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Can anyone offer me some advice in dealing with midges/gnats (I think that's what they're called). Their bite is causing a pretty nasty long lasting welt and I'm fed up with them. I'm not sure where else these exist, but I'm living in Grand Junction, CO and they're thick as molasses!

So please, if you any experience with preventing the bite or how to deal with the bite it would be greatly appreciated.

Nick

Wear a hat with build in mosquito net, like this: http://www.huntandhide.com/images/Camou ... ap-hat.jpg

Last summer I was hiking in Scotland and the midges were pretty awful. We heard about people wearing these kind of hats but thought they were overreacting.

Boy were we wrong.

I used lots of DEET, and it seemed to work for 30 seconds. After that they seemed to adapt and stung right through.

And set up your tent in a windy area, they don't like that.

Midges nor gnats do not bite! They are a flying around your head nuisance but they do not bite. My Wife works down at the Lake and is constantly buzzed by them all day long. Not once has she been bitten.

Black Flies on the other hand do. Use "OFF" as I do at the local crags here where them critters are constantly in the attack mode. Keeps them away.


After the bite, put some of this on the itchy welts. Works for me at relieving the insistent itching.

Scottish midges bite, believe me.

But, according to Wiki there are several subspecies: some bite, some don't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midge

BrunoM wrote:Scottish midges bite, believe me.

But, according to Wiki there are several subspecies: some bite, some don't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midge

Damn right they do . I've been covered in their bites many a time.

Don't know if you can get this in the States, but a product called Skin so Soft, made by Avon, works pretty good.

Midges here do not bite. They will go in your eyes and ears tho'...which is always a delight. Especially the ears. That will make you crazy in about 11 seconds. DEET works here. Skintaskic, too.

I found a trick with green head flies which may work with biting Midges. We get green head flies in Vermont and their sting will put a quarter sized welt on you. So, stand with your back against a tree. They give up and leave after about 30 seconds. I'm not joking. These critters are stupid.

FortMental wrote:
Are you insane?

I've been attacked by clouds of these fuckers. So much so that I once almost drove my boat over a sand bar trying to get away from them. These vicious, fuck-wad, cock-smokers of the insect world will force you into dislocated shoulders as you try to windmill them away from your head.

Fortmental...

There are biting and non-biting midges as well as biting black flies.

The biting midges are in fact "Sand Flies" and look like a fly.

The non-biting midges actually are commonly mistaken for mosquito's. Tow distinctively different shapes.

As Tigerlilly posted, DEET usually takes care of both the Sand Flies and the Black Flies.

Many a hard climber has been both eaten and beaten by the dreaded Scottish Midge. They are so small, they get everywhere. A Scottish member of Parliament even brought the subject to the notice of the government to try to find a way to eliminate them. Though spare a thought for Caribou, mosquitos drive them crazy. Nature is a cruel beast.

Speaking of DEET and it's effectiveness or ineffectiveness. I purchased a small insect repellant spray this weekend that has 98% DEET. I haven't had the chance to use it yet but I'm wondering if there are any users out there that have had any luck with it. I know the stuff I normally use has something like 25% DEET.

Do not spray it on any of your nylon or Gore-Tex clothing as it will melt it.

Be careful when applying it.

The Chief wrote:Do not spray it on any of your nylon or Gore-Tex clothing as it will melt it.

Be careful when applying it.

Thanks for the heads up chief.

FortMental wrote:

tigerlilly wrote:Midges here do not bite.

Are you insane?


There's only one way to not get bitten by a midge. MOVE TO THE DESERT!

dakotaconcrete wrote:Speaking of DEET and it's effectiveness or ineffectiveness. I purchased a small insect repellant spray this weekend that has 98% DEET. I haven't had the chance to use it yet but I'm wondering if there are any users out there that have had any luck with it. I know the stuff I normally use has something like 25% DEET.

Keep it off of any plastics. That includes cameras, fly lines, and I have heard it can be harsh on climbing gear. But the shit does work. I don't use the spray stuff, but I do use the wipe on DEET. Put it everywhere they tell you not to in an amount that is ten times more than they tell you is safe and the shit will work.

Warning: what you are about to read, may offend some readers.

alright alright alright... jeeez.

(ahem, clear throat) What my neighbors here call, "Midges" are the size of a pencil dot. They're happiest when they have flown up your nose. They come out at sunset and have an affinity for lawnmower sounds. Annoying but completely harmless.

The Fuck-wad Cock-smokers, are what we call, less colorfully, "fuckers!" aka, "Sand Flies"