Mosquitoes are the bane of my existence when I go camping. I am like a live advance warning system for everyone else when it comes to mosquitoes because I am always the first person bit, which doesn’t seem fair since I am also the one that is most allergic to them.

So I am always looking for a better and easier way to stay bite free.

Repellents with deet in them work well for me if I use a lot, but I hate having a strong chemical like that on my skin all the time.

Anytime I see something that seems less toxic than deet to me, I try it.

A few weeks ago I saw Bug Off biting insect wrist bands (they come in kids and adult sizes and there’s also a “glow in the dark” model) and decided to try them because they are deet free and instead use citronella, lemongrass oil, and geraniol (a liquid derived chiefly from the oils of geranium and citronella) as their active ingredients.

They were easy to use. I just popped one on one of my wrists and went about my day, for about 3 minutes. Then got I got bit. I figured that since the directions said to use one around a wrist or ankle or to use several and have one around each wrist and ankle, that I would use all three bands in the package I bought because I was camping in a large forest. So I put one around each wrist and one ankle and headed back outside.

Five minutes later I had multiple mosquito bites. It was obvious the wrist bands weren’t going to work for me.

My experience is that they are not worth the money. I got bit just as much as usual.

While doing a little research on the company that distributes the Bug Off wristbands, Kaz Incorporated, I found that they can’t even give their own product a “glowing “review because information on their website says the wrist bands “reduce mosquito landings by 50%.” That is not exactly a wonderful claim. Who wants to get bit half as much? I don’t want to get bit at all.

I’m back to searching for something that does work because Bug Off wrist bands definitely don’t.