What to put on the fire to deter mosquitos?

cbr6fs

Native
Mar 30, 2011
1,620
0
Athens, Greece
Another Deet user here, usually find together with clothing coated in Permethrin it's rare i get a bite.
If it's likely to be really bad then i have a Permethrin treated mossy net i throw over my head together with a wide brimmed hat.

Our summer house is usually swarming with them, i've found that if we light the fire pit it tends to attract more mossies than if we don't have a fire.
So i'm convinced having a fire makes matters even worse.
Think i read somewhere that mossies use heat and CO2 detection to find good feeding spots, so it'd make sense that a fire would bring them in from further afield.

I guess if you're close enough to the fire they might struggle to differentiate between you and the fire, but the risks from the fire would a lot higher than the risk from the mossies.

Tried burning various concoctions from old wives tails but non have worked for us.
We usually have a couple of those swirly things in the house, they kinda smoulder rather than burn, but again i've still had bites while sitting pretty much on top of one.

Only time i've found smoke to be effective was if you're sitting directly in it.
To be honest i'd sooner have a few mossy bites than breath in all that smoke all night
 

Tiley

Life Member
Oct 19, 2006
2,364
377
60
Gloucestershire
A friend who spent time working on a sheep station in New Zealand used to gather bits and bobs of wool off fences and the like and burn them on the fire to keep the bugs away. He said it worked well because the wool takes a while to burn and did produce something that the insects didn't like. He's used it in Scotland and South Wales with success, so there might be some mileage in it in the U.K.. Personally, I've not tried it but I suppose it might be a goer if you've got sheep anywhere on the horizon.
 

Parbajtor

Maker
Feb 5, 2014
104
10
Surbiton
www.tanczos.co.uk
I wouldn't want to be breathing in the smoke though.
Because I vape instead of smoke these days and because insects don't like nicotine, I've used the glycerine/nicotine juice from e-cigs as a repellant and it works remarkably well and doesn't melt plastic like deet.
 

cbr6fs

Native
Mar 30, 2011
1,620
0
Athens, Greece
I wouldn't want to be breathing in the smoke though.
Because I vape instead of smoke these days and because insects don't like nicotine, I've used the glycerine/nicotine juice from e-cigs as a repellant and it works remarkably well and doesn't melt plastic like deet.

Do i understand correctly, you rub liquid nicotine on your skin to ward off mosquitoes?

You know liquid nicotine is absorbed through the skin right?
 
Last edited:

uncleboob

Full Member
Dec 28, 2012
915
53
Coventry and Warwickshire
Thanks all, some great idea's. I'm going to give it a couple of weeks ( until the mossys are in full swing) and will go and try out a few of the suggestions. I'll let you know how I get on!

Cheers all, joab

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2
 

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