We’ve had a great summer of camping here in British Columbia.
However, we did have a few instances where the noseeums got into the tent. And they were hungry.
Twice we had to move due to how many were getting in.
At first I thought we had a gap in the floor system or an open door/screen gap.
With close observation we determined that the noseeums were getting through the door mesh.
I’ve done a search on the forums figuring someone else would have had the same problem, and perhaps a solution - but no luck.
I contacted GFC support and they had heard of a similar condition once or twice, specifically in Florida.
They have not changed the door mesh during production and did not have an in-house alternative/solution for this situation.
The only recommendation was a secondary custom mesh screen.
They did offer to help with thoughts or questions if we decided to build some sort of secondary screen.
Has anyone had this problem?
And, has anyone found a solution?
Open to ideas so that we can have something sorted for next summer’s adventures.
We had the exact same issue multiple times. In my mind the only true solution is changing out the screens on the tent. We sat there one evening and watched them crawl through the screen holes.
We lit a mosquito coil in the lower section for a bit, that seemed to keep them at bay until we fell asleep. We did have ventilation with that coil, but it is definitely not recommended to use inside.
Yep, definitely a challenge when it’s hot out and you don’t want to close up or cover up at night.
Thanks for the thermacell suggestion.
I briefly looked at them. Not sure about inhaling that stuff but I’ll revisit it.
Cheers,
Andrew
Ha! Yeah, it had been a few years since I’d been camped in the middle of those things without tighter screens.
We are thinking the same - somehow changing the screens or adding a means to put up another layer.
Seems like it might be a bit of a cluster to add something but might try before taking the tent apart.
And yes, a coil, just like thermacell introduces another problem.
Also want to get the pads from there as they are so much cheaper. I also use one in my truck when I am doing photography from the truck and it keeps most of the bugs from coming into the truck.
I also have all of my tent fabric treated with permethrin and that helps too.
Thanks for the input.
Re thermacell:
Did you use the thermacell only before getting in the tent?
Or did you run it all night?
My limited reading about the thermacell chemical composition made it sound like continual exposure wasn’t a good idea.
Re permethrin:
Looked into this briefly as well.
Had read that permethrin fabric treatments did not work on sealed or DWR treated fabric.
Did your application seem to work?
On tent material only or did you also manage to treat the screens?
usually I would use it as soon as the tent was up until I got in. - if they get really bad I would kick it on again for a bit (I have used it overnight but I would have died from insanity due to the gnats etc before the chemicals killed me).
After that I started to use the permethrin on the tent and the pads in the tent. and that made a huge difference. All of my sleeping bags are already sprayed with permethrin since I do it to my clothes in the field it can’t be that much worse in my experience. Permethrin will come off of DWR fabric really quick for sure but with pads sprayed, my sleeping bag and the thermacell it has been a game changer. I spend a bit of time at Antelope Island here in Utah and in the summer the gnats/noseeums are so bad that they drive 99% of the people away and I can stay out all night taking pictures from my tent this way.
Has anyone come up with any other ideas for this issue? Looking towards summer and I want to have a plan in place before the time comes.
Brainstorming:
Adding in a removable screen option inside the tent that can be stored and then “put up” on the nights where noseeums are a problem.
Adding/modifying the current bug screen (I do not feel confident in my skills to do this)
Adding something removable to the outside of the tent; maybe a large bug netting that could be cinched or attached around the top and bottom of the tent; this would limit access through the doors but that’s what the modular floor is for!
It seems to measure out and be shaped so that when we hang it from the upper wedge it should cover us well.
I have not tested it in the camper yet though.
