Make Your CAMPSITE a BUG-FREE ZONE! Tips You Need This Summer

Don't let those flying biting insects wreck your camping trip. Today I'm going to give you some tips that you might not know about how to keep those critters out of your campsite. Hey everybody it's Robin with Creativity RV and today I'm going to talk to you about some ingenious ways to keep flying insects that bite out of your campsite. Now I don't know if you guys saw the video that I did the other day on six different places to find water on the road. But I shot that over there and I was being swarmed by insects during that video. And for the last couple of months I've actually been researching a blog post called The Ultimate Guide to Keeping Bugs Out of Your Campsite. So I thought I would take some of that info for you guys today because you might need it in your campsite just like I need it here because the bugs are bad this year. So of course you guys have heard the basics like you can use the mosquito net, wear clothing with long sleeves, and use some bug spray. We all know that stuff but I wanted to give you some information maybe you didn't have. So I'm going to keep my information to mosquitoes and horseflies because those are the ones that seem to bite the most. And you can go ahead and use these tips for safety reasons or just to keep your camping trip better. And you might say to yourself, well I've never known anyone that had West Nile or dengue fever or anything like that that they got from a biting insect. Well now you do because this guy got dengue fever in Costa Rica 15 years ago. I literally thought I was going to die. And I didn't even know that I had been bitten by a mosquito until I was diagnosed. So you know they do carry some diseases for what it's worth. I mean most of us have been bitten a million times and they've never had any problems. But I can tell you that I was always that guy that got 12 bites when everybody else in my group got one or none. And I have some solutions for that as well. So let me get right into the stuff. So I'm going to give you guys some links for all this stuff and some information from the CDC. But of course, like I said earlier, if the mosquitoes or the ticks or something like that are really bad, you do want to get something with Deet in it. I don't like to use Deet just like you don't. But I find it's really effective if you spray your shoes and your clothes. And you can also spray a little bit in your hands and put it on your face or your neck if you want to. You particularly want to use this in the morning and in the afternoon when the mosquitoes are bad. Although there are some mosquitoes that thrive in the middle of the day so you can't always count on that. Now with that being said, let me tell you a little bit about mosquitoes. So they're cold-blooded animals and they have olfactory senses, which means that they can smell. So what that means for you is that they're going to be heaviest when it's warm outside. So about 80 degrees is where they thrive. But if it drops down to 60, they start getting lethargic. And if it drops down to 50, they don't fly at all. So for those of us that camp in the woods at night, this is great because we can keep the temperatures nice and low. So if you are being bitten by mosquitoes inside of your camper, try and keep it below 60 in there at night. And that should really help. So you can get something like this at the grocery store, which doesn't have Deet. And it does a pretty good job if the flying insects aren't too bad. And basically, this is just a bunch of scents that the bugs don't like. And so you can buy a pre-made or you can make your own and you can actually mix it based on what bugs are giving you a hard time. So like I said, mosquitoes and horseflies have a sense of smell. So mosquitoes in particular don't like sage, lemon balm, and citronella. And horseflies don't like eucalyptus and tea tree. I've also read some research that neither one of them like lavender. So let's say you wanted to make a mix. You can make your own spray perfume and you could just call it like, oh, get the hell off me, bug. Or, you know, let's play a fun game. You guys put down in the comments below what you would call your bug spray if you made some for yourself. So you can absolutely do that. Or you can burn those scents in your fire. Now let me go to this myth. So a lot of us think that campfire smoke wards off bugs. And some research shows this is true and some shows that it isn't. There are some places in Africa where like cattle farmers will make actual smoke fires so their cattle can gather around and not be bitten. But there's new research that shows mosquitoes in areas that are prone to forest fires, like this place, have actually adapted to smoke. And so smoke doesn't actually ward them off unless you burn some dry materials in your fire that they don't like. So just like I was saying, you could use some essential oils for a spray. You can also burn some things in your campfire that will repel them, like lemon balm leaves, citronella leaves, and dried sage. Not a big deal. You can get these at a lot of places and a lot of grocery stores. Just buy them dry and just throw them into the flame and the smoke will start to smell like those scents and the bugs will go away. Now I try and ward off the bugs with the citronella and these sprays. But inside at night I actually use this bad boy. This is called a stinger and it actually is a little mini bug zapper. And here, let me turn it on and see if you guys can see the lights. There are two lights in here and I know that on camera you can barely see them. But here's why I like this thing. It's rechargeable. And so then at night there's a little compartment down here and you put a little mosquito trap in there that draws the mosquitoes in. So the mosquitoes come in here and they get zapped or other flying insects are brought in by the light and they get zapped. And obviously I don't want to put this outside because I don't want to attract them and repel them at the same time. But I have to say it's kind of nice inside. You know you're half dozed off and all of a sudden there's a zap and you go, oh got you before you got me this time. Right? It's not fair outside but inside my house if you're in there you're going to get zapped. So let's say you've tried the deet and you've tried the homemade perfume and the citronella candles and the zapper and putting stuff in your campfire. But like me you're still that guy that gets bitten more than everybody else. A few bugs just seem to slide through. Then here's another tip. Try some supplements. When I was in Costa Rica I learned that you could take garlic supplements and people around you can't smell it or at least most people say they can't. But the bugs can. You have to take it at least 30 days before you go out camping which means for us start right away. But a thousand milligrams a day for at least 30 days and then continuing on if you're going to be outside wards off mosquitoes and so does B vitamins. I found research that said B6 wards off mosquitoes and some other research that said B1 which is thiamine wards off mosquitoes. So for me I just take a B complex and I take a garlic which I want to take anyway because they're good for me and they actually also help ward off bugs. So basically you're just making your whole body like a do not tread on me zone. So stay safe this summer and wear long sleeves. Use DEET if you have to. Make your own anti-bug perfume and put stuff in your campfire and if you need it get a zapper. They're not expensive. I'll put the link for this stuff down below. So you guys I hope you have a good summer. Don't let the bugs get you down. This is Robin with Creativity RV. Please do like, share, and subscribe and come back to see me. Everybody have safe travels out there and be free.