Heated Vests?

[Malarky112]

On 10/24/2019 at 11:27 PM, barrysuperhawk said:

Being both a motorcyclist and a foul weather shooter, I have put MUCH research into heated clothing.  The only problem I see with the ember kickstarter stuff is that they seem a bit to clever for their own good when it comes to their battery.  By making it USB-C they have effectively made it just shy of proprietary in that other than some phones, nobody has usb-C anything.  With the drill-pack coats you can bring a bag full of batteries, and quick chargers are normal.  With any of the single battery coats, they may tout slightly better performance, but you are stuck waiting to recharge, and unfortunately nothing USB of any type can charge as fast as a regular drill pack, and spare battery packs are individually much more $$ when you equalize for capacity and run time.  I am not real sure of some of their performance claims either.

 

They are also cherry picking their competitors.  Dewalt runs at 20V and their smallest 1.5 Ah battery is 30 watts by their measurement, watts instead of Amp Hours.  A 3.0 Ah battery gives you 60 watts, and there are 4.0 Ah, 5.0 Ah and 6.0 Ah readily available for 80, 100 and 120 watts respectively.  There also doesn't seem to be any technical reason why you couldn't lug around the 12 Ah flexvolt monster for 240 watts, other than needing a cart just for the battery.   The 6.0 Ah battery is a tight fit in the pocket, but it works...

 

Most importantly, if you use the Dewalt on max heat and keep it there, you cannot discharge any size battery faster than it takes to charge a replacement - to put that another way, run battery #1 down to dead, then plug in battery #2 and start charging #1.  Battery #1 will be fully charged and ready to go well before #2 runs out.  I have tested this up to the 6.0 Ah batteries, and a 6.0 Ah battery charges from 0 bars to full faster than i was able to discharge a 1.5 Ah replacement.  I don't have any of the flexvolts to try.   I presume that the Milwaukee and Bosch will work in a similar fashion, and the guy at Home Despot told me that Ryobi is or has come out with their own line of heated clothes - but I havent seen them.

 

My next project is to try to hack my Gerbing gear to run off of drill batteries, because they have heated hoods, gloves and pants too...

You’ve put a lot of thought into this! Good info. On the power tool heated gear, where does the battery pack usually go? 
Only problem is that at a match you won’t be charging batteries, but can always bring spares. 

[barrysuperhawk]

Right now I am just dropping the pack in any convenient pocket and I have a short 18" or so extension that lets me put it in any pocket.  Sometimes it works better to move it around so it's not banging into anything.

 

At most matches, I have my golf cart, so I most sincerely can charge...  come to think of it, I also have a 12v charger in my truck, so I could carry one and charge one, swapping at lunch or between stages.  That said, I have never done either, I just carry spare batteries...  that I have not even had the need to swap out yet.  So far, the 1.5Ah battery that came with the jacket has been sufficient to last a whole match on medium.  Eventually I may need to swap batteries as they age... 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2019 by barrysuperhawk

[nikdanja]

Now you make a A/C cooled vest, now your on to something..

[Truckin_Thumper]

On 10/31/2019 at 7:57 PM, nikdanja said:

Now you make a A/C cooled vest, now your on to something..

If you dont mind running around with a cooler of ice/water on your back, they have to for motorcycles too. LOL 

[waktasz]

On 10/31/2019 at 8:57 PM, nikdanja said:

Now you make a A/C cooled vest, now your on to something..

 

A bunch of us in PA got cooling vests this year .They use a gel ice pack that lasts about 2 hours and will re-freeze in a cooler of ice in about 40 minutes

[nikdanja]

4 hours ago, waktasz said:

 

A bunch of us in PA got cooling vests this year .They use a gel ice pack that lasts about 2 hours and will re-freeze in a cooler of ice in about 40 minutes

Ya I saw this tool wearing one at a match in landcaster. Guy looked so stupid. And he shot terribly 

[waktasz]

Sweet, don't think it was me. 

[ngodwetrust21]

On 11/7/2019 at 4:39 PM, waktasz said:

Sweet, don't think it was me. 

He said he shot terribly... makes me think it was certainly you.

[tyr264]

+1 on the Millwaukee . Great vest !

[Frankly]

But I need a TACTICAL heated vest so I don't look stupid. 

 

I'm sorry but what is the matter with layering and wear wool and fleece, maybe throwing a heavier coat on when you're standing around? The guys who work all night in the wet freezing cold making snow at the ski areas (ice cold water hoses being aerated by compressors) ~ one of the coldest jobs you can imagine ~ just wear simple clothes. Same for ice climbing. Is this a Texas thing? 

Edited November 12, 2019 by Frankly

[barrysuperhawk]

So, this might be my inner gear nerd showing but I found this:

Heated car seat kit

...that is essentially the same thing as is in the dewalt and milwaukee coats.  It is a waterproof heating pad that runs off 10-28v DC...  Sound familiar?    Maybe this can be used to add electrical heat to any jacket, vest, coat or MuMu....  

[rubern]

I have a  motorcycle heated vest and it works well.

[Malarky112]

Seems like the heated vests have started to drop in price so I grabbed a $40 one off amazon. They’re cheaper if you priced your own batter (just a usb battery pack) which I think is an advantage because you can just swap them out if needed. 
I’ve got a steel match this weekend with a morning temp of about 18 degrees. I’ll let ya know how it worked! 

[Malarky112]

Just thought I’d update. I’ve used my heated vest a few times now at least (couple of matches and couple of times while working outdoors) and so far I’d say it was worth every penny. 
I bought a pretty big battery pack to go with it and even on high it lasts the whole 6 hours plus out on the range. 
I’ve worn it under and jacket but over baselayer  and it fits snug enough that I take my jacket off to shoot and the vest stays on. Only drawback of the one I got is the battery pocket is on my left just in front of where my mags are. But small price to pay for bring warmer. 
 

One other trick that helps if you haven’t seen it. Take a hand warmer and put it in your magwell between stages. Works better on metal guns but still works on poly too. Just remember to take it out before you load!