I like my thermacell but it wouldn't work well enough for that application. From mid June through mid August, our bugs are epic, nightmarish, and it's often a bit windy so you wouldn't build up a volume of air they wouldn't go into. I would not expect it to do much good for sleeping. I use it for two things.
First, I hang it from the front of my shirt while i have my mesh mask raised when I'm eating.
Second, which falls under TMI, is I'll put it against one foot, give it a few moments to build up a "smoke cloud" and chase the bugs off, then I can "cop a squat" without having the skeeters bite my bare ass and "other nearby parts."
As Rock Chuck says, for sleeping, mesh is the answer. Bug bivys are cool, but so are some of the functionally similar but larger options like mesh nests.
Tom
