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Are Scottish midges worse than the ones in the Peak?

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 Flicka 13 Aug 2007
I got midged for the first time recently in the Peak (before now they have always left me alone [in the Lakes/Wales])and with a trip in a fortnights time to Arran (hmm bit less than a fortnight now actually--bank holiday weekend), am wondering where the Scottish midges fit in on the scale of horrendousness...

Investments in deet and other midge chase awayers will be made, but just wanting to know in advance what I will be dealing with!!
 anansie 13 Aug 2007
Scottish ones are horrible..they are most definately the worst! ..i come from Scotland..been down here month and a half-ish..nothing like it down here. Remember being up in the hills behind where i lived and they would swarm around yer head and eat you alive!!

You should try Avon Skin So Soft..works..and i'm not just saying that cos i happen to be an Avon Lady in me spare time

Get the green one though!!
OP Flicka 13 Aug 2007
In reply to anansie:

Am still itching despite copious amounts of antisan. Got loads of bites, no reaction for about 24hrs and hell on and off since! I must be tasty after all!
In reply to Flicka:

Yes.
In reply to Flicka:

Definitely top of the league, and probably a few rungs up from that. I'm off to Skye for the day on A/B/H, must take my Jungle Formula; thanks for the reminder!

Dave.
 SonyaD 13 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka: Hope you get a good breeze. The midgies on Arran can be utterly horrendous
OP Flicka 13 Aug 2007
In reply to lasonj:

Oh jolly good! Just what I wanted to hear!!

OP Flicka 13 Aug 2007
In reply to lasonj:

Although knowing this summer, the whole thing will be rained off anyway :S
birdman 13 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka:

Yeah i can vouch for the whole avon skin so soft, it worked a treat for me, only down side is i look like i right tool putting on moisutising oil at the start of the day, got a few funny looks but it was i who had the last laugh.

Also get a head net (life systems do a midge proof net, not all nets are midge proof). I hate having flies swarming around my head, even if they don't bite they are annoying.

Good luck with the trip, i hope there is a strong breeze to keep the blighters away.
 SonyaD 13 Aug 2007
In reply to lasonj: Lol, my worst midgie attack ever was on Arran. We walked half way up Glen Rosa to camp and I had to stop and get something out my sack and by the time I got my sack off, they were going in my eyes, up my nose and I couldn't speak or they'd be in my mouth too. I was close to tears. I would have killed for a midge net that evening! Morning breakfast involved basically not having any breakfast, lol! The walk in was fine though. All fine as long as you keep moving and the climbing was ok too. It was a really sunny day so they didn't bother us past sunrise.

I find Avon stuff pish and so does just about everybody I know. Maybe fine for southern so called midgies. The only thing I've found effective is Autan which contains similar chemicals to Deet.
 Bulls Crack 13 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka:

Peak ones tend to give up after about 40 foot.
 bawjaws 13 Aug 2007
In reply to lasonj:

> I find Avon stuff pish and so does just about everybody I know.

Agreed, only works if you put enough on that the wee bastards drown in it.


One of the worst midge attacks i've had was at Loudoun Hill in Ayrshire, the air was black with them and they got in every orrifice above my bellybutton.
We all ran off the hill that day dragging rucksacks and gear behind us.
Oh yeah, and the midgies in Galloway attack in formations.
The midgies on Arran are really bad though.

 Duncan Bourne 13 Aug 2007
In reply to lasonj:
The only sure fire remedy is smoke. We use joss sticks (man) which keep away the Peak midgies, might need a bonfire for the scottish ones though
 Dave Stelmach 13 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka: The Scottish ones hate the English more!
 alan wilson 13 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka: English midge is strictly third division...and I have heard that Arran is the definitive training ground for scottish midges before they are assigned to other areas of the Nation.
 anansie 13 Aug 2007
Dunno about that..i come from an area called Inverclyde...midgies were rife there constantly it seemed..and they were out early around those parts as i remember being bitten end of march/early april by them..vicious little buggers :-/
 Wee Davie 13 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka:

Clegs (horse flies) are possibly worse, Glen Rosa clegs are the worst I have seen. Midgies are fairly brutal but their actual bites aren't really painful as such. Cleg bites hurt. If it's breezy/ windy you won't be bothered by either. Arran is unmissable even with these risks.

Davie
 sutty 13 Aug 2007
In reply to Dave Stelmach:

Scotland is just the training ground for insects, Baffin Island is supposed to be the bees knees for real tough sods like large clegs and blackflys that swarm like midges but bite like clegs.
In reply to Flicka: A few years ago I went to Arran in mid September, hoping that I'd missed the midge season. We soon abandoned the idea of sitting outside and escaped into the car. It wasn't very long until they found a way in through the air vents though, and continued their feast....
Iain Forrest 14 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka:
They do seem to be worse up here, and worse still in a few West coast / island areas, like Torridon, Skye and Rum. I suspect it's down to rainfall - these are very wet places.
Infuriating as midges are, they aren't half as bad as New Zealand sand flies.
john watt 14 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka: 1V horse or horse and rider as it is better known is the best i have used , and lasts for hours,,sold in most stables in scotland
 deepsoup 14 Aug 2007
In reply to Iain Forrest:

I think you're on to something there. I suspect the individual midges are no worse, its just the sheer numbers of them. That and Scotland being so much bigger, wilder and generally more serious that the Peak.

When they attack en-masse, the Stanage Plantation midges are every bit as nasty as any I've encountered in Scotland. But the thing is, when they get too bad you can abandon a single pitch grit route (or a boulder problem) and be back down at the car park in a matter of minutes. (You can be sitting in a pub in Hathersage whingeing about them in a matter of minutes more.)

Sean
x
 SFM 14 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka:

we resorted to wearing tights over our heads at a scout camp behind Lamlash. We all looked a bit odd and sure felt sheepish buying them but worked a treat. I think that was the worst encounter I ever had with midges.....before I discovered Torridon that is!
Anonymous 14 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka:

Ask yourself - Why did the Romans give up in Scotland?

and they were RIGHT HARD

Anonymous 14 Aug 2007
not to mention that the original use of porage was to plaster over the head and sholders to repel midgies when it hardened like armour

they only found out you could eat it much later
 Dave Stelmach 14 Aug 2007
In reply to sutty: I had a fly take out a headlight in Morrocco - a sealed beam unit on a Cortina!
Anonymous 14 Aug 2007
In reply to Bulls Crack:

Err think not! remember being out on a job where 3 cops were present in short sleeved shirts and thier arms were a mass of black. The midges were everywhere and very voracious. I was picking them out of my nose for weeks

Height above sea level 200 metres

Lizzie, the scottish ones are much much worse
In reply to Anonymous:

Those wee beasties have driven the most rational insane, call in an air strike, " I want napalm on that treeline, if i say its safe to climb those crags it's safe to climb those crags"
 tanssop 14 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka:
Scottish midgies are bad. Go camp in Torridon in August. You will need a blood transfusion afterwards......
In reply to tanssop: I wonder if a slightly overweight boxer could use midges as a way to get down to their fighting weight. It would prove how hard they are too.
 Timmd 15 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka:Scottish midges seem bigger than peak midges,i remember some in Torridon bit my dad who doesn't usually get bitten,they're more vigorous at flying about and biting people. I wonder why there is a strong sort of midge in Scotland?
Cheers
Tim



Anonymous 15 Aug 2007
In reply to tanssop:

three hairwashes to get them out after 1 night in torridon, walked from Applecross, each leaving a black tideline of corpses
Anonymous 15 Aug 2007
In reply to Timmd:

it isn't so much the size, its the sheer volume per unit of air, something like a thick living magnetic fluid coming for you.
 rallymania 15 Aug 2007
In reply to Flicka:
haven't read the whole thread flicka, but my TPW

get a midge hood, all the midge repellents may well stop them bitting but they don't stop the little fecka's swarming round you. midge provides a bit of midge free air around you and is a blessing. get some thin gloves and basically just keep covered and you'll be fine.
In reply to rallymania:
Agreed on all counts, Arran can be really bad.
I was hounded by them at the weekend at Dalwhinnie, the worst I've seen in years. I used to think if you kept moving then they weren't too bad, but how wrong I was.
Avon SsS is okay apart from the fact it stinks, is a bit oily and the little darlings die on you and your face is covered in dead midge.

Watch for DEET products on tents, watches and plastic, it does a great job of melting them.

The recent weather is just what they like warm and damp.

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