Spend a summer up in the Yukon or Alaska if you want to see solid walls of ravenous mosquitoes.<p>I get bitten while riding my bike, bitten while my arm is out of the car window driving at 30km/h, and bitten through jeans. 100% DEET (you can get it in Alaska) does the trick for about 30 minutes before you have to re-apply - and it's nasty stuff.<p>This past weekend I was camping at a music festival and slapped my arm casually, and killed 14 mosquitoes with the one slap.....<p>A fan? That will do nothing.<p>The mosquitoes will mostly be gone in another month, then it's No CM and black fly season, until it gets below freezing in ~September.
Although it isn't common knowledge, the recommended best practice for avoiding ticks and other bugs is soaking your clothes in Permethrin:<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3sGvZE3rh4" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3sGvZE3rh4</a><p>It isn't very well absorbed through the skin so it has an extremely low toxicity when used in this way, as long as you don't breathe it in or let it get on your skin while it's still wet. It's much more effective and less toxic than DEET, and the CDC recommends it to prevent tick infections. Also don't ever mix it with DEET, because the combination is neurotoxic.<p>The military actually pretreats all of their combat uniforms in this stuff to prevent malaria and other diseases.
My low-tech deterrent? A lifetime of avoiding deterrents. My body seems to have developed a natural resistance to them.<p>I grew up in New Hampshire, not exactly as extreme as Alaska but a place where there are certainly plenty of mosquitos in the summer. I went camping a few weekends ago in the White Mountains and had 10 mosquitos biting my arm as soon as I stopped moving.<p>So what's my deterrent? My body. It seems to have developed a natural resistance to mosquitos, or at least to what they inject into me.<p>When mosquitos bite me, I genuinely don't get itchy or have "bug bites". If I remember correctly, the itchy welts that most people get are caused by the body's response to something the mosquito injects into your skin to prevent the blood from clotting. My body seems to have adapted in such a way that it doesn't react anymore.<p>I haven't always been this way. When I was little, I got mosquito bites just like everybody else. The difference was, I always refused bug spray (I hate chemicals on my skin). I don't care how bad the bugs are. If it's 100F outside, I'll wear a long-sleeve shirt and long pants to cover my skin (and yes, they still bite through, so heavy clothes help).<p>EDIT: Also relevant: my grandmother discovered that dryer sheets--those scented things that people throw in the dryer with their laundry--work as an excellent mosquito deterrent. I didn't believe her until I tried it. Hang one out of your hat or on your shirt collar and watch how few mosquitos come near your head!
This has been fairly common knowledge, at least here in India, where mosquito menace is common. Another really popular product is what is known as mosquito bats (swatters) like here: <a href="http://www.hunterbat.com/mosquito-swatters.html#rechargeable-mosquito-swatter" rel="nofollow">http://www.hunterbat.com/mosquito-swatters.html#rechargeable...</a>
This has been used for at least 25 years in Paris Island, SC chowhalls.<p>The doors to the chowhall stay open throughout the meal as recruits stand in formation and slowly make their way through to the actual foodlines. As a recruit making your way through, there's a period where you are the meal for lots of no-see-ums. Then there's the divine fan period (I was there during the dead of summer, and it was flippin' hot!). Then there's the "see and smell the food" period. Ah, the memories...
Estate design in the colonial and antebellum Southeast, where malaria was a huge problem until the 20th century, was arguably designed to maximize breezes and drafts: be on hilltops, surrounded by mostly open lawns without much shade, with tall, open windows.
There is a guy on Youtube [1] that builds large DIY Mosquito fan traps. Well worth a watch if this is an issue for you.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU2kbghz85I" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU2kbghz85I</a>
This thing works amazingly well. It's basically just adding a net to the box fan. I seriously think that it could fight malaria around the world.<p><a href="http://skeeterbag.com/" rel="nofollow">http://skeeterbag.com/</a><p>I bought a mosquito magnet that cost hundreds of dollars, and it basically did nothing. The skeeterbag started catching mosquitos in minutes.<p>I am not a shill, and have no affiliation with that company.
My wife figured this out, though both of us should have known. We visited my in-laws in rural Georgia and our 17-month old son was covered in gnats and mosquitos when we went outside so we limited his time. When we went to the beach, there were no insects and my wife said, "must be the breeze. We should get a fan for our porch when we get home" Luckily she is smart or my son would suffer a lot!
I learned this on a trip to Nepal many years ago. Turn on the overhead fan in your room and the mosquitos never get a chance to land. Of course you wake up with cotton mouth and eyes, but it was worth it.
I wonder what the impact of completely eliminating mosquitoes from the ecosystem would be.<p>If we could quantify that, and the outcome was enticing, we could release a bunch of genetically modified sterile mosquitoes that would quickly erase whole populations.
Mosquitoes in the US used to be mostly Aedes, but now there are a lot of Culex, which fly twice as fast (120cm/s, or about 2.7 mph) and are better hunters. The Aedes come into a room, find a wall, and eventually eat, while Culex go straight for the bite. Both of them tend to fly upwind toward meals. I wonder whether fans blow the close mosquitoes away but draw lots more to the area, in search of that good human-food smell the fan disperses.
As a Yukon resident, I can safely say the only way to avoid the mosquitos is to hole up in your house, and utilize your arctic entrance as an airlock for when you need to refill your groceries.<p>This is a guide to entering your house with the airlock system:<p>Step 0: Open outside door to arctic entrance<p>Step 1: Run inside with your groceries/supplies<p>Step 2: Close outside entrance<p>Step 3: Nuke the arctic entrance, RAID Wasp Killer is the recommended chemical<p>Step 4: Open inside door and walk the through ``Magic Mesh''[1] to reduce amount of nuke-immune mosquitos entering your house.<p>Step 5: Go take a shower to ensure your skin won't corrode<p>I've been using this system for 8 years now, and love it.<p>Another method I see my neighbours employ, is beekeeping suits laced with uranium. This method is great, because the mosquitos that attempt to land on the suit become fertile 8 out of 10 times.
The suits can be purchased for around $10 outside the local Canadian Tire.<p>__________<p>[1] <a href="http://img.hisupplier.com/var/userImages/2012-03/23/164222861_MAGIC_MESH_HANDS_FREE_SCREEN_DOOR_AS_SEEN_ON_TV_s.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://img.hisupplier.com/var/userImages/2012-03/23/16422286...</a>
This is the principle of the air curtain†. The local Whole Foods Market operates air curtains as invisible exterior doors. When you walk through, you feel a strong down-rushing air current. Flying insects can't negotiate it.<p>†<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_door" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_door</a>
The Vietnamese figured this out long ago. Here all the cafes and outdoor restaurants have fans. They help with the heat too, of course, but also cut down on the bites.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good outdoor fan - something you could leave out on your deck and that would be weather resistant? Does such a thing exist?
This is the standard procedure in Sri Lanka as well, when people aren't lighting those poison coils (because some people still don't have indoor fans) or putting on the mosquito net when sleeping.
I've known this trick for years. Whenever I visit India, especially during the monsoon season, you always turn on the overhead fan (especially when you sleep). That's it - no more trouble from mosquitoes! It also keeps you cool because sometimes the nights can be warm.
Here in Florida Mosquitos are a huge issue. We had a few cases of dengue fever last year. There has been a movement to breed genetically sterile Mosquitos to basically wipe out huge portions of the population.
<a href="http://keysmosquito.org/modified-mosquito-release/" rel="nofollow">http://keysmosquito.org/modified-mosquito-release/</a>
I was expecting something that could be used in the developing world. It seems that solar power fans could be provided reasonably cheaply, maybe even made locally (apart from the solar cells) from "recycled" (dumped) materials from the west.<p>Would it have any useful benefit over bed nets?
Years ago my buddy took a tour of the Amazon. His guide took them to a tree, ripped the bark off, exposing a den of termites. The guide instructed everyone to grab a handful of termites, smash them up, and wipe the resulting guts on their exposed arms and faces.
I always thought using fans to repel mosquitoes was common knowledge, but thinking back it was a trip to China where I learned about it. In fact, it was the same trip where I discovered the plug-in hormone packs AND the electric fly swatters. The rest of the world, where mosquitoes carry disease and there aren't spraying programs, seems to have figured out how to repel the bugs better than we have, and for lower cost.<p>I'm lucky enough to have an air conditioner that points right at my bed. While the main purpose is to keep cool, I haven't been bitten in bed this summer (unlike in the spring when the aircon was off).
Greetings from Borneo rainforest, 23% Icaridin did the trick, no bites. Except on the areas that weren't sufficiently protected. Yes, this is also nasty stuff, it burns ons skin when you apply it, even if it's on top of sunscreen. Icaridin doesn't melt plastics like DEET does. I was surprised how well it protected me, even if I was sweating like a monkey. Btw, we were only ones on that hiking trip who used this stuff, most used citronella, because they didn't like these chemicals. Also some areas ban these chemicals for environmental reasons.
When I lived in Africa for 2 years we always had a oscillating fan going near our beds. Sometimes I would wake up and hear no fan. I knew the power had gone out and sure enough the mosquitoes would come attack.
Now you know why, when entering certain stores, you get that insane burst of wind from above the door (Hairstyle killer) That's their way of keeping bugs out of their store.
Didn't someone come up with a blend of things (poison and flower scents) that claimed to eradicate every mosquito in a X mile radius? Whatever happened of that? Why haven't we been able to make something that'll attract large amounts of them and kill them?
I found 95% concentrations of DEET effective during multiple trips paddling in northern Canada. The alternative was to come back with inflamed skin easy an inch thick.<p>Buy the 05% DEET in the USA as Canada no longer allows concentrations over 30%.
I learned about this a couple of years ago visiting a friend of mine who lives in the Tigre Delta. It's sort of like a suburban version of Venice, except with a jungle, and lots and lots of enormous black mosquitoes. After a while sitting in her living room talking to her, I wondered aloud why we weren't getting bitten by mosquitoes, and she pointed out the electric fan overhead and explained it discouraged the mosquitoes. Very useful!<p>And despite the danger of fan death when it gets hot enough, I think fans are more certain not to have long-term toxic effects than mosquito spirals or DEET.
I've just used vanilla extract before.. it doesn't take much, treat it like cologne. It smells much better than bug sprays and you don't have any weird residue.
This is a godsend, and so blatant an alternative. It will be nice to not spend the rest of the summer duking it out with these buggers for control of the porch.
I have 2 windows in my room... and i open them both which makes some wind.<p>The mosquito's don't get up.<p>I seriously hope, when you try something in Alaska, it helps to, otherwhise you'll have a big problem :P<p>(PS. We don't have a mosquito problem here, i have seen thee the last month... It was worse last year)
When I was in college dorm (in China), I used to put a table lamp on the floor, turned toward my feet and legs, which was fairly effective. Mosquitoes don't like lights.
We, in Indian subcontinent, have been using fans to disperse mosquitoes as long as I can remember. I have never tried it outdoors but it works like a charm for indoors.
Fan doesn't work everywhere. In my hikes, I've found the most effective "safe" (aka DEET free) repellent is Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Pump-Spray.