Smidge That Midge.. Does it actually work?

[Nagual]

Okays..


Back again. This is what I did:

Covered arms, hands and face etc and went out into the lush, damp midge infested woods next to the house and sat for a while till the wee buggers were all over the place, as last night Smidge worked at 100% no bites, a few landing on me but soon flying away. A small cloud of midges were all around my head and face.

Back to the house and hosed down both arms for a couple of minutes, I reckon this would be like a gentle swim at the very least. To make things interesting(?) I dried one arm with a towel and air dried the other. This would be what anyone getting wet would do (well they'd dry both arms obviously.. ) and back out to the woods again.

The air dried arm was fine, with none landing on it. The towelled arm was a different story this time, it didn't happen straight away, but after a couple of minutes they were biting.

Now this is interesting as if you were out walking, and got sweaty you would likely wipe off the sweat, thus reducing the Smidges efficency by a large amount. Leave the sweat on and it would probably be okay, but leave you feeling .. well.. sweaty. The next test really should be a strenuous bit of exersise. Thinking about this a bit, if you have it (or any other product) on your face, and you sweat what happens if it goes into your eyes?

 

[Midgeforecast]

Hi there! Glad you are giving Smidge a good test for us! re the waterproof claim, we do recommend reapplying after swimming on the bottle & also to avoid the eyes - like most repellents, it can be an eye irritant. We'll try to get of our scientific testing data up on the web very soon.

 

[Shewie]

I've had really good results from Nordic Summer for the last couple of years now, I tried one of the Don't-bite-me patches at the end of last summer but the wind picked up and the biters cleared off anyway.

I'll keep my eye out for this stuff though as after a few days of NS you get a bit sick of the smell I've found.

 

[nitrambur]

Hi there! Glad you are giving Smidge a good test for us! re the waterproof claim, we do recommend reapplying after swimming on the bottle & also to avoid the eyes - like most repellents, it can be an eye irritant. We'll try to get of our scientific testing data up on the web very soon.

So what you're saying is, reapply after swimming, just as you would the non-waterproof product that's half the price of yours?

 

[Melonfish]

Interesting product. I've used the Highland midge patches so far, only issue is they don't stay stuck! have to sort something about that.

 

[Nagual]

Interesting product. I've used the Highland midge patches so far, only issue is they don't stay stuck! have to sort something about that.

I've found micropore to be quite good at that, or regular elastoplast if you can use it.

 

[Toddy]

What do you mean they didn't stick ??? I couldn't get it off, and when I did, well I think everyone's heard about the mess it left me in.
I've still got most of a pack of them if someone's up for a barter

The Autan smells very pleasant, like a citrusy sort of showergel smell.

cheers,
M

 

[Gailainne]

Don't know about the rest of you, but this from the Autan listing certainly got my attention

and for up to 4 hours from ticks

, I'm a magnet for the little ....things, even wearing a dry suit most of the time at Loch Shiel I picked up 3 :yikes:

I was going to start using permathrin, but this may be a viable alternative 2 for 1, midges and ticks, worth a go.

 

[Shewie]

Don't know about the rest of you, but this from the Autan listing certainly got my attention, I'm a magnet for the little ....things, even wearing a dry suit most of the time at Loch Shiel I picked up 3 :yikes:

Apart from the time you walked into waist high bracken with just a pair of shorts on

 

[jimcall]

I agree with Nagual regarding the effectiveness of Smidge. It really does work for me. I spend a lot of time up at the Red Squirrel in Glencoe and I was lucky enough to receive a complementary can of Smidge and had a nice chat to the people behind the product. They paid a visit to the site along with a BBC team (it was on BBC Breakfast earlier this week). I think the important point I want to make is that it works for me but may not work for someone else. However I was very impressed with it and one application lasted me a good 6 or 7 hours (applied it at the campsite mid afternoon then wandered up and down to the pub returning about 10pm). Not one single bite!

Thats my tuppence worth

Jim

 

[Midgeforecast]

So what you're saying is, reapply after swimming, just as you would the non-waterproof product that's half the price of yours?

Not sure there are any products that survive swimming but try running up a munro with Smidge on in the middle of summer perhaps to give it a real water/sweat proof test?

 

[Midgeforecast]

Hi Jim - thaks for the support! Hugh & Kathleen and very busy with their Smidge so I hear!

 

[marcusleftthesite]

Well I've just ordered some for when I paddle Bala in July,bloody deer flies were a menace there last time and the midges at the camp site in Betws y Coed are a major pain so it'll be a good test.

 

[Tony]

Great thread

I've a question. Do you have to cover every bit of exposed skin for it to be effective? What i've noticed with some is that if you leave a little bit they find it and you get nailed. I usually end up with about 100 bites a year even using deterrents, I'm not doing badly at the moment with about a dozen, mostly around the bottom of my leg where i missed a strip or my sock came down lower.

it would be great to ahve a product that protected you slightly outside of it's physical area, then if you missed a bit you'd probably be ok. then you could also spray a hat and it might protect your forehead etc....

 

[Nagual]

Great thread

I've a question. Do you have to cover every bit of exposed skin for it to be effective? What i've noticed with some is that if you leave a little bit they find it and you get nailed. I usually end up with about 100 bites a year even using deterrents, I'm not doing badly at the moment with about a dozen, mostly around the bottom of my leg where i missed a strip or my sock came down lower.

it would be great to ahve a product that protected you slightly outside of it's physical area, then if you missed a bit you'd probably be ok. then you could also spray a hat and it might protect your forehead etc....

I have a feeling that any missed bits will get munched as the midges, while not eating my exposed arms or face, were landing on my hair and T-shirt etc, just scant mils from the treated skin. Of course I could treat my clothes too. I've yet to see how effective it is against the Evil Tick™ and out here, there is an abundance of them too. I really really don't fancy having to go wandering through the bracken to find out... still could end up giving me more practice with the O'Tom hooks...

Cheers,

 

[Tony]

Yeah, I can't imagine going hunting for tick infestations on the body being a great past time

 

[Nonsuch]

Tried mine now on a couple of occasions and no midge bites

NS

 

[marcusleftthesite]

Just tried a practical test with 'Smidge',not on the midges but on ticks.Covered my legs in the stuff between tops of socks and bottom of shorts and deliberately and very slowly walked through a stretch of ferns thats at leasty half a mile long and is absolutely living in ticks.This is where I got bitten badly last year.http://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/for...ight=tick+bite
Anyhoo,I deliberately did'nt look at my legs until I reached the end of the ferns,I had one on my calf which proceeded to bite and immediatly fall off!!!! So as far as I'm concerned it works and works well