Midgies - repellents that work

[spoony]

the only thing i ever found to be effective against Kielders Biting army of midges is

http://www.autan.co.uk/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=1

Off a forest ranger when i was about 14, used it ever since and im nearly 40

 

[the interceptor boy]

cramp balls as smudge fires, also try burning dry onions and garlic leaves together, or if you know someone in australia, that can get you a bit of termite nest. for me its pine atr soap and i dont have a prolbem. mixed pine tar shampoo with pure white alcohol also works. dab on the wrist, ankle and behind the ears, works a treat. or you can have a wee container with smudge sea weed in the front of your canoe, tuna tin with dried sea weed with a lump of burning coal. or if it get worse, caked your face with sludge mud mixed with lemon scent leaves.

 

[Grooveski]

I normaly dress for them in light trews, a baggy long sleeved top, socks. headnet and the lightest of gloves.
Have just ordered some Nordic Summer, we'll see how that goes.

I've never really tried much. Someone gave me a horror story DEET lecture years ago that put me off and I don't much like smearing myself up in anything anyway.
Have seen enough shiny folk running for cover to know that skin-so-soft is hit-or-miss at best.


P.S. Getting above them or out over the water works.

 

[British Red]

Personally staying out of swampy boggy insect ridden dumps works for me

 

[Shewie]

Personally staying out of swampy boggy insect ridden dumps works for me

.... and Scotland ?


No, I can't keep myself away from the place.

 

[Nagual]

A friend just gave me this link :

http://www.geocities.com/sptmbrmrn/mosquito_repellants.htm

Has several things already mentioned here, but lots of others too, quite an interesting read!

 

[Bongo Matt]

"Off" Extra duration - didn´t even get bitten in the Amazon basin which was packed with flying biting creatures! (well except for an encounter with nasty ants stinging ants while carlessly holding a branch). The problem is its run out, now covered in bites again.....

 

[Chinkapin]

midges, mosquitos, and God knows what else are known to be attracted to the CO2 given off in the breath. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do about that. lol.

Deet seems to be recommended by many people. In my experience, don't get 100% deet, your sweat will carry it right off, it just doesn't last very long at all. You are better off getting something that has a lesser amount of Deet and also has some compound to hold it onto the skin.

I think many people have experienced the phenomena of midges and mosquitoes being drawn to one person in the party to the exclusion of others. Body odor must play some role in this.

I had the same results with skin so soft as some of you - - it worked great the first time and then didn't work at all.

The midge jacket or black fly jacket is probably the only sure protection.

 

[British Red]

.... and Scotland ?

Yep - I take no pleasure in being bitten to lumps - its a grim experience. I also hate slathering myself in chemicals.

In midge season there are (to me at least) much nicer places to be.

Scotland can be beautiful but not when the biters are out

Red

 

[Gill]

has aybdy made and tried the Nessmuk concoction ,the recipe is in his book ,he refers to it as a varnish !

 

[Toddy]

Somebody was asking for the pennyroyal oil recently for that. I can get it but it's really, really not good stuff on your skin.

I did try the Mugwort, Sweet Gale and Melissa recipe and it does work but nothing is perfect.........no wonder so many Scottish bushcrafters are also SotP folks, off shore just a wee bit and the blighters leave you well alone.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[JonathanD]

lifesystems stuff seems to do the job for me.

Yeah, works for me too.

 

[Shewie]

I've gone for the Nordic Summer so we'll see how that goes.

Got it from the Woodlore site yesterday morning and it turned up in the post today.

 

[Ricky369]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmr9nWy0i0g&feature=channel_page

About 5 min into the video, talks about natural repellant

Its called yarrow something like this

http://www.urbanscout.org/whiskey-in-the-yarrow/

although he distills of the alcohol

 

[Togger]

Eat plenty of marmite and/or garlic, not neccessarily together. Works a treat.

 

[Hobbit on a String]

lifesystems stuff seems to do the job for me.

Life systems 75% from Blacks is good stuff though it melts synthetic materials, ie plastic,

Found using mouthwash worked, was a tip given to me by a mate from the states, who said it kept the mossies off him, so i tried it,

But ah well these things are for us to try and test.

 

[Steve13]

Another vote here for Nordic Summer got mine from Tamarack last week all natural and works well up to now

 

[RobertRogers]

"old woodsman" formula works well and I enjoy the smell too.