Thermacell Patio Shield: Product Review

Shana Tova to all those celebrating Rosh Hashana today!

Wow, the weather here in Toronto in nuts. Last week we hit a 70+ year record high and it felt like you could boil your blood within seconds of stepping outside, and today we woke up to rain and cool air. Frankly, I prefer the cool wet weather. The heat here this summer has been horrific!

Summer may be over, but we are talking about mosquitos today.

I have always hated mosquitos with a passion. Unfortunately, the feeling is not mutual. A room full of people and they always bite me. Sadly, this is not just an annoyance. I react rather violently to mosquito bites. Hot red welts develop and the itch from just one is enough to drive me completely insane. One of the many reasons I will NEVER be a camper.

But staying in the city doesn't guarantee I won't get bitten by mosquitos. The stupid things are everywhere! So I was thrilled when I was offered a chance to review Thermacell's Patio Shield, a mosquito repellent that is a portable gadget rather than something you apply to your skin. From everything I have read, the only thing that is really effective to repel mosquitos is DEET, which is a pretty nasty chemical. But its also important to avoid them, especially since mosquitos can carry West Nile Virus, etc. Its a health issue as much of an inconvenience to get bitten!

Truthfully, however, its been such a hot, humid summer, the whole family has been spending even less time outside than usual. So when my lovely friends and neighbours, L&J offered to test out the Patio Shield while away on a 2 day camping trip, it made perfect sense to get them to review it.  So hear you go:

 Thermacell Patio Shield:

It promises "mosquito protection you don't spray on" and delivered.  It was effective, portable, odour free and silent as the front of the box suggests.  The box contains everything you need to get started:  the device itself, three petroleum mats that last "a maximum of four hours" each and a butane cartridge.  We required the instructions, which were well written, to set it up.  The parts fit together well and the loading was effortless, as was turning it on.  The "on" light indicator was appreciated, as was the warning that vapour would appear.

We decided to take the Patio Shield camping in Bracebridge because the directions inside the box suggest that it's also suitable for campsites.  At home we already have a dining tent (which takes up a large part of our small backyard) to protect from all flying insects, especially wasps.  The Patio Shield does not claim to protect against anything except mosquitos.  We started the Patio Shield the recommended 30 minutes prior in order to let it take effect.  Although we envisioned staying on our campsite, within the 4.5 square metre area (wind, heat and humidity may affect the performance) that the Patio Shield claims to protect, our natural inclination was to keep wandering off.  We had decided not to trust the kids to the Patio Shield until we had tested it on ourselves, so they had repellent on their skin while biking and wandering.  Although the evening was hot and humid, my husband and I did not notice any bites.  (We did see one large, sluggish mosquito inside our cabin, so they did exist!)

In conclusion, we feel that the Patio Shield lived up to its promises, but is probably better suited to backyards than using it as your only source of protection while camping.

If you felt the need to use additional protection, such as spray on protection or other devices from the Thermacell line, the $45 price (on Amazon) of the repeller kit that we had (and $40 for 48 hours worth of refills) could seem prohibitively expensive.  The Precautions, First Aid and Toxoicological Information may scare anyone who is already wary of repellents that you spray on your skin.

So there ya go! Right from the campers' mouths.

Disclosure: I was sent the item to review but all opinions on this blog are our own.