Scottish trip in June

[timber]

Hi
I was hoping to to the west of Scotland in early May, however my driving ban does not end until June.
I do not want to get up there to be eaten alive with midges, does any one have any ideas for a good repellent, perhaps Granny Jen can help as I am sure she will be round that area , maybe do a head count of the little blighters :lol:
I may have to change my mind and go to west Wales instead
Timber

 

[wee westy]

Use Avon - Skin So Soft - the one in the blue container, used it for years and it works.

 

[greenfintry]

Also recommend the Scottish Midge forecast app (Smidge) on iTunes etc..

Shows where the hot spots are .. if you cant beat em avoid em!

 

[timber]

Thanks wee westy will give it a go

 

[KernowLad]

We went it Mull in August; totally fine until the last night (warm and still) when clouds of midgies arrived. We used Lifeventure repellent and it worked a treat. Milder stuff (green label) for the kids, weapons grade (red label) for us; and eventually our poor dog who was covered in them!

 

[GrannyJen]

I am normally self midge repellant, they do not like me, I am rarely bothered. I did have a problem once in Ullapool, I found Smidge to be best.

Possibly as I make a habit of wearing my running tops, bright pink or lime green with lots of reflectors on them. Midges do not like light colours or reflective surfaces.

Mosquito's on the other hand love me, especially the nasty malarial ones in papua new guinea or the Solomon Islands.

 

[timber]

I am normally self midge repellant, they do not like me, I am rarely bothered. I did have a problem once in Ullapool, I found Smidge to be best.

Possibly as I make a habit of wearing my running tops, bright pink or lime green with lots of reflectors on them. Midges do not like light colours or reflective surfaces.

Mosquito's on the other hand love me, especially the nasty malarial ones in papua new guinea or the Solomon Islands.

Thanks for all the replies.We have now decided to got to Wales ( at least the sheep don't bite.
I can't wait till June (driving ban ends) NO not booze just a pacemaker to stop me feeling dizzy
Jen, the worst bites I get are the horse flies ( we used to call them gad flies as they made the cattle gad about )
Went to Scotland last year, called in for a meal in a pub, half way through my guiness and ordered meals , felt dizzy and most unwell had to leave. Had to pay for the meals and drinks.????? :doh :doh I suppose the staff enjoyed them :laugh2

 

[Andy]

I am normally self midge repellant, they do not like me, I am rarely bothered. I did have a problem once in Ullapool, I found Smidge to be best.

Possibly as I make a habit of wearing my running tops, bright pink or lime green with lots of reflectors on them. Midges do not like light colours or reflective surfaces.

Mosquito's on the other hand love me, especially the nasty malarial ones in papua new guinea or the Solomon Islands.

Thanks for all the replies.We have now decided to got to Wales ( at least the sheep don't bite.
I can't wait till June (driving ban ends) NO not booze just a pacemaker to stop me feeling dizzy
Jen, the worst bites I get are the horse flies ( we used to call them gad flies as they made the cattle gad about )
Went to Scotland last year, called in for a meal in a pub, half way through my guiness and ordered meals , felt dizzy and most unwell had to leave. Had to pay for the meals and drinks.????? :doh :doh I suppose the staff enjoyed them :laugh2

Worst I've had was Tsetse flies in Tanzania, kill them & they feign death then come back for another bite !! No insect replant keeps them off !! Ended up living in mosquito nets, which is fun when driving !!

 

[sbmcd]

Re: Scottish trip in June The Midge Solution

HI we are just back from a week up the North & West of Scotland and yes the Scottish Midge has arrived in force. Lying in my sleeping bag at Port Appin looked up at the vents to see the little blighters waltzing in as if there was no mesh, urgent solution required.

We took an old midge head net, cut two pieces 220 * 100 mm to fit the 200 * 80 mm roof vents, added 10 mm seam on the edges, then hand sewed these to the inside of the vents, there is a convenient flap of material to attach them to.

We found it was best to do the hand sewing standing on the seats with the roof partially closed.

Adding a seam to the edges


Pin in place


Note flap to attached to.


Finished job, stitching on this one much neater than mine.


We are now looking forward to our next trip, and sleep without being eaten alive.

 

[sbmcd]

I can confirm the new midge proof pop up vent covers have been tested and are fully effective!

 

[Larkrise]

It comes as a bit of a disappointment to learn that they can just pop through the standard vents like that!

 

[sbmcd]

I agree but it is worth remembering that midges are not a nuisance all the time, if you keep to the coast they are not so bad, they also do not appear much if it's windy or sunny.

I have yet to find a solution for the big zip opening vents in the roof, they will be kept closed during the midge season for the time being.

 

[sbmcd]

Midge Solution

I have found a perfect solution to midge proofing the pop up roof large zip vent openings, smaller vents were done and detailed in my earlier post.

First thing was to find some decent midge netting, found some relatively low cost midge netting at http://www.midgie.net/netting.htm this turned out to be unsuitable as it is very fine nylon silk dress fabric type material, frays a lot and very difficult to work with, the piece we were send had many flaws in the material. Also think this would have looked very bad in situ.

Finally found this excellent pvc coated fibreglass material at:

http://www.streme.co.uk/product/midge-mesh/

Must be the best midge proof netting material for this purpose. Very easy to cut and work with, does not fray at all, made screens for front and both sides from a 2m length (£17.00 / metre). So far only done the front to see if that provides us sufficient night ventilation (in does).



Unfortunately has to be hand sewn onto the existing mesh but this is not too difficult providing you have a bent needle, be careful not to sew through to the roof fabric.



Had some surplus so also midge proofed the VW sliding window screens by carefully cutting a piece to fit neatly inside the existing plastic frame and fixing it with clear silicon.



Not one to throw things out, I did find a use for the cheaper material to make a screen for the side door, its held in place with sewn in small bar magnets like the ones VW use for their front window blinds.



I must confess by this time my wife thought I was becoming a just bit obsessional about a midge problem that is not really that bad, most of the time!

 

[calikev]

Good work

 

[acer]

Love the resourcefulness of people with thread on this thread.

I was in dunelm mill today. They have some very fine net curtains which I feel would be fine enough to keep out the dreaded midges. It would also provide some privacy to the interior of your van if you did want to leave the side door open. You then also have something to twitch when your neighbours turn-up!

 

[GrannyJen]

Love the resourcefulness of people with thread on this thread.

I was in dunelm mill today. They have some very fine net curtains which I feel would be fine enough to keep out the dreaded midges. It would also provide some privacy to the interior of your van if you did want to leave the side door open. You then also have something to twitch when your neighbours turn-up!

You will be surprised at just what aperture midges can creep through.

My Sister suffers terribly, her red hair and pale complexion. I was lucky, I got the latin genes, not the Welsh/English (thank you Grandmother Jeanne). We shared a caravan once, I woke up unbitten, she woke up smothered head to foot in bites.

I was so smug until I discovered a genetic difference between midges and mosquito's. One has the gene that hates me, the other the one that loves me.

 

[Archie]

Another recommend for Avon Skin So Soft. It's a well known repellant in Scotland even though there is no mention of it on the bottle.
I work in a quarry near Oban and it is used by all the team there.
It's actually kept as a stock item in the stores!
Doesn't work on the ticks though
As others have said, stay near the coast or in exposed spots. They are too weedy to fly in the slightest breeze.

 

[Skylark2.0]

Midge Solution

I have found a perfect solution to midge proofing the pop up roof large zip vent openings, smaller vents were done and detailed in my earlier post.

First thing was to find some decent midge netting, found some relatively low cost midge netting at http://www.midgie.net/netting.htm this turned out to be unsuitable as it is very fine nylon silk dress fabric type material, frays a lot and very difficult to work with, the piece we were send had many flaws in the material. Also think this would have looked very bad in situ.

Finally found this excellent pvc coated fibreglass material at:

http://www.streme.co.uk/product/midge-mesh/

Must be the best midge proof netting material for this purpose. Very easy to cut and work with, does not fray at all, made screens for front and both sides from a 2m length (£17.00 / metre). So far only done the front to see if that provides us sufficient night ventilation (in does).



Unfortunately has to be hand sewn onto the existing mesh but this is not too difficult providing you have a bent needle, be careful not to sew through to the roof fabric.



Had some surplus so also midge proofed the VW sliding window screens by carefully cutting a piece to fit neatly inside the existing plastic frame and fixing it with clear silicon.



Not one to throw things out, I did find a use for the cheaper material to make a screen for the side door, its held in place with sewn in small bar magnets like the ones VW use for their front window blinds.



I must confess by this time my wife thought I was becoming a just bit obsessional about a midge problem that is not really that bad, most of the time!

View attachment 3236 View attachment 3237 View attachment 3238 View attachment 3239

HI, I have just ordered enough material to do all the vents, windows and the door. I may well be neurotic about midges but they think I'm caviar and home in on me from miles away... Where did you get the little magnets from to attach the screen to the sides by the door so I can get some of them too? Also have my bottles of Skin so soft ready....

 

[sbmcd]

HI, I have just ordered enough material to do all the vents, windows and the door. I may well be neurotic about midges but they think I'm caviar and home in on me from miles away... Where did you get the little magnets from to attach the screen to the sides by the door so I can get some of them too? Also have my bottles of Skin so soft ready....

We used these, http://www.first4magnets.com/search/f380 part no F380, they are 3 * 3 * 20 mm long we got two boxes (20) to do ours and had a few left over.

 

[Dottie]

We used these, http://www.first4magnets.com/search/f380 part no F380, they are 3 * 3 * 20 mm long we got two boxes (20) to do ours and had a few left over.

I was looking at this site too...was wondering about strong magnets for the top and weaker ones for the sides of the doors for quick release.
How're you finding your choice....any update now they've been in use?

 

[Skylark2.0]

According to the locals last year "Smidge" works really well. We have lots of skin so soft but it's quite oily and I am paranoid about my paintwork

 

[Skylark2.0]

I was looking at this site too...was wondering about strong magnets for the top and weaker ones for the sides of the doors for quick release.
How're you finding your choice....any update now they've been in use?

I tried the same but they were too weak to hold up the streme fiberglass netting. I might buy some stronger ones but the ones I had really struggled to hold the material up. I suspect the netting used by sbmcd must have been lighter.

 

[Bigted]

Having worked in applecross on the west coast of the highland if midge is about then you are going to be bitten. Repellents and nets help but the best thing is a windy spot to camp in

 

[sbmcd]

I was looking at this site too...was wondering about strong magnets for the top and weaker ones for the sides of the doors for quick release.
How're you finding your choice....any update now they've been in use?

A bit weak for the top ok for the sides, also found we had to reinforce the netting where the magnets are as they were pulling through the mesh despite being double thickness at the edges.

 

[pjm-84]

In a word......midges. Avon works and then fails. So your spraying every few minutes if you need to remain static, like loading bikes on the back of a Cali.

A "Benny Hill" movement style needs to be adopted when outdoors!