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Post-monsoon we have lots of flies and insects in the forests. I was hiking up an easy trail last weekend. It got dark and I still had a couple of hours of walking distance to cover.

With no light around, flies tend to hover over my head and in front of my face all the time as I was a bit sweaty and obviously due to the headlamp, which is very very irritating. Most of them were typically attracted by the light.

How do you deal with this?

Closely related: How to deal with little flies flying into the eyes?

Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL
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WedaPashi
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2 Answers2

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Fastening the lamp further down (eg, chest, waist) generally provides better perception of trail features and makes it easier to wear a headnet. If the light source is above your eyes, you won't be able to see the shadows cast by trail obstructions as well to judge their height/distance. If the light is below your eyes, roots and rocks would cast a shadow that you could see much better.

topshot
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The easiest thing to do would be to take the lamp off your head and walk with it as a torch in hand. That'd take some of the attention away from your face. Next I'd put on a bug net over my face, and finally I'd walk while waving one of these in front of my face:

Electric Fly Swatter:

enter image description here You'd be amazed by how effective thinning the swarm out every once and a while is at keeping the bugs down.

It also makes having a lot of bugs around very satisfying, because you get to have fun zapping them all while you hike.

ShemSeger
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