not sit on our back deck if we did not have the Themacell on.

Great product...

 

[Scutter01]

I've had one for two years and haven't used it once. It's still in the original shrink-wrap because I keep forgetting that I bought the dang thing.

 

[WilsonMD]

I love my thermacell, it works great. I don't go into the woods in early deer season without it.

 

[Wheezy50]

+1 to the above testimonials, I love my thermacell. Early deer season, turkey, fishing, sitting outside, use it all the time. I couldn't count the number of refills I've gone through, still working great.

 

[gregkl]

+ whatever. My son and I tested it in an extreme environment for mosquitoes. The Boundary Waters. We did actual testing of it and reported back to my brother so he could write an article in KY Bowhunter.

It works!

We would lay it by the pit latrine about 10 minutes before we had to "go" and we could sit there as long as necessary with not much clothes on and not a bite.

 

[JetGirl]

I love mine. I have a few variations, but the lantern is my favorite. We place it on the deck table and it pretty much works within the circumference we're hanging out in.

 

[Hookeye]

Mandatory in turkey season.
Deer season I don't use anything.

 

[Zoub]

+ whatever. My son and I tested it in an extreme environment for mosquitoes. The Boundary Waters. We did actual testing of it and reported back to my brother so he could write an article in KY Bowhunter.

It works!

We would lay it by the pit latrine about 10 minutes before we had to "go" and we could sit there as long as necessary with not much clothes on and not a bite.

That reminds me, I did a before and after video showing how well the Thermacell worked and I live in area similar to and not that far from BWCA. I will have to see if I can find it. I filmed a small halogen spotlight, then put a thermacell under it and filmed it again.


Oh look at this, I was going to grab a link on how to refill the butane cartridge and I saw this, a guy recharges the pads. I own and use the same permethrin concentrate, Gordons. This worth trying. Wont have the nice blue indicator color but still a good idea. One pad goes 4 hours and one butane 12, easy to keep track of.

[video=youtube;ycEQCsj7XZk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycEQCsj7XZk[/video]

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Not sure it works for ticks or chiggers. I have a set of clothes I use for summer scouting and fishing that are treated with permethrin. That stops the ticks and chiggers. My thermacel in it's holster on my belt stops everything else. Great product. By the way, the holster has pockets for extra fuel and waifers. I get about two hours out of a waifer. Excellent for summer 3D shooting too.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Mandatory in turkey season.
Deer season I don't use anything.

I use mine in early deer season when the mosquitoes are still buzzing. I place it on the stand below me or strap it on the rail in it's holster.

 

[Richwon4]

I have found that in mosquito dense areas it really is not much more effective than plain old big spray which is not. I'm not talking Indiana here. Northwoods, back country ect... best thing I have found is Sawyers bug dope and ....this stuff for pre-tripping prep....Sawyer Premium Permethrin Clothing Insect Repellent Trigger Spray - Walmart.com

sorry for the long link.

 

[Zoub]

I have found that in mosquito dense areas it really is not much more effective than plain old big spray which is not. I'm not talking Indiana here. Northwoods, back country ect... best thing I have found is Sawyers bug dope and ....this stuff for pre-tripping prep....Sawyer Premium Permethrin Clothing Insect Repellent Trigger Spray - Walmart.com

sorry for the long link.

I don't think it gets any more Northwoods then my zip code and the reason I even tried one was because local loggers used them last summer and loved them. I would add our house is surrounded by bog filled forests that drain in to the river. Our local roads look like ice road truckers only it is logging trucks churning through the tight turns on dirt roads. There are other factors like the color clothing you wear, heavy drinkers seem to attract more, probably a sugar & yeast thing and CO2, I forget the exact science behind it.

For about 10x less you can mix your own "Sawyers bug spray" using Permethrin 10. 1 ounce of perm 10 to 19 ounces of water gives you the same concentraion of 0.005 (1/2% Permethrin). 24oz bottle of Permanone costs $16 at REI. I see an 8oz bottle of Perm 10 at tractor supply for $7, I buy larger bottles because I use it for spiders and ants but 8ozs can mix the equivalent of 160 ounces of Permanone. That is $106 worth for $7. So I guess it is really 15x cheaper. Even cheaper when you buy the big bottles like I do.

 

[ghuns]

For about 10x less you can mix your own "Sawyers bug spray" using Permethrin 10. 1 ounce of perm 10 to 19 ounces of water gives you the same concentraion of 0.005 (1/2% Permethrin). 24oz bottle of Permanone costs $16 at REI. I see an 8oz bottle of Perm 10 at tractor supply for $7, I buy larger bottles because I use it for spiders and ants but 8ozs can mix the equivalent of 160 ounces of Permanone. That is $106 worth for $7. So I guess it is really 15x cheaper. Even cheaper when you buy the big bottles like I do.

"Allegedly", the difference between Sawyer's and any homemade mixture lies in the inert ingredients. Sawyer's inert ingredients include binders that are supposed to help the permethrin hold onto to fabrics. Do those binders make it hold 15X better? I doubt it.