A couple of years ago, following some discussion in the MBA Newsletter about midge repellents, I was kindly sent a free sample of MozzyOff. I found it works for me 
So, heading up to Essan next weekend I decided I best buy myself some more. I had a look on the internet and found a number of places sold it. One, although not the cheapest (not the most expensive either), was Gale - the Gairloch & Loch Ewe Action Forum.
http://www.highlandwelcome.co.uk/
GALE, or Gairloch and Loch Ewe Action forum, is a community owned and managed charitable development company. Its key aim is to develop and improve the way of life and standard of living in the Gairloch and Loch Ewe area. This involves working with a range of community groups and volunteers to develop sustainable community projects that tackle important issues within our community, such as improving the social life, the local economy and the environment. I like supporting local Highland communities. So I ordered my MozzyOff from Gale on Saturday, and it arrived today - with a nice handwritten note thanking me for my order and commenting that MozzyOff worked for the person sending the order.
That's nice. Efficient and friendly, personal, service and therefore I'd like to recommend Gale to everyone else
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| Edited: 10/06/08 19:53 |
 Someone told me that the Australian stuff is good - it's called something like 'Buggeroff' I think. No, not me trying to be funny or rude at all here - it is really actually apparently named like that! It is a super-strong mozzie repellent from the OZ bush - advertised out there I think by The Bushtucker Man I think I recall hearing; he does that bit from his old show talking about the big mozzies out there the size of aircraft. The story where the mozzie lands at the refullling line for the aircraft, and before the blokes there notice they've put thirty gallons of fuel into it! 
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| Edited: 10/06/08 20:17 |
 Interesting, dont think I've heard of mozzyoff before. Hope it's better than the Autan stuff I was using in the Lost Valley this morning - it didn't work - they were tiny little beasties that you could only see if there were enough of them. or one bit you. And they bit me. Autan did, however, work on Loch Tay midges the other day.
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| Edited: 10/06/08 20:47 |
I think different repellants work differently for different people (hence conflicting reports on the efficency of Avon's skin so soft range - it's a case of trying them all until you find the right one. That said, I do prefer something which uses natural ingredient rather than the likes of Deet.
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Deet actually apparently dates back to the Vietnam war era in fact! It was originally cobbled together to help protect the US troops deployed there to fight in the mid nineteen sixties 1965/66 - damn! It is as old as I am! Here is that link again from the other month on the next generation of mosi repellents being developed now - link from the Yahoo news a short time back ago.
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| Edited: 10/06/08 21:51 |
 DEET is older than that Trevor. The US military introduced it in 1946 and it became available for the general public in 1957. Gale is also another name for bog myrtle (Myrica gale), which midges don't like. There used to be a midge repellent called Myrica but I haven't seen it for a few years.
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Wow! Thanks for the corrected info there Chris - just goes to show you cannot trust the info in old US outdoors/military magazines then doesn't it just - as well as a lot of the stuff out there on the internet, as everyone always says.
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| Edited: 10/06/08 22:06 |
'DEET was developed by the United States Army, following its experience of jungle warfare during World War II. It entered military use in 1946 and civilian use in 1957. Originally tested as a pesticide on farm fields, the US Government applied it for war time usage, particularly when in Vietnam and around that region of Asia.' - Taken from the Wikipedia. I guess the researchers for those old magazine articles just jumped to the conclusion it was a Vietnam originated necessity of invention perhaps; as it was first deployed there by the US Army then maybe? It amazes me just how much stuff in my life I read about, then go onto remember, that later turns out to be in fact total bollocks factually! Especially this one, after that medieval archery two-fingered thought 'salute' too of the English archers to the French; showing they are still dangerous as they still have their bow shooting fingers thingy! Turns out that story never existed before the nineteen-seventies - according to QI on tv recently! I think they had the Deet on that coming from the Vietnam war too though! Yet loads of folks think these things fact too, as it is in loads of books and magazines constantly! Someone shoot these crap article copy researchers please; just what damn good are they anyway! OK, rant over; I will calm down now!
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| Edited: 10/06/08 22:20 |
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Maybe I should get some in prep for the next trip... can't be worse than anything else I've tried. Avon S-S-S didn't work on Glen Nevis midges. I'd barely gone 50yards on the gorge path and met a guy walking out wearing a head net. I should have given up at that point. But went on and got midged again. There were swarms of the things. We weren't going to go far, just a stroll, we being Jakey and I. I quickly decided to turn round and go back it was getting so bad. But Jake sat down and when I looked at him his head was covered in the things. Really covered. Poor fella looked at me with a 'mommy...help!' look on his face. I rubbed his head to get the worst off and we walked out of there fast back to the car.
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We'll be staying just outside Gairloch next month, so maybe I'll give MozzyOff a try, especially if it has been developed for the local midges! Have to say I've found Mosi-guard to be pretty good - it is also based on a natural product, lemon eucalyptus oil.
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Headnets just really such essential bits of kit in many places, in these days I feel! 
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| Edited: 12/06/08 23:03 |
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Hmmm. How do you put a head net on a dog?
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 Hmmm. How do you put a head net on a dog? Oh - Jake's a dog, is he? I thought he was one of your kids. Good name, BTW. DEET is a good insect repellent but pretty fierce stuff. It dissolves synthetic materials very efficiently and I do wonder about what it must be doing to your skin if used on a regular basis. I heard (somewhere on this board, I think) about a guy walking in Scotland who was swarmed by midges and sprayed a DEET-based repellent all over his head. Later on it started raining and he put his hood up. When trying to take his jacket off at the end of the walk, the insect rep had melted the goretex hood to his head. I can well believe it, having had a resin watch case badly pitted by 50% DEET after only a couple of hours. Regards Jake
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 Love the marketing on this sort of thing, "made from natural plant oils and free from chemicals", as if the active irritant in, say, deadly nightshade is beneficial and isn't a chemical... This is no comment on Mozzy Off (which I haven't tried), just on marketing and perceptions of what is good and bad. Pete.
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Wasn't just there though sadly Paul.  It is in all of the books of the last few years on origins of 'sayings and phrases' popularly used. They have traced back the origins of dated use of such phrases - like a 'domestic incident or domestic' first ever heard used in an old Z-Cars episode on UK BBC tv! Similarly that two fingers to the French only ever appeared in written form in the 1970's apparently; and not ever anywhere at all before was found used- and even French records sources were extensively searched and studied too looking for its mention; it was not found over there till after the late seventies either to mean that as well!
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| Edited: 13/06/08 22:35 |
I got told about the archers two fingered salute by someone very old who heard it at school. Fiftenth century warfare was pretty savage and the notion that French forces capturing an English archer would only cut 2 of his fingers off rather than simply killing him outright just does not make sense. It is a nice story, though.
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Still I feel it is interesting to read.
to the French!
