What to put on the fire to deter mosquitos?

[uncleboob]

Hi guys, well sunshine is out, temperature is rising and so are the mossy' s! A short while ago someone gave me top tips on which plants are good to put on the fire to deter passing mosquitos. This information has completely dropped out of my head, could be holly, maybe elder....any ideas?

Cheers guys, Joab

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[ozzy1977]

As far as I know burning anything will put them off, its the smoke that they dont like, but then for it to work well you would have to be down wind of the fire.

 

[Baelfore]

Apparently bundles of sage work well, so says an article posted in this thread by biker:
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=121038

hope this helps

Ste

 

[Toddy]

Look up hearth herbs.

Things like mugwort, bog myrtle, lemon balm, juniper, all work to some extent.

However, we know now that breathing in the smoke isn't good for us either, so ca' canny.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[uncleboob]

That's guys, I need to look into a few of those, not sure how plentiful they are by me, although to be fair my plant I.d isn't 100%!

I use elder leaves crushed and rubbed when I'm wandering through the woods and I know that they used to ferment holly leaves and use it as a crop/ insect treatment which is what made me think it might be those.


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[twyforge]

I think that I read somewhere that mozzies don't like crampball fungus smoke, but you might want to save those for firestarting!

 

[xylaria]

Eucalyptus. It is not like it is common tree anywhere but central Birmingham. Any smoke, pine is very good but there is balance between small amounts of smoke and lung wrecking.

 

[Hugo]

I think that I read somewhere that mozzies don't like crampball fungus smoke, but you might want to save those for firestarting!

I use cramp balls on a snuff fire and have had very good results making candles with powdered cramp ball in them.

 

[twyforge]

had very good results making candles with powdered cramp ball in them.

That is a neat idea, does it affect the burn of the candle much?

 

[John Fenna]

Birch polypore smoke deters bugs....

 

[rik_uk3]

That's guys, I need to look into a few of those, not sure how plentiful they are by me, although to be fair my plant I.d isn't 100%!

I use elder leaves crushed and rubbed when I'm wandering through the woods and I know that they used to ferment holly leaves and use it as a crop/ insect treatment which is what made me think it might be those.


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Enjoy your fire away from the smoke and just use DEET (I use DEET roll on) to keep Mr Mozzy away, there is no miracle bushcraft solution.

 

[Riven]

We used elder on a fire last week and it certainly gave off a stink and is supposed to be good at keeping away mossies. On a camp site in Sweden the owners used pinecones burning slowly which seemed to work and I have tried this when available.

 

[Alexlana]

DEET? Do you know how toxic that ingredient is? He'll just buy a net for your face and cover arms with home made netting, must be mad to use that stuff.

 

[sandbender]

You can read about the 'smudge' pot and what to burn in it to keep insects at bay in Mors Kochankski's Northern Bushcraft.

Which appears to be on the internet as a pdf file here.

 

[ozzy1977]

Its the smoke that puts them off, dont matter what flavour it is, I never had a problem when smoking a pipe or rolie.

 

[demographic]

Scotland.

 

[Hugo]

That is a neat idea, does it affect the burn of the candle much?

Not too sure on that as each time I have used there was quite a breeze and my candle wicks are quite thick making for a fast burn, very effective though.

 

[mountainm]

You're going about this all wrong. Find something or somebody that attracts them better than anything else...

...That's what my wife did anyway... She never gets bitten.

 

[tom.moran]

when camping in scotland as kids my dad always put some embers im a tin can with holes in it then pine cones on top. Dotted a couple upwind of camp and we never had a problem. Or you could the stupidly simple bug oil, i hear its very good

 

[xylaria]

Birch polypore smoke deters bugs....

I really like birch polypore for insect smudging. What I do is break it off the tree at the stem, put cordage through either side so it looks like a handbag then put an ember on the stem and hang it. No beasties in 10 foot of it. Same also works with artist bracket.

Adding any of these to smudge fire makes it more effective;
Mint, mugwort, woundwort, sage, wormwood, feverfew, wild marjoram, tobacco, any pine spruce or ceder, black nightshade, herb robert . There is more I sure others have mentioned.