wully1
Well-known member
You need help!!!
Midges - advice
- Thread starter dylanwinter
- Start date
You need help!!!
ctva
Well-known member
Best protection is to find someone that gets bitten a lot and stand next to them. They obviously have better tasting blood!!
Any wind above 4mph and they go to ground so most on the water locations are fine with a slight breeze.
Also they become less active below 10c and when it becomes too hot (Scotland?!).
We park in the Crinan Canal and never really have a problem as we're about 20 yards out. Never used netting but in the evenings we quite often light a citronella candle in the companionway. Light coloured clothing helps.
Good link here...
http://www.snh.org.uk/publications/on-line/advisorynotes/29/29.htm
Any wind above 4mph and they go to ground so most on the water locations are fine with a slight breeze.
Also they become less active below 10c and when it becomes too hot (Scotland?!).
We park in the Crinan Canal and never really have a problem as we're about 20 yards out. Never used netting but in the evenings we quite often light a citronella candle in the companionway. Light coloured clothing helps.
Good link here...
http://www.snh.org.uk/publications/on-line/advisorynotes/29/29.htm
Blueboatman
Well-known member
I camped and swatted my way around Scotland's coast ( and you get midges on Orkney too).
What I did invest in were 'modern' hiking shorts with zip-on lower bits to turn your legs into bite-free pub walk accessories
of an evening .
Once acclimatised, out come all the local tales of the terrrrible Cleggies on the west coast..
Btw I worked a whole spring/summer in the hills W of Inverness, sleeping on site in my ol camper at the time, four seasons in one day etc, without one midge bite!
Coming to the same hills from the western side and camping though was a whole different thing. Once bitten, twice shy!
Wind does ground them but even on windy days, if you loiter in some sheltered bit under a tree or hedge....
What I did invest in were 'modern' hiking shorts with zip-on lower bits to turn your legs into bite-free pub walk accessories
of an evening .
Once acclimatised, out come all the local tales of the terrrrible Cleggies on the west coast..
Btw I worked a whole spring/summer in the hills W of Inverness, sleeping on site in my ol camper at the time, four seasons in one day etc, without one midge bite!
Coming to the same hills from the western side and camping though was a whole different thing. Once bitten, twice shy!
Wind does ground them but even on windy days, if you loiter in some sheltered bit under a tree or hedge....
KellysEye
Active member
>Any wind above 4mph and they go to ground so most on the water locations are fine with a slight breeze.
The worst place for we found for Mossies was Peter Island, BVIs, they were quite happily flying around in the trade winds, typically 10 to 25 knots subject to season.
The worst place for we found for Mossies was Peter Island, BVIs, they were quite happily flying around in the trade winds, typically 10 to 25 knots subject to season.
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
Clegs are far, far worse than midgies, but luckily less common. Eilean Mor MacCormick was hoaching with them last summer.
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mikeinkwazi
New member
Pack a shotgun and plenty of number six shot. (they are that big!)
stevepick
...
I sail the west coast of scotland,midges love biting me, and the good advice above is:
Skin so soft works , but not as well as Smidge - which seems to be the best thing going - it is really effective. The DEET based products are often touted , but they smell really bad, melt plastic and nylon - so why put that on your skin ? (smidge does not use deet).
They don't bother you at anchor, they are very "localised" animals and dont/cant fly very far.
They do not like wind - 5knts of breeze will ground them, they do not like direct bright sunlight.
They do like shelter, shade and damp. So avoid trees & standing water/ bog in combination.
Use antihistamine to keep any skin reaction down.
Use a midge hood in bad places like Rum, Inverie.
We purchased midge screens , but never used them.
Use that info to your advantage, they can be outwitted, I rarely get bitten these days.
Skin so soft works , but not as well as Smidge - which seems to be the best thing going - it is really effective. The DEET based products are often touted , but they smell really bad, melt plastic and nylon - so why put that on your skin ? (smidge does not use deet).
They don't bother you at anchor, they are very "localised" animals and dont/cant fly very far.
They do not like wind - 5knts of breeze will ground them, they do not like direct bright sunlight.
They do like shelter, shade and damp. So avoid trees & standing water/ bog in combination.
Use antihistamine to keep any skin reaction down.
Use a midge hood in bad places like Rum, Inverie.
We purchased midge screens , but never used them.
Use that info to your advantage, they can be outwitted, I rarely get bitten these days.
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JumbleDuck
Well-known member
All good stuff. Maybe also worth noting that midgies locate their victims by flying towards increasing CO2 concentrations, because that tells them where something is exhaling. If you do have to tie up somewhere the wee beasties are active, getting the best possible ventilation through the cabin will avoid CO2 buildup there. It sounds counter-intuitive, but a little CO2 leaking from an almost sealed cabin is very, very attractive to them.
dylanwinter
Active member
two excellent last posts
lots of info
scared of getting deet near the cameras
D
lots of info
scared of getting deet near the cameras
D
dave220
Member
Avon Skin so Soft is what the national park warden are issued with in Loch Lomond and has always worked better than anything else we have tried.
aquaplane
Active member
I'll second that motion, I must have swatted a couple of dozen of the little bar stewards when we were there in June.
rustybarge
Active member
What exactly is a cleg?
aquaplane
Active member
It's like a horse fly. Stupid thing that bites and then sits there drinking while you swat it dead, I don't know how they live long enough to reproduce.
Wiki says it is a Horse Fly, Cleg must be Scottish dialect.
Halo
Well-known member
Midges are best avoided
In the worst areas we go to bed (or get into a bar/resteraunt) well before dusk.
If you have to go ashore or back then be ready to move quick because a cloud of them seems to be undeterable and you cannot swat and scratch them fast enough.
Dont get caught out on a gentle evening stroll - if the wind drops as it often does in the evening, they will come out and eat you alive
In the worst areas we go to bed (or get into a bar/resteraunt) well before dusk.
If you have to go ashore or back then be ready to move quick because a cloud of them seems to be undeterable and you cannot swat and scratch them fast enough.
Dont get caught out on a gentle evening stroll - if the wind drops as it often does in the evening, they will come out and eat you alive
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
A flying piranha.
claymore
Well-known member
A Cleg is a midge that has been crossed with a sparrow
JohnGC
Active member
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AntarcticPilot
Well-known member
+1
Clegs are a nightmare if you're walking across moorland - they love bracken!
As other say, we've so far never been bothered by midgies on the boat; water plus a breeze keeps them away.
If you google some aromatherapy websites you will find a reliable recipe for this. Essential oils are best applied to the skin using a carrier. Oil (grapeseed, soya sweet almond etc, from a Body Shop) For spraying you do need alcohol. AFAIK you need to add some water (distilled if you want your batch to last a while). Methylated spirits and ethyl alcohol are essentially similar and they are pure alcohol. You will probably be able to get small quantities of the latter in a pharmacy, it doesn't smell as vile as the meths Surgical Spirits and vodka are diluted alcohol. The idea is that the alcohol carries the essential mixture and then evaporates at body temperature, leaving the essential oils to do their work.
I note you say the oils are cheap. If so, they are already adulterated -a 12ml bottle of Citronella or Eucalyptus should cost about £6 nowadays (AFAIK
)