UPDATED 2024: Comparing the Barbour Beacon Heritage X To Ki To Sports Jacket and the Barbour Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket

The Barbour Beacon Heritage X To Ki To Sports Jacket worn by Daniel Craig as James Bond in SkyFall (2012), has remained a popular Bond jacket over the years. In this article, I'll compare the original X To Ki To with the Dept. B Commander and Beacon Heritage Sports re-issues.

I will also look at two recent limited editions of the model: the 2019 Barbour Icons Beacon Sports 125th Anniversary version (not available anymore) and the 2020 Barbour Gold Standard Supa Commander Wax (still available in select stores).

This article is regularly updated. Last update: 3 May 2024

CONTENTS

Barbour jacket in SkyFall
My jackets
Barbour X To Ki To Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket
Barbour Dept. B Commander Jacket
Barbour Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket
Barbour Icons Beacon Sports 125th Anniversary Edition Jacket
Barbour Gold Standard Supa Commander Wax Jacket
Sizing and fit
Where to buy & Discount Codes
 

The Barbour jacket in SkyFall

Daniel Craig as James Bond wears the Barbour jacket in SkyFall
photo © Danjaq, MGM

James Bond wears the Barbour jacket in the Scotland scenes in SkyFall. It's probably supposed to be an old hunting jacket that he finds in his parental home. Bond wears it when he uses an Anderson Wheeler rifle and during Silva's attack of the SkyFall home.

Complete the outfit with the N.Peal sweater, All Saints Iggy pants, Crockett & Jones Islay boots, an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra, a brown Tom Ford scarf and the Anderson Wheeler rifle.

My jackets

A quick background on my experience with the jackets: I have been wearing an original Barbour X To Ki To jacket, size Large, every year since the autumn of 2012. I truly love this jacket. It now has a lot of signs of wear (torn lining and worn edges of the leather trim), and it should be re-waxed. 

I also own a size Medium of the original X To Ki To, unworn, which I have used for some photos and comparison in this article.

I used to have a Dept. B Commander jacket, which I used in the old comparison article, but I have no idea where this jacket is... it might be in one of the boxes in my collection, which after a few international moves are a bit spread out all over the world. (update 2021: I found the jacket, it was indeed in a sealed box with other Bond gear from my collection).

And now (November 2020) I purchased the reissue Barbour Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket, in size Large. I'm planning to wear the jacket this winter, sparing my old and beloved Barbour X To Ki To, which might need to be sent to Barbour for restoration and re-waxing. I also might have this jacket altered - taken in at the waist - for an even more tailored fit.

Barbour X To Ki To Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket Limited Edition

Production date: 2011 - 2012 (Spring Summer 2012 Collection)
Product code: MWX0364OL71 TK
Price in 2012: £399 / $749 / €550
Availability: Find on eBay - sold out, but can sometimes be found on eBay where currently (Nov 2020), the value of an unused X To Ki To ranges roughly from $750 - $1000.

The jacket worn by James Bond (Daniel Craig) in the movie SkyFall is a Barbour Beacon Heritage X To Ki To Sports Jacket, a Limited Edition model.

The jacket has a waxed cotton fabric, often seen on Barbour jackets. The Barbour brand was founded in 1894 in the Market Place in South Shields, a seaside town in the North East of the UK. The fifth generation family now still owns the company and the factory remains in the North East of the UK, with Barbour's headquarters still located in South Shields. The town has a lighthouse, after which Barbour's "Beacon" sub-brand is named and the Beacon logo shows the ligthhouse.

Barbour X To Ki To has Barbour Tartan lining and a large X To Ki To label, also mentioning the roots of the company "Market Place South Shields" and showing the South Shields lighthouse in the "Beacon" logo.
photo © Bond Lifestyle

The X To Ki To jacket was part of the 2012 Beacon Heritage x Tokihito collection, a collaboration between Barbour and Japanese designer Tokihito Yoshida, who has designed several collections for Barbour since 2009. The 2012 collection was inspired by Barbour’s sporting, motorcycling and military past and offered a range of jackets, knitwear and shirts.

The Barbour jacket is a hunting jacket. Or since designer Tokihito Yoshida is an avid fly fisher, a fishing jacket. Of course the jacket is suited for any outdoor activity, with its strong and water repellent waxed cotton fabric, large front pockets, a small chest pocket and a large 'poacher' pocket (traditionally for game) on the back, with zippers on two sides.

Poacher pocket with zippers on the back of the jacket

The jacket features an olive green waxed canvas fabric, which should be re-waxed every few years, and Barbour tartan lining.

When you touch the fabric of the jacket, you can feel the wax. Be careful when you want to hang this jacket in your closet next to your other clothes, because it might stain other garments.

The jacket has button front closing, not a zipper, and to prevent wind from coming in, the jacket has a large storm flap on the inside. The inner storm flap has an outer wax cotton and inside wool lining.

The large inner storm flap has an outer wax cotton fabric and inside wool lining.
photo © Bond Lifestyle

The X To Ki To jacket also has a large hood, which can be zipped onto the back of the collar, and buttoned on the front. There are two extra buttons on the front of the jacket, below the collar, to fasten the hood.

The removable hood of the Barbour X To Ki Ti is zipped on in the back, buttoned on in the front, and closed up with more buttons
photo © Bond Lifestyle

The hood is beautifully crafted, with the classic Barbour tartan lining. It's quite practical in rainy situations, as it is adjustable and covers up the head very well.

Note that this hood and the zipper on the collar, and the large inner storm flap, were removed by the costume department of the film SkyFall. This is an important difference, that was incorporated in the Commander / Beacon Sports jacket reissues, which both don't have the hood, hood-zipper, extra buttons or strom flap.

Other nice details of the jacket include shoulder patches and elbow patches, and soft leather-bound cuff edges and leather-bound pocket edges.

The end of the sleeves as well as the top of the arge front pockets have a brown leather trim
photo © Bond Lifestyle

A small triangle wind flap (waxed cotton outside, leather-bound inside) which can be buttoned on the outside or the inside of the collar (hidden to form a revere collar). Be careful not to lose this little triangle flap - put it away safely if you don't use it.

The triangle wind flap on the collar has a waxed cotton front and leather back, and can be attached with buttons in front or behind the collar.
photo © Bond Lifestyle

The X To Ki To jacket came with 3 spare buttons, a gold/green Barbour pin, warranty and service cards and tags.

3 spare buttons, a gold/green Barbour pin, warranty and service cards and tags of the X To Ki To
photo © Bond Lifestyle

Features:

• Tailored Fit
• Outer: 6oz Sylkoil, 100% waxed cotton. 8oz Waxed cotton elbow patches.
• Inner: 100% Cotton Barbour Tartan inner lining
• Inner Trim: 100% Wool
• Soft leather-bound cuff edges

Barbour Heritage Dept. (B) Commander Jacket Limited Edition

Production date: 2013
Product code: MWX0007OL71
Price: £399
Availability: the Dept. (B) is not produced anymore, but can usually be found on eBay.

In 2013 the "Commander" jacket was released as part of Barbour's new Dept. B menswear collection. The original X To Ki To jacket sold out quickly at the time of the release of the film SkyFall, and because it was a Limited Edition, Barbour couldn't sell the same jacket. Barbour quickly realised this could be a big seller and released the "Dept. (B) Commander" jacket - of which I wrote a comparison article in 2014.

The Barbour X To Ki To Sports Jacket and the Barbour Dept. B Commander are the same for the most part. Both have the same tailored (fitted) sports jacket shape, and are made from 6oz Sylkoil waxed cotton with the classic Barbour tarten lining in the inside.

The Barbour Heritage Dept. (B) Commander Jacket mentions "Limited Edition". Note the leather lining on the collar, which the X To Ki To also has.
photo © Bond Lifestyle

A major difference is that the Commander Sports jacket reissue doesn't have the hood, hood-zipper, extra buttons or storm flap that the X To Ki To had.

As can be seen in the next image, comparing the X To Ki To and Commander, the storm flap was removed for the Commander (and the Beacon Sports Heritage Sports as well).

You can clearly see the storm flap on the X To Ki To (left) and the lack of that flap onthe Commander (right)
photo © Bond Lifestyle

Another smaller difference is that the Commander jacket has "Barbour Dept (B)" on the left front pocket while the original X To Ki To has "Barbour" centered on the pocket.

Logo on pocket difference between X To Ki To (left) and Commander (right)
photo © Bond Lifestyle

The Commander jacket was also released as a Limited Edition and was very popular, especially among Bond fans who weren't able to pick up the original Bond X Ti Ki To jacket. The price was £399, the same as the original To Ki To jacket. To limit speculation with the jacket, Barbour (and some other stores) limited each purchase to 1 jacket per customer.

Screenshot of the Barbour website in September 2013, mentioning the Commander jacket orders are limited to 1 per customer.

Just like the X To Ki To, the Commander jacket came with 3 spare buttons, a gold/green Barbour pin, warranty and service cards.

The Commander (right) came with 3 spare buttons and a Barbour pin, just like the X To Ki To (left)
photo © Bond Lifestyle

Within two years, the Commander jacket was replaced by / renamed the "Barbour Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket" (read more below).

Barbour Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket

Production date: 2013 - present
Product code: MWX0007OL71
Price: £399
Availability: Update May 2024: the jacket is currently not easily available online anymore.
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In late 2014 or early 2015, the Commander was renamed Barbour Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket, and became part of the Beacon Heritage collection. This jacket is NOT a limited editon and this Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket is still available today.

The jacket has basically the exact same design as the Commander, it even has the same model number MWX0007OL71, but with another logo on the front pocket (just "Barbour" instead of "Barbour Dept B") and another label inside.

Compare the logo position on the Beacon Sports (left) and X To Ki To (right) The color different of jacket is because the X To Ki To used for these photos is 8 years old, and not recently waxed)
Photo © Bond Lifestyle

Just like the Commander, the Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket is very similar to the original X To Ki To Jacket, with the main differences being the missing removable hood and storm flap.

Note the storm flap on the X To Ki To (left) is missing on the Commander and Beacon Heritage Sports (right)
photo © Bond Lifestyle

See the stormflap of the X To Ki To on the right, it does offer more protection in windy situations, especially because these jackets don't have a front zipper.
Photo © Bond Lifestyle

Because the Beacon Heritage doesn't have the removable hood or the storm flap, it is more screen accurate, because the film jacket had the hood, hood-zipper and storm flap removed by the costume department.

Some more updates I can report, after receiving a new Beacon Heritage Sports jacket in December 2020:

The Beacon Sports jacket is significantly lighter than the original X To Ki To. Compare the weight at 1061 gram for the Beacon Sports, versus 1211 gram for the X To Ki To. It's a big difference, it's the first thing I noticed when I got the jacket out of the packaging.

Weight difference: 1061 grams for the Beacon Sports, versus 1211 grams for the X To Ki To (weight without the hood)
Photo © Bond Lifestyle

I think the explanation for the weight difference is that the X To Ki To seems to have an extra layer of lining between the Tartan lining and the cotton outer shell.

In the photos, you can also see how my jacket has a lighter color green, mostly because the jacket has been used for 8 years, and hasn't been waxed in ages, while the Beacon Sports is brand new.

Another difference I found: the X To Ki To has Tartan lining in the sleeves, while the Beacon Sports has a brown, lightweight brown material as lining. Perhaps because the Tartan lining in the sleeves was fragile, as can be seen on my X To Ki To which I wore for 8 years: the Tartan lining in the sleeves is completely ripped. But as said before, under the Tartan lining, I can now see another lining, that does make the whole jacket more heavy and most likely warmer than the new Beacon Heritage.

The sleeve of my poor old X To Ki To (right) - it needs a restoration after 8 winters! Notice the Tartan lining in the sleeve of the X To Ki To compared to the brown lining in the Beacon Sports
Photo © Bond Lifestyle

The Tartan lining in the X To Ki To Sleeve has ripped, under which I can now see another layer of lining. The Beacon Heritage doesn't have this double layer, and it makes the Xo To Ki To a more insulated.
Photo © Bond Lifestyle

Another difference is that the Beacon Sports is about 3 or 4 cm (more than an inch) longer in the back.

The back pocket zippers of the Beeacon Heritage are longer thn the X To Ki To (left) and the back of the Beacon Heritage is a few centimeters longer than the X To Ki To (comparing size L).
Photo © Bond Lifestyle

Just like the original X To Ki To, the jacket has a single welted chest pocket and two lower bellowed pockets at the front. At the back the jacket has a large zipped lower back poacher pocket. This large pocket was originally designed to carry game, but you can fit virtually anything in there. The zippers of the back pockets are slightly larger than the original X To Ki To zipper (see photo above).

The cut of the jacket is slightly different in some places, with seams at slightly different locations, the top large from button slightly more away from the edge

In 2014 - 2015, a Navy blue version of the jacket was sold for a while as well. This jacket was the same as the Olive version, but besides the outer colour, it also had a different design tartan lining inside.

In 2015, the Beacon Heritage Sports jacket became a film jacket itself: the jacket was worn by actor Michiel Huisman in The Age of Adeline (read more).

Dutch actor Michiel Huisman wears the Barbour Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket in the 2015 movie The Age of Adeline

Barbour Icons Beacon Sports 125th Anniversary Edition

Production date: 2019
Product code: MWX1578OL71
Availability: Sold out (currently there are a few on eBay)

In 2019 Barbour celebrated its 125th Anniversary with several limited editions, including the Barbour Icons Beacon Heritage 125th Anniversary Edition. This limited edition is based on the Barbour Beacon Heritage Sports jacket, but the design has some notable differences.

Two new features, not seen on any of the previous Beacon Heritage reissues, are the extra zipper pocket above the left front pocket and a new small pocket on one of the sleeves.

But on the back, the 125th edition has only 1 single back pocket zipper (instead of thwe two on the other editions).

Not seen on any other Beacon Heritage Sports jacket: the extra zipper pocket above the left front pocket and small pocket on the sleeve. But it has only a single back pocket zipper insted of two.

The jacket also has a different tartan lining than the previous Barbour Beacon Heritage Sports jackets, and a different label.

The 125th Anniversary Edition has a different tartan lining and labels inside

According to one Bond fan who owns the jacket the Beacon Sports is a little more full in the body than the 125th Anniversary edition. It also seems that the sleeve patches are longer on the Beacon Sports (extending farther toward the cuff).

A beautiful jacket, although slightly different from the film version, this Barbour 125 Year Anniversary edition was available at UNCRATE for $499 but currently sold out everywhere.

Barbour Gold Standard Supa Commander Wax Jacket

Production date: 2019
Product code: MWX1748OL71 (Olive Green) | MWX1748BK71 (Black)
Availability: not available anymore, only sometimes on eBay

In 2020, Barbour released the Barbour Supa Commander Wax jacket as part of the Barbour Gold Standard collection. This collection featured jackets made from even higher quality materials and finishing, including this stunning Supa Commander jacket.

Interestingly this jacket is quite similar to the original X To Ki To, but it also has some notable differences.

What's similar?
Just like the original X To Ki To (but unlike the Beacon Heritage reissue) the Supa Commander comes with a removeable hood and large inner storm flap. The peaked adjustable hood can be buttoned up around the neck to make it more windproof and weather resistant.

The Supa Commander has a removable hood just like the original X To Ki To
photo © Bond Lifestyle

The jacket also has the little triangle wind flap, and all the pockets are in the same locations.

The Supa Commander jacket also features Barbour's original lining, the same as in the X To Ki To and Dept B Commander and Beacon Heritage Sports reissues.

What's different?
The main difference can be found in the large front pockets, which are oiled leather in this Supa Commander version, instead of waxed cotton on the previous jackets. And just above one of the front pockets we find a Gold Standard special edition plaque.

A big difference with the X To Ki To is that Supa Commander has leather front pockets and leather shoulder patches

Also the shoulder pads are oiled leather instead of waxed cotton.

The buttons also seem darker, perhaps made from a different material, but this is not confirmed.

The Supa Commander is available in Olive Green (left) and Black (right)

Note that this Supa Commander jacket is also available in Black as well as Olive Green. If you're buying this jacket online, make sure to order the correct colour that you want, because sometimes the difference in colour is difficult to see in just the photos. The Olive Green Supa Commander is available at MR PORTER USA ($895) or MR PORTER UK (£550).

Sizing and fit of the Barbour jacket

The tailored fit jacket is cut like a sports jacket / blazer, but where the shoulders are slim fit, the bottom part is slightly wider, which is more comfortable and practical for hunting or other activities. 

If you are broad in the shoulders, or more heavy set, it's recommended to size up.

Sizing chart (taken from Aphrodite Clothing)

Taking in the waist

If you are of regular build or tall / slim, order true to size, or you can order one size up and have the waist taken in by a tailor if you prefer a tighter fit around the waist.

I'm 193cm / 6'3" tall and weigh 79kg / 175lb, and quite slim. I wear the Large, which I need for the arm length, but I could have the waist taken in a bit for more slim fit feeling fit. I have never done that but considering doing that to my new Barbour Heritage Sports Jacket size L.

Bond Lifestyle reader and my fellow Dutch-man Daan recently had his Beacon Sports jacket taken in at a tailor, and he reported great results (see below), so it can be done! Daan is 192cm (almost 6'3") tall, slim, 85 kg. Normally he wears Medium sweaters and jackets, or size 48 (94 lenght). He ordered a Large Barbour jacket and had the waist taken in with two new seams. The new seams are placed just underneath arms so are hardly visible when you wear it. Send me a message if you want more info on these adjustments.

An example of a tailored Barbour Beacon Heritage Sports jacket, taken in at the waist
photos © Daan for Bond Lifestyle

Where to buy the Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket

Update May 2024: the jacket is currently not easily available online anymore.
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If you have an official Barbour store nearby, you can pay it a visit and fit the jacket. In 2012, I purchased my X To Ki To in a London Barbour boutique. In 2014 I bought my Barbour Dept. B Commander Beacon Sports jacket online at End Clothing. In 2020 I bought my Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket at Aphrodite Clothing, which I can also recommend.

Amazingly, the price of the jacket hasn't changed since 2012 and is still £399 (in contrast, for example the N.Peal jumper and Turnbull & Asser Bond neckties have increased massively in price in that time).

If you're ordering the jacket from the USA website you get the jacket for around $485 on Aphrodite, basically the normal price minus the VAT. Please note that you might have to pay custom taxes in the US or Canada when the jacket arrives, but many people have received the jacket without having to pay anything extra, making this a very good deal.

Do you own one of these Barbour jackets and want to add something to this article? Please send me a message!