Overview
It has almost arrived! No, not summer, although that too is almost upon us and is part of the reason the other thing is coming along. What is this thing or things? Well, they would be the mosquitos and black flies that are a dreaded part of the season especially in areas that are more rural than suburban. If you love hanging in the outdoors or live in the country then you well know of what I refer. For years we have tried to combat the pesky little critters with little to no success. Hopefully this unit will help to change that. The new Thermacell MR450 is a mosquito repellant device that you can either wear or put stationary in order to protect yourself from the biting little bugs.
The Claim
The claim by Thermacell is that this Thermacell MR450 will clear an area 15 feet by 15 feet of any mosquitos or other biting insects. This means that if you wear the device you can roam around and the 15 x 15 area will change depending on where you are or you can place the unit on a stationary object and protect the radius around it.
The Hype
The hype surrounding devices like the Thermacell MR450 are generated usually by word of mouth, if the unit works for one person they will usually tell someone else. The primary reason most of us do not accept as fact the claims made by the manufacturer is simply because we have been told for years and years that this product or the next one will be the be all and end all in mosquito relief but they rarely work as advertised.
The Cost
The cost of the Thermacell MR450 is a very reasonable $34.99. This certainly seems like a pretty reasonable amount especially if it does what it says it will do.
The Commitment
The only real commitment required for the Thermacell MR450 is the fact that you have to buy replacement pads for the unit as we will explain below as well as butane cartridges to run. Other than that not much is needed. It is small enough to fit in a glove box or tackle box if you are a fisherman or woman and requires no special care when not in use.
Evaluation
The way the Thermacell MR450 works is by essentially burning dampened “mats” that are soaked in a solution that mimics the smell of chrysanthemum flowers which are a known natural mosquito repellent. The mats are burned by igniting the butane cartridge that is included. The mats are said to last for approximately 4 hours each and the butane cartridge allegedly lasts for up to 12 hours of continuous use. Both of these items need to replaced when they are empty adding to the overall cost of the unit over time. The zone of protection is about 15 x 15 feet as we mentioned above, which is plenty of space if you are on a boat fishing or merely sitting on your backyard patio on a beautiful summer night but not nearly enough if you are camping with an R.V or setting up camp in the bush for you and the family. The unit is made of very durable materials and can be banged and jostled to no real affect. The unit runs off the butane but there is no open or exposed flame making as safe as can be and runs silently and without detectable odour to humans.
We love the looks of this unit, it looks like it can take quite a bit of normal wear and tear when out of doors, we are not big fans of the fact that you have to replace the essential components at such short intervals (it does
come with 3 mats included which adds up to 12 hours of use and with a single butane cartridge that lasts 12 hours as well so the unit is good for half a day as is then you have to buy more of each at a cost we are unsure of at this time)Our Recommendation
At first glance the Thermacell MR450 looks good. The science behind it is somewhat solid as well but as there are no mosquitos yet to test it on we are at the mercy of the statistics and promotional literature. We give this one a TRY/BUY recommendation which means that you takes your chances on this one. Will it work? Quite possibly it will, we have seen evidence to suggest that the technology is good but have had no chance to put it through its paces. That is up to you! You may want to compare it to a recent product we reviewed called Green Strike.
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None of the personal portable units work well if there is a breeze, or if you're actively moving
along and not remaining in one spot. They do work well if sitting outside on a patio, or by a
campfire etc with no wind present.