UKC

I've been creating a product, originally just for myself but I've had a few people asking about it so I'm soliciting a bit of feedback from people.

Admin - please let me know if I'm breaking any rules by mentioning this here.

The product is a combined midge net with safety specs that allow you to actually see what you're doing while being protected from the midges.

midgespecs.net if anybody is interested. 

Originally the glasses I used would steam up or scratch easily but a few iterations in and I have something that seems to work.

What I'd like is some feedback on anything I could change etc. The last change I made was to find some glasses that also have adjustable arms for different size heads. Would you use something like this? Does it look too big/small? Will you look too cool wearing them!?

I'm happy to give a UKC 25% discount for anybody that wants to test them out.

I'm currently getting my QMDs in for my Mountain Leader award and they've been quite handing on occasion. They're also absolutely amazing for slab climbing so you can actually see your feet and also for finding gear placements. 

Genius. Please keep this up here admins. This is something that will benefit zillions of climbers and walkers and whatnot. 

Excellent!

Clicked expecting the usual inane "WiLL THere Be MIdGeS in SCoTlAnD In SumMER"" thread but this seems a great evolution of the tried and tested headnet! 

I'll pass on the offer personally as I've never had much of an an issue seeing through a bog standard net but I can see plenty of folk being up for this as per the nets built into sun hats.

They look great, but just one question - would they work over / under belay glasses?  I tend to wear a midge net for belaying rather than climbing.

We absolutely would take a couple of pairs. They look ideal for us on Skye,

If they meet safety specifications and suitable otherwise (helmet compatibility, etc), I can see a small market for them for biking as well and not just to stop midges. One place I’ve biked over many years, is infamous for flies, St Mark’s fly in their thousands/millions(!) for example, at certain times of the year.

Biking into clouds of flies at speed is not nice. Rarely have I seen midge nets used for biking as I guess the visibility is affected too much. Never tried myself as that was my thought and would be too much comprise on visibility at speed was undesirable and never wanted to risk an off. Standard mtb glasses diverted most flies, but getting hit in the face, flys on inside of glasses, and with breathing affected was never nice experience.

that’s a good question and I don’t know… I have some belay glasses so I’ll work out how they might work 

Midgespecs.net for orders. I can give you a 20% discount as the admins seem to be kind enough to leave this up here. Just contact me via email on the order page.

Nice idea. Good luck with it. 
What does DEET do to the glasses?

These could be useful, however the feature I have always wanted in a midge net is a beer straw. 

Good effort getting this off the ground!

Belay Specs

You'd probably need to design a totally different style of belay spec - maybe similar to the safety specs with hinged / fold-down prisms. Would be very niche and probably low sales volume....but I'd probably go a pair. 

Love the idea, I was recently getting swarmed by midges at Robin Proctors in Yorkshire which I found remarkable considering how exposed it is and that I've never had an issue there before. 

Do you have more pictures of people wearing them in use? I think this would be helpful for your website! 
ie, climber looking at their feet, hands or gear. Walker looking at their map, MRT looking at a patient, photographer looking at camera etc. 

I could be interested in testing a net as I react quite badly to bites n stings so always find midges + other insects can ruin my fun quite quickly!  

Great idea and I’m keen on trying them out! It would be helpful to have more photos of people wearing them and maybe a video looking at them more closely as there seems to be only one small photo of them being used on the website. 

They're polycarbonate so should be OK - I shall try some on a pair this evening. 

I've got one picture on my website but I'm trying to get some more. Here's my friend James Laing wearing some and another of Harrison Connie looking suave in a pair (he'll kill me for posting that one!)

And a pastie hatch!

I think I might be able to make a pair of belay glasses with integrated net. It would be a permanent adaptation though.

Better be quick if you want the discount. It's dropped by 5% in 3 hours!

Great idea by the way 👍🏻

15% now!

Actually, I couldn't remember which was which. 25% was excluding postage, 20% was including postage.

I'd imagine there would be considerable interest from outdoor workers ie Forestry Commission, construction industry?

Great idea. Have you considered the fishing market? I'm normally up in the highlands for fly fishing and these would be great for that. One consideration for that market is people sometimes prefer to wear polarised sunglasses as it allows them to see the fish a little better and it cuts glare from the water.

Awesome idea. I'll definitely buy one!

You should go on Dragons Den. When the Dragons get all arsey and say the net is no good, you open a box releasing billions of midges and see what they think then as you hand out a net to each them.

CB.

And there was me expecting REALLY small glasses...

That's genius Tim, well done

Well such things already exist but Tim has improved on them.

(Tim, I commented on your FB post)

Personally, I'd skip that last step

You'd need the safety over‑glasses themselves polarised, as looking at mostly linearly polarised light like that reflected from a water surface through polycarbonate with polarised shades behind it is basically a defectoscope – you'd see all the rainbow birefringence from the stress patterns in the polycarbonate (try looking at any transparent plastic through polarised shades against the backdrop of your LCD monitor to see that I mean).

But perhaps Tim might be able to source polarised over‑glasses as well, no idea. Would be likely a bit more expensive, though.

Hi Frank/Eduardo, 

I can get the overglasses in polarised but they're a lot more expensive. Then again, if the demand is there it's certainly possible. I can get normal polarised glasses cheaper and they would do I think. I'll investigate!

If you decide you have time to investigate the fishing market, try reaching out to Steven Mackenzie who is head of Highland Salmon Tackle and runs the fishing on the River Oykel. He'd be a great guy to tell you whether the product works well for fishing. He might also take a few pairs from you for the upcoming summer season. 

Thanks for that - I contacted Steven and am sending him a pair to try out and also researching polarising glasses

Brilliant idea and spectacular timing! Just finished a mornings bouldering on the island of Vega in Norway and the flies have been horrendous! Have never experienced anything like it.

We bouldered with our mosquito nets that we had originally bought for Greenland because there were just so many… and that’s where another set of problems began.

Cue desperate slapping about for holds and kicking in hope of meeting some measly smear all whilst unable to see properly through creased up nets - your concept would have been a complete game changer! 

That sounds a very similar experience to me getting on some climbs at Polldubh and realising something had to be done!!