Jacket with fencing veil

01 · WHERE BEES GET IN

The zip junction and the neck hook-and-loop, before you open up

A jacket closes in more places than a full suit, and that is its weak point: where the two zips meet — in front of and behind the hood — and at the hook-and-loop under the chin, a gap can be left if it is not properly overlapped. It is not an invisible fault: you can see it and fix it in five seconds. Get into the habit of running your hand over the closure and the zips before you go near the hive, and of tucking the skirt inside your trousers.

02 · THE VEIL AND ITS STAY

The stay holds the veil away; without it the mesh comes onto your face

Like every fencing veil we sell, this one comes with a stay that fixes to the mesh with hook-and-loop: it holds the veil taut and clear and stops it coming onto your face when you bend over. Always fit it. The veil unzips so you can work without it during breaks. The mesh is plastic: it stands up to normal use, but it is not indestructible — over long days and several seasons it is the part that asks to be replaced first.

03 · HOW TO STORE IT

Fold the hook-and-loop tab away or it will eat the mesh

This is the tip only someone with years on the same jacket gives you: the hook-and-loop tab on the hood — the one that closes against the jacket — catches on the mesh when you fold the jacket and, one storing after another, wears bald patches into it. The fix costs nothing: when folding, stick the tab onto itself or onto another patch of loop, and the mesh stops being rubbed. For washing, the jacket goes in the machine and the veil by hand, separately.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The jacket covers thigh to neck: it is the format for short inspections and hot days, not for working on the ground between hives. If you want ankle-to-neck protection, the full suit comes with the same veil and the same fabric. Sizing runs large: people coming from street sizes usually go one down.