Midges

[alicej]

So hooray, we're planning a trip to the Islay Festival, late May to early June. Hoping it'll be too early for midges, but I want to take all possible protection against them with us too, just in case.

I've used Skin So Soft before and know it works well so several bottles of that are going with us, and I'll get myself a head net. Can you get anti-midge net gloves and leggings too?

I've got some mosquito coils which should work on midges, does anyone know if they're safe to use inside a tent with a metal holder like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GELERT-Mosqui ... 35b395f04d ? Would we risk a fire or poison ourselves?

We'll also be drinking enough whisky to poison anything that tries to bite us, and even if I've given up smoking by then I might take it up again for that week.

Short of a flame-thrower, can anyone recommend anything else that might be worth taking? And is there anything that effectively soothes bites? I'm not all that convinced by aloe vera etc, can you still get cream with local anaesthetic in it?

Your recommendations please!

[bogmyrtle]

I wouldn't bother, midges are unlikely to be a problem. Last time I was in Islay at festival time there were gale force winds. Even if it hadn't been windy, it would have been too early for midges

[alicej]

I wouldn't bother, midges are unlikely to be a problem. Last time I was in Islay at festival time there were gale force winds. Even if it hadn't been windy, it would have been too early for midges

We're pretty sure we'll be ok, but I hate midges so much that I want to be sure I've got everything I can throw at them just in case. My plan is to pass stuff on to people who are staying longer to make more room in the panniers for whisky, so it won't go to waste.

[hufty]

Mosquitex. Haven't seen it in shops recently but looks like it's available on line. Brilliant stuff.
Other slow-release DEET preparations may be available.

[vernon]

I have attended the Knockengorroch festival at the end of May for the past four years and the Caledonian Luftwaffe have made their presence felt every year. Avon Skin So Soft proved to be very effective and a wore a kilt with confidence knowing that my nether regions and exposed leg flesh were protected by the repellant properties of the Avon product.

I've never felt it necessary to take mosquito coils as more often than not I only left the tent through the night for a leak or first thing in the morning and didn't return to it late at night or in the early hours when the midges were not active because of the frost. I also don't think that the smokey atmosphere enriched by insecticide is particularly comfortable in a confined space.

I was once told that midges only flew when the wind was below 6mph or when it wasn't raining which makes most days midge free.

Stick with Avon SSS. You really don't need any extra paraphernalia.

[cycletourer]

On our tour in the Hebrides this last summer we took Skin so soft and Smidge. For both of us we actually found that smidge was more effective at keeping the wee devils away than the Skin so soft.

Mind you the midges at Ardtoe are monsters, beware !!

[LollyKat]

We sometimes burned a mosquito coil just outside the tent, inside the porch. It was very effective and we are still here to tell the tale! You are unlikely to need it in May-June on Islay, though.

[martin113]

I was in the Highlands for three weeks last July and took SSS and Smidge. I have always found the SSS can sometimes work and sometimes not and you're never sure why or how. Certainly I have found that with SSS they land on your face and walk around though don't bite, but in large numbers walking around on your face is not very comfortable! The Smidge was brilliant and is now the only thing I would bother with. i could see them in clouds around my head and not landing and when a few brave ones landed on my face they took off again immediately. i always have a net handy for when I just can't stand having stuff all over my face any more.

Mosquito coils can be used to drive them out of the tent if you have accidentally left the midge net open, but I would keep out of the tent until they've all gone and then let the smoke disperse before going in. Breathing that stuff is not good, especially if you have the slightest tendency to asthma, as I have.

[pedalsheep]

As Lollykat said mosquito coils (or tiny piece thereof) inside the porch are a good way to keep them out of the tent. Late May is not too early for midges and wind can sometimes drop!

[boris]

I use deet or autan, the higher percentage the better. you can get 100%, usually in smaller sprays so lighter. I have also sprayed the tent fabric at the start of the week with a permethrin-type insecticide which worked wonders.
I think the sss cult is mass hysteria.
But if i lived there I would not be happy to use deet all the time for years as it might not be perfectly safe, who knows? The locals probably get so many bites their immune response becomes suppressed, so their main problem is them walking on the skin in their thousands.
I very briefly mentioned this to mark beaumont and he politely agreed, for what that's worth. He was brought up in the midge clouds.
I spoke to a bloke doing lejog at helmsdale who looked as though he had the galloping measles(bites+++).He had been using sss and a french herbal lotion.

[alicej]

Thanks everyone!

I do think there's a good chance we just won't get midged at all given the time of year, but I do also want to be prepared. They seem to find me especially tasty, and I tend to scratch bites particularly badly, leaving scars and a bit of a mess. My partner faints easily at the sight of blood too!

I have used Skin So Soft before and found it to work really well, although maybe it doesn't work for everyone or for all midges/situations. What I particularly like about it is that if you get the kind which doesn't have DEET added then it can be sprayed into your face to protect around your eyes, which I don't think it would be safe or pleasant to do with DEET.

Slow-release DEET might be good for overnight. Smidge has had a few recommendations so I think I'll get some of that too, and treating the tent fabric inner is a good idea.

I found the anaesthetic cream I was thinking of http://www.boots.com/en/Germolene-Antis ... -55g_5498/ and apparently tattooists use cream to numb skin so I'll ask one what that is and if it'd be any good for numbing midge bites so I don't claw my own limbs off.

I swear it's that monster midge that bites me!

[pedalsheep]

Alice J wrote
I do think there's a good chance we just won't get midged at all given the time of year

Don't you believe it! You are wise to be prepared.I lived on Mull for many years and they can be out voraciously in late May. And no, locals don't ever get used to them, they just use loads of DEET!