Scotland – Midges!

I’m planning on doing a few days cycle touring/camping in Scotland, at the end of this week. ( Thinking Trossachs region – got to be back in Glasgow for Monday morning)
Only thing that concerns me are the horror stories I keep hearing about the midges.
Are they something to be wary of ?
Could they spoil my weekend?
How many pints will make me not care ?
Any pubs that will let me camp in their beer garden ?
Any thing else I need to be wary of ?

http://2010.midgeforecast.co.uk/

DEET in high strength is the only thing I am sure will work when they are really bad. I have high hopes for smidge but I have not tested it yet.

Are they something to be wary of ?

yes

Could they spoil my weekend?

yes

How many pints will make me not care ?

lots

Any pubs that will let me camp in their beer garden ?

in the highlands I have done so – dunno in the trossachs

Any thing else I need to be wary of ?

[/url]
14 A coo[/url] by TandemJeremy[/url], on Flickr

Some (but not the majority) of the locals, other than that Scotland is excellent place to tour / camp. Just try to avoid midge areas is best in my limited experience of midge season, if you can’t do that deet.

We’re in Stirling and don’t get too many. Much further north is really bad however.

After our recent trip up north, we confirmed that we had the best riding too!

I have high hopes for smidge but I have not tested it yet.

Well would you kindly get a wriggle on because some of us want to know if it works or not. Thank you.

I bought a bottle of it but there were no midges when I was out, maybe it does work?

putting your mum, who smokes, at the front of the tent, between two primuses with pans of boiling water works, but to be fair it’d be hard to carry and mum, at 83, might not be that mobile …….

Avon SSS (lots of) seemed to work for me.
(Edit, *I have seen a cooking pan that was black (and I mean truly black) with midges – pity as it was actually beans)

I live in Glencoe, supposedly one of the worst spots in Scotland. Despite the midge forecast horror stories I haven’t had a problem this year at all*. You’d think the midge forecast people were exaggerating to promote a new product if you didn’t know better.

*I will eat my words at some point though.

Might I suggest guntrader.com for ideas. The average Skye midge has a bite like an alligator and nothing smaller than a 4 bore will stop them. Or so my missus said last year. I just plastered Jungle Formula on. Beware. It screws the elastic in Campagnolo cotton caps. I suspect it isn’t good for Goretex or contact lens either.

no amount of beer will dull your horror, all that does is make you have to deal with them when hung over

not good

not good atall.

the horror…..the horror

[/url]
Sadly the midges liked it too, a speedy escape was necesary[/url] by mrmichaelwright[/url], on Flickr

equals

They are hell when they swarm , I would not camp in the nw between June and September , but that’s just me as the bu??ers eat me alive.

Get a midge net , long sleeve base layers and long pants.

Wind over 4mph jerks then at bay , lower that that and it can be he’ll.

Nothing will stop midges. Take loads of anti-histamines and you wont feel the bites.

Take loads of anti-histamines and you wont feel the bites.

that’s what i do, it takes some will power to overcome the sheer annoyance when they swarm though. in that picture above we had just packed our yellow tent away and i am not exaggerating when i say the inside of it was completely black with midges trapped in condensation. i’d gone out for a natural break in the night and they bit everything exposed

everything 😯

(From a similar thread a couple of years back)

Every year I forget just how vicious they can be at that time of the year.

I’ve a very vivid memory from last August, turning up to a campsite in the North West to meet some friends. It was a beautiful evening and the campsite appeared to be busy. There were lots of tents but something wasn’t quite right… Food lay partially eaten on picnic tables; bikes lay abandoned on the grass, back wheels slowly turning to a halt; a frisbee hung momentarily in the air before clunking to the ground; but nowhere was there a human being to be seen.

I pondered this weird land-bound Mairi Celeste tableau as the sunset faded and I turned off the car ignition. The low bass thrum of the diesel engine died to be replaced by a growing sound, first at the edge of my consciousness, but steadily intensifying; the sound of light rain. But how could it be from a cloudless sky on that last, perfect day of summer? I felt a shiver run down my spine as my hand reached for the door pull and I opened my cocoon to the gathering gloaming.

I stepped out…

Later that evening I sat in another car drinking heavily with friends as others arrived. They’d blithely and gaily spring forth and we’d take wagers on how long it’d be before they were clawing frantically at their exposed flesh as if beset by madness or bees.

“9 seconds I reckon, Ian”.
“Nah, 14”.
“1-2-3-4”.
“Whoah!”

We got shot down on this very forum for a tale like Stuartie C…. bailed out of Skye for a rain bar induced puncture followed by inhaling midges on an up hill. I should have known we were doomed as everyone on the campsite at the Slig was in a car. Skin So Soft, smokey fire and every other thing didn’t stop them.

In 1969 we put people on the frigging moon. No amount of technology since then has cured the Scottish Midge Issue.

Go early or late to avoid the misery.

camped at kirroughtree a few years back this time of year doing the SUW and at one point I couldn’t see my arms or legs for midges. We couldn’t eat as we couldn’t lift our nets. I swore never to return to Scotland in midge season. It doesn’t help that I come out in huge blisters with every bite or that any anti-histamine turns me into a spaced out Zombie.

Saying that I was in Wales at the weekend at they were pretty bad there as well

midges don’t get bad until july/august if you ask me. but to be prepared make sure you have something to keep your skin covered if need be(long trousers and long sleeved top), deet will only work so much, when you get in to proper midge country you’ll know all about it, no amount of chemicals will help. also take something with a hood on it that you can zip up to a wee peep hole! 😀 I’m serious, they sell midge nets for a reason.

DEET works

Joking aside, can you let us know when you’ve tried the Smidge. I’m not keen to put DEET on my kids, and we can’t avoid the midges where we live. Cheers.

Surprised no mention of the mighty Skin So Soft- a heady coctail of that and Jungle Formula reduces even the satanic loch lomond midges to the point where you feel like you may actually survive the night

TandemJeremy – Member
DEET works

Agree – it’s the only stuff that does. It also melted the plastic bezel on my dive watch and melts the outside of chocolate bar wrappers! I’ve always been a midge target and have tried everything from Avon’s SSS to bog-myrtle, to eating garlic in vast quantities.

DEET just does the job.

I hope Smidge does as well.

Not exactly selling it to me guys.

Thing is I have a meeting in Glasgow Monady and Tuesday next week. So I was thinking of travelling upeither Friday/Saturday and cycling round and doing a bit of camping.
I’ve got to start from Glasgow, as thats where my train ticket is to, and I’ve gotto be back in Glasgow for Monday morning.
Would a more midge free option be to look at a mini-tour South of Glasgow, rather than Loch Lomond and the Trossachs ? Any suggestions ?

Well I can confirm Smidge is s***e, I live not far from Strathdon and the little b******s have been out in force this last week, ditched the “Smidge that Midge” and went back to the 50% deet jungle formula even that does not keep some of the harder b******s away, 3 hour jaunt up my local hills and came back covered!

For more than a couple of hours you need to go nuclear – 100% DEET seems to work for me for around 5-6 hours biking or all day walking around

I would seriously consider staying in a bunk house rather than camp.

It has lots of advantages:

Less kit to carry
Keeps you in doors at worst midge times (dawn and dusk)
Indoor protected cooking !!!!!!
Not much more than camping fees

Loch Lomond bunk house

Callander bunk house

😯

You lot are crazy.
😉

I remember camping at glenbrittle on Skye a few years back. I had to run out of the tent to the car to get something, no more than twenty yards. In the morning we counted over 50 bites on my face, neck and forearms. If I’d tripped over they would have found a skeleton the next day.

DEET is the only thing that works, and even then it’s not a complete barrier.

DEET may work but I am a little reluctant to put something on my skin that melts plastic ! Working at Fort Bill on the world cup.. it was amazing what DEET did to the Shimano course tape…..

scotsman – Member

Well I can confirm Smidge is s***e, I live not far from Strathdon and the little b******s have been out in force this last week, ditched the “Smidge that Midge” and went back to the 50% deet jungle formula even that does not keep some of the harder b******s away, 3 hour jaunt up my local hills and came back covered!

Fiddlesticks – I had high hopes for that.

stAn-Bad Brains MBC

The trossachs may well not be too bad at all. It does vary very much and I have never been swarmed badly in the trossachs – just remember the deet

I remember a few of them even got through the midge netting on my tent. make sure all the zips are done up and stuff socks or something through the small gaps where the zips meet.

Kev

DEET may work but I am a little reluctant to put something on my skin that melts plastic

You want to see what nail varnish remover [acetone?] does – but that doesn’t stop half the population using it

Sure I once saw a plastic cup with booze in it melt too – can’t recall it too well though, I was drinking at the time 🙂

Well I can confirm Smidge is s***e

Never mind.

Back to this stuff then

Does nothing to stop you getting bitten, but does wonders for you afterwards. Good stuff.

I find that Smidge works superbly. Better than SSS. Had it on up Mugdock last week when a chap had a chain break and it protected well. maybe it’s just the lowland midge that is stops, but the guys that put it on did say it was pretty amazing.

Definately worth giving it a go and seeing for yourself.

Smidge user here. Haven’t been in heavy midge conditions yet but speaking as someone who usually gets eaten alive the result so far are very good, way better than skin so soft for me personally.

Uplink… re acetone nail varnish remover, I agree, but folk don’t rub it all over their face and skin over and over again….

Cup melting booze was probably Polish Slivovitz….

but folk don’t rub it all over their face and skin over and over again.

I only generally use one application of DEET per day and then only occasionally and when I’m somewhere it’s needed
Maybe 4 or 5 times per year tops

Are they something to be wary of ?

You have no idea.

Could they spoil my weekend?

Completely. … but when you look back, its always a funny talking point about just how bad they can get.

How many pints will make me not care ?

More than you can drink

Any pubs that will let me camp in their beer garden ?

dunno.

Any thing else I need to be wary of ?

Yeah, more midges.

The Avon stuff for me worked reasonably well. Not tried the Smidge stuff yet personally, but other people i’ve spoke to about it say it works quite well .

The thing with midges is that no matter what you put on … its only going to stop them biting you … not stop then landing on you, which in its own right is annoying too.

zzziiiiiiiip. as one flies into your ear hole …..
😕

enjoy !