I purchased this Comfort Pro jacket in 2023 and I love it. It has to be the best beekeeping investment I’ve made in my almost 14 years beekeeping. It is much cooler than my canvas traditional suit from Mann Lake. I typically wear either jeans and a tank top or jeans and a tee shirt when I work my bees in this jacket, and I’m always cooler up top than my legs are, in my normal jeans. This jacket has definitely been a game changer for working my bees in the heat. You can feel the breeze right through the jacket. It can still be hot out, but it makes all the difference between being panicked by how hot it is, and feeling like you have a limited amount of time you can survive in a suit, and actually feeling almost as cool as if you weren’t wearing anything.
At first, I was concerned by the zippers. I feared they would break, but after two years of fairly heavy hobbiest/sideliner use, they are still holding up wonderfully. (I had been comparing the zippers to the zippers on my Mann Lake suit. Unfortunately, the zipper on my Mann Lake suit across my torso just broke off randomly this summer. I was able to attach a bobby pin to create a new zipper pull, and have been able to extend the life of the suit that way!) I am very impressed with the construction of the Comfort Pro Jacket.
I am a 5’ 3” woman, with a small build and struggle to find a suit/jacket that fits me. THIS FITS!!! My bust was half an inch more than the recommended size and I still opted to get the smallest size jacket. There’s just enough spare space in the jacket for it to be perfectly comfortable. It doesn’t look like I’m swimming in it! I am so thankful I happened to see their ad on YouTube, and decided to give it a try.
This jacket has Velcro at the neck where the zippers meet, so there’s no way a bee is getting into a property donned suit/jacket. It has elastic on the waist and cuffs, as well as thumb loops. At first, when I was just starting out with beekeeping, I didn’t understand why someone would want the loops; now I know how handy they are! The velcro at the neck tends to snag on the rest of the suit, but this isn’t a huge deal, as it is only cosmetic. I do take extra precautions so that the jacket is not resting against the velcro, and after using this suit, sometimes day in and day out through the peak season for the past two years, I am EXTREMELY impressed with the jacket. Due to the nature of the suit material, it does snag a bit easier than an old-school canvass jacket, but I am simply a bit more cognitive of the nails sticking out of my equipment. This tradeoff is definitely worth making from my perspective, so that I’m comfortable working in the bee yard. I have worked my bees quite a bit in the jacket (it has been my go-to suit, and have only used my other suit a handful of times when the bees were exceptionally hot, or I have had to do a very invasive procedure, like a shakeout), and I haven’t snagged it yet.
I really like the fencing veil and zipper option. This veil is designed in such a way so that the entire front of the fencing veil can be unzipped and hang by the bottom portion connecting it to the rest of the veil. No more drinking water or eating honey through mesh! They are so handy. The fencing veil is much larger than the fencing veil on my old school suit. I don’t even always wear a baseball cap with it and it stays out away from my face; I love it. I’ve not worn the round veil yet to work the bees, but it seems high quality as well.
The jacket does not come with the bag that some of the reviews mentioned, so I requested this, and they promptly sent it out, free of charge. This is perfect to keep the round veil in. This company has great customer service- I’ve reached out multiple times (about when the order would come, I was just very excited to get it, and then also when I realized there was no bag) and they are always friendly and prompt to respond. They even wrote a friendly little note on the receipt. This is a company I am happy to support.