Forums >General Running>Anyone have any good strategies for dealing with horse flies?
Proboscis Colossus
I'm working a band camp this week, same one I worked last week, and boy, on every run I am besieged by horse flies. They're after my sweat, which is copious in this humidity.
I thought for awhile that the bright colors of my running hats/shirts is what kept them following me, but this afternoon I was wearing fairly muted, dark colors and I was mobbed actually more than usual. Had about three swirling around me at once; I felt like the nucleus of an atom.
Any tips on evading or repelling them? Haven't tried DEET yet...does that work for horse flies, as well as mosquitos?
"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people
Catch up with someone on the trail and sprint away....leave your swarm with them...
Survival of the fittest - right?
Move.
I'd recommend a nice dry, higher altitude region.
Southern Utah, Western Colorado, Northern Arizona.
Trail and Ultra Running User Group
Latent Runner
Flies of all sort are an issue here in New Hampshire, I run with one of these over my head:
Fat old man PRs:
Ah yes, the awful horse flies. It seems as though they always attack the highest point, which is unfortunately your head. This makes a hat a must. If you don't want to wear a beekeeper type hat like shipo's link, you can always wear a normal hat and purchase a few sticky strips to attach to your hat. It's a little gross, but it really does work.
12 / Pk Deerfly Patches / TredNot Deer Fly Patch / Traps. Repellent Strips
After an hour run with one of those strips on my hat, I can have as many as 30 deer flies on there. A hat seems to be enough to dissuade most of them from biting but it's that stupid dive bombing over and over again that really irks me. That sticky stuff resolves that problem for relatively cheap.
Good luck!
Creator of RunForth | @robraux | shodless.com
Funky Kicks 2019
I drench a baseball cap in Deep Woods Off. It helps some. Nothing I have tried keeps them totally away though.
Leah, mother of dogs
The problem, or at least my problem, with hats and bug repellant is that often the insect is half way down my throat before it figures out I have those on. The Bug Baffler (which is far lighter than a bee keeper hat) solves that issue.
I find bug repellent pretty useless but standard hat usually helps. Keeping moving also helps but I've had some follow me for what seems like miles.
it is my experience that these and the deer flies tend to like sunny wide open/fielded areas and if the air is stagnant, they are relentless...deet may stop them from biting, but it won't stop the dive bombs and in-your-face circling.
i have carried beech tree branches and used it mush like a horse would use it's tails for times i am getting assaulted...it's almost fun.
i have noticed that when i get to shade, they tend to either leave or call ahead to the next troop.
In order to see the truth, sometimes you have to loose an eye.
http://www.runningahead.com/groups/Utri/
mount a flame thrower on your head.
Wear a running hat. safety pin a dryer sheet to the hat near the ears. You will not be bit. It works.
I've had good luck eating garlic, and the smell of the sweat kept them away.
Running the 2016 Boston Marathon for Children's Hospital
Doesn't seem to help up here in New Hampshire; I eat copious quantities of garlic (I ate some of my Lemon Garlic Pasta last night which has like four or five raw crushed cloves per serving), doesn't faze the little bastards a bit.
Feeling the growl again
We're talking about flies, not annoying coworkers.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills