Insight
27
THE FUTURE IS ORANGE FOR OUR BEATING GEAR Craig McCann-McMillan, Duncan Ireland, Alamy. This feature first appeared in Shooting Times.
Hi-vis is used in a variety of situations to make people safer, and Matt Cross believes it is only a matter of time before it is adopted by British beaters “BOY looks like he’s ram-raided John Norris.” The ‘boy’ in question was in fact a young man, but the rest of my fellow beater’s comment was acerbically accurate. The individual in question was wearing wellies with buckles, tweed breeks, a checked shirt with a tie and a gilet with contrasting piping. There is a range of beater sartorial styles. At one extreme, you have those who like to flash a bit of Schöffel and Musto. At the other extreme are those who buy their clothing from a feed merchant. In between, there are army-surplus wearers, the camo fans, the Dunlop wellie evangelists, the Jack Pyke crew and the smock men. But one thing you won’t see is anyone wearing hi-vis. By contrast, I recently went to a chipboard factory. If you are interested in chipboard, which I am, it was really quite fascinating. A large sign on the gate told me: “Hi-vis must be worn at all locations on site.” As soon as I stepped through the gate, a speaker buzzed angrily at me and a female voice told me politely but firmly: “Please take a vest from the box and put it on.” After an amicable chat in a meeting room, the other engineered-wood fans and I were issued with protective eyewear and hearing protection before being taken on a tour.
At risk But here is the odd bit: there was no point on my highly visible tour of wood shredders, log yards and board presses when I felt in the least bit at risk, nothing where I thought, “This is a bit shady.”
Beaters can be identified by white flags but hi-vis clothing is becoming more common
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK KEEPING KIDS SAFE ■ Seeland Conley beanie hat, fluorescent orange ■ RRP: £12.99 ■ gb.seeland.com
STAYING WARM ■ Beretta Gascon jacket Realtree AP Camo HD, orange ■ RRP: £313.88 ■ estore.beretta.com
STAYING DRY ■ Ridgeline Ladies Monsoon Arctic smock, autumnal ■ RRP: £199.99 ■ ridgelineclothing.co.uk
SOFTSHELL
Now, contrast that to beating. Recently, writing about foreign Guns, I mentioned watching an American gent on his peg, gun horizontal, waist high and unbroken, turning from side to side. At the time, I was well within range, clad in green and crawling through a patch of blackthorn. If he had looked hard, he might have seen me, but the chance of me catching his eye was close to zero.
Hi-vis vests are never going to be the answer to poor gun handling, but I have no doubt that in that specific situation a big splodge of orange would have made me safer. It is not only chipboard factories: any significant building site will have a mandatory hi-vis rule. Forestry workers, mechanics, lollipop persons, police officers, cyclists and nursery children out for walks
■ Seeland Force Advanced softshell jacket, hi-vis orange ■ RRP: £99.99 ■ gb.seeland.com
PUT IT IN YOUR POCKET ■ Blaser Blaze vest, blaze orange ■ RRP: £131.09 ■ store.blaser.de
“I have no doubt that
in that situation a big splodge of orange would have made me safer ”
