Propane mosquito killer ???

[lorencherylp]

I have seen people at camp with these propane operated bug killers. The funny thing is, most dont know exactly what they do..... do. And wont commit to say if the do.... or dont work.
Does anyone have info on these contraptions? If they ward off mosquitos and gnats, that would be great. I dont want to blow several hundred on something that does not work.
THANKS, Happy campin'

[milzat]

How does it work ?
If it's like the ones I've read about, it mimics the body heat of humans and animals. click here

[KyDan]

It emits carbon dioxide at a similar level to human breath.
This attracts the mosquitoes which are then sucked in via a small
fan and deposited into a filter bag which you dispose of every so
often.

My experience with them is they attract mosquitoes!!
When we spent 2 weeks in Mississippi for hurricane work, there was
one in our camp. I got more bites when I was near the stupid
thing than I ever did in the dining tent or elsewhere.

Maybe that's the ticket--- put the thing "out there" somewhere to
draw them away from your hang out.
My un-educated opinion is they might work at home where you use
them all the time.
Camping, I wonder if they will attract more than they trap!

Hopefully someone with long term experience will add to this thread.

[acadianbob]

I talked with a Dept of Natural Resources gentleman about these things. From what I remember, these are the following points he made:
1) They don't work where there is an overwhelming number of mosquitoes
2) They do work where mosquito numbers are modest IF you place them away from where the people are

Makes sense to me.

[NDJollyMon]

Originally Posted by acadianbob

I talked with a Dept of Natural Resources gentleman about these things. From what I remember, these are the following points he made:
1) They don't work where there is an overwhelming number of mosquitoes
2) They do work where mosquito numbers are modest IF you place them away from where the people are

Makes sense to me.

Sounds like we have a winner! I think I'll buy one for my neighbor to see if the theory works.

[akcampr]

We use the mosquito magnet version at our house, lots of mosquitos in Alaska. It does a really good job where it can trap the mosquitos and remain in the same location, less mosquitos to reproduce means less mosquitos all season. We do have to keep it away from the deck. We don't take it camping, it is more of a long term solution. On trips we have found the Thermocell quite effective.

[cfsoistman]

Originally Posted by NDJollyMon

Sounds like we have a winner! I think I'll buy one for my neighbor to see if the theory works.

Thanks, this really cracked me up. I needed a laugh. Having a bad day at work, but it will be over in 3 hours.

[Fencer]

Originally Posted by akcampr

We use the mosquito magnet version at our house, lots of mosquitos in Alaska. It does a really good job where it can trap the mosquitos and remain in the same location, less mosquitos to reproduce means less mosquitos all season. We do have to keep it away from the deck. We don't take it camping, it is more of a long term solution. On trips we have found the Thermocell quite effective.

I had one at my home for 2 summers in central AL.

I sold it.

It does and does not work.

It works on some types of mosquetos and not on others. in my area we did not have a good concentration on the ones it worked on.

Tiger mosquetos IIRC. contact your local health dept to see what buggers are in your area.

[PattiPatti]

We have the mosquito magnet and it works pretty well. It doesn't eliminate every single mosquito, but the bag is consistently full. You have to place it in the right spot - according to winds and not too close to where people are. We even got the special lurex or whatever to get the tiger mosquitos that are out all damn day, lol.

It's a long term thing for us - it goes out in the spring to disrupt breeding cycles (hopefully) and then it's out till early fall.

FWIW, we've had it for 3-4 years and we get EXCELLENT customer service from the company.