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I'll be in SEA and India during the summer, ie monsoon months, and South and East Africa at the end of my trip. Should I have a mosquito net for these areas, or is it overkill, waste of space, waste of money, you'll never use it, most places provide them, etc?

Anyone travel with one and really use it?
Anyone travel without one and really want one?

Thanks much!

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Many places provide the over bed kind, at least where I was in Malaysia.

I carried my own, and used it. It was heavy, kludgy and huge. It helped me when I camped in the jungle wilds, but not where there was a fan over my head. Overhead fans tend to drive the mosquitos away.

I used it, yes, but only in areas away from civilisation. It depends upon your travel plans, really.

Interesting in how femalenomad was it had a change of heart from Dec2004 to July 2005.
And though they may be of some volume, they are not all that heavy, and the cane ring that comes with the ones that have it could be replaced by getting a bit of poly pipe or harder smaller springy type plastic tube with a slip in fitting if packing the cane ring is a problem.
Have not had to use one myself, but if you are in those areas for a while and off the beaten track then it could become handy.
Have even known of people staying in cairns and for that matter Byron Bay with screened windows to find all screens either not intact/sealing or some damaged.
So for the bities and other bugs, it becomes that secure last line of defence that you can pull out if need be.

I've traveled through India as well as a lot of the Eastern and Southern areas of Africa. For the most part I either didn't need a mosquito net or a (functional) one was provided. That being said I did carry a small mosquito net with me and the handful of times I did need it I was glad I had it. Mine packs into a small ball and doesn't weigh more than 8 oz (230 g) so its hard to leave it home for space/weight reasons.

I have one I bought in Bamako (IMHO THE mosquito capital of the world ) but I didn't take it with me to SEA. There were a few times that I wished I had it. You'd be surprised at the number of places that either don't have nets or have them but they're full of holes.

If you can find a lightweight net that is easy to put up and doesn't cost a fortune, I'd say it's worth taking. It's not essential, but worth looking for.

quote:

femalenomad was it had a change of heart

Hey!

Okay, so I didn't have a change of heart. I started out just providing information, not actual use. When I was in Thailand, I didn't use a net. Just while camping.

However, I still promote mosquito nets. Sigh. I wish I still had mine. Even if it DID smell like mildew by the time I finally threw it away.

Good to know places where people actually use these (outside of camping). I'll keep that in mind.

I took a single mosquito net with me, but most of the rooms I stayed in had double beds! Double nets are very bulky. So I ended up hardly using mine--it was still good-as-new when my backpack was nicked

Most of the time, I resorted to coils, but you need good ventilation with those. However, if you travel in areas with electricity, get one of these little anti-mozzi cushion burners. They last for up to 12h (read the small print) and are well worth carrying a world-wide adapter for (which you need anyway for recharging tech-gear).