mosquito nets and india

toasted

Hello everybody. this is an extremely important question.

I'm going to india in one week, landing in culcutta and planning to travel in all sorts of budget accomodation options.

I have read in this board that a mosquito net should be a good idea for traveling India. I am in Chiang-mai, thailand right now and I have just purchased a good mosquito net, though very big and heavy (about 1.5KG and pretty big).

Does anyone know if its possible to find a lighter mosquito net in Chaing-mai? if not, what's worse - sleeping without one or carrying 1.5KG of excess luggage in my already heavy bag?

Thank you for your attention.
T.

Annie_T

I am just far too lazy to carry a net. I probably should but I don't. Having said that I do take anti malarial tablets (they are much lighter!) and have had a few sleepless nights being dived bombed by mosquito armies.

Most of the travellers I've met with nets seem to leave them in their bags most of the time.

Good luck out there

Annie T

Midnite Toker

Yeah, that's about the same as a typical Indian net. But think of it as an assurance of a night's sleep - you'll be much more comfortable with it over you than breathing some awful smoke or lying there smothered in stinky cream.

You have to make the effort to string it up if you are only a day or two in a place (obviously, there's more motivation to do it when you stay for longer), but it really is worth it.

Malaria is just one of the diseases you can get from mosquitoes (and I caught malaria while taking all the recommended medications to prevent it!) Dengue fever is another nasty for which there is no prophylaxis. Don't say you weren't warned!

iasis

Hey Toker....
How u string up a moz net?
Any ideas from your experiences? Also, anyone else who knows can answer.
Thanks
iasis

tracyprier

Rather than take a net I have purchased a little battery-powered mozzie repeller. It is about 9cm high and utilises a replaceable mat that is supposed to be good for 45 8hr uses. It takes 1 D cell battery and is very light.

I imagine these things would be fairly easy to buy, I picked this up in a local supermarket for $12NZD (about $6 US).

Will report back on it's effectiveness.

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martes

try get a NYLON net, one can get those in India, they are much lighter than the cotton ones, and can compress well.

IVAN

Unless they are on batteries, are working only when there is power (and power tends to dissapear just at the wrong moment in India and quite often in some places).
I generally carry a mosquito net and there were quite a few times when I was really glad to have one. I don't know how much those I used weighted. I have the impression that they were lighter than 1.5 kg. You can find some quite acceptable in India.

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Alan D

I am also with the mosquito net faction. There's nothing worse than a swarm of mosquitos buzzing around your ears all night and I have never not been able to string it up from some fittings in the room. It only takes about 5 minutes to set up and you may then get a good nights sleep providing the local dogs aren't barking, the people in the room next door are not watching TV at full volume and you haven't picked a hotel near the main bus or train station!

Here in UK very lightweight nets are available weighing only a few ounces and they also pack down to a small volume. Slightly expensive but well worth it.

Sweet dreams

tanpopo

"lifesystems" is a good brand if you can get, my mozzie net (a double) was a little expensive (25pounds) but it weighs next to nothing.

definately take one, as many people have said, much better than being smothered in cream or choking on smoke, or worse, getting malaria!

madslatter

Hello everyone

Has anybody used a bivi-sac in their travels ?

Just wondering if anyone has used one, and if so, did you actually use it ?

Midnite Toker

This sounds more like a question for Bertrand Russel than for me (use it?), but I have taken a bivvy-sac to India for the last ten years or so.

I'd recommend it to anyone - a very light sac which covers the head (I made mine out of Pertex - it weighs about 4oz.) is great for sleeping on trains (where there can be lots of mozzies as the train is stationary) and in hotel rooms when the bed covers are insanitary-looking. As I also camp sometimes on my trips, the bivvy-bag is great for lining my existing down bag - it keeps it cleaner inside and adds a tiny bit of bonus warmth. In Gokarn I slept out under the starts by the sea using the bivvy-sac - it wasn't enough mosq. deterrent, however, I needed repellent cream too, and rather a bloody lot of it.

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