Everybody loves to hate mosquitos, and the market is flooded with products aimed at getting you rid of the nuisance. The Kite patch, pictured above, claims to contain natural ingredients that, when worn, make you undetectable to the insects for 48 hours. Better yet, it doesn’t have to be worn on the skin, but will work just fine on clothing. We’re not sure what’s in it, but if it works as advertised, it should become an instant hit. Currently doing the crowdfunding dance on IndieGogo, the plan is for the makers to test the first batch in Uganda, where malaria is common. Once that’s done, and once they’ve received US EPA approval, Kite will become available stateside.
Meanwhile, the money you give to the campaign will not only go towards getting you some patches for yourself, but will contribute to getting the product to some of the parts of Africa hardest hit with the disease. The company received initial backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, so we’re not looking at some random folks with a shaky IndieGogo campaign; this looks like the real deal and definitely worth getting into. They’ve currently blown past their $75,000 funding goal and are floating around $300k. The smallest contribution you can make that’ll get you some patches for yourself is $35. However, expect to wait 10 to 14 months before getting yours.
Kite Patch from SPARKHOUSE on Vimeo.
[ Project Page ] VIA [ IncredibleThings ]
FINALLY! I was getting tired carrying around my citronella candle everywhere I went. 🙂 No but seriously this thing looks amazing. I spent summers in Northern Michigan and I come out of the woods missing a pint of blood. ARe you going to get one David?
Hey… well I live in Canada so our summers aren’t quite that bad. If I see it on shelves one day though, sure, why not? 🙂
Well I live in Canada, where our summers aren’t that bad. But if I ever see it on shelves, I’ll give it a try, sure. 🙂
I thought mosquito patches existed long ago.
How is this any different?
Who actually thinks this might work? Get it people: Citronella has no effect on mosquitos, they couldn’t care less if you smell nice of citrus! DDT is the only thing that works for more than minutes, and with application in doses that are not too toxic to humans (but it is toxic and illegal in many countries).
This Kite badge will be nothing more than those scam wristbands and what-not they try to sell you. They know you can’t know or test if it works or not, and that you won’t go complain and get your money back, because you got bitten despice wearing it.
Google the science behind stuff and beat the scammers! 🙂