Hand protection and covering

A hand covering having a dorsal side and a palm side and comprising:

• a wrist portion for encompassing at least a portion of a wrist of a user;
• a hand portion comprising a digit receptacle and a thumb receptacle, wherein the thumb receptacle is located on the palm side at or near a thumb side of the hand covering;
• an arcuate opening extending from at or near a lateral side across the dorsal side and to the thumb receptacle, wherein the lateral side comprises a side of the hand covering opposite the thumb side;
• a closure fastener operably attached to the arcuate opening and configured to open and close the arcuate opening, wherein, in an open configuration, the user can remove a thumb and one or more digits from the hand portion without removing the wrist portion from a wrist of the user;
• and
• a first structural member separate from a structure of the closure fastener enclosed within a first internal channel defined in the hand covering parallel to at least a portion of a first side of the arcuate opening, the first structural member comprising a first elongated strip of material that is more rigid than one or more other areas of the hand covering proximate to the first side of the arcuate opening, the first structural member being configured to structurally maintain a curvature of the first side of the arcuate opening and to enable the user to open and close the arcuate opening without substantially altering the curvature of the first side of the arcuate opening.