Battling the Midge
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- Some help and advice to those coming to the Scottish Highlands and are concerned about the voracious appetite of the Highland Midgie.
Recommended repellent: Smidge. www.smidgeup.com
Jerba Campervans: www.jerbacampervans-shop.co.uk
Magnetic Tape: www.amazon.co.uk
I'm based in the Scottish Highlands and I use a VW campervan to access the great outdoors, where I climb hills, ride my e-bike or gravel bike and just visit some of those places I've never been to. I've been climbing hills and mountains all over the world for 50 years and I'm a former editor of Climber Magazine and The Great Outdoors Magazine.
#camping #campervan #ebikes
I am a native to the lakedistrict and I can defiantly say the midges are no where near as bad as those in Scotland. Having said that though, my husband and I will never stop visiting the Scottish Highlands, which we absolutely love with or without midges!
I used your magnetic tape / midge mesh idea on our VW Caddy Maxi last week in time for a couple of nights in Royal Deeside. Top idea! Fresh air and nae biting beasties. Thanks!
The US Marines use an Avon product that we frequently use that seems to work it's the green skin so soft. We've had good results from it. Thanks for the video....
Coming in late August 2024. Looking forward to seeing the beautiful scenery and meeting the people. Steering clear of the NC500 this year in our motorhome. But will come back in a car for the NC500 in a couple of years.
Great idea for the window, next job for my camper. I take a wee fan ( USB rechargeable) with me when I am out on the hill, and switch it on when I am having my"piece" as eating with a net on is not so easy. great wee video again. many thanks for sharing ATB
I’ve had good results using the anti midge cream from MaryJean in Fochabers. All natural and has some type of plant in it which the midgies hate.
Went up to the west coast to applecross midge hell.
They got into my tent had a feast on me stayed in my tent when I got home they settled in .I've been bit all week .smidge didn't work
Totally agree with with that.
Thank you for the timely advice Cameron ! last year on Skye we had a few midges we were completely unprepared for ! but we survived. This year at the start of september we are back there for a fortnight, better prepared this time, thanks to experience, your great advice, plus a few citronella candles ! 🤣 leave only footprints folks. 😁
Hi Cameron. Thanks for the idea of the window midge net. Just done the same to ours. Hopefully it'll keep the little b*****s at bay😁👍
Midges are a pain however the Scottish clegg or horse fly can drawn blood. A couple of years ago I was walking from Rannoch station to Kings house. The cleggs ruined the day.
Alan I'm fully in agreement with you on the Clegs they are viscous little Barstewards
Agree about Smidge👍🏽 Also use Smokin’ Midge (similar concept to Coil) but in a sweet tin with holes in 👍🏽
Citronella incense is a good repellent.
I have a west dubs pop top - and the side nets being slightly open keep them at bay too - so no need to use the window solution that looks interesting.
I also carry and use Avon oh so soft, which works for me - but apparently not for all.
And I have those wonderful headnets. They look so fetching in the middle of the night.
Hi Cameron, check out Webbnet Flyscreens, they do made to measure midge screens that fit your sliding door so you can leave the door open if you need plenty of air in the van on a hot night.
We'll be up in Scotland for our Annual dose of Midgies. We have found that Avon Soft on Skin is very good too and reducing the number of love bits that you get from them. Were we stop for a fortnight we are near boggy ground and when the wind shifts from off shore then they little darling come to say hello in a very Enthusiastic way.
Not tried Smidge although I have seen it. I have used Jungle formula and not sure if it is any better than the Soft on Skin, which was much cheaper when you look at volume and cost.
I’ve bought some soft on skin following rave reviews from friends. But, as my other comment says, I’ve had no midges this year so haven’t had a chance to try it. But if it works it’s far cheaper than smidge etc.
You are so right I know how bad they are but indeed it does keep the masses away . By the way love your new van.
Another great video, just completed your fantastic autobiography there's always the hills. Superb
Thanks Colin, delighted you enjoyed it. The second part of the 'memoirs trilogy' Come By the Hills came out in 2020 and in October this year the third and final part will be published, An Eye To The Hills.
Great tips Cameron. You had a cap on and that’s essential to keeping the midge net off yer bake!!
Nice job on your window Cameron, loving your new van. We have the midge screens from Jerba they are good if a bit pricey.
Bloody hell, why did I watch this?
After a midge free fortnight on the Hebrides we returned to the mainland and spent a night in a C&CC site near Oban. The site was in a walled garden next to woodland with a stream and was jam packed full of midges. It was bad enough while the sun was out but when the sun went down there were so many midges that you had to swim through them. We put on the smidge, lit the citronella night lights and made sure that the mosquito nets were up on the camper windows. All went well until it was time for the dogs to have their late night leak. Without thinking I opened the door in just some shorts and sandals and stepped outside.
I was bitten all over in seconds and it took weeks for the bites to stop itching. I also let some midges into the van and my wife was also bitten, it took weeks for her to stop moaning about it.
Watching this has brought it all back and now I'm itching all over even though I have seen a midge or a mozzie all day.
One was to keep the little b@$%@rds off at night is to position a fan at the end of your bed as they avoid the moving air. It works for mosquitoes as well.
Ken MacRae
I live in Queensland where the mozzies are really bad. I just bought a new Marcopolo Activity and have installed 3 Sirocco fans and factory mozzie nets for the 2 side doors & tailgate.It’s all costing a fortune but hopefully worth it when summer comes.
Great advice Cameron, I've been starter, main & dessert on many occasions! Use similar tactics, the green coils are great.
Great idea I was eaten alive down Glen Etive a couple of weeks ago
Hi Cameron, Have a look at Sarahs Mosquito Nets, they look quite good, made to measure your side door so good for during the day, thinking of getting one for my VW. Loving the new van
Last episode you said that there were compromises with every van and no van is perfect. Obviously with a pop top, you wouldn't have the midge problem, whilst getting ventilation at night but as you have found that pop tops have different problems, particularly in high winds, whilst high tops have others, like access under height restrictions etc.
Just enjoy what you have at the time ?
Spot on Steve. Campervans are all about compromise. I had two Hyundai Wellhouse conversions and didn't really have a great issue with midges. Why? Because the pop-top side panelling has midge netting installed, not mosquito netting but a much denser weave. On the negative side, the pop top flapped about in any kind of breeze keeping me awake at night. Compromise, compromise, compromise. You're so right - just enjoy what you have.
V helpful video, thanks, especially the 'here's one i made earlier' demo of the side window screen. Will be plagiarising that before long.
I am a victim of the midge, recently I have taken to taking an anti histamine tablet to reduce the irritation from the bites. I also use Smidge.
Stay East in Moray and Aberdeenshire and no problems, we go west come winter.🏴🏴
Love it Cameron but like you, a native Scot (73 years), the midge is a huge infernal nuisance and rather than "manage" the problem, we avoid it! Scotland is spectacularly beautiful, and I admire your attempts to keep the midge at bay, but they are a b***** and spoil many a trip. To be fair 6 weeks ago we were mauled overnight by mossies in Dordrecht in the Netherlands - the marina-side pitch seemed great during the day, the sun set, we went to bed, and woke up covered in mossie bites which is far worse we find than the midge
!
Not an Avon fan then Cameron? :D You should get the Midge hat that folds out and has the net hanging down around the sides, with a toggle to tighten around the neck. Think I got mine in Tiso, highly recommended.
No, the Avon stuff doesn't work too well for me, but it does make me smell better.
Hi Cameron. You're video got me thinking. We're waiting on a camper van getting delivered, and I'm wondering now if the netting on the windows is, as standard, not going to be fine enough to stop the midgie? What about some fine midgie proof netting cut to size over the original mesh, and held in place both sides by magnets? Do you think that would work? Thx, Stevie
Hi Cameron we had our mosquito nets, midge nets fitted by webnet
Check out our video on CZcams on them being fitted to our van
Storm in a transit van
Best regards Allan
A sprig of bog myrtle in your lapel.
Please may I ask were you purchased the coils from, thanks ...
Hi Susan, you should be able to get them in any good outdoor shop, Tiso, Cotswolds, Go Outdoors, Mountain Warehouse etc.
@@CameronMcNeishOutdoors Thankyou 👌
Maybe just drink a lot everynight to dull the pain?
I go to Brazil yearly and the mosquitoes there eat you alive,you have to close everyrhing and stick the aircon down to 17c which will make em dizzy!
Be up in August will be prepared thanks for the advice 🪰
People recommend Avon Skin so Soft, but I find I react more to that than to midge bites. My wife reacts badly to the bites and finds those bite clicker things, after she has been bitten, stop her reacting too badly.
I don’t know what’s going on in 2022 but it’s now mid July and I’ve yet to be bitten by a single midge! In 65 years of living in Scotland I’ve never known a year like it. We’ve just had a week living in a log cabin in a West Highland forest above a burn - prime midge territory, but no sign of them. I do have a net and use smidge but neither have been needed so far. Mosquitoes, cleggs and ticks, now that’s a different matter!
I think it's the wind Alan. I've never known an early summer to be so breezy, and as you'll know, the midges hate the wind. Long may it continue.