How to outsmart and defeat the midge
It's the one thing that can ruin an adventure even more than the weather. The dreaded MIDGE. Finding yourself in the middle of a 360° assault from these persistent little blood boiling bad boys is not a laughing matter, normally! The only time you can sit back and laugh is when you aren't the one running around screaming like a wild animal begging these airborne irritants for mercy. If you don't believe me check this out … The One Minute Midgie Challenge...
See I bet you had a little laugh at the end of that, you will also be ITCHING by now!! lol :-)
When do they come out to party
Normally the midge has it festival of fun between May and September. The festival starts with the arrival of the not so hungry men around the middle to end of May. Its not until the females arrive that the festival really get started, around the beginning of June. Its then open season on us poor adventure loving folks.
How to defeat the Midge
Never fear, our method of defeating the midge will leave you wondering why you've never thought of this before. The process is actually very simple and has two main elements, planning and protection. Planning being the key to keeping away from 'them'!
Planning
There is one thing guaranteed to shutdown the midge festival and that's the wind. I'm not talking about a full on hurricane here. Actually it very slight and wont have anything but a positive effect on your adventure. A 10mph wind is more than enough to shutdown flight operations of the midge. They just cant handle the wind!
Here are a couple of points to consider when planning your adventure:
Weather: Prior to choosing the location of your adventure carefully check what the weather forecast is predicting. Okay, we all know that its not always going to be correct but be smart and build in that margin for error. Have a plan B! You can find some good and reliable weather forecast services in our OTAT Tool Kit.
Location: After you have checked the weather/wind conditions choose an area that you know is likely to have the optimal anti midge conditions. Wherever your adventure plan takes you, be sure that when you choose your campsite you are in an area that allows the free flow of wind.
Look at your map, plot your route and campsite then, take the wind direction and draw (in pencil, don't wreck your map) a line across the area on your map. Then ask yourself the following questions:
- What time is the wind expected to arrive and leave, okay, I can leave at 18:00hrs and be back before it dies down at 08:00hrs ?
- Will the wind provide me with midge protection if I camp here ?
- Are there any map features that will disrupt the flow of wind ?
- If there is no wind and the forecast is wrong, what is my plan B... SCREAM !!
Test Yourself:
Q: Where would you be most likely to experience a midge attack on the route ?
Q: Where would the most adventurous place be to have your bivy or tent on this route that wont be attacked ?
Q: At 08:00hrs where do I need to be ?
Protection
There are literally 100's of old wife's stories on how to keep the midge away. There's only one guaranteed way and that's the wind. However there are ways to reduce the impact on your sanity.
There may be times when you are on the trail and the wind just isn't around. Get yourself armed with either Skin So Soft Oil Body Spray by Avon or Smidge. These will not disappear 'them' completely but will keep them from landing on you and biting.
It's been said that Skin So Soft by Avon has recently changed its formula and hasn't the same combative effect but I haven't noticed a change in its effectiveness. Some things work for some and not for others.
In my opinion, both have the same effectiveness but vary in texture. The price difference reflects the fact that Smidge claim to also protect against mosquitoes, horse flies, ticks and other biting pests so this is probably the better allrounder. It goes without saying that you should check that by using these options you aren't going to have any medical reactions. Don't ask me what's in them, they just work for me!
Smidge Spray £7.99 75ml & Avon SSS £2.50 150ml
Really small and weighs nothing is the Lifesystems Headnet £7.99 Use this in conjuction with a rimmed hat or baseball cap to keep the net from your face and allow you to keep cool.
So, its really all about outsmarting the little buggers. By building this strategy into your normal adventure planning you can really maximise the enjoyment of finding adventure here in Scotland without being held back by the unmentionable's!
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