Review: ThermaCell Pads Now Last 300 Percent Longer
Bob McNally 04.04.16
I honestly don’t know how I ever hunted spring turkeys before the advent of the ThermaCell. And it has just gotten three times better than it was.
This simple-to-use, inexpensive device is an outdoorsman’s best friend, especially for turkey hunters who must remain absolutely motionless as big birds work close to shotgun range.
There can be no swatting of pesky mosquitoes or other bugs like black flies and no-see-ums. A hunt can’t be put on pause for even a few seconds to spray on more standard insect repellent. Heck, barely twitch a nose to counter a relentless bug is sure to be spotted by a wise old turkey that will spook faster than a politician changing opinions.
This is why a ThermaCell shines for hunters and all outdoor folks who hate bugs and are tired of their relentless assault.
And the ThermaCell has just improved 300 percent because the mini-pads (that give off such remarkably effective odorless bug repellent) has now increased its life from four hours to 12 hours.
This is a huge boost for an already superior product that now is getting universal praise for beating bugs by in-the-know outdoorsmen.
While ThermaCell sells a number of different products for outdoor and patio use, it’s the hand-held, lightweight, and portable appliance that is most endeared to hunters and anglers. The plastic unit is about the size of a turkey box call. It’s fueled by a small disposable butane canister, looking much like a butane lighter, and it lasts for many hours. In use a canister screws into the enclosed appliance base, and is flicked on by an exterior button to an enclosed striker that ignites the butane.
The butane burns low and slow, heating a small, square, disposable mini-pad that gives off an odorless, colorless repellent creating a “no bug” zone 15 feet square around it. In seconds all bugs vamoose from a ThermaCell appliance.
Hung on a hunter’s belt, backpack, camp chair, or resting beside him on the forest floor while watching and waiting for game, a ThermaCell unit is a godsend. It works for fishermen, too, on boats, shore, and wading.
A device can be turned on and off, and in practical use a butane canister and mini-pad can be used multiple times for several hunts and outdoor adventures before needing replacement.
In my experience there’s no shelf life to pads and butane canisters when a unit is shut off correctly. I’ve kept half-used pads and butane canisters stored inside a ThermaCell appliance for months in a hunting pack, then pressed the unit into service. It performed flawlessly.
A portable plastic ThermaCell device costs about $25–a one-time charge, and I’ve never broken one. It comes packaged with several pads and butane canisters, which are easy to install and replace. No batteries needed.
A “value” pack of a dozen pads and four butane canisters costs under $20 and could last a hunter a whole season.
And with the new 12-hour pads, time outdoors without bugs just got a lot longer and more pleasant.
