hhhhmmmmm!
The 07:10 from Leeds on Monday morning is slowly but surely looking like the best option.

Think I might spend Friday/Saturday in the good ol’Yorkshire Dales.

My experience is just avoid being outside from about 5pm-8pm not moving about much. Riding or brisk walk is fine. Pitching tent or fixing flat wheel would be a mare.

I don’t like DEET. OK for occasional use. Don’t think DEET, SSS, etc. really repel them, so you still get the blighters crawling all over you, but they might dissuade them from biting. Stop Bite seemed to work to some extent, which makes you smell of Drambuie (sort of).

As for those cows… I thought they were pretty docile, despite the pointy bits, although I wouldn’t argue with one.

If you want something non-Deet for yourself or your kids then try Prevent – it really works. It’s not just a repellent and can also be used as an insect killer in tents etc. It’ll kill bigger insects like wasps too and those insect not repelled by it die as soon as they try to take a bite.

http://www.safariquip.co.uk/all-categories/insect-protection/insect-repellent/prevent-insect-repellent-pump-spray/

I’ve also tried Care Plus Repel It which is natural and uses Picardin. It also works well – the WHO recommend it as being as good or better than Deet.

For riding I usually use Ultrathon deet based cream on arms and legs as it’s very sweat resistant and then some Prevent around my face, neck, hair etc. Seems to really work.

If you don’t think there are enough in Scotland this year, it’s probably because they’ve all gone to Afan for a holiday. We got eaten alive on Saturday.

i dont think they are out in force yet … only just starting to see them at the farm just now, and not in the normal numbers you expect.

to be honest, its still air thats a killer. as long as there is a breeze, then its nots so bad. they dont like the wind.

I honestly just avoid areas of high midge concentration when the season is at its peak. Currently I don’t think they are too bad anywhere. I was on Arran last week and only suffered a couple of bites

DEET does work but, as other have pointed out, its pretty nasty stuff.

Avon Skin so Soft does work as well the secret is to apply liberal amounts to any exposed skin as soon as you stop. I think it works by basically creating an oily barrier the midges can’t get through to bite you so you need to apply lots of it.

But the best advice is just to try and avoid high midge concentration where you can, because when they swarm you will get bitten regardless of what you are using

a couple of years ago me and my girlfriend decided to go camping at loch katrine on the summer solstice – without protection. we got absolutely plastered in midgie bites. up ours noses, on the edges of our eyelids, the inside of our lips… we aborted before getting the tent up.

ironically, despite looking like a big swollen red blob, i never got any soreness or pain from the bites. weird… my girlfriend, on the other hand…

For those that have done both areas.

Kielder midge…V…Fort William midge ..

Which one would win in a fight?

Oh ,and along with the garlic thing ,I once heard something about marmite and Vit b working,anyone tried them ?.

In other bug news ,the folk at Laggan Wolftrax said that they had had more bother with mosquitos than midge this season 😯

You do not get mosquito’s that far north, they will just be small black flies.

On the midge front, the Skye midge would beat any other…. especially west coast – Glenbrittle. (or as I called it Glenbrutal, the only place that the midge has beaten me)

What’s the advice on which midge net to get then please? (And any cool clothing)

You do not get mosquito’s that far north, they will just be small black flies.

Erm… mosquitoes do live that far north, including the ones that enjoy biting humans. I’m pretty sure that plenty of people who live in the arctic will be happy to confirm that for you. Generally in the UK midges are more of a problem than the mosquitoes though I’ve never found either that bad until you get north/west of the Great Glen. Probably most unbearable I’ve ever experienced [outside of Scandinavia] was on the Outer Hebrides though.

What’s the advice on which midge net to get then please? (And any cool clothing)

I’ve got a full mesh suit (hoody and trousers) I used to use sometimes at work (forestry) and would recommend having one handy if you’re traveling in the NW or the islands in case conditions are bad. Check fishing/ebay shops, you should be able to find something for £30ish. Not perfect, but combined with a repellent (if you find one you think works) its about as good as you can get.

one you can drink through ! as exampled here:

OK, you do get mosquito’s that far north!! I jumped in…. FAIL! Anyway I have never encountered Mozzies in Scotland, just the Midge and the Kleg. Throw in the Ticks and we have quite an impressive collection of horrible insects that keep the faint hearted indoors.

Got badly bitten for the first time by midges camping at Afan over the weekend, and i got off lightly compared to some. Warm, still but damp conditions next to the Ponds. No amount of BBQ smoke or repellant worked.

Can we have some proper dangerous fauna please not just these really annoying ones? Scorpions, black widow spiders, bears, wolves – you get the idea. What do we get? Midges cleggs and mossies!

Pah!

Have worked on the railways in the Highlands and found that only 100% DEET is really effective against midgies when you’re out and about all the time. It does strip the paint off pencils and makes your lips go pins and needles if you get it on them.

I once met a round-the-world cyclist in Spean Bridge who had cycled the length of the Americas and had chased a bear in canada and had snakes in Central America and was on his way south from John O’Groats. He was thinking of getting the train south from Fort William because of the midgies. He said it was the only beastie he’d met that when you kill one of them, a million of his mates came to the funeral…

Got bitten twice by mosquitos for the first time in Scotland in July 2010 at the Moray Monster Trails. Saw the liitle feckers so I know they were mosquitos.

…and its supposed to be raining 🙁

I once heard something about marmite and Vit b working,anyone tried them ?.

I normaly take vit B1 at the start of the midge season and it works for me, doesn’t stop them totally but they are less of a nuisance, forgot this year though and only started them a couple of days ago. you need to start them a couple of weeks before you go to midge area though, and apparently vit B1 gives you more energy!
If anyone is planning a trip to Aviemore/Cairngorms and camping/biking in the area, camp at Rothiemurcas rather than Glenmore as Rothiemurcas has Midge eradicators/machines which keeps them at a minimum means you can sit out dawn till dusk and be relativly midge free.

Those midge machines are excellent….

Seems the midgies are late this year. Tracksterman reports none in the NW highlands. Can’t be long now though ……..

http://tracksterman.tumblr.com/

A mosquito coil in the tent works well too, though the lungs are a bit guggy for a few days after inhaling all that smoke.

We used to go camping in Scotland when I was a kid and we had several family holidays where we just gave up and went home. The problem with DEET based repellents is that the DEET comes out in your urine for 48 hours after you’ve applied it. The Avon stuff works pretty well; I work for a perfume manufacturer and we believe the strong fougere smell actually confuses their ability to detect exhaled CO2. Sunlight and wind are their enemies so camp as close to the sea as you can. There have been several books written about the effect of the midge on the economy of Scotland.

Ahhhh! f^^k it ! – 8 o’clock train from Leeds on Saturday – should be in Glasgow by lunch time, therefore should be sat by the side of a Loch getting eaten alive by tea time.
2 days on the bike + 2days working.

(alternative was to stay at home -and my missus kindly pointed out that by mid afternoon Saturday I would have been mad at myself and sulking for not going and would have become unbearable to live with).

I’ve got some Jungle Formula extra strength and some Mosi Guard extra strength in the cupboard – are these any good ? or do I need to get something else ?

LochKatrine has been mentioned above – I’m planning on getting over that way at somepoint on my short stay – any decent camping spots ?

Absolutely, definitely get yourself some Skin So Soft as well for when they get past the repellent. It’s cheap and most outdoor shops sell it.

Having said that, the forecast is wind and rain so you should be OK 😀

stAn,

I would suggest get train to Milngavie, then do West Highland Way to Drymen. Turn off it there and head to Aberfoyle, from there you can go over the Dukes Pass to Katrine, or head round the trails near Loch Ard. There is always alternative of Braeval loop towards Loch Venacher. Plenty of wild camping on outskirts of Aberfoyle and is a campsite close if you want showers etc. Alternative is on WHW to Balmaha (they are trying to discourage wild camping on Loch Lomond but would probably turn a blind eye to a lone, sensible camper) Nice route over Conic hill, then back next day via Balloch and cycle route down past Bowling and along Forth and Clyde canal back into Glasgow. Keep up a good speed and the midges will be fine….. stoip are you will be stripped to the bones in seconds….. 😉

jungle formula is good – check the ingredients – you need DEET and the higher strength the better – I use 50%

You can get the train from Glasgow to Milngavie if you want a few miles start on getting to the trossachs or to balloch for loch lomond

The sustrans route from callender to killin is nice easy ride and pleasant if not challenging

There are camping spots alongside loch Achray that I know of – there is an offfroad route along the south side of it. There is also a forestry commission site in the woods south of the hotel between loch ard and loch katrine – I have not used it for years and it has been a bit of a party site in the past

Avon SSS all the way.

Forgot to put some in my pack a couple of weeks ago at Carron Valley and we were bitten all over, still have the bite marks today. I think I may be growing a bit more sensitive to them 🙁

Ok – the trip is on. Thanks for all the advise guys.
Called in at the outdoors shop for some DEET (95% ) turned round and the missus had ought me a new synthetic down sleeping bag 😀 Packs down small enough to go in my bag rather than strapped to handlebars.

Well happy and looking forward to pootling round the Lochs on my lovely Sutra. 😀

If you could paint the midges on Skye green and put some fins on them, you could sell ’em at arms fairs, no problem.

Smile nice and you can camp in my garden this weekend – killin – we are away anyhow.

Midges are not too bad here at the moment, only a few when the wind dies and not enough for me to either resort to powerful stuff (only had Avon SSS on a couple of times) and not sent me indoors / into breeze either. Our gorge at work is usually a horrid place with them at this time of year, but none today despite calm, warm and water.