Solution for Midges/Mosquitoes and Activation?

Just seen a review for this new combined head net and glasses. NOT TRIED myself. Not cheap mind you…

Worth a look though.

https://midgespecs.net/shop/

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You should be able to manage with a reasonably cheap jacket or hat.

Mrs P (far right) pictured on the extremely remote Thelon River which flows hundreds of miles through the tundra in NWT Canada.

Mozzies and midges = ‘no-see-ums’ as the locals call them occur in their trillions. The mozzies will lick Deet off your skin.

Drop your trousers or undo your flies for a second and they’ve got you!!!

Of course as most know, the best bet is to choose places likely to have a little breeze when you can. I’d suggest the tops of hills, especially SOTA ones… :blush:

Failing that, lots of Scottish drystone wallers swear by 'Avon Skin So Soft" to keep the blighters away.

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For Scotland I use Smidge, better than the Avon stuff and no greasy film on your skin.

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Their heads are covered but the little nasties will find their bare hands and legs soon enough. The only solution is to chicken out and avoid GM summits in summer. As soon as you cross the border, the midges are lying in wait (mainly for sassenachs).

I’ve started using Autan Mosquito & Insect Repellent Pump Spray on my boots to keep the ticks away but I’m not sure I want to spray anything like that on my face, arms and legs for the midges.

I hate cleggs (deer flies) - they sneak up behind you and their bites hurt for ages afterwards.

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As many of us know the little blighters are attracted by the CO2 in our heavy breathing. Tip - stop breathing - that’ll full then :crazy_face:

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Agree you can manage like that… something I’ve done many times. But a standard head net partially obscures your vision. Not good when looking at radio screens or logging.

This offers a potential solution with the advantages of a head net and clear plastic safety glasses integrated together.

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Unless you have sensitive skin allergies, Autan is fine to spray on otherwise unprotected skin - arms. neck and legs if wearing shorts. Aerogaurd is also fine. I wouldn’t spray either on my face though.

73 Ed.

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`i find it quite interesting that people are affected in different ways.

IHorse Flies never really bother me. They bite but I’ve never had any swelling or itchiness afterwards…
I have a canoeing friend who gets ticks and they engorge themselves on him - if he doesn’t notice them - and they swell up like dark grey peas. This has never happened to me. I sometimes find them on me a day or two later and they’re always stayed the same size.

I get tiny red dots on my skin due to midges sometimes.

Mozzy bites give me a fair bit of itchyness but they really bother Mrs P. shown here after attempting a quick body wash in the Missinaibi River in Northern Ontario.

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Gerald

I have a full bug jacket, probably bought online = Mine has a slit roughly across the mouth area so you can eat without taking it off. If I remember it has a very large head covering and I simply put my glasses on to map read and adjusted the slot so I could see through it with my glasses on and my face covered.

Either way, the one you posted looks very good and no improvisation either. For the money iI’m sure its a good idea if you have to wear glasses a fair amount.

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Horse flies are just the worst for me.
Got bitten on the back of the had a few years ago, woke up the next day with a hand the size of a boxing glove!
Got bitten on the elbow in 2019, swelled up a little and went away, followed 2 weeks later by cellulitis all down my forearm, emanating from the bite location.
Both of these in the garden, mowing the lawn!
Midges just seem to make me look like I’ve contracted measles.

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Make smoke! :wink:

Best options: Peat smoke or pipe smoke. Neither is PC!!

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As long as you’re making whisky with it, it’s fine.

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I second Smidge. Midgies are pretty incessant, and they don’t seem to care about things like Deet. Picaridin (Smidge) works well against mosquito and tick and flies, but it is quite literally the only thing that works against midgies.

I never found the head nets to be viable, I find them claustrophobic and obtrusive.

Also, I built a tolerance to midgies, now I don’t swell up nearly as bad as I did the first few times I got feasted upon.

At camp the old fashioned spiral mosquito repellent incense things do work. Oh, and Avon Skin So Soft does nothing but glue the midgies to your skin. Mel Gibson was full of shite.

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Supposedly the formula for the Avon stuff has been changed and is no longer suitable as midge repellent.

I’m glad I had my midge net on Dun da Ghaoithe GM/SI-016! The whole walk had been midge free and then whilst we were at the summit a literal black cloud of wee beasties descended upon us!

I use Smidge or the Lifeventure equivalent (sold as tick repellent) in the smaller pump spray.

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This wasn’t one you constructed on the summit was it?? :blush:

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