Name: Gail Staisil
Age: 53
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight: 140 (64 kg)    
Email: woodswoman2001@yahoo.com
Location: Marquette, Michigan USA
Photo Album Website: http://community.webshots.com/user/isleroyalegirl  

Manufacturer: PIC Corporation

MSRP: $3.10 US (8 pack)

 
Product Description

PIC Mosquito Repellent Coils are an insect control product used mainly to control mosquitoes. The coils are made mostly out of the active ingredient Pynethrum (69.6%) which is a naturally occurring insecticide made from crushed flowers. The PIC Coils were first formulated in 1953 and made in the United States starting in 1973. The product is designed to work outdoors in confined areas to repel mosquitoes. According to the PIC website, historically it was very popular for controlling mosquitoes at drive-in movies. The product was often sold at the concession stands. The coils are usually packaged with a small coil stand made of lightweight metal. Each coil burns for approximately 5-7 hours and covers an area of about ten feet. Other PIC products include mosquito sticks and decorative coil burners.

Field Information

I was first introduced to using PIC Mosquito Repellent Coils by an expedition leader. After we had made camp for the night, he brought out his PIC Coils to repel the mosquitoes that hovered over his cooking area. He gave me a piece of a coil to burn and I was satisfied with the results. It created a smoke barrier to drive the mosquitoes away. I had previously seen the product in many outdoor stores and convenience stations but never thought much about trying it. For the last six years I have stowed and burned PIC Coils on all my backpacking trips during the heavy bug season. That normally is May through August of each year in the areas that I travel.

I normally use a bug shirt to protect me from mosquitoes. I do not like using chemical repellent products that have to be sprayed on my skin in order to work. Although the bug shirt keeps the mosquitoes from biting me, it does not keep the mosquitoes from hovering about the area where I camp and cook. PIC Coils has been the solution for the latter issue.

On backpack trips I normally carry the PIC Coils right in the box in which they are packaged. I break down the box and re-tape it so that it is a flat cardboard box rather than being 3-D. Most times this has worked out well to keep the product intact. I keep a box of PIC Coils and matches in a plastic zip bag and pack them in a mesh outer pocket of my backpack. That way I can readily access them if I stop for a long lunch and the mosquitoes are driving me nuts.

Although the PIC Coils come in several different size packages (4, 8 or 12 pack). I usually buy the PIC Coils that are packaged with four separate individually wrapped coils in each package. Each coil actually separates into two coils making a total of eight coils per package. They are about 3.5 in (8.89 cm) in diameter and about 0.125 in (0.32 cm) thick. They are circular in design, hard in touch, dark green in color and somewhat brittle. The center of each coil has a slot in the middle of the comma-shaped end. This slot can be attached to a metal stand that comes with the product.

The PIC package of 8 coils comes with the standard warnings imprinted on the back of the package. The warnings include that it is harmful if ingested and to avoid prolonged inhalation of the product. It also warns the user to not use it indoors, to not to touch the lit end and to not place it on a burnable surface. The front of the package cautions users to keep it out of the reach of children and domestic animals.

PIC Coils are packaged with the coils interconnected so I have to separate them before I can use a single one. I take out a single coil and attach it to the stand. The coil has a comma-shaped end with a slot in it. I attach the slot to the point on the stand. I am very careful as to what surface I use the stand on as the end of a PIC Coil gets extremely hot and could start a fire. I normally find a large rock or use my stove's circular stand for the base. The coils are easily lit and do not extinguish by themselves. There is a definite odor produced by the burning PIC Coils, but I do not find it objectionable.

When I first started burning PIC Coils, I bought and used one of the thin circular can holders that were available on the market to burn the product. Although they were made by another manufacturer, they were designed to be used with similar products. Although this system had its attributes the extra weight of the can was too much to pack on every trip. That holder still needed to be put on a fireproof surface as it got extremely hot.

PIC doesn't necessarily have to be used in a stand as smaller pieces of it can be burned on any fireproof surface just by lighting the end and letting it lie in the horizontal position. Any small metal can such as a breath mint can or the like, can be used as a holder to burn pieces of PIC Coils. 

I normally set up and burn PIC Coils as soon as I settle in for a few hours of reading, cooking or the like after a long day on the trail. I do not light it if I am not going to be in attendance at my site. I usually place it directly to the side of me so that the PIC can repel the bugs right around me. If the bugs are unbearable, I light another piece of PIC and set it up on the other side of me. I light the end of the PIC Coil and it burns for many hours slowing turning into the finest ash. The lit end of a PIC Coil is extremely hot so when I want to extinguish it I usually do it with a few drops of water on the very end. That assures me that it won't continue to burn later. I have been witness to people burning their fingers and burning a hole in their clothing when they thought they had extinguished their PIC Coil.
 
As imaginable, PIC Coils work the best when the air is relatively still and the bugs are bad. This isn't always the scenario so if it is quite windy I usually try to find a more protected area to settle. It was mainly developed for mosquito control but I think it is equally effective with black flies and gnats. However, it does little to discourage stable flies. 

I mainly use the PIC Coils on my spring and summer trips in the state of Michigan, USA or in Ontario, Canada. The terrain included hilly boreal and deciduous forest, lakeshore, swamps and open areas. Elevations ranged from 600 ft (183 m) to 2000 ft (610 m) and temperatures ranged from a low near freezing 32 F ( 0 C) to a high of nearly 90 F (32 C). Bug types that are most commonly found in these areas include mosquitoes, ticks, deer flies, stable flies, gnats and no-see-ums. 


Summary