Boy Scout Troop 1 - Acton, Mass.
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Mosquito Netting for Camp

Be Prepared!

This Web page is primarily aimed at the parents of scouts who will be going to camp for the first time this year, adults making their first foray, and perhaps others who might benefit from what we call "best practices" regarding the absolutely necessary netting that will protect you and/or your child at night.

The Recipe for a good night's sleep (barring animals, thunder storms, or homesickness):

Dowels (four of them) No less than 1/2" diameter — 5/8" is recommended. Some people get the 1/4" diameter dowels, but they are fairly flimsy and don't provide very good structure (especially after the first day of use). Dowels typically come in 4-foot lengths. Because of the pitch of the tent roof, you should cut off about 6" from two of them (the ones that will be away from the center aisle).

Netting Places like The Maynard Outdoor store sell Couglan's Rectangular Mosquito net in 32"x78"x59" size. This matches the dimensions of the camp bunk fairly well. This brand also includes metal tie rings which are very important for what follows.

Netting Prep. You don't want to tape the net directly to the poles (it causes tearing, makes it inflexible to bunk and boy movement, and limits year-to-year value of the net). As shown in the photo, you should attach a folded duct tape tap "tab" to each of the four corners by tearing off a strip of duct tape about 4" long and about 1/2" wide, running it through the loop, and folding it over. These provide anchors that are used to attach to netting to the poles (see below).

Attachment of Poles to Bunk The best mosquito shield is unbroken, solid surface of netting with no gaps. The way to get that is by having the poles OUTSIDE of the netting, and having the netting suspended between the poles, and tucked under the mattress. Be sure to put duct tape low and high on the poles.

Attachment of Netting to Poles To suspend the netting between the poles, attach the duct tape tabs to the poles using duct tape as shown in as shown in the photo.

Tuck It In Tuck the netting in all around the sides of the mattress to keep the bugs out. When it's time to retire, un-tuck a small length and slide in like a snake (to minimize the chance of a mosquito making the same journey).

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Last modified: July 15, 2007