how necessary is mosquito netting on East Coast

[jscalia]

I wonder if just having a rainfly is enough to keep bugs to a minimum. I am assuming of course that you have some type of layer underneath you, like a pad or underquilt and at least one layer of clothing on your skin.

[Coffee]

Bugs love me. I don't go without it during bug season, I love every oz of noseeum. Then again, my girlfriend is the exact opposite and gets by fine without netting. If bugs like you I would not go without it.

[adkpiper]

How necessary is air on planet earth?

I think yours is a pretty personal question. I know people who never use bug dope, wear shorts and T-shirts all summer, and never get bitten. I am not one of these people. Mosquitoes and black flies find me very tasty, and I get big red welts from them.

Consequently, I am very pleased to carry the netting portion of my Hennessy Explorer UL. It works really well.

As far as rainflies go: I don't think you'll find that they do much about the bugs. If you're sleeping in a bag, you can wear a head net to bed; some people find that sufficient. Doesn't work for me.

[pedro]

I am also sweetmeat to the bugs. For me, noseeum netting is not optional. I use netting that is available at Jo-Anne Fabrics on their cheap table. It's used for wedding veils or something.Take a magnifying glass and a ruler with you, to check out the number of holes per square inch. 800 holes/inch is the standard for noseeum, as I recall. Check out JustJeff's site for some ideas.

[WalksInDark]

I grew up and lived most of my life on the East Coast. No matter where I have been I have had bugs. Worse ones were biting flys, mosquitoes, and black flys. Spiders dropping in are also not unheard of.

Having said that, my feeling is it is better to have a net and not need it (just fold it back) then to spend my camping time miserable due to insect bites.

Just my 2 cents.

[sclittlefield]

I grew up in Maine, and still live here. If your East Coast gets all the way to this end, and you don't have a bugnet, you may not survive the night. They'll bleed you dry. I was on Katahdin this summer and have never in my life seen more mosquitos - you couldn't stop for more than a second before you were overrun by swarms of Biblical proportions. They get worse at night.

Anyone who lives here knows that it's the mosquito, not the chickadee, that's really the Maine State bird.

[JayS]

jscalia,
Like the others said, I think it depends on who you are, where you are, what time of year and local conditions. I live by the Watchung Reservation so I have to be within 5 or 6 miles of you. I usually don't need a bugnet here even though we're by a tiny creek but... occasionally I wouldn't consider hanging in the backyard without one.

Have camped in the same spot in the southern Adirondacks several times over the last two years. Two times we didn't need much but a wee bit of bug juice, one time we couldn't put enough on. That time it was wetter and the bull frogs, which we had hardly ever heard before, were so loud it was hard to sleep. Another time in the Catskills a week after torrential rains, there were no bugs at all.

Err on the side of carrying a bit more than may be needed until you know how you tolerate bugs... and how they tolerate you. A rainfly is good for keeping rain off but not bugs unless you wrap up in it. But then you would sweat a gallon an hour except in winter.

[Dutch]

What i do is replace my hiking partners bug juice with sugar water. That way the bugs will go after him. I hope he doesn't read this.

[Ramblinrev]

I have watched as swarms of bugs carry hikers away and store them to eat them later. Maine black flies are the nastiest critter ever perpetrated on the earth. I welt up to 1/8" with each bit. Nothing but nothing chemical works against them critters.

[sclittlefield]

You're right Ramblinrev. Black flies and Mosquitoes drink DEET like water up here.