Heated vests

[fruitloopy]

I was out xmas shopping with my wife on Saturday and popped into a new Maplin store. I saw some heated vests with rechargeable batteries, I think they were about £60 or £70.

 

Has anyone tried or got any of these? Are they worth it for the winter months? I can wear as many as 6 layers of clothing and because I am sitting still for a good portion of the time I can still get bloody cold!

[fruitloopy]

Sorry, I was wrong. The one in Maplin is only £20 but needs 6 x AA batteries.

Maplin Electric Waistcoat

[jeepster]

Looks like a total waste of time and money, six AAs won't produce much heat for long, and their suggested mode of use means you'll still spend most of your time cold, and the rest wondering when the vest will get hot.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Why don't you take 6 batteries into Maplins and try it. If it only takes 5 minutes to heat up and it's your batteries, I can't see what the problem would be. If it works, you buy it. If it doesn't, you don't. I don't think you'd have it on all day anyway. If it's enough to take the chill off for a bit, I think it could be quite pleasant. A hot cuppa tea doesn't last all day and you wouldn't want one to last all day anyway. Give it a bash and let us know.

[Vagabond]

In the days when I went beach fishing for cod on winter nights, it used to get damned cold.

 

A mate of mine bought a sleeping bag to try to stay above freezing.

 

The first night he used it, he cast his rods out, and crawled into the bag.

 

At ten minute intervals during the night he complained he was still cold.

 

About 3. 30 am I was down by the rods when I became aware of a flickering light behind me and a smell of singed hair.

 

Turning round, I saw he had set fire to his sleeping bag.

 

"I bought this £*%&$^@ thing to keep me warm" he said, "and keep me warm its going to"

 

...and he crouched over the flames.

[jeepster]

It'll certainly get warm in the already warm environment of a shop, but whether on a cold day it'll ever get above the ambient temperature is very doubtful, and if any warmth was produced, whether that would penetrate whatever else you're wearing.......

[fruitloopy]

I have bought it along with a battery charger + AA rechargeable batteries. I guess I'll try wearing it above my thermal tshirt and another long sleeve tshirt then put a jumper and fleece on top of that.

 

That'll do it!

[Andy Macfarlane]

I'm not arguing. I can see what you're saying Jeepster but like I say, he'll never know unless he tries. If it works then great, if it doesn't, he can take it back. That's what receipts are for.

Edited November 19, 2008 by Andy Macfarlane

[Dick Dastardly]

Jeeze are we Fishermen or fishermouse! Enough of this poncing about (you will all be holding your rods with two fingers up your butts before long!) I will lead the way on Sunday by wearing my shorts regardless of the weather! as a real man does!

[MikeT]

I think you'll like it.

 

I got one very similar, a couple of years ago, and it does what it says on the tin. It takes 8 AA batteries, so I bought some high capacity Li ion rechargeables to use with it, and these last for around three or four continuous hours from fully charged. I tend to switch on the heat in periods of about twenty minutes or so, after which the warmth stays trapped for a good while. That way, they last me all day.

 

It's a good feeling when you're feeling the chill to have a deep heat spread out around your kidney area (the two heating elements are quite small- about eight by eight inches), and I found my waistcoat very effective for warming me up. It serves as an extra insulating layer in its own right, of course.

 

I found it's best to use the waistcoat above a thermal vest and tee shirt, otherwise you can get quite sore from hot spots, and then put a jumper or coat over the top of the whole lot.

 

Toasty!