Air® Integral ICKO Overall

01 · THE FABRIC

Why an open-mesh suit protects more, not less

Intuition says an open fabric protects less than a closed one, and with ventilated suits the opposite is true. The mesh has body: it holds the fabric away from you instead of clinging, and on fabric that does not rest against the skin the sting stops halfway. No garment removes the risk of a sting, but distance is the part of the job you can actually buy.

The air, on top of that, crosses the whole thing — body, arms and legs — so the suit stops being what decides when you knock off in August.

02 · HOW IT CLOSES

The five places a bee gets in

Adjustable cuffs and waist, so the suit does not open up as you lift a super. At the ankles it carries elastic straps that pass under the shoe: that is the detail that stops the leg riding up when you crouch and leaving your shin bare, which is where the stings you cannot explain come from.

YKK zips throughout the ICKO range. On a bee suit the zip is the part that fails first: the veil's zip is opened and closed several times on every visit.

Two chest pockets with zips and pockets spread around the suit for what you carry all day.

03 · THE SIZE

The full guide, in the technical data

This suit does have a manufacturer's size guide, with height and chest measurement for each size: it is below, in the technical data. It is supplied in S, M, L and XL.

You choose with both measurements, not one: height decides leg and sleeve length, chest decides whether you can crouch. If your two measurements fall in different sizes, the chest wins and you go up — the suit goes over your clothes, and stretched fabric is exactly what you do not want.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It is the firm's top-of-range suit, and it shows in the price and in the wear: