Pop up Mosquito nets - any good?

Spinners

Are those pop up mosquito nets any good.
There's no hanging up involved but because there's a frame in them, are they cumbersome and liable to break whilst travelling?
GQ

Alan D

We use a Lifesystems mosquito net which is very lightweight and can be bought in the UK and I would think, in Ireland. The only inconvenience is that you have to put 2 single beds in the room together to make a double. It's bell shaped with a metal ring on the top. You pass a very strong nylon rope (supplied) through the ring and hang it from two points. Maybe it's just luck but I've never had any difficulty in finding 2 anchoring points. There is also the option to buy the net coated with an insecticide. We didn't find this necessary, as once you're inside they can't get at you. Sorry, have never seen the pop-up type.

Spinners

Thanks Alan D,
It's good to hear that people don't have problems hanging nets etc., it's only a little thing but it's one less thing to worry about.
Here's a link showing the pop up type nets I was on about. You can buy them here in Dublin now so I'd be very suprised if you can't get them in the UK.
Cheers
GQ

www.swissnet.co.uk

abracax

I've had one for ten years, and it has been invaluable on all my trips to India and other tropical bug-infested places. Don't leave home without it. In addition to their logistical problems, the hang-up nets tend to have mesh that is too coarse and too fragile (always ripping) for lugging around.

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chrissawka

is net really necessary. take up room in backpack plus the kind i looked at required hooks on ceiling to tie to......what if your room doesn't have any
just seems like a hassle
i leave in 3 weeks and have no intention of bring any<will i regret it?> i start malaria pills next weeks

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indiamike

I have never brought one and have never needed one. If mosquitoes are a problem in a place I am staying at I just buy some All Out (Indian brand of mosquito repellent) or hide under the blankets.

UltraViolet

I went to indonesia last summer and got totally attacked by mozzies even though i covered up and wore spray. My friend took neither of these procautions and did not get a single bite. I think i'll be bringing a net when i come out or are the mozzies less vicious in India??? Also we will be arriving in July so won't the mozzies be more prevalent then?

picklepak

I've always carried a mozzie net with me, it's very tiny and light. I travel with a carry-on size rucksack and feel it's still worth the space in my bag. Mine doesn't use any sort of frame... to save size and weight you might want to consider a simple one that hangs up near your head (such as the 'Pyramid Compact' style on that website, above).

My net is meant for a single bed but as I was lucky enough to find, it stretches to cover a double or even two singles when required. I used it more in Asia because the girl I was traveling with was terrified of spiders, plus it's nice not to get bitten when the two of you are, umm, in the middle of....

Instead of getting inside the spiders would just climb up the net and stare at us, it was great fun.

I've used my net a few places in India, such as Calcutta, Goa (not near the beach), Ooty, and some other places. It was very nice to have when needed, BUT you tend to get quite hot underneath it so you always have to use the fan. Too bad I never got to try it on a double bed in India, sometimes it feels like female travelers in India are so independent that they rarely meet up to travel with others.

There's always *some* way of tying it up. Sometimes you just have to carry a good length of rope, a small nail and get creative.

paan wallah

pretty easy

with a net it s heaven,without it s hell
good mossienets nearly weight nothing,so it s always good to carry one with you..
but they are not good against all kinda animals..
once i woke up in my beachhut in thailand and I had very nasty scorpio under my net,having the great honour to bite me

Midnite Toker

Tough luck with the scorpion, paan wallah. A 15cm scorpion came to greet me on my last trip in Goa - I was sweeping the floor when it dropped out of the cloth I was using! But probably because my star sign is Scorpio and my destiny number 6, it trotted off without looking back.

Nobody took up my offer of the free net in Goa as I ended my trip earlier this month, so I left it with the owners of the place I was staying. It was quite a good net - nylon, fine mesh, six tie loops. Cost me 200 rupees in Margao market.

Can't understand the people who say they'd rather use repellent or sleep under a fan. Right now, power cuts are common in Goa (thus no fan) and who wants to go to sleep covered in vile-smelling repellent cream or breathing insecticide smoke? Also agree with picklepak that the net is great for spiders and other "intruders."

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maree

Second that....nets are much more pleasant than repellent or coils. In saying that, I didn't use mine at all last time.....mosquitos didn't seem to be a problem in Madhya Pradesh in winter.

india-welcomes.com

Well to be on safer side you can bring pop up mosquito net, but most of hotels or guest houses uses mosquito replents if there is any mosquito's present in that area. otherwise it not a major problem any where, as i know so far...

Watson

My girlfriend made sure that I swallowed loads of vitamin B last time around as she said it keeps the mossies at bay. It sorta seemed to help. We didn't need a net since we tried to keep all the windows and doors closed as soon as we had a light on. and then justv went around leaving little mossie blood smears on the walls of the room.

-m2-

another topic on which equally well experienced travellers have diametrically opposed viewpoints -- not coincidentally, malaria prophlaxis is another such. Perhaps it is partly individual susceptibility to mosquitoes, or the season travelled, risk aversion, or the places one stays ??

I hate sleeping with a mosquito net, particularly the nylon/plastic mesh ones which resist air circulation so badly. I have never carried one, nor have I regretted not having one along. In situations where there was a real mosquito problem, nets have generally been provided (perhaps a hole or two required patching with tape). I 'cover up' in the evenings, occasionally use repellent on my ankles and wrists. If mosquitoes are really bad, I wouldn't stay more than a night or two somewhere anyway. Wherever i travel, it is mainly in the dry season and i avoid known pestholes. I don't take anti-malarials unless there is an acknowledged problem in the area at the time I'll be there. i've never had a problem (knock wood).

So i guess there is no simple, universal answer to the net question -- the pop-up ones are fine if you feel you need a net, also there are others available, both from home or once you get to somewhere where one is badly needed. M_T needed one in S Goa this winter whereas I didn't need one in N Goa -- he bought one (inexpensively) where it was required, and dumped it when he left. To my mind, this is the better solution, but it is all a question of one's comfort level with these issues, i guess.

IndyBoy

An old thread, but still very valid.

Does anyone know where I could get hold of a net in Delhi? What sort of shop am I looking for?