I've Bivied under a tarp several times but in the summer I've always used a tent to avoid the midges.

As it's so nice and dry ATM what are your sleeping in the open midge avoidance for a great nights sleep tips please?

I know about Avon Skin So Soft etc but where's best to sleep in the open and not get eaten to pieces?

Ta JC

Things that help:

Avoid water, lakes, rivers and marshy ground.

Avoid trees like the plague.

Avoid long grass or vegetation.

Avoid low ground, valley bottoms, etc.

High ground is usually good.

Breeze is really good.

Avoid walking / moving about too much as you'll disturb those in the ground.

Avoid wearing dark colours.

Midges prefer shaded areas - stay in the open if possible.

Buy a head net and a cap with a peak to keep the net off your face while you're sleeping.

Or take the tent :?

On my last trip I bivi'd on a ridge to catch the breeze which kept them at bay. Woke in the morning to find the way I'd set up my tarp had created a breeze free zone and there was a small group of them flying around my head!

Last time I had experience of midges, I kept moving during daytime, then stopped when it was dark - and there were no midges then.

i bivyd on y aran last week in a breeze with no midges however i woke to still conditions and a possy of mines under the tarp. keeping in the wind is demo the way forward. i thought that staying high was key but no. the next night i slept on moel hebog with a steady breeze all night no mines in morning due to the wind my biggest problem those two days were the bloody horse flies iv never seen them so bad they work in groups i got bitten loads.....how can u avoid these, not sure u can

thanks to predictive text i had mines in under my tarp :D

They will gather in anything that shelters them from a breeze - including your tarp.

By some Smidge. It works much better than Skin so Soft as it's actually a repellant rather than a barrier.

I used some life systems expedition 100+ spray the other day as was getting eaten alive. I can imagine its not much good for you to sprat insecticide on yourself but I didn't get bitten again over the whole weekend...

Yetiman wrote:thanks to predictive text i had mines in under my tarp :D

Actually preferable to Scottish midges