I have a couple of different magnifiers that I use for hand engraving that seem to do pretty well for looking at trich's. One is a optivisor that is worn on your head like a hat...the lenses can be raised and lowered and come in several different magnification ranges...leaves your hands totally free. The other is a microscope...little overkill, but sure is cool looking at buds under it! The optivisor runs about $25-$30 and can be bought at most hobby shops (Hobby Lobby) or on ebay. Hope this helps!