When you’re camping, mosquitoes and other biting bugs can be a significant menace. This prospects you to locate out that there are dozens of distinct mosquito repellents with confusing ingredient names. Fortunately, we have reviewed and compiled a listing of the most successful mosquito repellents you can buy nowadays. Let’s check out them out so you can choose which will arrive with you on your next camping vacation.
A Quick Look at Our Favorites in 2022
Rating | Image | Product | Details | |
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Best Overall |
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Coleman 100 Max 100% DEET Insect Repellent Spray |
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Best Value |
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Repel Insect Pump Spray |
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Premium Choice |
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Sawyer Products 20% Picaridin Insect Repellent |
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Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Natural Insect Pump Spray |
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Repel Permethrin Clothing And Gear Insect Repellent |
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The 8 Best Mosquito Repellants for Campsites
1. Coleman 100 Max 100% DEET Insect Repellent Spray – Best Overall
Type | Aerosol spray |
Size | 4 ounces |
Active ingredients | 100% DEET |
This lower-odor one hundred% DEET system from Coleman proves to be the greatest total bug spray on our checklist, providing up to ten hours of water-proof defense from ailment-carrying mosquitoes, chiggers, ticks, biting fleas, gnats, and a lot more. It is instead uncomplicated to use and coats your skin evenly for all-above protection. The chemical odor is fairly powerful, but analysis carries on to display that DEET is the most powerful way to repel mosquitoes and other insect pests. Yet another crucial notice is that the formula is considerably thick and greasy.
- 100% DEET formula for strong, long-lasting protection
- Repels mosquitoes, chiggers, biting fleas, ticks, gnats, and more
- Spreads evenly
- Easy-to-use spray bottle
- Thick and greasy
- Strong chemical scent
- Not suitable for use on children under 2
2. Repel Insect Pump Spray – Best Value
Type | Pump spray |
Size | 1 ounce |
Active ingredients | 98.11% DEET |
This journey-sized bug repellant from Repel is ideal for your budget and your smallest backpack compartments. It’s formulated with 98.eleven% DEET, which is incredibly strong at deterring mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, biting fleas, gnats, and other common pests. The system is thick and greasy, which is not best, but a modest amount covers a great deal of pores and skin. Not like other DEET-heavy repellants, Repel does not have a powerful chemical odor. As a reward, it is a pump spray bottle, which implies it can be transported on international flights. General, this is the ideal mosquito repellent for the income.
- Powerful DEET protection
- Repels disease-carrying mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, gnats, biting fleas, and more
- Only need to use a small amount
- Travel-sized
- Thick and greasy
- Not suitable for use on children under 2
3. Sawyer Products 20% Picaridin Insect Repellent – Premium Choice
Type | Aerosol spray |
Size | 6 ounces |
Active ingredients | 20% picaridin |
If you’d prefer to avoid greasy DEET, Sawyer’s twenty% Picaridin Insect Repellent offers similar ranges of security without the greasy skin feel. Picaridin repels mosquitoes and biting flies like DEET but is much more efficient towards gnats and no-see-um flies. It also protects from ailment-carrying bugs like ticks and chiggers, making this a great choice in any outdoorsy atmosphere. Best of all, picaridin is not a poisonous chemical and is protected to use on youngsters. Which is not all, however. Picaridin sprays are wonderful to use on tents, nets, and other outdoor equipment to supply additional bug defense.
- Not greasy like DEET
- Repels mosquitoes, ticks, biting flies, chiggers, and more
- Great at repelling biting flies like no-see-ums
- Non-toxic
- Less effective for mosquitoes and ticks
4. Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Natural Insect Pump Spray
Type | Pump spray |
Size | 4 ounces |
Active ingredients | Lemon oil, eucalyptus oil |
If you desire to continue to be absent from substances and look for a a lot more normal bug repellent resolution, check out Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Natural Insect Pump Spray. It takes benefit of bugs’ dislike of lemon and eucalyptus important oils to preserve them away from you. The resolution is not 100% foolproof, but it is rather powerful at maintaining away disease carriers like mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, biting flies, and similar pests. As a reward, this method is not thick and greasy like DEET, and it smells great to boot. However, it doesn’t final as extended as chemical bug sprays.
- Lemon and eucalyptus oils repel most outdoor pests like mosquitoes and ticks
- Smells great
- Thin, non-greasy formula
- Not as effective as DEET or other chemicals
- Doesn’t last as long as chemical bug sprays
5. Repel Permethrin Clothing And Gear Insect Repellent
Type | Aerosol spray |
Size | 6.5 ounces |
Active ingredients | Permethrin |
Not made for pores and skin, this permethrin aerosol spray repellent is made to repel mosquitoes, ticks, and other biting bugs from your garments, tent, and other fabric equipment. It is very effective, killing any bug that will come into get in touch with with the treated spot. Unfortunately, this spray is not suited for places with thick bug protection due to the fact they’ll even now straight fly onto your pores and skin. One other downside is that you have to spray your clothing and products many hrs in progress ahead of it gets effective. However, this is a really powerful tool for controlling ticks on your garments and cloth gear, like tents and baggage.
- Permethrin kills and repels ticks, mosquitoes, and other biting insects
- Provides 24 hours of protection on clothing and fabrics
- Especially effective at repelling and killing ticks
- Can’t be used on your skin
- Requires supplementary spray for skin coverage
- Needs to dry
6. Thermacell Portable Mosquito Repeller
Type | Misting device |
Size | 0.75 pounds |
Active ingredients | allethrin |
This non-spray bug repellent remedy is a helpful device that sprays allethrin in a 15-foot radius around alone, repelling and killing mosquitoes, biting flies, and other airborne biting bugs. It’s not that useful for ticks, though. The Thermacell Repeller utilizes mats and gas to run, so you will have to inventory up on them for prolonged excursions. Simply because it creates a pocket of bug-repellent air, you simply cannot use it on the go. Even so, hunters and campers everywhere can find a use for this gadget.
- Repels flying insects within 15 feet
- No spraying required
- Runs as long as it has fuel
- Isn’t effective against ticks or crawling bugs
- Requires refills to stay running
7. Cliganic Mosquito Repellent Bracelets
Type | Bracelet |
Size | 10 bracelets |
Active ingredients | citronella, geraniol oil, lemongrass oil |
Despite the fact that not as effective as a DEET spray, citronella bracelets like these can be really helpful for retaining mosquitoes away on the go or for children. Citronella, geraniol oil, and lemongrass oil are acknowledged to repel traveling bugs like mosquitoes, biting gnats, and other flies. Sadly, they won’t repel ticks or actually destroy bugs. For little ones who won’t sit still for bug spray or individuals on the go, these bracelets are a great supplementary bug repellent unit.
- No spraying required
- Ideal for children
- Keeps bugs away from you in a limited radius
- Not as effective as bug sprays
- Doesn’t kill bugs
8. 3M Ultrathon Insect Repellent Lotion
Type | Lotion |
Size | 2 ounces |
Active ingredients | 34.34% DEET |
This lotion is a full-fledged bug repellent with 34.34% DEET, which means it’ll feel a bit greasy, but the product will distribute evenly. Ultrathon will repel mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, gnats, and other biting bugs. The lotion method is easy to spread on regions that spray struggles to get to, like the back of your neck and about your experience. You can use this lotion as your major bug repellent of option, but it may well be tedious to apply all more than your arms and legs. Regardless, Ultrathon’s DEET material helps make it a power to be reckoned with.
- Easy to apply to your face, neck, and other areas that sprays can’t reach
- DEET repels most biting insects including mosquitoes, gnats, and ticks
- Travel-sized container
- Hard to cover your whole body
Buyer’s Guide: How to Pick the Best Mosquito Repellants for Campsites
It can be difficult to choose among a few various merchandise that all declare to do the exact same issue. Even so, with mosquito repellents, there are several techniques to accomplish your job. Different methods of administration and various active elements affect how properly you’ll preserve bugs absent. Let’s dive into how these will have an effect on your tenting excursion.
Type
The most common sorts of bug repellents are aerosol sprays and pump sprays, which are the most hassle-free methods to repel bugs whilst camping. Permethrin can be useful as an additional layer of protection on your clothing, tent, and fabric equipment. If you actually want to be thorough, you can have every person put on a citronella bracelet as well. Lotion is yet another handy strategy of repelling bugs, permitting you to go over your encounter and again of the neck.
Active Ingredient
The best component for repelling mosquitoes is undoubtedly DEET, but formulas with DEET are thick and greasy on the skin. Picaridin is a new variety of repellent that offers related mosquito defense but without having the greasy truly feel.
Citronella is identified to repel mosquitoes, but not as effectively as DEET or other chemical compounds. Crucial oils are imagined to repel mosquitoes and may possibly perform in places with light-weight bug populations but won’t stand up to heaps of bugs.

What to Be Wary About
While the concept of a all-natural insect repellent seems fantastic, these items usually contain important oils, such as citronella, peppermint, and cedar, and assert to ward off mosquitoes, such as individuals carrying the Zika virus. Nevertheless, checks display that these substances are not effective one for prolonged-phrase outcomes.
Conclusion
Mosquitoes are a serious bummer when you are camping or climbing, but they do not have to be. There are a variety of goods you can use to maintain the bugs away whilst you are getting fun in the wilderness, like the Coleman a hundred Max 100% DEET Insect Repellent Spray. If you’re on a price range or touring overseas, the Repel Insect Pump Spray is both powerful and useful. Either way, you can mix and match numerous merchandise on this record to defend your self from itchy mosquito bites and ailment.
Featured Graphic Credit score: encierro, Shutterstock
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