How To Beat the Bugs This Summer

If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” Dalai Lama

Canadians are known for their love of camping! After months of winter, it’s not surprising that we’re

eager to spend time in the great outdoors, basking in the warmth of the summer sun.

Mosquitoes however have another plan. Common in most parts of Canada from May to September, mosquitoes have been known to give camping a bad reputation. But help is at hand! We’ve created a list of your options on how to best stop these pesky bugs from threatening your camping or hiking trip. Don’t be left itching and scratching for days afterwards, read our blow below.

How to Prevent Mosquitoes Bites: 1) Bug Spray with Deet

The most traditional bug spray, this classic time honored practice of rubbing stinky chemicals into your skin to try and keep away the bugs. Do you know those pharmaceutical commercials on TV that have a very long list of side effects that seem worse than the ailment? That's probably how you should think about most bug sprays.

The Pros: Relatively inexpensive, and packable for hiking trips, can be found just about anywhere and sometimes they will keep the bugs away for a few minutes.

The Cons: You will stink! Don't get me wrong you should stink after a big hike, run or climb, but trust me, you don’t want to smell like you just walked out of a chemical plant. And unfortunately, the effects won't last long. If it's hot, you’ll probably sweat it off resulting in needing to reapply regularly. Not only is Deet toxic, it’s also painful! Have you ever mistakenly rubbed your eyes shortly after applying bug spray!? Enough said. We could go on and on about the downsides of traditional bug spray, but we’ll leave it at this: if you don’t have any alternatives, then bug spray will reduce the amount of blood you donate to mother nature's most annoying little creatures.

2) Mosquito Coils Mosquito coils are a form of incense used to repel mosquitos.

The Pros: Inexpensive, lightweight, long lasting, and easy to use. The Cons: Mosquito coils are fragile, you reach your camp after a long day in the mountains only to find your precious mosquito coils in a fractured mess at the bottom of your backpack. Yes, we’re speaking from experience here… Mosquito coils are also not recommended during fire bans. Unfortunately, fire bans are often a fact of life these days and they should be considered when heading into the mountains. It is very easy to knock over the lit coil beside your tent and end up with an escalation (we wouldn't mention this if we hadn’t seen it happen!) Do I use coils? When it’s safe to do so! They do a good job and are maybe the best bang for your buck. 3) The Mosquito Trap (Propane style)

If you have a cottage, long term camp, or want to reduce the mosquito population around your house, then I would recommend picking one of these up.

The Pros Reduces the mosquito population in an area of about a half acre, the satisfaction of cleaning the trap! Seriously, seeing all those little dead vampires is like nailing the Wordle on the second try! The Cons Expensive. They cost between $300 to $500. That's a big chunk of money you can no longer spend on chicken wings. Also bulky, just another thing to squeeze into your garage this winter. 4) Thermacell

This is a product we have the least experience with (only one summer). Also, we don’t have an existing relationship with this company. That being said, the Thermacell is the Chunk Norris of mosquito protection. It’ll give you a 3ish meter parameter of mosquito defence and any rouge blood suckers that do venture into your no fly zone are easily dispatched.

The Pros: It works extremely well! The Cons Horseflies, blackflies, and a few others still may visit you. It is easy for you to forget the thing is on and deplete the fuel source. Although, that's not the fault of the product is it? Rethink your priorities, there’s always next time...

When it comes to repelling mosquitos there are lots of innovations available. Don’t let these pesky bugs prevent you from enjoying time outdoors hiking and camping this summer. You certainly don’t want to regret not making the most of your summer once winter rolls around!

Ready to spend time outside? Book your mountain getaway today.