Bugs are a very important part of nature and the food chain.
But sometimes they just suck (get it? ;))!
You’re out having a great hike and suddenly walk into a swarm of gnats.
And for some reason mosquitoes are always following me.
The worst is when you finally think you’re safe by escaping to your tent and then you find out that they’ve followed you inside!
So, how do you keep bugs out of your tent? Keeping your tent closed, camping away from water sources, keeping your lights turned down at night, and keeping foods and drinks sealed up are great ways to prevent insects from collecting in your tent.
Want to know some more great ways just to be safe?
Keep reading for more tips and how to implement them correctly!
Location Is Important
Since you’re already out in the wilderness, you may be thinking that there’s not too much you can do to keep insects out of your tent when it comes to the location of your camp.
But it’s actually super important and can help you from needing to work hard to fend them off in the first place.
If you have the choice in choosing where to set up camp for the night, you’ll want to pick a place that’s dry and at least a few hundred feet away from a water source.
Mosquitoes tend to lay their eggs in vegetation or still water and there are plenty of other insects that also tend to swarm by the water.
So keeping your distance will help to not have as many around to fly into your tent.
Clear Up Your Campsite
Once you arrive at your campsite, look around for any potential insect attractors like rotten logs or standing water.
These are seen as a breeding grounds and/or food source for a lot of insects.
You can do yourself a favor by simply moving any debris a few feet further away from your tent.
Keep Your Food Sealed
If you’re camping in bear country, you’ll want to have taken care of this already.
If you aren’t, it’s still a good idea to seal your food and drinks to prevent any unwanted visitors, insects or not!
If you’ve got open food lying around, you’re essentially inviting bugs to come.
Once they pick up on the scent of food or drink that attracts them, they’ll be all over it, and possibly you.
Try to keep your foods and drinks sealed up as much as possible.
Use Lights Sparingly
When you’re trying to keep insects out of your tent, you’ll want to keep your lights off as often as possible.
Insects are attracted to light, so having a bright shining bulb illuminated in the middle of complete darkness is essentially a beacon for them to fly to.
Wherever you’re camping, try to keep the lights inside your tent off unless absolutely necessary.
This will prevent what I just mentioned from becoming a problem since insects will want to fly toward the light.
But sometimes the sun sets really early and you don’t want to go to sleep at 6 in the evening.
Then what?
Just keep your lights as low as possible for you to be able to see.
While it will likely attract closer insects, it won’t be as bad as having a beam of light shining on high.
Another great tip is to always have your tent zipped up.
Beam of light or not, if your tent is completely zipped it will make it very difficult if not impossible for insects to come inside.
If you plan on urban or recreational camping, keep in mind that insects are attracted to street lights just as much as they are with any other type of light.
So although camping by a light post is convenient and means you won’t have to pull out your flashlight as much, you’ll often see plenty of bugs swarming near them.
Keep Your Tent Closed
I know this is obvious, but sometimes it’s the obvious things that we forget about.
Try to keep your tent zipped up as much as possible.
A lot of tents will come with a mesh door and windows that you can unzip to let air flow through while keeping insects out.
Use them!
And here’s some tips for keeping your tent cool if you’re using a tent that doesn’t have a ton of ventilation so you can keep it closed up.
Use A Screenhouse
I personally like to bring along a screenhouse when I’m going car camping.
It’s a little bulky but once it’s set up you can hangout outside your tent without having pesky insects bothering you.
It’s nice to set up a few chairs inside it and relax or eat some food in peace without having to constantly swat bugs away.
If you’ve got room for it, give it a shot!
Use A Fan
A nice breeze can sometimes be enough to keep bugs at bay.
And what easier a way to generate a consistent breeze than with a fan?
The fan constantly blowing will make it harder for insects to go near you while in your tent.
Another interesting thing fans help with is to disperse carbon dioxide.
Since mosquitoes and other insects look for carbon dioxide when finding their next victim, you’ll be much harder for them to find since the fan will be diluting the co2 around you!
Make Sure Your Bathroom Is Far Enough Away
If you’re camping out in the woods and don’t have a designated bathroom nearby, you’ll want to make sure you do your business far away from your camp.
Flies like to lay their eggs in feces as it contains food for their larvae to feast on.
And they can also get nutrients from your urine as well.
So if you’ve got to go, keep your makeshift bathroom away from camp.
This will help keep insects out of your tent!
Spread Out Some Ashes
Ashes can be used to deter insects because it helps to draw water out of things that it touches.
And that includes insects!
If insects come in contact with ashes, it will dry them out.
You won’t find too many (alive) bugs that are hanging out in a pile of ashes.
To help keep them out of your tent, sprinkle some fresh ashes around the outside of your tent (or at the very least the entrance of it).
If you there aren’t any lying around, use this tip after you’ve had a fire going for a while.
Just be careful to not pick up any hot embers in the process!
And keep in mind that ash will lose it’s insect repellent properties if it gets wet, so this only works in drier weather.
Use Repelling Scents
While a lot of what is being sold as ‘repellent’, such as citronella candles, are spotty at best, there are some scents you can bring along with you to keep bugs off of you and out of your tent.
There have been studies done to show the effects of certain insect repellents and if they actually work.
Essentially, citronella isn’t too good at repelling.
What is good is DEET and oil of eucalyptus.
A few sprays on yourself and in your tent should help repel quite a few insects.
Another good repellent is the OFF! clip-on fan containing the insecticide metofluthrin (source).
Using these repelling scents will protect you from being annoyed/bitten by most insects, and mixed with the other methods above should help keep them out of your tent as well.
Related Questions
Why are insects attracted to light? Oddly enough, we don’t know exactly why insects are attracted to light. There are a few theories, such as it provides a sense of safety, it works for navigation (trying to use the sun and moon as a reference for where to go), and even phototaxis, the idea that some insects are naturally attracted to light.
Does adding sage or rosemary to a fire keep bugs away? Yes! Burning a bundle of sage or rosemary can help keep bugs at bay. Rosemary is very good at keeping mosquitoes at bay.
Do dryer sheets repel insects? Some dryer sheets do repel insects, but not the kind that would necessarily be bothering you out in the wilderness. Studies have shown that some dryer sheets can repel cockroaches, beetles, and mites.
Does smoke keep bugs away? Yes, smoke works quite well at keeping bugs away.