It's August and that means flies. Horse, deer and what I call stable fly's can be a bit of a pain. There is the old flypaper on top the hat trick which the chainsaw bunch in the U.P. of Michigan swear by and if I go the the Q again in August I will probably employ.

But there is another trick that I use if I get one especially determined marauder. If you notice when you shoo them away they will typically circle quickly about you, usually over your head. I have taken to using my paddle and swishing it rapidly back and forth in one place over my head and letting the fly run into it. Bingo, bye bye Mr. fly. Now, I have an ultralight paddle so it is pretty easy to do but I have also done it with my hat.

Another trick that I use is with big bad horsefly's. This takes a little courage (at least the first time) and some timing. If you notice that when they land and you go to swat they are gone before you can get there. My advice is to do nothing. Let him crawl around for a couple of seconds while he is deciding the best place to stick you. While he's doing that you slowly get ready........When he finds his spot he will tilt his body on an downward angle (he will stop and tilt) getting ready to take the plunge. NOW is your time. SWAT and he's dead. Works every time. I guess they can't fly in this position or something....anyway give it a try and don't come crying :'( to me if you waited to long. ;D

MT,

Many years ago, a friend of mine employed your method of using the paddle to keep flies at bay. The unfortunate outcome was that some of the flies were getting through this defence and one started biting him on the back of his head. Without a thought, he swated the fly with his paddle. The unfortunate outcome was that he knocked his glasses off into the drink. This was at the top of Curtain Falls. Since then, I use a strap for my glasses. ;D

Your friend was quite likely guilty of some minor offense in the cosmos (like inserting "pack extenders" into some trusting souls pack) and this was just payback.  ;)

My post was not autobiographical, it really happened, many years before the concept of 'pack extenders'. And who in their right mind could concieve of 'pack extenders'?

There's really only 3 reliable tips I know of.
1.  Deet
2.  Don't trip in bug season
3.  Deal
:D

No one in there right mind would think of pack extenders.

Most of the flies try to bite on the head.  A wide brimmed hat with permethrin on top really cuts down on the bites. I was in the canoe with Kingfisher.  He was wearing a base ball hat and I had a wide brimmed hat on.  I did not even know the flyes were a problem and he was bleeding on his nick where they had bitten him. He said there was many circling my head and they would land on top of my hat but I never got a bight.  Does not work for ankle biters.
MagicPaddler  

Had a big problem with the ankle biters on our trip this year. One of guys called them sand flies. I don't know. I think they're way more annoying than any other ones. You can't even sit around camp without the @#%$ things making life miserable.

Amen to that bro,
Old Salt said he found that sunscreen worked. I posted another tip about using mesh pants recently. They are such a priority with me that they are in the same bag as my raingear, first aid kit and headlight. Pop those puppy's on and bye-bye fly. They are quite comfy too. Same material they make mosquito mesh from. Add a green shirt to the green mesh pants and you become more or less invisible. (sometimes more...sometimes less)  [smiley=thumbup.gif]

I really like MT's mosquito/fly pants idea.  [smiley=thumbup.gif]
I would like to add that Avon's Skin-so-soft does work somewhat on the ankle biters, deters them longer than sun screen.  It can be diluted some with baby oil and then isn't so strong smelling.  Deet works for a while to keep them at bay.  
Lately I've been taking a light weight mosquito screen tent on our trips when bugs may be especially bad.  Then we have a place to retreat to, besides the sleeping tent, if the ankle biters are especially bad.
We use the ankle biters as a barometer...they bite like crazy just before it is going to rain.  I think moving to a different site often helps leave the flies behind...they seem to be worse on some (probably dirty) campsites than others.  We also always take fly swatters along in fly season, it helps in the canoe when you have only a few.  It is less helpful in camp where there might be lots of flies.
I use the wait and swat method for horse flies.  They are slow to take off and easy to hit.  With deer flies you can hold both hands up over your head (as tho appealing to God)...99% of the time they will land on your hands (thinking they are ears ??) and are then easy to grab or slap.
Ankle biter flies almost always take off going straight up from where they are perched...it is effective to place your hands about 10 inches above the fly, hands about a foot apart, and clap them together above the fly as it takes off.  The fly will often end up between your hands and you will be successful at killing it.

IC
The mesh pants are absolutely useless against mosquitoes but work great with flies. Where ever the mesh lays against your skin it is very easy for the skeets to find a gap in the mesh to poke you.

Here is how I found out  ;D : I went into Glacier solo and a bit nervous especially after having done extensive research on old Mr. Griz. Both authors suggested not using bug spray or smelly soaps etc. so I went to Cabelas and purchased a "bug suit". (Now it was nothing like the highly endorsed "original bug shirt" which actually is a real fortress). This was just a mesh top and bottom.

The first night in I made it to fishless lake Poi (something like that....out of Many Glacier/Swiftcurrent). The next morning there were hordes of the little beasties and I smiled as I put my little suit on. Unfortunately it was little better than nothing and they tore me up for the hour or 2 it took me to get out. Boy was I mad.

Later that afternoon while setting up I got deluged by flies and was a little unsettled about not having any spray for a week but then I remembered the mesh pants. Bingo, fly problem solved. I still have the original pair a decade later.

I will also never forget the look of enchantment on a young gals face when she stopped me on the Wonderland Trail and asked me in a halting and smiling way....."Are...... are those bug pants"? Of course I couldn't help but stand a little straighter and puff out my chest just a bit  ::) "why yes, yes they are". I could tell, as she walked away with a dreamy look in her eye, that she was envisioning her own bug pants  ;D.

 

 I carry a set of the mesh tops/bottoms. Have used them more than once. I treat them with Permethrin before a trip. I believe this will help with the mosquito's, at least better than untreated ones.

MP mentioned the wide brim hat with Permethrin vs a baseball cap.
I use a combo of the two. I wear nylon mesh ventilated baseball cap, with a sun cape I made out of a Bug Off brand handkerchief. I sewed a button on one corner, and a small elastic ring like the ladies use to tie up their ponytails. I wear it like a doo-rag. Then put the hat on. The cape keeps the sun and bugs out of my neck and ears, and protects the top of my head if a bug gets thru the hats mesh areas. I treat all my exterior clothes with the Permethrin before a trip. Unless your adamant about not using chemicals, you won't be disappointed with it.

I tried the Off Clip on bug device in my recent car camping/fishing trip.  Every night about 1/2 hour after sun went down, the skeeters came out in force for an hour or so. Sitting around fire enjoying a few cold one's, the little battery bug repel-er worked very well. There wasn't a stiff breeze, but since a breeze would of helped with the bugs, I thought it was a good investment. If your sensitive too bug bites, all or a combo of the items mentioned might be the ticket for you.

The extra weight while negligible is off-set by the lighter weight clothes  you need during the really buggy seasons.

intrepid_camper wrote on Aug 16^th, 2010 at 3:34pm:

With deer flies you can hold both hands up over your head (as tho appealing to God)...99% of the time they will land on your hands (thinking they are ears ??) and are then easy to grab or slap.

I can endorse this method wholeheartedly as I discovered it on my own just three days ago. "Land on my hand ... I wanna kill you." And they do it!

There is no satisfying crunch and they are smaller and more pliable than they look so you gotta be sure to mush 'em good.

Around and around and around. I killed like twenty one late afternoon all at one campsite.

For those summer ankle biters in the canoe; I hate to admit it, but this year we actually each resorted to a fly swatter and it seemed to work!  I mean, there were obviously no fewer flies, but the satisfaction of littering the bottom of the boat with fly carcasses somehow made their marauding attacks a bit less 'painful'.  In past years, they would bite and you'd swat with your hand, miss; only to have them return and bite all over again.  Frustration!  Not this year!  They may (or may not) get one bite in and...swat...another one bites the dust!  One thing I did learn though, be sure to clean up the dead bodies and dump them overboard once in awhile, because they seem to attract more friends.  Nothing seems to bring out the curse words more than those ankling biting flies...and they always seem to know when you have a fish on.