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Post by dustin on May 3, 2024 11:04:48 GMT -8
My Search-Fu is not strong on this site, so wasn't able to find much about head net use.
Just wondering if anyone has extensively used a head net. I have one, but haven't used it much. While I'm not crazy about stuff being on my face, it makes me crazier to have mosquitos bite my face. Any considerations beyond the basics like wearing a hat to create space? Favorite models or types?
The bugs in CO are worst right before sundown, but they let up a lot overnight because of the cold. I'd like to be able to hang out in the evening without being driven into my shelter, and maybe even sleep in my head net at least part of the night if I can work out cowboy camping.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on May 3, 2024 12:03:02 GMT -8
For me when you need a bug net you really need a bug net or you're miserable. They are small and light so if there is any chance of needing it I throw it in. In the NE here there are black flies. They go through a period of blood feeding. They gnaw into you to get blood. It hurts. A lot of other times they are going crazy I think to get salt from you. They really like your eyes. For this you need a net. Also if you're anywhere there are damp sand dunes gnats will drive you crazy. Another bug that chews you to get blood although they are tinier than black flies. There can be clouds of them swarming at sunset. A net helps but they get in everywhere. So many, so small. As for mosquitoes I have only been a few places where DEET didn't work. One thing I have been using and found it works better than advertised is a Thermacell Backpacker. Fits on a standard Lindell fuel canister. It is a catalyst burn not an open flame. Nice when you want some protection for a short time and don't want to DEET up. ![](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/no-moz/production/products/backpacker-repeller/MRBPR-New_Contents.png?w=800&auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&dm=1681143270&s=9863cd8e42e92d35ed4429f810146793) P.S. I read some of the reviews saying it doesn't light or doesn't stay lit. I have had no problems at all using only MSR canisters.
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Post by Coolkat on May 3, 2024 13:23:33 GMT -8
ErnieW, I didn't know those existed. Do you happen to know what it weighs? That might be worth the extra weight. I have not used one of those but if they work like their elder brother they work very well. Actually I've been considering getting one because if you have to deal with bugs in the evening they do work well. This is what we used last June (bug season for the UP). ![](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/no-moz/production/products/mr450-armored-portable-mosquito-repeller/MR450X_Contents.png?w=1280&auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&dm=1678817388&s=c6866ed824604dcf8916328080328490)
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swiftdream
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Post by swiftdream on May 3, 2024 13:39:42 GMT -8
I’ve used a Repel brand headnet when the juniper gnats or black flies are biting. They drive us crazy. The net goes over my hat and hooks under my arms. It’s a pita and though it’s a ventilated net it is hot and of course is impossible to eat with it on. Sometimes we can get away with using Lemon Eucalyptus Repel oil with good results but they come to a point where they ignore that stuff.
I was climbing up to what looked like a shallow cave or hollowed out spot with a flat rock area in front of it. Thought that might make a good place for a picnic but just before I was able to get a handhold on the lip and pull myself over I heard a very loud buzzing, the sound of thousands of bees. I dropped down and scooted the heck out of there but wondered if I could go back with the headnet and a couple layers over my body to photograph their hive. I did this without a headnet maybe 40 years ago before the Africanized bees arrived here and got a nice image of the honeycomb hanging out of a crack. I never got up enough nerve to go back to the high cave bees. I took a photo from below in the canyon bottom and could see a flurry of bees with light reflecting off of them and their wings.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on May 3, 2024 14:16:49 GMT -8
ErnieW, I didn't know those existed. Do you happen to know what it weighs? That might be worth the extra weight. 4 oz according to their site. I tend to DEET when I hike solo so I have only brought it on the trail a few times. If you have a group in mosquito country and no fire it is well worth the weight. For car camping it is awesome to protect a picnic table of people.
It even works in a light breeze. The chem smell goes downwind with your scent.
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Post by dustin on May 3, 2024 14:16:56 GMT -8
The net I have has the reverse-suspenders. They do seem like kind of a pain. We usually find a place to eat that's got a breeze, which helps a lot. That, and an insect repellent Buff. So I'm hoping I can manage to avoid trying to filter-feed. swiftdream I think you may want a long lens more than layers to get another shot of that hive. My hiking partner and I both got stung on a trip last year when I set my poles down on a ground hive, so we know neither of us is allergic, but it was painful. And we had to move a few feet away to finish lunch.
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Post by Coolkat on May 3, 2024 14:27:35 GMT -8
Whatever you do for a headnet, don't do this. It had obviously been dropped that season but that was on a path that not many people know about. I picked it up and left in hanging on a branch in plain sight. I wonder if it will be there this fall when I return? ![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53307258571_2717168282_b.jpg)
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swiftdream
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Post by swiftdream on May 3, 2024 15:18:14 GMT -8
Dustin it’s a very steep climb to get to the final vertical 12 feet of hands and feet climbing so impossible to get a view of the hive until one crests the final ledge. Below it’s a boulder and slab strew steep rocky narrow canyon so no running like crazy. lol as much as I’d like a honeycomb photo in the wilderness manned by killer bees I’m leaving well enough alone and anyway girlfriend told me not to do that. She’s adventurous but protective in a motherly way.
We have had migrating bees stop in our yard and form a bee ball, beard shaped. They are an average of 4000 to 6000 bees in one of those. After a couple hours they flew off but I grabbed a great photo with a longer lens.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on May 3, 2024 17:11:18 GMT -8
I use a Sea-to-Summit headnet when the mosquitoes and black flies are bad enough. Most of the time it's just for an hour or so at the end of the day, but there have been some exceptions. Boundary Waters and Quetico are among them. We wore headnets pretty much from the minute we made landfall until we turned in for the night.
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Head Net?
May 3, 2024 19:37:21 GMT -8
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Post by High Sierra Fan on May 3, 2024 19:37:21 GMT -8
Absolutely. Sierra mosquitos can be a serious scourge and nets weigh a trivial amount. I use one over a baseball cap so the bill keeps the netting a nice distance off my face.
My current one is a Sea 2 summit.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on May 4, 2024 7:51:58 GMT -8
I have a couple of light headnets. One is just a screen bag, and even worn with a hat is non-optimal. The other has a metal spring ring. Adds a little weight but makes it work much better. Still would wear over my hat. Every time I have ever used one I’ve tried to stuff food in my mouth trough the net.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on May 4, 2024 8:42:19 GMT -8
Every time I have ever used one I’ve tried to stuff food in my mouth trough the net. Yeah, that's unavoidable, especially if it's a nice, fine mesh.
By the way, I didn't get any noticeably itchy mosquito bites in Grand Gulch, despite being besieged a few times. Todie was the worst, so I wore leather gloves at night, but my face was exposed and somehow escaped unscathed.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on May 4, 2024 11:14:27 GMT -8
Ages ago I had an idea when looking at my bug zappers indiscriminate killing that there must be a way to attract and kill just mosquitos. I did a lot of research on them. There are over 3000 species and about a 1/4 don't take blood meals. It turns out that different species use different methods to find you. CO2 is one. Body warmth is another. Chemicals from your breath and skin are others. There are species that need to sit on the underside of a surface for like 20 minutes while you're still before they approach you while many others just kamikaze in hoping for the best. Blood is too thick to draw straight through their proboscis so mosquitos pump in blood thinner to drink from you. The proteins in that thinner is what causes the itching. In some places there are mosquitos that use a thinner that doesn't itch. People there just let them bite. "What's a few drops of blood?". The protein from the mosquitos breaks down at around 130F. The hot spoon mosquito bite trick really works (Google it but be careful). There are only 3 types of mosquitos that can make you sick in the US. The most common is Aedes aegypti. They carry West Nile around here some times. They can carry other other bad things if they feed on infected hosts before you. They are relatively large and to me look striped (pic attached). When I see them I generally up my anti-mosquito game. The other species carry malaria so only worry about them in malaria areas. One more mosquito item. DEET blocks mosquito's sense organs. This is true but they have determined when they taste DEET covered skin with their feet they fly away. So DEET avoids and repels. Hope this wasn't more than you wanted to know about mosquitos.
![](https://www.vdci.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Asian-tiger-mosquito_Aedes_Albopictus-1.jpg)
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Post by dustin on May 4, 2024 14:30:24 GMT -8
ErnieW It made me itchy just reading it, but that is good info. Is the S2S net better than others? Or just more available? It sounds popular here.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on May 4, 2024 14:50:01 GMT -8
ErnieW It made me itchy just reading it, but that is good info. Is the S2S net better than others? Or just more available? It sounds popular here. I think it's better. The color and mesh size make it easier to see through clearly than many competitors. It's not the only one I have, but it's the only one I use for backpacking.
The one in second place is a cheap, green Coghlan's net with a metal band to provide guaranteed clearance from my face and neck. It's pretty effective, but not as "transparent", heavier, and doesn't fold up as small.
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