Travel Mosquito Net: Avoid Small Bites with Big Consequences

A travel mosquito net is possibly the single most important way to stay healthy when you travel (not to mention sleeping soundly, as opposed to spending the night swatting the nightlife). Remember, over half a million people are infected by mosquitoes each year.

A mosquito net also keeps other critters out, like creepy crawlies or falling geckoes.

I wouldn't dream of traveling without one when heading for any warm, humid places.

Mosquito net versus mosquito net tent

There are two types of insect net: one with a frame, and one without. Lets start with the standard travel mosquito net - without a frame.

The typical insect nets are squares or rectangles of insect netting with a ring (or two) that you attach to a wall or ceiling. It should be wide enough to be tucked under the mattress without touching you. If it touches your skin, the mosquito can simply land on it and bite you!

The advantage of this type of net is that it's light to carry in your pack and takes up little room. You can easily wash it and hang it out to dry.

There's also a disadvantage: you actually need something to hang it on. Many rooms in developing countries have nails or hooks on which you can fasten a net - but not always (although these days there are new, nylon mounts that fasten themselves to the wall without damaging it). It's disconcerting to walk into a room net in hand to find no hook. You're not going to start hammering a hook into someone else's wall, are you... 

So that's where mosquito net tents come in. I have not one, but two of these, just in case I lose one. That's how important it is to me!

The mosquito net tent has two advantages. First, it's free-standing, which means no worries about nails or hooks. And second, it's properly sealed, which means mosquitoes can't get in under or around it.

This is what the mosquito net tent looks like...

Actually, there's a third advantage: if you're traveling really cheaply, most net tents have a plastic base, which'll keep out any additional critters that might have found a home on the bed...

Treated mosquito net or not?