In recent weeks, I have faced an obstacle in my training. I have written about my daily hikes and exercises and my open-air fitness. Well, this summer has been hot and humid, and to top it all off, Slovenia has been hit by floods and storms a few weeks ago. Consequently, mosquitoes have increased enormously, especially in the parks and wooded hills where I go for my daily workout.
The video story (if you prefer to read the story, please continue below the video):
It started just over a week ago. As soon as I stepped into the shade of the forest, I noticed a swarm of mosquitoes flying around me. But as long as I kept moving, it was not such a problem. But the moment I stopped to catch my breath or, say, to do push-ups, the mosquitoes attacked my arms and legs. So, I decided to look for protection. I don’t like using a liquid repellent, so I decided on Mediblink’s ultrasonic mosquito repeller. I was a bit doubtful that the device could repel mosquitoes successfully, but the price was not too high (€19.99), and I took the risk.
It looks like a kind of product typically sold in TV sales. Useless crap sold to people who do not need it. However, I bought the device in a pharmacy; therefore, I expected the product to be at least somewhat efficient.
A disclaimer: My blood is a real dessert for mosquitoes, and I am the best defense for those around me. All mosquitos want to bite me. Therefore, I am undoubtedly suitable for testing such a repellent. If it works for me, it will work for everyone.
Description: The device emits the sounds of a male mosquito and a dragonfly, which are supposed to repel female mosquitoes. It looks neat, small, easy to use, and is designed to be clipped onto one’s belt or pocket. It is powered by two AAA batteries, which are said to last a very long time due to their low power consumption. It is operated by a single button, which allows you to select the type of sound (mosquito, dragonfly, or a combination of the two).
Performance: I tested the device under four different conditions.
- Low load: open window. We have mosquitoes in the garden, but not many. If the window is open, almost certainly, some mosquitoes will come into the house and find me sooner or later. I put the device on the window sill and left the window open for about an hour. Not a single mosquito came in. So, under the mildest of conditions, the device seems to work well.
- Medium load: in the garden. I hardly spend time in the garden this year because, after a few minutes, mosquitoes start gathering around me and biting me, preferably my legs. With the device on my waist, it actually took much longer before the mosquitoes appeared. Instead of half a minute, maybe 3-4 minutes, and fewer mosquitos came. They were flying around me for a long time, but eventually, one landed on my leg and stung me anyway. I would say it works solidly but not perfectly in medium-load conditions.
- High load: in the woods, where there are a lot of mosquitoes this year. When I’m walking in the woods, there are swarms of mosquitoes around me all the time, and every now and then, one manages to land on my shoulder or arm and bite me. With the device on, fewer mosquitoes fly around me, or perhaps at a greater distance. Finally, I don’t really see a significant difference. I estimate the device has some effect in such conditions but does not prevent all the bites. I would give it a satisfactory rating.
- Very high load: in my open-air fitness, i.e., when I stop in the woods to do exercises such as push-ups or stretching. There are so many mosquitoes these days that the moment I stop, I have at least a dozen of them all over my arms and legs within seconds. Even with the device on, it was no different, or I didn’t notice any difference. It seems that mosquitoes are hungry because of their numbers and cannot afford the luxury of worrying about their safety. Definitely, device performance under these conditions is inadequate.
Practicality and quality:
+ ease of use
– charging (in 2023, I would expect the product to have a built-in battery and USB charging), quality (not exactly top-notch, the hanging clip is not compact, a bit flimsy, and on top of that, it is mounted on the battery cover; on several occasions, the device fell on the floor, the cap flew off, and the batteries fell out)
Final rating: Satisfactory
Stay tuned!