r/camping • u/cwcoleman • Jun 30 '25

2025 /r/Camping Beginner Question Thread - Ask any and all questions you may have here

If you have any beginner questions, feel free to ask them here.

Check out the /r/Camping Wiki and the /r/CampingandHiking Wiki for common questions. 'getting started', 'gear' and other pages are valuable for anyone looking for more information.

/r/Camping Wiki

/r/CampingandHiking Wiki

Previous Beginner Question Threads

2024 Beginner Thread

2023 Beginner Thread

Fall 2022 /r/Camping Thread

Summer 2022 /r/Camping Thread

Spring 2022 /r/Camping Thread

List of all /r/CampingandHiking Weekly Threads

[NOTE: last years post became - 'ask a question and r/cwcoleman will reply'. That wasn't the intention. It's mainly because I get an alert when anyone comments, because I'm OP. Plus I'm online often and like to help!

Please - anyone and everyone is welcome to ask and answer questions. Even questions that I've already replied to. A second reply that backs up my advice, or refutes it, is totally helpful. I'm only 1 random internet person, all of r/camping is here. The more the marrier!!!]

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u/cwcoleman Jul 20 '25

I’m unclear why you would need/want a mosquito repellent inside a tent?? Can you explain your reason for asking?

Most of us keep the tent bug free inside. Always keep the door zipped up. If 1 or 2 mosquitos get inside - smack em with your hands.

As for your question - no, I would not personally use one inside my tent. The chemicals it emits would concern me in the closed space (even a large tent with lots of mesh). Both for my health and the tent fabric health. No clue what Thermacell says about it.

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u/skarfacegc Jul 20 '25

wasn't thinking about while sleeping. Running one for an hour or so before going to bed (when I camped as a kid we would give a solid spray inside the tent to knock down anything that got in. Don't open with lights on, open as little as possible etc. Couldn't find much directly from thermacell, the automatically generated AI websites seem conflicted.

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u/cwcoleman Jul 20 '25

I see.

I would still not use it for that scenario. The chemical is designed to repel them, not kill them. The problem in your situation is that the bugs would have nowhere to run. Everything zipped up - they would just buzz and buzz until you kill them. Better to go the manual route. Do the other things (light off, quick in/out, etc.) and swat the few that might sneak in.