Lifesystems Pop-Up Mosquito, Insect And Midge Head Net Hat

Collapsible broad brimmed hat with an integral net. The whole thing fits into a small pouch about 10cm diameter. I have not yet tried it in the field but the quality seems good - it would have to be a determined midge to get into the net. Video review attached.

To be fair this is advertised as a mosquito net, and I didn’t realise (despite being Scottish!), that midges (or ‘flying evil biting b*****ds’) are smaller than mosquitos and so can get through. I realised this when, sitting on an Outer Hebrides beach, on a very still, non-windy September day, the penny dropped that they were crawling around ‘inside’ the net, not outside! Bites on my eyelids, under my eye, in my ear (and these were in addition to the 100+ bites i had elsewhere!). So in short, if you’re buying this for mosquitos, it may well be effective. If you’re buying it to protect against midges/flying evil biting b*****ds, you need a very fine mesh, finer than is used for mosquitos (and you also need to find a better midge repellant than I did!)

Bought these to use whilst walking the West Highland Way in Scotland in June and only needed to use them once. Fortunately they were left in our rucksacks so when we walked up Croagh Patrick mountain in Ireland last week and the midges started to eat us alive we had them handy. What a relief! Everyone we saw commented that they wished they had one. They are light weight, the size is good, the wide brim keeps the netting off your face and visibility is excellent. Worth every penny.

Tried and tested with Irish midges which are smaller than Scottish ones and it worked very well.There is a Big but....when cutting off the labels I noticed there is a warning label "Do Not Wash"...I mean is this a new era of fast fashion, wear it till it needs to be washed and then throw it away?The only possible reason why I can't think that this warning is there is that there is a wire which runs around the edge of the brim of the hat, I can only guess that instead of using a stainless steel or a suitable plastic or composite material that a carbon steel wire was used and that it will corrode if it gets wet.At the very least if the wire is the issue it should have been made removable or replaceable.Seems crazy to have a hat to be worn in what for most of us will usually be humid muggy conditions that the hat needs to be either disposed of after it gets sweaty once or that you should be expected to wear a dirty sweaty hat until it gets too much.The netting does work well and the design with a wire to keep the brim in place is good but seriously, not allowing washing is a really poor design choice.

The hat and net together is well worth the extra cost. I used to wear just the net but could never see where I was going. With the hat the net stays away from the face which is much better. It is also quite long so I can cover up better then pull the string tighter. Very successful. Bought one for my husband as well. Great for gardening in Scotland. The hat does only come in one size but seems to work. Slightly big for me but fitted my husband well. You could nip in the inner band if you really found it too loose. I've a small head but didn't find it a problem. I was a bit worried that the mesh was slightly larger - for mosquitos not midges but so far nothing seems to have got through.