Cabin Camping and Bed bugs

[Basementdweller]

Well, a large non-scout camp in our area is invested with Bed bugs. It was only a matter of time, So much so a warning was sent out.

 

 

So how do you protect yourself and gear from becoming infested?????? Last time we put our gear in 55 gallon trash bags. Then ran our sleeping bags in the dryer on high heat, bed bugs are supposed to die at 120 degrees.

 

Bed bugs are such a huge problem and nearly impossible to get rid of.......

 

Any thoughts????

[packsaddle]

If 120 degrees does the trick, there must not be any in most of the Southwest, LOL. No it take a little more heat than a good day in the Mojave. It takes about 140 degrees to do a quick kill. The average home clothes drier on high heat will do the trick easily though, just ask the occasional hapless cat, LOL. OK, now you know how I feel about those things.

 

But the drier won't fix the cabins and that will take much more effort because of their ability to hide in small crevices (bugs, not cats). I don't know where the camp is located but if it gets really cold in the winter, that might be enough. Otherwise I suspect it will be a combination steam/pesticide treatment by a commercial outfit.

Good luck and don't let the bed bugs...you know.

[Stosh]

With the camp's permission you might want to go out a few days earlier and "bomb" the cabin. They have aerosol cans of insecticides that people use to fumigate their homes and after reading the labels carefully one should be able to fumigate the cabin before the boys arrive. I have had pets most of my adult life but take them on vacation with me so it was a tradition to fumigate the house just before I left. I would clean up afterwards when I got home and neither my pet nor family ever was in danger.

 

Be sure to see if the particular insecticide you are using will kill bed bugs.

 

Your mileage may vary.

 

Stosh

[boomerscout]

yeah, don't go to that non-Scout camp. Otherwise, use your own tents. While the dryer method may work, the dryer is also shortening the life of the sleeping bags.

A bit more useful: do all the Scouts know what an actual bedbug looks like? Where they hide so they can be searched out? Trash bags are good unless a few hitchhikers hide in the folds of the bag.

If they can be winter killed, then just store all the gear outside in a separate shed.

[packsaddle]

One more thought...aside from being fed upon (which I understand doesn't carry much risk because they apparently don't carry diseases), the more serious risk is that the boys will bring a few hitchhikers home with them and spread the infestation. That would be really bad.

Also, insect bombs are not very effective because of the insect's tendency to hide in protected nooks and cracks. Moreover, the eggs may not be affected by an insecticide until after they hatch.

As boomerscout noted, I'd just go somewhere else...like the woods on a backpack trip.

[Basementdweller]

my point is they will be in our camps in very short order, I am just wondering how do deal with them in that environment.

 

considering building a hot box kinda set up to back my gear when we get home. gonna build a cabinet with a couple of heaters in them to make sure none of them get in the house. sad state isn't it.

 

the kill temp is 113 on bed bugs.

[ScoutOne]

Re: Insect bombs. As packsaddle mentioned, these are ineffective and highly advised against as it apparently only exacerbates the problem.

 

Building a cabinet with heaters is excessive, particularly as many outdoor materials cannot handle very well the 2 hours (minimum) at 120f to kill bugs.

 

Bed bugs are becoming a bigger issue when traveling also. The best option is to not spread what you traveled with until it is inspected. If you find a bug it can be killed (crushed, etc). When returning have clothes in plastic bags and place directly in the laundry (highest temperature for washing and drying).

 

For camps, like hotels, an infestation of bed bugs (or any bug) can be avoided if they have procedures to monitor for it.

 

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/M1196.html

 

 

 

[packsaddle]

ScoutMKE, that is a great website! I wish our IPM people did as well. That photo of the bugs infesting a backpack is particularly relevant, I think.

I offer this, if 120 degrees is all it takes, for those of us here in the South, we can just shove the dog over, put all the gear in our car parked in the sun and roll up the windows. That should do to all insects what it does to the dog. (AND they won't smell as bad)

[Nike]

I'd hate to be the SM whose troop brought home bedbugs.

[Scoutfish]

I have "THE" solution to your problem.

 

It's very simple and very cheap!

 

Aqua Velva and Old Spice aftershave. I'm talking about your conrner drug store vareity. My dad used to slather that stuff on every night. You'd smell him before he came out of the bathroom.

 

Those old bottles that were blue and shaped like a boat, a cannon,a whistle, a car, etc..

 

Never had a bug in the house,. No ants,no roaches, no waterbugs, fleas, spiders, etc...

 

I know that you may think roaches and water bugs are the same., but they aren't. I'll tell you the difference:

 

If I have them, they are waterbugs.

If you have them, they are roaches!

 

We do thre safe thing when we go camping and there are cabins with matresses in them: We tell everybody that rat's nests were found inside the matresses and everybody needs to bring thier own or just sleep on the ground in sleeping bags and pads!

[clemlaw]

Now I remember why I like tents better than cabins.

[Basementdweller]

So, the info is very inconsistant.

 

I am going to construct a metal cabinet with solar powered heaters and fans to raise the internal temperature to 150 for an hour. When camping in a cabin, I will not use my good sleeping bags, but the really cheap wally world one or just use sheets. depending on the time of year.

 

This is only for cabins.

[Oak Tree]

So how do you protect yourself and gear from becoming infested?????? Don't camp in cabins.

[Basementdweller]

I don't think even not camping in the cabins is the answer.

 

What if you share a tent with another scout whose gear is infested???? Now the likely hood of getting them is substantially less.

 

It is a problem that crosses socioeconomic boundaries. My sister who travels a lot has brought them home a couple of times in luggage.

 

At least they don't carry disease.