Hey Tony,
I’ve used the Tcells for catfishing (close to shore line weeds and dusk fishing) for 4 years now.
They are awesome. Basically they are a hand warmer that heats up a metal pan with the pad that’s treated with some bug repellent.
There is a slight oder, but I’ve never heard of anyone saying it spooked a bear or deer and I’ve been watching! In fact, I think it was Jamie Ritter that used one bear hunting a few years back and raved about it’s effectiveness.
Seldom does a product come along that works as well as a Thermocell.
One note. This year was the first time they didn’t seem to work as well for me. I think it was the type of skeeter more than anything. Example?
We had 3 Tcells in the boat with new pads, we covered ourselves with 3m’s Ultrathon AND there was a stiff breeze blowing. These were large Pool 4 skeeters and they still bit! I’ve never seen anything like it!
Otherwise they are worth every penny of the $20. they cost.