Electronic Mosquito Repellant

[Hokienautic]

Just wondering if anyone here had any personal experience with those battery-powered (I think) mosquite repellants that you see advertised in high-end outdoors magazines. If I remember, they talk about electronic pulses, sonar, radar, or something like that (one even mimics a male mosquito, as the ones that bite are preggo females who want to avoid other males, they claim), and claim to keep mosquitos completely away. One ad I saw quoted a "scientific study" that put a volunteer in a room with 200 mosquitos overnight with nary a bite. The one I saw, at least, is fairly small and fits on a watch, hat or belt.

I'm going to mosquito-infested North Carolina with my church group next month to help rebuild from Hurricane Floyd last year, and NOT looking forward to a week of bites. So if this works, I think it'd be well worth the $20 it goes for. Anyone have any thoughts? Is this kind of repellant possible?

[brachyrhynchos]

"In most cases, the claims made by {electronic mosquito repeller} distributors border on fraud. Mated female mosquitoes do not flee from amorous males, and mosquitoes do not vacate an area hunted by dragonflies. Electronic mosquito repellers do little in the way of reducing mosquito annoyance." This is from the New Jersey Mosquito: Biology and Control website and you can get to it by going here (http://www-rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/proprom.htm). Information is also available on how to make your house less attractive to mosquitoes.

[Sledman]

Eat a lot of garlic if they don't work.

Otherwise as an itch treater I found that Coca-Cola works.
Not sure why it just does. Let's just say I found this trick once when I was suffering from some major bites.
Direct application and use a healthy amount.

This remedy works after the bite happens. Not sure I would recommend it in the field, but when the day is done it seems to do the trick.

[Duck Duck Goose]

Do ultrasonic bug repellers work? (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_068.html)

[Myron Van Horowitzski]

I've heard tell of a new gadget. It's a big ole machine that puts out a stream of warm carbon dioxide. The mosquitoes home in on it, and are sucked into a dessication chamber. At the end of summer you empty a container of dried up bugs. IIRC, to the tune of several hundred dollars.

[Danielinthewolvesden]

Consumer reports says nix.

[Duck Duck Goose]

Nix what? Nix it doesn't work? Or nix there's no such thing?

[HorseloverFat]

Nix what? Nix it doesn't work? Or nix there's no such thing?


Oh, it exists. (http://igadget.com/igadget/permosconfor.html)

[lablonde]

Use Skin-So-Soft by Avon. Feels and smells better than repellents. I think the anti-mosquito property was just a happy coincidence for the product. I'm sure there's an Avon.com out there.

Happy Trails

[galen]

They don't work. I have tried to use them. They don't work.