Disclaimer: FlexTail sent this product to us for free for a review. That does not affect our opinion about the product. In this article, we list both what we like and dislike. Read more about this here.
FlexTail Latest Gadget Aims To Keep Mosquitos Away From You
The Tiny Repel is a 3-in-1 mosquito repellent by Flextail, the same company that made the Tiny Pump 2X we liked so much.
A lot of companies make mosquito repellent though, so what’s the reason you should buy this one?
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Well, it has a rechargeable battery, also functions as a camping lantern, and a power bank.
But what matters the most is how well it works as a repellent, and the so-called DualRepel technology is supposed to be better than its competition for several reasons.
The Repellent
Case
The Tiny Repel comes in a hard case. It has space for the Tiny Repel, the repellant mats, and the USB C charging cable.
Because before you head out on into the woods, you must make sure it’s fully charged.
Repellent Mats And Modes
When the mosquitos swarm you, or preferably before, it’s time to put the double-sided repellant mats into the Tiny Repel and turn it on.
It has two slots for two mats, but you can use only one if the mosquito problem is not that severe.
You turn it on by pushing down the repellent button twice. The indicator lights will shine green and enable the camp mode.
Pushing the button again, once, makes the lights go red, and it’s now in outdoor mode.
The camping mode creates a 10-foot zone around you by heating the repellant mats to 110℃. In this mode, the battery lasts 10 hours.
The outdoor mode creates a 30-foot zone around you and lasts up to 7 hours on a fully charged battery.
It takes about a minute or two for the mat(s) to heat and start being effective. If you’re already surrounded by mosquitos, it takes about ten minutes to notice a difference.
How It Works
What happens when it heats is that the mats disperse the active ingredients prallethrin and meperfluthrin.
Prallethrin is a cousin to allethrin, which is what Thermacell uses in its repellant mats.
I haven’t heard of these ingredients before, but based on what I found, they are not toxic to humans as long as you don’t consume them, so please don’t do that.
There is no strong unpleasant smell, even in outdoor mode, and I am very sensitive to smells.
The starting kit comes with 10 repellent mats, which will last five nights if you use two each night.
FlexTail sells larger kits with up to 480 mats, but you can also buy the mats separately.
Does It Work?
Because of how the technology and mats work, they’re not very effective if it’s windy outside.
Outdoors when it’s not windy, and inside campers and tents, I would say that it’s very effective at keeping Swedish mosquitos away.
The mosquitos can be quite bad here in the summer, so I mostly used the outdoors mode, even when I was inside my tent.
One thing I noticed is that it also kept horse flies away, and they’re often worse in some parts of Sweden.
Did it get rid of all mosquitos and flies? No, but it made it more manageable. It was very effective against horse flies, but there were not as many of those as mosquitos on this camping trip.
There are a lot of different types of mosquitos and flies, so I can’t say it works for all of them.
You might be able to buy repellent mats locally that repel the type of mosquitos in your area, but that’s not something FlexTail sells or has any information about.
The Lantern
Next to the repellent button, there is a flashlight button.
By pushing it down twice, the lantern turns on.
It has four different modes: 50, 100, 200, and 400 lumens.
It’s very bright at 400 lumens, actually blinding, and a great way to light up part of your campsite or tent.
At the highest setting, the battery lasts up to 9 hours. The lowest setting will extend that to 50 hours.
The Power Bank
With its 4,800mAh built-in battery, the Tiny Repel works like a power bank. The battery is larger than what’s inside my iPhone, so I could bring it on a trip just as a backup battery.
It has a USB C port, which is used to both charge the battery inside of the Tiny Repel, and to output power to your phone or whatever you need to charge.
Because of this, you need to have a USB C cable that can be used to charge your phone or device.
I have a USB C to lightning cable, and was able to fully charge my phone with a fully charged Tiny Repel.
The Design
I like the design of the Tiny Repel because it’s very small and portable. It feels like there is no wasted space, and a lot of thought was put into the design.
It only weighs 148 grams (5.2 oz), which is about half the weight of my iPhone.
Not only is it a mosquito repellent that fits in your pocket, but a power bank and lantern as well.
The top has the built-in carabiner, which is not of the highest quality, but an easy and quick way to hang it up
The bottom has a magnet and a hole for a tripod, so there are several ways to put it in places. FlexTail even sells a tripod for it.
It’s IPX5 rated, which means that it can handle rain and dust without breaking. I didn’t want to submerge it in water because I don’t think it would like that, but I did put it out in the rain and it still works fine.
Review And Conclusion
The Tiny Repel was more effective as a repellent than I expected it to be.
I didn’t have high hopes that it would work, but it did work and it’s going in my camping bag permanently.
I am going to have to buy more repellent mats though, and I am going to buy a big pack. That’s the downside with these type of repellents.
Another downside is that it does only last 10 hours on a full charge. It’s not bad, but something you need to think about before you bring it on a long trip.
I have a portable solar panel that I can plug it into and charge it with, but if you don’t it’s going to run out of battery within a day or two.
We didn’t leave it on all night long, but only for a few hours in the evening when we had lights on and didn’t want to attract too many mosquitos.
Since we used the lantern as well, it only lasted about a day and a half.
One last thing I wanted to mention is that it’s a bit tricky to get the mats out of the mat slots with my fingers. Using a new mat is the easiest way to do it.
Overall, I like it though and as long as you have a way to recharge it, I think it’s worth buying.
Please leave a comment down below if you have questions.
Use a new mat to push out the old. Need not carry any other extra tools to work.
Hi,
Yep, that’s definitely the easiest way to do it.
Thanks for your comment!