As we have been in “lockdown” in Scotland for much of the summer, we haven’t really had to deal with the midges. Last weekend in Ballater was a wake up call that the season is definitely not over yet. Worse yet, experts say that one of the impacts of global warming is that there are now 3 cycles of midges in a year rather than 2, meaning that they could be here for at least another 6 weeks.
Our motorhome is well equipped and does have insect mesh screens built into the windows and the door. Unfortunately these screens seem to be intended for insects a lot bigger than the Scottish Midge as many of them managed to find their way into the van. So in anticipation of future road trip we decided that we needed a solution.
We already had a roll of midge proof netting (0.1mm!) which we have used to protect our tent in the past but our dilema was how to attach it to the windows and door without damaging anything. Illya came up with the idea of using magnetic tape and creating a removable screen to cover the ceiling vents. A quick Amazon purchase and that was sorted. The door on the other hand was a more creative solution.
So this weekend we set ourselves the task of making and fitting the screens.
The ceiling vent covers, seemed an easy place to start. We cut and stuck the magnetic tape in place and then cut the midge netting to size. The challenge then was attaching the magnetic tape to the midge netting fabric which is very fine and not a good surface to stick to. Out came the sewing machine and we stitched the magnetic strips into the seams. It looks really neat. Perfect……. until the next morning when we found the screens had fallen to the floor. It seems the weight of the screen pulled the magnetic tape off the ceiling. So round 2 this morning resulted in us screwing the tape (very carefully of course) to the ceiling vent frame.
The door was a bigger challenge as it already had a sliding insect screen and we wanted to use that as the basis of a solution without taking it apart. We cut the midge netting to shape but needed 2 flexible upright supports to connect to the existing screen. We had a bright idea and re-used the weighted strips from the bottom of 2 blinds that we had and they worked perfectly. A bit of fiddling to attach it all but it works perfectly.
Job done. Now we just need to see how it works on our next trip :).
Wee Van Tour 