1. MIDGE GLASSES, A USEFUL TOOL FOR THE WILDLIFE ENTHUSIAST
By Andrew Francis
Anyone who has to sit for that length of time in the Scottish countryside will appreciate that
no insect-repellent is really effective. Even if you repel 99% of midges then the remainder
will leave you with a rash like you fell into a patch of nettles. The only effective alternative is
the midge net but, however thinly strung they are, they obscure vision, particularly in low
light or when light at low angles reflects off the weave. There are midge nets available with
transparent plastic windows but I have heard that these steam up easily and, in some
designs, flex around and so reduce your visual acuity. Any option using goggles leads to a
reduced field of view through binoculars and is liable to steam up.
The best option is to create a set of midge glasses, as pictured below. People with
uncorrected vision may be able to use stage-prop glasses or to get optical-quality (i.e. well-
polished and highly transparent) and (ideally) anti-
reflectively coated glasses without any corrective
properties from their optician.
Further protection can be added by wearing a
scarf to prevent midges entering from the bottom
in the gaps around the loose elastic.
YOU WILL NEED:
Glasses with all-round plastic rim
Midge Net,
Blue tack, Super Glue,
Scissors (ideally curved nail scissors, they must
be fine-tipped and very sharp.)
HOW TO MAKE THEM:
1. Cover the outside of your glasses lenses
with blue-tack, not leaving any lens-edges
exposed. This will keep your specs in one place
relative to the net and protect your lenses from super-glue and scissors in later stages.
2. Put on midge net, find the height of the bridge of your nose and mark this with blue-tack.
3. Take off midge net, fold up your glasses and put them inside the net, facing out, using
the blue-tack nose-bridge marker to orientate the spectacles inside the net. Press the net
gently onto the blue-tack on the lenses.
4. In a well-ventilated environment dab glue lightly around the outside of the frame pressing
the net down onto the frame using the glue tube nozzle until it contacts the frame
sufficiently for the net to appear glossy, dark and damp. Super-glue works brilliantly and
it is surprising how firmly even a thin contact will attach the net, you won’t need much.
5. Leave to dry for at least an hour. Caution: Even the fumes from Super-glue are nasty
to the eyes and residual fumes may last long after the glue dries, leave them
somewhere open for the fumes to disperse.
6. Cut round the edge of the inside of the glasses frame using the curved nail scissors.
7. Remove the blue tack and clean the lenses.