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Reviews > Health & Safety > Insect Repellents > Coghlan Mosquito Head Net > Owner Review by Marina Batzke

COGHLAN'S MOSQUITO HEAD NET
BY MARINA BATZKE
OWNER REVIEW
July 29, 2014

TESTER INFORMATION

NAME: Marina Batzke
EMAIL: mbbp2013 (at) hotmail (dot) com
AGE: 54
LOCATION: Los Angeles County, California, USA
GENDER: F
HEIGHT: 5' 5" (1.65 m)
WEIGHT: 130 lb (59.00 kg)

I converted from day hiking and car camping to backpacking in spring 2013. Since then, I have selectively purchased new, more lightweight gear, while I still carry some heavier gear from my car camping trips. I always hike with a group and I like the gear talk when in camp. I am a tent camper looking for ways to lighten my pack. My backpacking trips are currently weekend excursions in Southern California, USA. If my business travel allows me to get away, I try to backpack one or two weekends a month.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Manufacturer: Coghlan's Ltd., Canada
Year of Manufacture: 2010
Manufacturer's Website: http://www.coghlans.com
MSRP: US $2.99
Listed Weight: N/A
Measured Weight: 0.5 oz (15 g)

FIELD USE

Because the Head Net is so lightweight and small, I carry it in my backpack on all my backcountry trips. I have truly successfully used it on these trips:

Location: Third Stream Crossing Lytle Creek, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA
Campground Elevation: 4000 ft (1200 m)
Trip duration: 2 days/1 night
Conditions: pine forest campsite with nasty little flies
Temperatures: 60-80 F (16-27 C)

Location: Yosemite National Park, Northern California, USA
Campground Elevations: 8100 ft - 4000 ft (2500-1200 m)
Trip duration: 4 days/3 nights July
Conditions: aggressive tiny mosquitoes in Yosemite Valley
Temperatures: 47-79 F (9-26 C)

Location: San Gorgonio Wilderness, Southern California, USA
Campground Elevation: 9200 ft (2800 m)
Trip duration: 4 days/3 nights July
Conditions: flies at trailhead and mosquitoes at spring
Temperatures: 59-75 F (15-24 C)

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Coghlan's Mosquito Head Net is an ultra-lightweight mesh that I can wear over my hat or other type of head gear to create a veil of protection against bugs around my head. The Mosquito Head Net has a circle of dark green nylon to be positioned on the crown of my head and from there on down, hanging all around my head, is dark green mesh. At the bottom the Head Net has an elastic band that keeps it close to my neck. There is a small elastic band loop at the bottom that allows me to attach the Head Net to my clothing, so it stays in place (I have not needed to secure the net with that loop).
IMAGE 2
The Head Net

The Head Net came inside a cardboard box. In my pack, I am carrying it inside a zip-locking small plastic bag.
IMAGE 1
The Packing Unit and the trail-ready net in size comparison


At Third Stream Crossing, our group was sitting in a circle cooking dinner on our individual stoves when all these nasty little flies appeared. I was happy to pull the head net over my head and focus on cooking instead of chasing flies away. I did not even wear a hat but simply pulled the net over my hair.

In Yosemite National Park, our group had just hiked down Snow Creek trail and arrived near Mirror Lake. Suddenly we were surrounded by this swarm of aggressive mosquitoes. We hastily pulled down our backpacks and as quickly as possible put on additional layers of clothes and I pulled the head net over my wide brimmed hat.
IMAGE 3
Yosemite Valley

The net provided sufficient protection, yet I noticed two drawbacks: in the rush of time, I put on my rain jacket which has dots of hook-and-loop on the cuffs to loosen or tighten the jacket's cuffs. The hook side clung to the head net when I took it down once we were outside the mosquito area. I carefully had to pull the fine netting off the hooks to avoid pulling any threads. The net did not suffer.

While walking into the direction of the sun, I noticed a glare on the mesh when the sun reflected a bit on it.

During the San Gorgonio trip, there were annoying flies at the trail head and the head net helped focus on getting ready for the hike. Then while in camp, we had to hike quite a distance to get water from a spring. The mosquitoes were right there waiting for us while we filtered water.

The head net has not allowed any mosquitoes to bite me where my head and neck are covered by the netting.

SUMMARY

Small, lightweight, effective protection against bugs. I always have the head net in a front pouch of my backpack, so it is easily accessible when needed.

THINGS I LIKE

Ultra-lightweight
Small bundle
Highly efficient
Easy to use
Affordable

THINGS I DO NOT LIKE

Clings to hook side of hook-and-loop fasteners
Can create a glare when walking in the direction of the sun

SIGNATURE

Marina Batzke

This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1. Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.

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