Midges in Scotland | camping, bike-packing, backpacking

Tips and advice for bike-packing and backpacking with Scottish midges from someone who lives in the Scottish Highlands.
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[FoobsTon]

Grew up on the West Coast of Scotland... Remember long summer nights playing football in the street... Wearing a home knitted balaclava...to keep the buggers off!

[gcsScotland]

Those wee cones look excellent - remember green bits of midge coil all over the place!!

[davidcaush]

I have just recently returned from Ride to the Sun and in preparation for that ride I started taking Vitamin B1, everyday for two weeks prior to the ride. I wasn’t bothered by the midges at all.

[Buszkraftowski]

Hello. I was twice times in Scotland, I was so lucky with the Midges. (once August/September and once April May). Did not have often Midges and did not once need my head net :)

[RohanTheBT]

I still take the coils you gave me many years ago. Fortunately only a few midges on our trip back in June and they were in Glenmore Forest

[seltunkoko]

In India, we trust Odomos cream/spray. It's been extensively tested and has an outstanding reputation for repelling mosquitoes and midges. As always ❤

[jedtayloruk]

I always use the ‘smokin midge’. Works very well in my experience, just strap the tin to your arm and light the little joss cone.

[Jackdanalf]

Love Scotland . I can put up with mosquitos, Tetse flies whose bites are painful, horse flies, no see-ums, Asian Hornets, wasps and stinging ants . Nee bother.
Scottish Midge does my head in . Unfortunately I get a reaction to their tiny bites and come out in hives.
I persevere.. keep moving mantra . Avoid July /August .
Find the chemical deterrents marginal in effectiveness for me .
Ok whilst cycling, ok whilst walking .. keep moving.
Awful when camping . Oh the joy of wearing a head net to eat your evening meal.
This year has been particularly bad I think .. we have even started to get them at home in our garden in Northumberland.. possibly our wet Spring/Summer .
The worse thing is the beautiful still sunny morning in July…after days of wind/rain/dreich/dull overcast skies . You finally crawl out of your tent to take in some rays of sunshine only to be eaten alive by the cloud of midge.
Genuinely puts me off Scotland .
I couldn’t live in the Highlands .I think you deserve a medal for putting up with midge.

[Bazza]

Here in Kincraig we're not that bad for them, but we have the worst birch flies anywhere in Scotland (their bites draw blood and I give my almost daily dook in Loch Insh a miss for a week or two when they emerge April/May). Midges have ruined many a fine sea kayak trip too- sea breeze all day then the wind dies as you make supper and out they come- that lovely sunset watched through mesh really ruins it! I'm thinking of heading to Moray and the North East/Aberdeenshire for my next bikepacking trip as I really can't be done with the midges in the West/North West anymore. It's a pity ticks are everywhere, and I'm wondering if products like Sawyer Permethrin SP649 is illegal in the UK, can't get it anywhere(?) but it can be sprayed on tents, groundsheets, bivvies etc and will keep ticks from coming near you as you sleep (that's really off putting- a bivvy out under the stars even without midges on ground where ticks are present ??No thanks...!!)

[marcproudfoot]

We have them out in our back garden (Argyll & Bute) but not in large clouds like I experience in the highlands. They are a nuisance but it’s ticks that I’ve had most bother with this year.

[andygolborne]

This little biting bastards are all over now. Lakes Dales and North Wales are grim at dusk. Some climbing crags are particularly desperate in the summer months. Smidge is pretty good as a repellent in my experience.

[HughDWallace]

The midge is the only insect that can irritate you to death! Smidge & a head net are the only things I've found that work. DEET is just too scary!

[davejack]

As always, great content. Sadly this comes out *after* I spend 5 weeks in Scotland. Just kidding. I think for anyone used to flies that bite you the highland midge is going to be familiar but different. in Canada, nobody would believe that such a small fly is a force to be reckoned with. West coast(Mull and Ardnamurchan peninsula I am looking at you) was far worse than the east or northern parts of the Highlands.

[plum]

I believe it is spelled "Picaridin"

[oot-n-aboot]

Ahhh...yes, the wee beasties. They’re definitely annoying, but, as you say, they’re an intricate part of the Highland ecosystem. On my last bikepacking trip there, I found it was also helpful to eat or brush my teeth whilst walking around at a speed with which they couldn’t keep up. Not perfect, but it didn’t make me tent bound when I wanted to stretch me legs and I couldn’t wear my headnet. 

Have you found the midgey smoke is really effective? I love the idea.

[chrispietryga]

They do say if you kill one midge a hundred will come to its funeral.

[mulacdm]

Weirdly, I've just spent 2 nights on Strontian campsite and they were barely there. Still air, and a bit overcast. Have you killed them all?

[dewindoethdwl]

A fortnight ago I came back from two weeks leave on Seil, near Oban including a few days on Mull. All the conditions suggested midge attack; warm, no wind, damp. I had the usual kit to avoid or deal with being fed upon. Not a single midge or cleg in sight!! Fifty odd years of visiting the west coast and I’ve never had this happen. Another example of climate change affecting the ecosystem??

[bvbv]

Be far more concerned about the Ticks!