I am off on a family holiday to the highlands with friends and two toddlers. What child friendly midge repellent does the hive mind recommend ?

Avon- skin so soft.

Smidge – very effective, non greasy and indifferent smell.

have a search on here – old Avon skin so soft worked well, the new stuff doesn’t as it’s had the active bug ingredient removed.

Smidge is the best IMO.

Midges arent as bad as usual this summer but we have a real problem with what we call clegs, the Scottish version of Horse Flies. really really bad, to such an extent that quite a few people I ride with, self included, have been doing more road than mtb riding the past month 🙁

Repellant doesn’t put them off and them bite through clothing

Skin so soft is pretty useless as a repellent. i think they removed the ingredient which had some repellent properties about a decade ago, people still buy it regardless. If you don’t get swarmed when wearing SSS, it’s because there are no swarms 🙂

As above, smidge is almost as effective as DEET but without the nastiness.

Don’t get it near the eyes or mouth though, it’s still not exactly pleasant if it ends up in sensitive areas.

Buy a head net, stick a cap on and pull the netting over the top. It can change hell-on-earth to completely-bearable-but-silly-looking.

Double check each evening for ticks, they’re in abundance at the moment, I picked 11 off the other evening.

Where abouts you heading crankboy? I’m up in Torridon/Gairloch/Sutherland for a week as of tomorrow

Peter – we were sailing up Islay/Jura 10 days ago – landed at the shooting lodge in West Loch Tarbert and could only stick it for 10 mins – the plagues of clegs were completetly incredible – never seen it like that in over 40 yrs of west coast adventures.

Hope you get it better !

Hang some raw meat off the prams?

Stick some of those candles on your bars…..

skin so soft doesn’t work for me… smidge does though.

the plagues of clegs were completetly incredible – never seen it like that

True dat

We were on Jura and went up the far end of the island they were fierce 😯

Didn’t get much midge,there or on Islay ,maybe the clegs were eating them all 😉

Peter – we were sailing up Islay/Jura 10 days ago – landed at the shooting lodge in West Loch Tarbert and could only stick it for 10 mins – the plagues of clegs were completetly incredible – never seen it like that in over 40 yrs of west coast adventures.

Hope you get it better !

Aye, it is a concern 🙂 Last few weekends have been OK for me at the tip of Ardnamurchan (surprisingly!)/Glencoe/Cairngorm, but getting quite a few reports similar to yours further north.

Heading climbing and sticking to high mountain routes, so fingers crossed we miss the plagues.

Some shops in the Highlands sell a natural one, from India I believe, using neem oil – it worked for me last time I used it. There’s also Autan – yellow with a red lid.

We are off to Acharacle basically where the Ardnamurchan peninsula joins the mainland propper . The boys are both two so gentle walks and beaches will be the main focus . Tic hooks already aquired my high score is 70 plus in one week on Eiean Shona .

We are off to Acharacle basically where the Ardnamurchan peninsula joins the mainland propper . The boys are both two so gentle walks and beaches will be the main focus . Tic hooks already aquired my high score is 70 plus in one week on Eiean Shona .

Lovely 🙂

I’ve been up in Ardnamurchan area twice in the last month and the midges/clegs have not been too bad. They tend to heli-spray the bracken in June across the whole peninsula, so I think that helps.

The drive out to Sanna is fun at the moment, everything is very overgrown so some of the corners are even more blind than usual.

70? Jesus.

I reside not too far from your destination, you can pick up Smidge in most of the shops, garages, TICs locally on your way through. It is the best thing we’ve found although have only needed it once so far this year.

+1 for Sanna, also Silversands up at Arisaig

Aye, the clegs are vicious this year. Out on site yesterday and can’t remember ever seeing them that bad. Even been attacked in the garden! On the plus side the heatwave seems to have decimated the midge population.

Tick removal tool now ordered 😯

“70? Jesus.” over the week and it was not the number but the location of one of them that caused true distress.

We know the peninsula quite well I used to go with my folks every year as a kid and started visiting again about 8 years ago . I have never thought it would be worth taking mountain bikes before but my mate is quite keen to. are their any reasonable non epic trails especially around Loch Shiel?

Skin so Soft only worked (partially) by drowning the wee fcukers. A rather limited deterrent.

Smidge I’ve found very good.

Cleg’s are really bad this year – taking 3 x ‘one a day’ antihistamines daily and find this limits the after effects of any bites I do get.

Midge nets are the only real prevention but smidge works well even if it does smell like an abandoned Lynx scent from the 90’s. Skin so soft does work but it is oily, smelly and has some pretty unpleasant ingredients. For clegs you want everything covered in loose fitting clothing, and a flamethrower.

*Shudders*, I’ll never see these beautiful places in Summer :(, I went once, my immune system exploded and I swelled like a balloon, never again.

*Shudders*, I’ll never see these beautiful places in Summer :(, I went once, my immune system exploded and I swelled like a balloon, never again.

They are more beautiful, tranquil and special in winter anyway 🙂

We’re always excited when winter starts to draw in…

They are more beautiful, tranquil and special in winter anyway

…..maybe’s aye, maybe’s naw :

West Loch Tarbert Jura, 2 weeks ago today

Cold and lonely places do it for me 🙂

Not a midge/cleg/tick/Glaswegian tourist in sight

Skin so soft isn’t a repellant- they still land, they just don’t bite much. Doesn’t stop them from being hugely annoying though. Buuut, you can double bag it- skin so soft + smidge or the strongest jungle formula gets them 2 ways. (with jungle formula, if you can still feel your lips you haven’t used enough)

Once it gets really bad, midge net. or live underwater.

I’m not going to say your pic is better than mine, but it is lovely 🙂

I’m not going to say your pic is better than mine, but it is lovely

I think we’re in agreement that regardless of the season, Scotland is bloody amazing 🙂

😀 😛

Skin so Soft only worked (partially) by drowning the wee fcukers. A rather limited deterrent.

Yep. I used it when touring up to John O’Groats a few years back. It stopped them biting but I ended up with my arms and legs covered in them.

Avon works for me, makes me smell retro-tastic too. Have a great hol.

+1 for Smidge.

It just seems to work and isn’t unpleasant on the skin. I think one of the other big brand repellents uses the same active ingredient as smidge, maybe jungle formula. Either way, not skin so soft. Lord knows I’ve suffered enough midge hordes to know smidge works, skin so soft no.

Edit – of course the best thing is to cover up! Make sure you have thin long sleeved tops and trousers. Those midge head nets also work. Consider one of you’re camping.

Clegs still bad in Laggan last weekend.

As others have said never seen anything like it.

And unlike midges they don’t follow the rules of the game.

Exposed flesh is fair game and midges respect that. Clegs on the other hand will just eat you through your clothes.

DEET is your friend this year

+1 smidge

Cleggs terrible this year. Even in the south. I was chased by them doing the push up route at ae and got a few bites on my back that swelled pretty badly. Got me to go faster though

will theses cleggs/clegs all be dead by the 2nd week of september ?
as we are planning two weeks around Torridon,ullapool lewis and harris

Deet 100

Peterfile, that picture makes me gasp whenever I see it.

Boblo and I rode coast to coast and escaped largely bite free. Timing is everything. June FTW

any updates on the clegg/cleg swarms then ?

I would also like an update. Im thinking of a family caravan trip up to Applecross and possibly elsewhere….

thanks mcmoonter 🙂

I’m sure you can imagine how I felt being able to stand there and just take it all in, all night. It’s certainly addictive. I’ve got a number of pics from that evening. Once i upload them i’ll send you a link (it feels odd to do it in summer though!)

Update on beastie situation:

I was in Reiff/Torridon/Shieldaig for most of last week. When it was windy (e.g. Reiff last weekend!) there were obviously no problems, however the cloudy and still weather in Torridon/Shieldaig produced some pretty formidable swarms of midges.

The campsite at Shieldaig was unbearable without covering up completely, including faces, however that’s to be expected at this time of yea IMO. We sat outside every evening with only minor inconvenience. Mornings were more problematic since it meant leaving the tent full protected just to get the kettle on.* I felt insanity creeping in whilst waiting for a slow second at a damp belay on a climb.

Ticks. I only picked up one and spent a lot of time bracken bashing to routes in Torridon, but as always this is more down to luck than anything else.

Clegs – fine. Was pleasantly surprised not to have experienced the biblical plagues that others had experienced. Smidge seemed to keep them at bay? they were bouncing off me a lot but had no bites. Minor inconvenience for us (which is impressive since Mrs P hates them)

So basically, it’s the north west in August, take Smidge and a head net and you’ll be fine 🙂

*Although camping would seem to be more inconvenient for midges, it actually has its advantages. You are roughing it to a greater extent and sitting around cooking outside with a headnet on is no big deal. However, if you’ve planned a nice little evening at a b&b/pub and want to sit outside and eat, then clearly it’s not as nice to be sipping wine under your headnet 🙂 Enjoying the Highlands is all about managing expectations.