UKC

Midgies in Torridon over June / July???

(thinking of Beinn Lair)

do I need to ask???

Y.

In reply to Yrmenlaf:

dont think you need to ask.

In reply to Yrmenlaf:

Highly likely.

In reply to DougG: while on the subject of these 'wee beasties' whats the current 'best' anti midge cream/liquid on offer ? - will be back in the Scottish hills this summer for the first time in some 6 or 7 years & wonder if anything has come along to beat Jungleformula or others with a high DEET concentration. I've tried to warn my girlfriend (french) of how nasty they are but I don't think she really appreciates the difference between midge & 'moustique'

In reply to Yrmenlaf:
midgies are only really a problem for a 4-5 hours after dawn or before dusk. Also they can't fly in winds over 5 mph. Scotland is thankfully quite windy once your on the hill.

Stevo

In reply to Doug:

I'm told that Skin So Soft by Avon is good, they have changed the name to something else.

I never really get bothered by them so I don't know!

In reply to DougG:
Pretty sure everyone camping in Glen Etive this weekend said the Avon stuff didnt work at all.
I cant tell as they dont bite me.

In reply to Doug:

Recent thread on the subject Doug:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=184145

In reply to Yrmenlaf: http://...

In reply to mik: I think it did work actually, cos I only got one or two bites on my lower arms where I didn't put any on. It doesn't stop them from irritating the hell out of you but does seem to stop them from biting. Also, that stuff that Mark had was amazing but can't remember the name of it?

In reply to lasonj:
"that stuff that Mark had was amazing but can't remember the name of it?"

that's handy then

Yeah avon does work, it doesn't stop the midges when they are really hungry and theres tonnes of them, but it works much better than nothing in low to medium midge conditions.

In reply to Yrmenlaf:

Dear Y

They were bad on Sunday morning because there was no wind. I just ignored them and they went away.

So, when you come up north just pray for wind.

Norrie

In reply to Yrmenlaf:

Bit of a hijack, but whats yer plans on Beinn Lair?

We were up there to do Bats Gash a couple of years ago, awesome place.

In reply to Norrie Muir: A friend of mine would always whinge on for hours and hours about me smoking when we were at home. But when we got on the hills and where under attack would suddenly start shouting at me to light up!!!

In reply to CurlyStevo: There was tonnes down by the Loch at Etive Sat night/Sun morning and they were very hungry, irritated the hell out of me, but only one or two bites Best to either sit in the tent, or when outside the tent, just keep moving about. I almost made a trench around the tents with all the pacing I was doing whilst making a cuppy etc.

I know, not very handy not remembering the name of this stuff, but I do remember it was non deet and contained citric acid and as soon as I put it on, they stopped annoying me immediately. Downside, the effect didn't last for too long. Think I remember Mark saying you could get the stuff in Boots.

In reply to lasonj:

Even the midges have gone metric.
I blame Napoleon.

In reply to Yrmenlaf: It was alright last week. But then, I have only just cottoned on to why pay camp sites are by the sea.

Like they say, wind. Pray for it.

In reply to lasonj:

I have some Nelson's Citronella spray - was it that?

In reply to Yrmenlaf: Wisdom Buttress is a fantastic climb, as is Bats Gash...as mentioned.

Marathon Ridge looks good fun too.

The Midgies were horrendous on Sunday. Avon SSS is good for stopping them biting, it doesn't keep them away though. The only effective measure is to smoke lots.

In reply to Rowie B: Nope, I'm sure it began with an 'A'. Right this is really bugging (hehe) me now, am gonna mail Mark to find out what it was called.

In reply to Yrmenlaf:
I can always live with the midges, it's the sheep ticks and deer ticks that I really hate. Was out at the weekend and had to pick 6 ticks off. Skin so soft doesn't deter them

In reply to Yrmenlaf:

The midges were incredibly hungry at Jetty Crag/Gruinard Bay on Sunday. The wind dropped and the sun went behind some clouds and that was that.

Ands

In reply to wcdave:

Yep, they are the ones

Y.

In reply to grahamc:

But (correct me if I am wrong), they don't irratate at the time. It is afterwards when you have the problem

(not heard of a deer tick before)

Horse flies (my mother used to call them cleggs??) are nasty.

Y.

In reply to lasonj:

Would it be Avon Skin so Soft???

Y.

In reply to Yrmenlaf:
Dear Y

Aye cleggs are nasty, but I've not seen them for year. I wonder where they have gone.

Norrie

In reply to Yrmenlaf:


Horse flies and deer flies are really nasty. Although horse flies seem to be the only biting insects that don't find me tasty. It's only the females that bite you know, the males are vegetarian!

In reply to grahamc:


What the hell are you doing to get sheep ticks?

As for horesflies. My mate told me a story of a friend of his sister-in -law who got a bite from said beastie, got anaphalactic shock and poped her cloggs.

In reply to Norrie Muir:
I wonder where they have gone.
Perhaps they've moved away from the midgies?

Y.

In reply to The Lemming:
Dead easy (tho' six might be an achievement). Lie on the grass in the sun is my normal technique.

Y.

In reply to Yrmenlaf: Try taking garlic tablets, they are meant to repel midges, ticks, fleas etc. I am going to try this method, next time I am up North. They only seem to bother me in Scotland are they different to English midges?

In reply to Crofty:
yes, english midgies are soft. have an eye out around Blandford Forum in Dorset
though - the evil blandford fly is reputed to even beat the true evil wee beastie into second place.

In reply to Yrmenlaf:

No, haven't heard back from trying to find out what it was called. But it was something along the lines of Acutan (but I don't think that's quite accurate as I tried googling it and it didn't come up with anything)

In reply to Dr.Strangeglove:
Aye i worked in a forest in Dorset for a couple of years and occasionally a blandford fly bite would put someone in hospital! However you don't get bitten by many or very often, it is possible to get bitten by 10 million midgies at once which i think is worse.

In reply to Yrmenlaf:

Best midge cure is to walk/climb fast and don't even think about pitchin a tent.
I was fine on Sunday until I stopped for a piece on Crowberry tower.
Glad I'm not a vegetarian cause I must have eaten at least 20 of the buggers.

In reply to oor wullie:
oh I agree, but I have a feeling that the blandford fly is in fact an escaped population of canadian blackfly - and I think in canada they can be more like midgie population levels. Now just imagine if they had been released in scotland rather than dorset.....................

In reply to lasonj:

Autan? Comes in a yellow can with a red lid? Best stuff I've found.

In reply to heather monkey: That's the stuff!!! Nice one! Yeah, was brilliant! After using loads of SSS they weren't biting, but were still annoying the hell out of me. I got a shot of that Autan stuff in the morning and it just worked for me instantly, they didn't bite and they didn't come near me either.

In reply to The Lemming:

Sheep ticks are the new clegs! Picked off 9 of the wee b*ggers after cragging last thurs night.

In reply to Yrmenlaf:

Avoid the "campsite" at Torridon village at all costs.
it's low lying, wet and surrounded by trees - a natural midgie haven.
Better off camping at the common grazing ground at the head of the loch towards Inchnadamph.

In reply to Captain Solo:

apparenly they are increasing in numbers.

http://www.anapsid.org/lyme/riseinticks.html

In reply to Yrmenlaf:

Avon Skin So Soft - woodland fresh body oil is the stuff.
I also quite like Shoo, http://www.shoo.org/ it can sting though, so not great for kids.

In reply to Yrmenlaf:
just do a yahoo search for skin so soft.

In reply to Norrie Muir:

You asked where the cleggs are. There's plenty down in England. I saw one on my husband's neck as we bimbled round the Cotswold Water Park at the weekend. I brushed it off too late - the bite bled and he now has a great big red ringed (itchy) spot.

I hate cleggs.

In reply to PoppyG: they got you married off young didn't they?

In reply to grahamc:

You mentioned that Skin So Soft doesn't deter ticks. Nope, nothing does, not even DEET. Best bet is to avoid getting bitten, so if you can't avoid wading through bracken, where they lurk at the tips, then make sure your arms and legs are covered and do a tick check every few hours.




PS This isn't Poppy - this is her mammy JayH

In reply to Yrmenlaf:
As proven last weekend Skin so Soft doesnt work for scottish midges. Only thing that does is DEET and it is evil wrong for the human body

In reply to pigeonjim: indeed, skin so soft doesn't work although it may drown them if you cover yourself in enough of it....midge net is the only thing that works for me....or DEET. Thakfully i've not seen any midges this year so far....even last weekend there was none in the cairngorms.

In reply to heather monkey:

I'll vouch for Autan too, at least against The Lake's and Yorkshire's midge population. The active ingredient (Bayrepel) seems to be equivalent to a high concentration DEET but without the faintly disturbing lip-tingling and plastic melting shennigans. I haven't seen it in any shops for ages though - can you still buy it?

In reply to AG: I'm too irresistable for even DEET to work.

Someone told me once that DEET doesn't keep them away from you, just puts them off biting. So I watched a mosquito land on my insect repellant with DEET covered arm and discovered that it was a lie as it proceeded to bite me.

In reply to pigeonjim:

The best way of repelling the critturs is to be with someone who attracts them more than you do. So that rules mik out, time you dumped him methinks

As said above, SSS does stop them biting to a degree, by dint of the oily surface it leaves; it doesn't have any actually repellant character, although in the USA they do add a repellant agent to it & market it as such. The Deet based stuff tend to be the most effective repellants around, but as you say it's evil stuff & I'd rather risk the midges. Having said that the midges don't like me very much either.

In reply to Mike C:


This is true, it does work, for all my friends at least

In reply to ebygomm: I know some scottish trekking tour guides that swear by the Avon skin so soft and wont use anything else.
They say the scottish midges are the worst and only use the avon skin so soft.