Midges - advice

[SHUG]

Strange that nobody has mentioned SMIDGE.
]I have a can in front of me and it offers 8hour waterproof protection. It has been developed by researchers at Edinburgh University who have been investigating midges for decades. ...and it really works. My own experiment was to take a follically challenged sailor through the Caley Canal in August when the wee beasties were going mad with blood lust.....and not a bite was seen.
Remember SMIDGE
get it here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smidge-That-Midge-Insect-Repellent/dp/B00413715E

No connection with the product except as a satisfied user.

 

[Quandary]

Well. it was mentioned in about half a dozen or so posts but it was not in big red letters for those who have difficulty reading. However the 'Smidge' mentioned so much in the thread is the version developed at the Uni. in Aberdeen so it is obviously different stuff from your Edin bu**ers version.
Do not let it get near any garments you plan to wear again!

 

[JumbleDuck]

However the 'Smidge' mentioned so much in the thread is the version developed at the Uni. in Aberdeen so it is obviously different stuff from your Edin bu**ers version.

The Edinburgh versions gives the midgies a haughty look and says "You'll have had your tea" so they fly off, confused.

 

[Kelpie]

The Edinburgh versions gives the midgies a haughty look and says "You'll have had your tea" so they fly off, confused.

 

[Robert Wilson]

Hi Dylan,
As I say to all who venture up in this beautiful part of the Isles, especially you peeps from the lower latitudes, PM me when you approach/get here - refreshments, mooring, land-based facilities freely available - even a shower/bath if you could stoop so low.

Would be most pleased to see you and put a face to the Posts.

Have a great trip, and ignore the midgies with Avon Skin So Soft - most of the time.

Robert

 

[dylanwinter]

Hi Dylan,
As I say to all who venture up in this beautiful part of the Isles, especially you peeps from the lower latitudes, PM me when you approach/get here - refreshments, mooring, land-based facilities freely available - even a shower/bath if you could stoop so low.

Would be most pleased to see you and put a face to the Posts.

Have a great trip, and ignore the midgies with Avon Skin So Soft - most of the time.

Robert

cheers R

very good of you

there might be five of us though

local knowledge gratefully accepted though

current plans involved leaving anstruther endof July

spending a month orkney and Shetland and then around the top to spend July/august on the west coast

obviously some of that time will be spent cowering from the weather

D

D

 

[Robert Wilson]

cheers R

very good of you

there might be five of us though

local knowledge gratefully accepted though

current plans involved leaving anstruther endof July

spending a month orkney and Shetland and then around the top to spend July/august on the west coast

obviously some of that time will be spent cowering from the weather

D

D

I'll switch on the emersion heater then! 2 baths and one BIG shower. Should keep three happy, the other two can wait their turn with a GnT or beer!!

July August perfect time up here - every day has blue skies and seas, F4-5 from whichever direction you choose, calm evenings and 15C-24C temp range. No midgies..............

Well, some of the time

 

[Halo]

The Edinburgh versions gives the midgies a haughty look and says "You'll have had your tea" so they fly off, confused.

Edinburgh - Beautiful Capital of Scotland and the only place on Earth where the natives dont believe in life before death.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Edinburgh - Beautiful Capital of Scotland and the only place on Earth where the natives dont believe in life before death.

Sex: how coal is delivered in Morningside
Creche: a motor vehicle collision in Morningside

 

[SHUG]

Well. it was mentioned in about half a dozen or so posts but it was not in big red letters for those who have difficulty reading. However the 'Smidge' mentioned so much in the thread is the version developed at the Uni. in Aberdeen so it is obviously different stuff from your Edin bu**ers version.

You are of course correct!
Aberdeen is the place for Midge research and the source of the excellent book "Midges in Scotland" by George Hendry.
But...as they say in Edinburgh....."don't confuse the issue with facts!"

 

[symondo]

Living in Fort William - we are inunndated with Midges.

Avon Skin so soft has proved the best deterrant. however regardless of what you use they'll land on you, just the ywont bite you.

Definately a BBQ helps with the smoke.

But in short - find somewhere with a bit of breeze or stay indoors if you dont fancy being irritated to the point of going crazy

 

[Robert Wilson]

You are of course correct!
Aberdeen is the place for Midge research and the source of the excellent book "Midges in Scotland" by George Hendry.
But...as they say in Edinburgh....."don't confuse the issue with facts!"

Or indeed, "don't confuse the issue with faircts".
Apologies to my friends from this side of the Great Divide (Berwick to Gretna)

 

[JumbleDuck]

I used to find that a lit hurricane lamp hanging from the boom helped keep the little chaps away. Odd, because it must have produced a fair bit of CO2. The smell must have outweighed that ... as, of course, it might to for some humans.

Those circular mosquito repellent coils do absolutely nothing whatsoever.

 

[pagoda]

I'll switch on the emersion heater then! 2 baths and one BIG shower. Should keep three happy, the other two can wait their turn with a GnT or beer!!

July August perfect time up here - every day has blue skies and seas, F4-5 from whichever direction you choose, calm evenings and 15C-24C temp range. No midgies..............

Well, some of the time

And all the rest you were talking about - besides midges, is definitely "some of the time!" Summer in Scotland used to be late May & June. Apart from last year's unusually decent July, you'll find it CAN be nice weather in July / August, but generally nothing lasts more than a couple of days at a time. If it's glorious, there will be no worthwhile wind

 

[charles_reed]

Don't know what you're havering about. Scottish midges is nowt compared to Finnish Lakes ones in June, or Messolonghi mosquitoes after rain in May.

Use "Jungle Juice" on all exposed areas, it lasts about 5 hours and stings like hell after shaving.

 

[Gordonmc]

Avon Skin So Soft is by far and away the best unction. I keep a bottle on the boat and one in the car after being caught out.
I tried the stuff issued by the Army for jungle training in Belize. It may work for the Central American denizons, but the Highland midge laughs at it.
As Symondo mentioned ASSS will stop 'em biting, but won't repel them. The problem then is breathing them in and gagging, especially when rowing away from the shore. A bandana over the mouth and nose will help.

 

[JumbleDuck]

The problem then is breathing them in and gagging, especially when rowing away from the shore. A bandana over the mouth and nose will help.

This is why native Scots have evolved amazingly hairy nostrils.

 

[Blueboatman]

As the mosquito is the unofficial State bird of Florida .. 'Scotland The Midge', anyone?

Maybe Dylan needs a trained bat or two along for the ride? A Scottish pippistrelle can apparently eat 3000 of them in one night.
http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/education/bat.pdf

 

[Quandary]

As the mosquito is the unofficial State bird of Florida .. 'Scotland The Midge', anyone?

Maybe Dylan needs a trained bat or two along for the ride? A Scottish pippistrelle can apparently eat 3000 of them in one night.
http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/education/bat.pdf

The hotel next to us used to have one of those gas fuelled 'midge machines' that all the Calor Gas shops were selling a few years back, he used to get about a wheely bin full of an evening without making any visible difference to the numbers flying about. They did appear to perhaps reduce the density in urban areas provided every house on the street had one and had somewhere to empty it every day. Some entrepeneur is marketing fat balls for feeding wild birds made up with midges but the swallows can catch their own. Massive almost untapped source of protein?

 

[Daydream believer]

As the mosquito is the unofficial State bird of Florida .. 'Scotland The Midge', anyone?

Maybe Dylan needs a trained bat or two along for the ride? A Scottish pippistrelle can apparently eat 3000 of them in one night.
http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/education/bat.pdf

If you want an old bat you can have my mothering law. She can wipe out 10000 midges with just one sweep of her tongue