When I lived in Zambia, keeping mosquitoes at bay was a challenge. The Peace Corps gave us DEET so heavy-duty that it melted everything it touched, which made slathering it on my legs pretty unappealing.

Soon, I began burning mosquito coils. Cheap and effective, after 3 years, I had little burn marks all over my home from where I had balanced them, forgotten them, and discovered them after they had branded every flat surface from my desk to my short wave. While I prided myself in simple, creative solutions while in Africa, for some reason, figuring out a better way to use these coils evaded me.

Alaska Outdoor Journal has brainstormed an obvious solution: hang the coil inside a metal screen. By cutting a 5" x 12" piece of metal screen and folding it in half, you can create a mosquito coil "sleeve," which you can suspend from just about anything. For only a few cents, you can easily make some of these prior to your next camping trip.

Duh. Why didn't I think of this?

Filed under: Camping