What kind of Thermacell are you using that makes it so difficult? I have two of them that I use quite often. I carry one in the woods with me well into November, and now leave a lantern style on the boat. There are battery and gas operated ones. You can buy a refill pack that lasts 120 hours for $45. That's less than $.40 per hour to run. Well worth the cost of not getting your ankles chewed off.

If it is that windy that you can't start the Thermacell, the flies aren't biting anyway.

Sorry to offend you Eyezcrazy. Just throwing out there another solution that I didn't realize worked during the season. I had one on the boat for nights getting eaten by mosquitos, and found out it also worked for biting flies.