[Closed] Midges in Scotland

If you're road cycling it's not an issue.

Until you stop.

Are you camping?

Come up the east coast through the Cairngorms. The cycling is lovely, and less midges. Although the west coast is lovely, just more of a gamble. I usually aim for May.

They can't fly more than 5mph so any breeze keeps them at bay.

They dislike direct sunlight.

Smidge is an excellent repellant.

Armed with these 3 facts your trip will be just fine.

I'd avoid May - August inclusive. End of April and beginning of September might be a bit midgey too depending on how the weather has been.

Normal road pace on the flat and down hill you'll be fine. I got midged pretty badly going up the Bealach Na Ba, but that was on a heavy tourer going very slowly.

Where it's windy it can be better, so along the coast with an on-shore beeze would be worth seeking out. For this reason the Outer Hebrides can be good as a lot of the roads are coastal (and also stunning).

Not found any repellent that works for me, including that Avon stuff.

Achnasheen and Achnashellach were pretty bad earlier this year.
On a scale of mild to unbearable, they were insanity inducing.
Get a net some smidge. Keep bare areas covered when stopped. You should be fine.

There's a BBC documentary about the midge next Monday evening. I'll pop up a link to Iplayer.

For the umpteenth time Avon Skin so Soft is not a repellent

And we manage to ride bikes all year.

I'd go in Mid april or late September

scotroutes - Member
They can't fly more than 5mph so any breeze keeps them at bay.

They dislike direct sunlight.

Smidge is an excellent repellant.

Armed with these 3 facts your trip will be just fine.

100% head to toe coverage is a must when all of the above fail.

tbh road cycling you'll be fine. really just grassy/offroad areas you'll get midges, they won't bother you too much if you are on tarmac. You'll get them on tarmac, but it won't be the apocalyptic amounts you can get when camping.

Midges don't particularly get bad until mid june, and can last into october, just depends on the year.

You can easily get days in the middle of summer that are midge free. When the sun goes down it's a different story mind you, but you can still get midge free nights aswell.

in short, it varies, certain conditions make them swarm, as scotroutes says, no wind, cloudy and a certain temperature. Midgies don't like it too wet or too dry either. (I suspect it's a certain humidity level they like.)

Buy smidge and when that stops working, head to toe coverage, including midgy need. Yes you'll look like a plank, but you'll be a comfortable plank.

They don't like fire either, but you need a reasonable sized fire for it to be effective over a decent sized area. I reckon it's the dry air they don't like rather than the smoke.

Avon skin so soft is shit.

Whathaveisaidnow - Member
I'd go in Mid april or late September

Still getting bitten camping at 4000 ft near the summit of Braeriach on 1st October. Unusually warm, calm conditions though. I'd foolishly assumed October and that height would be midge free and not packed repellent.

wee blood sucking Scottish beastie

They don't suck blood, the females rasp at the skin to break the surface in order to lay eggs.

If you drive to the start of a route make sure you're last out of the van. Hanging around for 20 mins whilst waiting for the faffers to adjust their arm warmers was what did for me. The 48 hour delayed reaction is a killer.

It's simple. MTFU and don't stop.

Taking Vit B seems to help, and if you take along a sacrificial newbie wearing shorts and short sleeves, the midges will prefer the fresh meat.

They don't suck blood, the females rasp at the skin to break the surface in order to lay eggs.

WTF? of course they suck blood. They don't use a hollow needle like a mosquito but they still drink the stuff. Midge bites are not incubating eggs waiting to hatch!

Best advice is probably to go with someone who is more of a magnet for them. Unfortunately when I visit, that person is usually me...

Skin so Soft may not be a midge repellant, but it's what the ranger at the Galloway deer centre was using and dishing out, and it worked for me - I'm usually irresistible to any female with wings and 6 legs...

I'd go in Mid april or late September
I don't think avoiding the best months in Scotland is good advice!

Piss off, there are no "best months"!

So, we were up there in June and not a midge in sight. It was warm too.
Where were they?

There was a bit of a delayed hatch this year. I wasn't really aware of any until the middle of August.

I live in Aberdeen and am generally never bothered by midgies at any time of year. Even further west in the Cairngorms (Braemar etc) it's a non issue.

on a road bike you'll be OK until you stop. Just start smoking as soon as you finish and you'll be fine.

I don't get this "you'll be fine on a road bike" thing

The buggers add a considerable amount of protein to my diet when out for a spin...none of which is welcome

Thanks one and all.
Excellent advice, as ever. Love the fact there's so much of it based on experience.
As a quick 'add on' (okay, being lazy....), anyone any knowledge of some good sites that have some likely routes listed. Don't really want to go too far north on this first foray.

Avoid June - September on the west coast without smidge and you'll be fine.

Give an idea of location, pace and duration and I'm sure ideas will be forthcoming.

Dumfries and Galloway has some lovely and quiet roads that are often missed by those in search of delights further north. Take in some Borders stuff when you are there and you could be quite happy. Accommodation and eateries are also more frequent so you have more flexibility in planning.

Dumfries and Galloway has some lovely and quiet roads that are often missed by those in search of delights further north.

Wheesht! Don't give away all the secrets! 😉

As a Scottish resident, I can justifiably say that midges ruin half this country. Can you imagine any other country in the world having a serious infestation problem and still try and encourage outdoors tourism? I feel lucky to avoid it all in Aberdeenshire, and when planning my holidays on the east coast I at least have the luxury of a convenient abort plan if it gets unbearable.

But for balance - I've always managed to avoid midge season through luck/judgment. Actually, the worst I've ever experienced was in Aberdeenshire on the MTB (Linn o Dee).

Can you imagine any other country in the world having a serious infestation problem and still try and encourage outdoors tourism?

ENCOURAGE? 😆
are you familiar with the concept of a traditional highland welcome?
Have you taken advantage of all Fort William has to offer?

Ignore me - I'm being cantankerous. I love road biking in Scotland. I've done the highlands/islands/borders/east & west coast and never had a problem with midges. The fear of midges is probably what keeps the roads so nice and quiet for me!

But come in May 😉

Lived on the west coast all my life, and the worst midges I have ever experienced were at linn of dee in Aberdeenshire last month. Horrific.

As scotroutes said, we manage to ride all year, don't worry about it. I've been biking for about 12 years, and can count on one hand the amount of times that midges have been detrimental to rides.

MTFU.

I suspect some on this thread have never experienced the apocalyptic levels of midge that can happen! 😆 talk of repellents is utterly futile! It's all about the physical barrier! 😀

I'd avoid May - August inclusive.

😆

These threads never cease to amaze me.

They're basically just a way of identifying all the STWers who would be first to perish in a zombie apocalypse or perhaps even just some inclement weather.

all the STWers who would be first to perish in a zombie apocalypse or perhaps even just some inclement weather.

Having encountered dense swarms of midge inside my bivvy bag under that rail pedestrian underpass at the foot of Beinn Na Lapp. Nothing seems intolerable anymore.

[quote=peterfile ]
These threads never cease to amaze me.
They're basically just a way of identifying all the STWers who would be first to perish in a zombie apocalypse or perhaps even just some inclement weather.
Midges and snow. It's a wonder anyone even survives north of Carlisle.

scotroutes - Member
...And we manage to ride bikes all year.

But we're not fresh meat to the midgies. 🙂

Midges and snow. It's a wonder anyone even survives north of Carlisle.

Hmm, maybe WE are the Zombie Apocalypse.... 🙂

Don't stop, don't exhale, don't bare your skin to the world. Few things in life are less dignified than a grown man attempting to pitch a tent or fix a puncture on a still summer's evening and morphing into a squealing girly running round in circles with windmilling arms whilst praying for the merciful release of death.

Argyll & Lochaber are particularly 'interesting', the sky really can darken above your head if conditions are right for the wee ****ers. If you are camping, a large smoky campfire is probably most effective. Midge hoods are also good if donned early enough (Crewe Junction). Be careful of using certain repellents, such as jungle formula, near resin watch straps, they melt!

Enjoy your trip.

You should avoid June -September and cycle on the east coast. Use both Skin so soft and Smidge, plus Jungle Formula as an optional extra. Wear a midge net at all times with gloves, long sleeves and bib tights to make sure there is no exposed flesh. Smoke continuously throughout the trip. Never stop,never let the pace fall below 20mph and you should be fine. If that doesn't work nip over to Faslane and press the biggest red button you can find.

😆

Eaten to bits yesterday afternoon in Rothiemurchus. Surprised how midgy for mid October...

So I was in the highlands about 6 weeks ago creating the [url=

Coast 500 film[/url] ( [url=

- public but yet to be 'launched'). There were plenty of midges all the way round, however they didn't [i]once[/i] find the cyclists unless they stopped. And because they were doing 100mi/day, there weren't many stops anyway. So if you're riding out there, and don't plan on 'loitering' much, you'll not have an issue at all.

From a crew point of view - being totally honest - about two minutes after we jumped out of the truck they located us. Repellent didn't really do anything. Well it might have, to some extent, but I [i]BATHED[/i] in it daily and they were not repelled. If you wear long sleeves and a hood(ed jacket) they seem to leave you alone. I found them biting in/around my head was the worst.

edit: ps I should mention we were all using the strongest jungle formula AND avon

Generally never bothered by midges, but one notable time sticks in my mind. Had a stupid crash 5 years ago and was trying to bend my front wheel back into a rideable shape whilst every midge in the forest gnawed on me and my friend (who was unimpressed that I'd caused them to become midge-food). Was applying anti-itch cream for the next week 🙁
Apparently they don't like garlic or chilli as it's sweated out, and most of my food has either or both in liberal doses, so that may be what keeps them away from me most of the time. Or luck.

edit: ps I should mention we were all using the strongest jungle formula AND avon

lolz, noob. Jungle Formula is useless and Avon Skin So Soft just drowns them. Smidge ftw

Smidge is brilliant stuff. Avon Skin so soft has never really worked for me.

Midges are also evident South of the Border - at a Keilder 100 event some years ago, after the prize giving the MT rescue guys were leaving and switching on the headlights of their cars revealed clouds and clouds of midges. At which point everyone realised it wasn't just them suffering and that there was no escape.

They are TPITA but a good excuse to smoke a fat Havana!

Piss off, there are no "best months"!

I'm a a midgie free environment, they just don't like me at all. They'll settle on me but very rarely bite. Something I just love telling people at the roadside or standing outside a bothy. Anyway, I've heard people swear by the following, in no particular order
- Citronella oil (the candles do seem to keep them away when lit)
- Avon Skin So Soft
- Smidge
- Rubbing yourself regularly with a sheet of Bounce (that fabric conditioner stuff)
- Eating garlic
- Nets

I've also heard people swear about most of the above

every time someone says skin so soft only drowns them, god kills a kitten

I work in the perfume industry and for years I've been trying to work out what it is in Skin so Soft that works. Avon would love to drop the Woodland Fern (or whatever it's called) variant but can't because it sells so well.

There's only a small percentage of citronella in the perfume formulation so my best guess, having seen how it works while waiting for punctures to be fixed in woodland, is that the strong fougere (fern in French) odour confuses the midges because it resembles the natural smell of their environment and masks the CO2, octanol and odour given off by humans and animals, which the female needs to bite to get blood so as to be able to reproduce. It does seem to keep them away rather than just prevent them from biting once they've landed on you.

Failing that, you need DEET, a rather nasty molecule that is excreted in your urine for 48 hours after you've applied it to your skin. DEET comes in all kinds of bases such as mineral oil, petroleum jelly, lotion and so on at up to 25% dosage if I remember.

We've found mosquito coils quite good; just two or three burning around the tent really do keep them away and inside the tent they kill the midges, but unfortunately the smoke also gives me bronchitis.

I've lost count of the numbers of family camping and climbing holidays we cut short when I was a kid. Several books have been written about the effect of the midge on Scotland's economy because they discourage tourism and prevent people from working outdoors. Go in May when the weather is often in anticyclonic conditions and sunburn can be a risk, keep moving and stay in bothies and you'll be fine.

Vit B seems to help

Marmite is good in that respect. Make sure you slap on a good think even coverage though, I think its probably best to apply two coats.

Midges have never really impacted significantly on my overall enjoyment of being in the Highlands and they probably won't on yours either. There's way too much good to be outweighed by such annoyances. That's not to say that you won't suffer a little bit but it's all relative.

I have had some horrible encounters at Torridon and on Skye but by far the worst attack, yes attack was a fortnight ago in the Lairig Ghru. They were like super midges with the rage virus. I've never known anything like it and the other alternative strategy for dealing with this situation that no one else has mentioned so far - running away didn't work either. I couldn't shake them off and this was further up than the lovely rideable part of the Ghru. I enjoyed hitting that at speed even more that day.

I'm a forestry surveyor, so spend all summer and winter out on my own, on my feet, in the Highlands.

Smidge works really well, what it does is it stops them landing and biting, but they'll still swarm around you. I can live with that.

What I find worse that the midges sometimes are the bigger black-coloured flies. Nothing will stop them, no repellents, nada. Huge swarms at times hundreds strong. And it's not because I don't wash, I'm in the river at least every month.

What about clegs or horse flies? They hurt! At least they're easy to swat.

Aye obelix, those black buggers are grim, and they are a lot faster than midges, so harder to get away from.

Clegs are the worst though, bastards were biting me through my clothes on Arran in July.

Mull is where ordinary highland midges have been selectively bred to become weaponised by a secret Biological warfare program. Had to abandon a tent there once and retreat inside a car, only to get loads of the buggers coming in through the air vents.

Roughed it for a week in highlands few years ago. Used ULTRATHON , developed for us navy seals to use in mangroves.can buy it off ray mears website or military issue equivellent in plain package off eBay for lot cheaper.
Costly but only stuff I've used that really works.

Ultrathon is yet another repellent with DEET but is has a higher dosage at 35%. Boots sell it.

If you have any concerns, or lack of testicular fortitude, I would stay away.

The trails were far to busy this week with families on half term up here. I would like clearer trails, rivers and hills please.

Aye, clegs too, Scotland has it all...

I'm wary of DEET-containing products. While deemed safe by the US's FDA, I'm still sceptical about their proclamations. Been found to have effects on neurotransmitter-related enzymes in other animals, so I'd rather take my chances with the Smidge, as it works well enough.

Saw a story (might have been on here) about someone rock-climbing on a summer highland evening without any repellents. Got swarmed by midges while halfway up a rockface. Can't think of a worse situation to be in! You need your wits about you, have to reach (exposing the softer skin), and can't escape to anywhere. Blood hell!

I was half way up the front face of the Inn Pin and getting eaten by midges.

It's definitely distracting.

For the umpteenth time Avon Skin so Soft is not a repellent

It seemed to work for me, though I did end up with a great deal of road kill along my arms and legs when cycling up the east coast.

There's no predicting it though - I did a lovely day ride in Ayrshire last July and wasn't bothered by midges at all.

Saw a story (might have been on here) about someone rock-climbing on a summer highland evening without any repellents. Got swarmed by midges while halfway up a rockface. Can't think of a worse situation to be in! You need your wits about you, have to reach (exposing the softer skin), and can't escape to anywhere. Blood hell!

I've reached a number of belays on long mountain multi pitches and when you get there and they are often damp, cramped and precarious stances where you've got no room to wiggle and you're basically stood still for 30 minutes being eaten alive, unable to move or use your hands. 👿

Long trousers, tops and head nets are absolutely essential.

That's not the worst thing that you can find at a belay though 🙁

I was half way up the front face of the Inn Pin and getting eaten by midges.

That's not the worst thing that you can find at a belay though

Camping in midge season teaches you to strategise setting up and taking down. Also running around to shake them off before you dive catflap style into the tent at night. At Torridon, even with this, after the third day I need to turn the tent inside out and shake the bastards out.

I always carry an aerosol can of insecticide.

Scotland tour, day one:
Found a lovely pub overlooking a small loch for an evening meal. The outside tables were all free so we went inside to order and wondered why there was a very smokey fire going inside in August

How does something as small as a midge eat you? We were inside long before the food came out

Secret life of midgies starting in half an hour. bbc 1 (dunno if just scotland.)

350 million midges per person! 😆

can' fly in 5mph wind or below 8C. don't like anything more than very light rain!

We picked up the 2,000 Trillion possible midges in Scotland figure.....