In the outer hebrides they are really not as much as a problem, as mentioned above. the wind does generally keep them away. Sand flies and clegs are a totally different matter and your only option is to stay covered completely.
The avon so soft thing is a myth - the formula has been changed since 'those days'.
We generally find not being around at the key times of day (dawn & dusk) to be the best way of avoiding them, and for scandinavia at least, I have found eating 1 slice of bread/toast spread with marmite to help much more than anything else. (I'm from scotland before anyone tries telling me they are different,.) It does not stop them pestering you, but it does seem to stop them actually biting you - they land and promptly take off again. Apparently they don't like the taste of it either, once it has permeated into your skin... We seriously did find that others were being pestered far far more than us when in the swamp forests of finland or the tundra in northern norway.
carrying on from that, the only fool proof method of ensuring you can go to scotland and not be bitten is to make sure you have someone else with you who gets bitten even more than you! Else accept it and make good use of the local anaesthetic (aka whisky) to ensure you don't notice you are being bitten. camp fire smoke (only on beaches though) is also a good deterent, though there is generally a major lack of wood to burn given there are few trees.
enjoy the trip. It is one of my favourite places.
Camped at Bhaltos (or Valtos) on the Isle of Lewis (the vango force 10 is ours). White sand, blue skies, blue sea - Outer Hebridies.
. What would be the best time to plan a trip.
, it does depend on the weather, if its its wet or humid with little wind they are a nightmare. While on jura after a wet day we had to keep walking while trying to eat our pasta as we were getting eaten alive, there was literally a thick black cloud of them outside my tent in the morning so it was a matter of packing everything while in the tent before venturing outside. Ive never found a repellant that works, get a midge net/hat and expose as little skin as poss to them, the only place they got me was the the small bit of skin exposed where the velcro tab on my gloves was. Enjoy the Hebs
