Avon Skin So Soft did nothing for me...but a) the midges love me above all other creatures, and b) we camp in places with notoriously bad midge infestations. I am a glutton for punishment, clearly.
I can't stand the feel, taste or smell of Jungle Formula or the revolting Deet. I'd rather endure the bites, than wear that stuff.
We swear by Smidge...
After learning of its existence from these forums last year, we took it with us to the banks of La Dordogne.
.... It was THAT GOOD, we didn't even need to take it out of the nik-naks box!!
It's still there, coming with us on every camping trip we make, patiently waiting for us to show it some attention!!
... Not that I'm in any rush to see just how good it is!
why do people talk about going to Scotland as if that pinpoints where you're headed, ie like it's a region ? :/ Scotland is a country ! Some regions of Scotland have a midgie problem others don't - where exactly are you heading & when ?
Bad Penny, the OP has already stated where they are staying and when, both in their signature and in replies to others.
Every other poster has pinpointed their own experience in various areas of Scotland as well.
I don't see what the issue is, we often go to France and Italy too and that is what we tell people, both of these are countries rather than regions, but we don't necessarily pinpoint where we are going, unless it is relevant to the conversation or someone asks.
The main issue was the fact that the OP was needing advice on midge repellent, presumably the OP had already found out that the areas they are going to had a midge problem, there were no assumptions made that this affected the whole of Scotland.
Jane.
------------- Enjoying life beyond kids, new love, living on a boat and a new lease of life in my mid 50s! Never too old to reinvent yourself.....
Mum to five - 4 girls, 31,28,25 and 22 and one boy, 20
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Arisaig is generally not bad for midgies. Gairloch can be bad...but it depends on the weather (wet, still & cool and it is a nightmare - dry, slight breeze & warm and they go into hiding).
Smidge did nothing for me. Skin so soft works for me, but needs reapplying regularly & only stops them biting, not being annoying! Campfires keep the temperature up and the smoke deters them. Plus citronella is meant to help & smells nice! Make sure you seal up your tent early evening to stop you having to sleep in a cloud of them!
If all of that fails & you do get bites some people just get a wee red mark that is a bit itchy for a few hours...others (including me!) get large marks that are very itchy for 2-3 days. If bitten I take antihistamines which keeps the itch at bay.
Google Avon Skin so Soft, this works better than Deet (which rots tent fabric if it gets on it). Avon do not sell it has a repellant, its just accidental that it works. The squaddies up in Scotland use it. You can buy it for 2.50 a bottle, but enterprising people in Scotland are selling it for ten quid a bottle, cheers4now
Dave,
Quote: Originally posted by Dave1950 on 12/8/2014Good day,
Google Avon Skin so Soft, this works better than Deet (which rots tent fabric if it gets on it). Avon do not sell it has a repellant, its just accidental that it works. The squaddies up in Scotland use it. You can buy it for 2.50 a bottle, but enterprising people in Scotland are selling it for ten quid a bottle, cheers4now
Dave,
.. But when you do Google "Skin so soft", click on "Search Tools" and swap "Any Time" for "Past Year".
There are those who suggest Avon have "Improved" the formula, and didn't give a hoot about midges!!
Someone on here had a very telling photo too, I recall!!
Quote: Originally posted by tentaddict7 on 09/8/2014Bad Penny, the OP has already stated where they are staying and when, both in their signature and in replies to others.
Every other poster has pinpointed their own experience in various areas of Scotland as well.
I don't see what the issue is, we often go to France and Italy too and that is what we tell people, both of these are countries rather than regions, but we don't necessarily pinpoint where we are going, unless it is relevant to the conversation or someone asks.
The main issue was the fact that the OP was needing advice on midge repellent, presumably the OP had already found out that the areas they are going to had a midge problem, there were no assumptions made that this affected the whole of Scotland.
Jane.
Hi Jane, sorry I don't understand what you mean about the signature, but should have perhaps ben able to work it out by reading all the replies.
However I do find that generally speaking most people travelling from Scotland to England don't just say `I'm going to England' - they say which county (at the very least) however it doess seem the majority of folks going from England to Scotland don't specify - which rather seems to assume that Scotland is pretty much the same all over/not very big/both !
I didn't bother to add my own felings about midge repellant earlier as it's been pretty much covered - differing opinions & who can say which it `right' ? - only what filks have found right for them... I personally think that may well be dependent on how bad the midgies are at that particular time in that particular place as well as how well or badly the individual copes. Some folks just react far worse than others.
Anyway didn't mean to be grouchy (though I do get hacked off when Scotloand is consistently treated as a wee region of Britain) so sorry if if seemed an unfounded grouch ... & my personal recommendation is NETS ! When the midgies are really bad (& they can be bad in Invernessshire & the East too - it's totally dependent on the climatic conditions & the actual environment & both east & west have areas that are midgie nirvana) none of these repellants will keep the blighters off.
can I suggest coming to the east of Scotland our midgies are not nearly as pesky as the west coast ones and the eastern highlands are very beautiful as well.
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Topic: Midges
