SummitPost.org

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"

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.

DEET works great for disolving PVC! Don't let the stuff get near anything plastic.

tigerlilly wrote: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"

You're obviously a foreigner. We don't have midges anywhere near DC; we have gnats. We don't have sand flies either. We do have them at the nearby beaches, but they are much larger than gnats, though not as large as ordinary flies.

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.

You should be forewarned that DEET works great for many insects, but is totally useless against deer flies. They are slow, though; you can usually swat and kill them effectively.

dakotaconcrete wrote:

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.

There's a special spray for clothing and backpacks. I hike a lot in Canada. Blackflies are the National Bird. Get a couple hundred bites and you won't even be able to sleep unless you take a dip in one of their frozen lakes.

FortMental

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

Yes, you can get in here in the States. I have found Skin So Soft to be very effective. If I somehow manage to get bitten anyway, I've found tea tree oil to quickly erase the itching.

Midge attacks are the main reason that I carry a gun in national parks. They disperse, like the cowards they are, after a few warning shots.

MoapaPk wrote:Midge attacks are the main reason that I carry a gun in national parks. They disperse, like the cowards they are, after a few warning shots.

Yeah.

Anything that runs from gunfire is a coward.

Slightly off subject but why are there so many midges or gnats on random summits? I just did Humphreys Peak in AZ and was covered in gnats and lady bugs at the summit. Do they get blown up there by updrafts? They were mainly just a nuisance but one did bite or sting me on the way down. Just wondering.

I stand corrected. I thought gnats were our baseball team?

tigerlilly wrote:I stand corrected. I thought gnats were our baseball team?

The desert wont save you either, was up by Houston Mesa this past weekend and got eaten alive by these little bastards!