Product Review For Mosquitno Products

You may remember from my Bug Off!! post that I REALLY hate bugs. I have another anti-bug product to share! Mosquitno asked me to try out a couple of their products and do a review. I haven't been able to try them against the annoying bugs yet, but so far I can already tell I love both products they sent me!

Mosquitno Products

      Mosquitno (pronounced "Mos-keet-NO") also sent me a bunch of information about their company. One of the coolest pieces of information I found was that they recycle the Bandz. You send them 10 used Bandz with a form found on their website and they will send you 2 free Bandz! They send you 1 as a thank you gift and 1 to help cover your shipping cost! The fact that they recycle the silicone bracelets is great but then there's the bonus 2 free Bandz that make it even better! They use Natural Insect Repellent so you don't have to worry about irritating your skin with chemicals plus they smell like citronella (I love that smell!).

     The first product is the Bandz. They come in adult size and kids size in a resealable pouch! The Bandz last for about 150 hours which is about 6 days. I like that I can give each niece and nephew one at the beginning of a long camping trip and I won't have to worry about giving them another one (unless it gets lost) until the next trip. If they put them back in the pouches, they might for the trip plus the rest of the month's weekend trips, helping in the yard and playing outside times. The Bandz come in bright colors, camo, tie-dye and glow-in-the-dark and are waterproof.



Mosquitno Bandz

      If we don't want to wear the Bandz, Mosquitno also has Spotz. Spotz stick to your hat, bag, shirt, jacket or anything else you want to stick them to! They come in 5 different themes (I have the Sports Shapes pack) and there are 6 Spotz per package. Spotz last around 72 hours which is 3 days and you can put them in a baggie when you're not using them so they will last a little longer. I can't wait to try these on my hat or visor on those fishing trips that the gnats and mosquitos insist on flying around our faces.

Mosquitno Spotz

      For more information about Mosquitno products visit their website at: http://www.mosquitnoband.com/. Their online store is closed for the winter, but they will reopen in the spring. Once I am able to test them out in the field, I'll do another post. I can't wait to try them out during our camping, boating, fishing, geocaching and atving trips next year. I can already tell I'm going to like them a lot.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received Bandz and Spotz for free from Mosquitno as coordinated by Deep Creek PR an Outdoor Retailer Public Relations (http://deepcreekpr.com/outdoor-retailer-public-relations/) Company in consideration for review publications.

I Am Prepared For Almost Anything!

     I have talked about my day bag in several posts now so I thought I would share with you what the contents are and how I adapt it to what we are doing that particular day. I am always adding new items to my day bag that we discover we need for emergencies or just to have. When we go hiking or hunting, there are more survival type items in my bag that I will go over in another post. This post is more of my every-day-day-trip bag.

      The bag part of my day bag is the first part that is adapted, depending on what we are doing. The bag on the left is a large fanny pack that my husband used to use for hunting. Now, it is used as a day bag for the ATV. The bag fits in my ATV trunk very nicely and keeps everything in one place instead of all over the bottom of my ATV trunk. The bag on the right is a backpack I use for most of our day trips. It has a lot of pockets and holds all of the contents you'll see below and also a Plano box or 2 with fishing lures. It also has comfortable straps so I can carry it on my back for a long walk comfortably. (No, you can't go to a Napa store and buy this bag. You have to know the Napa Man to get one.)

 

     There are a lot of items in my day bag and you will see I use a lot of Ziploc baggies to protect them and keep them organized. The face wipes and the toilet paper roll in the Ziploc bag go in the ATV bag. The face wipes were added this past summer for long days on the trails riding behind my husband's ATV. The toilet paper in the Ziploc bag is for easy access because there are hardly ever public restrooms on a trail. The toilet paper in the food saver baggie (it's the flat thing the tp in the Ziploc is on) is for the big bag because that one usually gets used when we are near bathrooms, but it is always good to have toilet paper for emergencies. The Kleenex in the baggie also goes in the big bag. We just use the toilet paper on the ATV trips, but we aren't going to open the food saver bag just to blow our nose. We also carry a Lightload Towel (1 in the ATV bag and 2 in the bigger bag) just in case we need a little heavier towel for something.

     I am kind of afraid of the dark. If it's a nice quiet night with nothing moving around I'm fine. BUT, if I hear something moving around in the darkness, I'm not having fun. To help with this, I carry a LOT of lights. The smaller flashlight goes in the ATV bag and all of the other's are in the big bag. I carry a little bit bigger flashlight, the blue lamp/flashlight, there are actually 2 hat clip lights in my bag and then my really awesome head lamp from Coleman. If you go night fishing with me, it can get bright in a hurry if needed.

 

     This is what happens when you go through your day bags which she knows usually means she is either getting left at home or going to have fun soon.

 

      I always have plenty of sunscreen with us. We each have sunscreen in our tackle bags plus what I carry in my day bag. Just because we have the sunscreen, doesn't mean we remember to use it though. Bug spray is another one we have with us at all times, but I always remember to use it (bugs are another thing that can ruin my day). I also bring a small tube of lotion which I don't use while fishing because I don't want the scent on my bait. After putting my hands in the water and dirt all day, tying fishing line and messing with worms and other bait all day, I really want some lotion.

     I also carry a lot of tools. The multi-tool and pen-screwdriver stay in the big bag because we carry plenty of tools on the ATVs. I also don't carry the umbrella and hand fan on the ATV because we carry rain gear and the breeze while riding cools me off. I get hot really easy and then I get sick so I try to stay as cool as I can and the handheld fan helps this. The binoculars and pocket knife are handy on any day trip.

 

          I use the bags bed sheets come in for a lot of things. I like the ones with zippers better, but I haven't had one of those for a long time. This smaller size one is great to keep my braces in.

     I can fit my knee brace, big wrist brace, 2 small wrist braces (not pictured because I forgot to put them away after the last time I used them and now I'm not sure where they are), large ankle brace and 2 smaller size ankle braces all in this smaller sized sheet bag. I have been known to fall on a flat, straight path with nothing to trip over so I keep all of these close on any day trip.

 

     This is my all-stuff-little bag. This bag is easy to transfer from one day bag to the other. I used to have one this size with a zipper but the side ripped out of it (that was a very sad day). This bag will do until it's time to buy sheets again.

 

 

     The main part of the small-stuff bag and the part that stays VERY easy to get to is the bee sting supplies because most of my family is allergic to wasp & bee stings. I have the bite & sting kit (also good for snake bites), lots of band aids, Benadryl and meat tenderizer. The meat tenderizer is in that long food saver bag on the right. I'll have to do a post on how to seal a powder in a food saver bag.

 

     I also carry hand warmers, Wet Ones, an Ace bandage and ear plugs.

     Even though we usually have the spray bug spray with us, I usually have the Off towelettes and some bug bracelets just in case. I also have antibiotic cream (Neosporin), more band aids, Hydrocortisone cream and Zanfel cream. Zanfel cream is kind of expensive, but if anybody in our group ever gets into some poison ivy they will LOVE me.

     I also carry a whistle (this one has a compass on the end, a string to carry it around your neck and the compass end screws off for a small storage space), a can opener, nail clippers, empty Ziploc bags and the makeup compact is carried for the mirror not the makeup. It is good to have a mirror for signaling and also fixing a stubborn contact lens and seeing if the bug you hit while riding the ATV made you bleed or left his guts on your face (yuck!). I also had a spare emergency survival blanket so I threw it in the bag.

 

     I have some OTC medicine in my bag, too. In the green squirt bottle I have aloe gel mixed with some water (so it will squirt) for burns, hand sanitizer (for helping clean hands during a fishing trip or ATV trip at lunch time, this foaming style is very nice for this), eye drops (contact lens wearers usually carry these), pain medicines, Pepto pills, Tums and allergy medicine. I don't want a headache, muscle cramps, tummy troubles or allergies to get in my way during any fun trip. We also added the toothpick/flossers last summer when we kept getting beef jerky stuck in our teeth. I also carry a mini Tide To Go Pen because I kept staining some of my favorite fishing shirts. The pen doesn't take up much room and since I started carrying it, I haven't had to use it much.

     I also carry plenty of Girls In The Outdoors stickers to hand out to people, because everyone needs one of those!

 

 

     I will share more trip specific items in later posts. If I find something else to add to the every-day-day bag, I will also share that. What to you carry in your day bag that I should have?

How To Make Homemade Ice Packs

      Recently we work looking for some of the medical gel ice packs that your can form to your ankle when you trip over a railroad tie in the campground. They work great for a small cooler to pack on an ATV, to take fishing, to take on the boat, to take on a road trip and to have handy in the motor home freezer in case one of those pesky railroad ties tries to attack you again. The only ice packs we could find were around $30 per icepack! We didn't want to pay that much for an icepack that was going to get abused and possibly lost. Then, my husband said we needed to buy a big bottle of rubbing alcohol because he wanted to experiment with making our own ice packs. At first I didn't understand what he was going to do and I quickly remembered alcohol doesn't freeze!

     We did a test icepack and it worked really well so we just finished a large batch last night. Here is what we did:

 

Step 1: Gather your "ingredients." The ratio we used was 3 parts water to 1 part rubbing alcohol. We also used blue food coloring just like the ones you buy in the store. You also need your Food Saver and a large mixing bowl (not pictured).

     

 

 Step 2: Mix the water and the alcohol together in your large mixing bowl.

 

 Step 3: Add some blue food coloring. Don't be afraid to add a lot. The test batch was a REALLY blue which is what we wanted, but the large batch lost some of it's blueness because we left it n the freezer too long and the food coloring started evaporating.

Step 4: Stir everything together.

 

 Step 5: Place the mixture in the freezer.

Step 6: It might take a few days for a large batch to freeze so you will need to stir the mixture at least once a day to make sure the alcohol stays mixed with the water.

Step 7: Stir up the mix again before packaging. When I talk about scoops in the next step, this is the size I'm talking about. You also need to work kind of fast in the next few steps because once the mixture starts melting, the Food Saver doesn't seal very well.

 

Step 8: Fill your bags one at a time. We did a couple big ones and the rest small. The big packs were 1.5 labels big and took 8 scoops. The small packs 1 label big and took 4 scoops.

Step 9: Use your Food Saver to  suck out the air and seal the pack. If you don't work fast enough some of the water will start to suck out of the pack and then it won't seal. If this starts to happen, put the bowl back in the freezer for awhile.

 

 Step 10: Double Seal!! We double sealed both ends of the packs. The smell of rubbing alcohol in our kitchen made us decide to double seal. If 1 seal fails, we didn't want our lunch or drinks smelling like rubbing alcohol.

Step 11: Flatten the ice to fill the pack. This is how the shape you want them anyway for your coolers (or injured body parts) and it also tests your inside seals.

Step 12: Admire your work so far. Wish they were a little bluer but very proud of our work.

Step 13: Trim the longer edges so they look nice.

 

Step 14: Use them! The dark blue pack is the test pack. We'll know for next time to not leave them in the freezer for so long so the color doesn't evaporate. They work just like the $30 gel packs and we don't have to worry about damaging them or losing them.

 

Cuz It's Red

     Recently I held a contest where I asked for pictures and stories about getting women involved in the outdoors. This is my follow up post from that contest which explains how I got involved in the outdoors again.
     Ten years ago, I wasn't much of an outdoors person. I grew up fishing and camping but then my family started doing our own things. I focused on working and school and spending most of my time in front of a book, cash register or computer. I really had missed the outdoors, but I didn't have anyone to help me learn what to do or anybody to go with me.
     In 2003, I met a guy that was a fisherman, hunter, camper, and off roader. I had never really used fishing lures until I met that guy either. He bought me a fishing rod, a reel and some lures. I had a small tackle box that I had used to carry art supplies for college and I never thought I would ever need anything bigger than that. That guy became my boyfriend, then fiance and in 2005 he became my husband. In those 9 1/2 years since we met, I now own more fishing gear than a lot of guys, an ATV personalized for me and I own 5 guns of my own.
     The first rod my husband bought me had some red embelishments on in. My favorite color is red, so he knew I would like the rod. From there he started buying me some red lures for birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries and any other excuse he finds to buy be a gift. My small tackle box grew 4 times to my current 2 large tackle bags. My husband buying me red lures and gear made fishing fun for me again and I learned how to tie on my own lures, put bait on my own hooks and as long as the fish isn't too toothy, take the fish off the hook myself.

Most of my red fishing gear.

 

     I used to joke that red lures and hooks were what fish were attracted to because red is a cool color. My husband and our friends would always roll their eyes when I explained my reasoning until one day my husband read an article about fish and red lures & hooks. The article said some fish will go after red lures and red hooks hanging from lures because the red looks like blood which they associate with an injured baitfish. I had PROOF that red is the best color for fishing!

 

     I can only use braided line and spinning reels. If I use any other type of line or a different kind of reel I end up with a HUGE nest and an even larger amount of frustration. I used Spider Wire for a long time until I found Power Pro's red braided line. I was so excited that I could use red line on my red reels with my red lures!
     My husband made fishing fun by letting me choose gear because its "cool" or "pretty", not because they do a specific thing that a specific fish will go crazy for. Even if he thinks my choice in lures is weird or not right for the conditions, he lets me experiment and learn what works and when it works, instead of lecturing me how it works and why. Sometimes my "cool" or "pretty" choice works out better than some of the "scientific" choices. A lot of sporting goods stores are picking up on the fact that some women use the "cool" and "pretty" method of choosing their fishing gear, which is why they carry so many pink and purple rods, reels, tackle boxes, lures and other accessories. I think it's great that the stores are doing this because it gives girls that don't like red a couple more colors to choose from........and it makes it really easy to find gifts for my nieces!

     My mom was very anti-gun and as kids, we weren't even allowed to play with toy guns or water guns. That led to me being nervous and a little afraid of guns, because I didn't know about them. I knew my husband was a hunter when I met him, so I knew there would always be guns in our house. When he had his guns out for cleaning or getting them ready for hunting or target shooting, I was a little nervous. He explained how guns worked and how to be safe with them. He was very patient and never pushed me to do anything I wasn't comfortable with when it came to guns. When I finally decided I was ready to try shooting, he surprised me with the red Ruger .22 in the below picture. He had taken an old composite stock and painted it a sparkly red. Of course I couldn't say no! The first time I shot that rifle, I had a blast and was really good at it. A couple years ago he wanted me to try a shotgun. We couldn't find a red 20 gauge shotgun, but I saw this pink camo Remington Model 870 pump action. I am horrible at shooting that gun right now, but have a lot of fun doing it. With some more practice, I'm sure I'll get better at it, but it's still not as much fun as my rifle. Of course I had to have matching cases for my guns so we found the red & black Ruger case and the pink camo shotgun case.

 

     Pistol shooting was another story. I hated pistol shooting because my hands are so little and most pistols my husband owned kicked so hard it hurt to shoot them. Then my husband found the pistol on the right in the picture below. It is a .32 cal Vz.50 (CZ 50). My hand fits it just right, its fun to shoot and it doesn't kick too hard. This is the pistol I used when I took the concealed carry class and I did really well with it. It has a reddish tint on the top so that was another bonus. About a year ago my husband found this .22 rimfire Beretta Neos pistol for my birthday. This is my favorite pistol. I LOVE shooting this gun plus it looks really cool!

 

     We were watching one of Ted Nugent's shows one night and he was talking about how to make bow hunting fun for your wife, girlfriend, sister or daughter. His first step was to buy a pink bow for them to use. I started giggling because that is exactly how my husband got me interested in fishing again and got me interested in shooting only in a different color. If he hadn't surprised me with the sparkly red rifle, I don't know that I would have liked shooting as much as I do. 

    
     This past year we decided to invest in some ATVs. We used to go offroading in a Jeep but it seemed like my husband was always working on a friend's rig all of the time and didn't have time to work on ours and it was getting really frustrating. I liked riding in the Jeep, so I could take photos, but the ATVs are more fun and less work for my husband.

 

     The story of my red ATV is funny because I didn't know it was red. We decided it would be best for me to have an automatic and my husband likes Polaris, so when he saw an ad for an automatic Polaris we decided to go look. When we walked into the guy's garage and saw it was red, it was pretty much a done deal. I pretended not to be excited about it being red so the seller wouldn't know how much I wanted it. My husband took it on a quick test drive and we loaded it on the trailer and brought it home. We added the trunk with a seat on the back for some great storage and as a place for my 3-year old niece to ride safely. We also added an oversized plastic milk crate on the front for my little dachshund to ride in and some other custom bags. I still get a little nervous on some trails, but my husband never makes me do an obstacle I'm not comfortable with and he shows me the easy lines to take. I'm getting more comfortable with the driving so sometimes I take the harder line. I love riding my ATV and love it even more because it turned out to be red.

 

     I love hearing stories about how a girl was encouraged to enjoy the outdoors whether it is fishing, hunting, target shooting, offroading, hiking or any other outdoor activity. If you have a story you would like to share, please email me (GirlsInTheOutdoors(at)yahoo(dot)com) and we will share your story on the blog.

Pony Tail For Your Helmet

For my wedding anniversary, my husband got me a pony tail for my helmet!! I saw pictures of them online and thought they'd be fun and now that I have one, I know they're fun!

It came as a 2 pack to do pigtails but I decided to start off with a ponytail for now. They stick on with suction cups with a little vegetable oil on it so it won't mess up your helmet if you decide to change the position or from ponytail to pigtails. They also have mohawks, spike mohawks, viking horns and several colors of pigtails & ponytails.

I can't wait to go riding with my new helmet ponytail!

Check out Helmets Inc. Here is a direct link to the page with the mowhoawks & ponytails.

Riding Gloves

Late last summer we went for a ride with some other people on the ATVs. It was the first time I had driven an ATV by myself for that far. My hands were really tired by the end of the day. One of the people said I should wear gloves. I didn't think they would help that much because I didn't understand how it would make it better. I went ahead and put some on that I had in my day bag and they made a HUGE difference! The only time I take my gloves off when we're riding now is when my hands are really hot and I need a little air on them, but they don't stay off long.
Here are the gloves my husband and I use:

Red Gloves Are My Gloves & The Black/Gray Ones Are My Husband's

These are Mechanix gloves and they are REALLY great for riding. My gloves have Velcro straps around the wrist which I really like. My husband's have elastic around his wrists.
Gloves help with the vibration that makes your hands tired and they also help with your grip. I also like that they help keep your hands a little cleaner so when you stop for a snack or lunch break, it's easier to clean your hands before you eat. The Mechanix gloves are designed for working on cars, but tha\ey make even better riding gloves. You can even get some with lights built in if you want!