Looking for heated gear recommendations

[johnmark101]

Would like to extend my riding season a bit this year and will be looking into heated gear.  Since I have heated grips I am thinking I will only need a heated vest under my jacket.  I think with some thermal underwear inside my leather pants my legs should be good and I may be able to get by with some wool socks for my feet.  Not looking to ride deep into winter but would like to be comfortable down into the upper 40's or low 50's.

Looking for recommendations and any reflections on whatever heated gear you may have experience with.  Thanks in advance!

Edited August 21, 2019 by johnmark101

[betoney]

1 hour ago, johnmark101 said:

Would like to extend my riding season a bit this year and will be looking into heated gear.  Since I have heated grips I am thinking I will only need a heated vest under my jacket.  I think with some thermal underwear inside my leather pants my legs should be good and I may be able to get by with some wool socks for my feet.  Not looking to ride deep into winter but would like to be comfortable down into the upper 40's or low 50's.

Looking for recommendations and any reflections on whatever heated gear you may have experience with.  Thanks in advance!

I use the Tour Master Synergy 2.0 Heated Vest Liner W/ Collar   I only use it on the lowest setting (it gets HOT) and in conjunction with the heated grips, I'm good to go down to freezing weather.  The best part on a frosty morning - the HEATED COLLAR!! 

[vincep]

I purchased the Powelet jacket liner, gloves and bluetooth controller about 6 years ago and like that setup.  Their current jacket looks unchanged but the controller is a wrist worn thing now.  I like the original controller.

What i have:

RapidFIRe Heated Jacket Liner-Medium w/ 3 Position Wired Controller - Powerlet Products

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Heated Liners And Vests

Controller:

Dual Wireless Temperature Remote - Replacement Only - Powerlet Products

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Heated Clothing Temperature Controllers

and the glove liner.

I have been very happy with it.

Whatever you buy, size it snug, as it has to be close to the skin - I use a long sleeve base layer and then this.

[johnmark101]

One other question I forgot to ask.  I have added a Powerlet which is wired directly to the battery and has a 15 amp fuse.  Would this be sufficient for a heated liner?  Also, do I need an in line heat controller or are there liners that could be plugged directly to the Powerlet using an adapter??

Thanks for the replies...…….John.

[sirepair]

A 15 amp circuit will work for running both gloves and a liner. Adapters are available.

You will want some type of controller to vary the heat output or you will find yourself constantly turning it on and off.

Take a look at Warm & safe heated gear. I recommend their heated liner, gloves and dual "Heat-troller".  

The dual controller gives you 2 circuits; one for jacket liner, one for your gloves. Your hands need more heat than your torso, so if you have both items on a single controller it will be nearly impossible to find a comfortable setting.

I've used their gear for over 10 years. Great quality and they are very good about exchanging items to make sure you get the correct size. 

Check them out at: www.warmnsafe.com

 

[keithu]

I second the recommendation for Warm n Safe. The Heattroller works really well and allows me to infinitely adjust the temperature. My previous solution was an Aerostich heated vest, and it just had Off, Low, and High.

A very minor complaint: the LED on the Heattroller flashes at a varying frequency to show the power level. The LED is distractingly bright if it's mounted in your field of view (mine is on my handlebar). I resolved this by painting a little nail polish over the LED. This dimmed it just enough to still be visible but not annoying.

I assume the Heattroller is using PWM to control output, but not sure.

[sirepair]

52 minutes ago, keithu said:

I assume the Heattroller is using PWM to control output, but not sure.

Correct, Pulse Width Modulator for those that don't know. Basically a circuit that cycles on and off for a set time. Adjusting changes ratio of on time to off time.

I keep my Heat-troller clipped to left side of jacket. Only one connection to bike and LEDs are out of sight. Easily adjusted while on the fly.

[ruenjou]

Have warm-n-safe heated jacket and gloves hooked up to a dual-circuit heatroller. No problems riding all day at 40F.

[1moreroad]

On 8/20/2019 at 8:41 PM, betoney said:

I use the Tour Master Synergy 2.0 Heated Vest Liner W/ Collar   I only use it on the lowest setting (it gets HOT) and in conjunction with the heated grips, I'm good to go down to freezing weather.  The best part on a frosty morning - the HEATED COLLAR!! 

+1 @betoney I have a Tour Master Heated Jacket and wear it into the 20s.  It doesn't feel luxurious, but it keeps you warm.

[DavidS]

I use the Harley Davidson heated fleece jacket, under my regular riding jacket when it gets cold. That and heated gloves keep me toasty. I did install the heated grips, but the heated gloves work better for me.

[Heli ATP]

I picked up a TourMaster heated vest for 50% off with no printed instructions, like that recommended by betoney and 1moreroad above. I was going to purchase a backup battery pack but found they are out of stock. My experience with rechargeable battery packs is that they lose life when they sit around too long. Since my vest will only be used for a few months a year, is there anything I should be doing to preserve battery life, and how many seasons should I expect the lithium-ion battery pack to last?

[PeterL]

In general, batteries not being actively used/cycled fare best if either kept on a charger full-time or at least topped up regularly. The worst thing is to let them sit in a discharged state for extended periods.

 

FWIW- I do a whole lot of electronic DIY. When I need stand alone power I use commonly available 18650 Li-ion batteries as they are flexible and pretty much universally supported. You can buy a battery case like this off eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/402904626042?hash=item5dcefcb37a:g:66AAAOSw5WZgvYBr

and you have a pretty much plug and play setup. Battery capacities (mAh ratings) vary, as do their pricing in roughly direct proportion. Two side benefits to this approach- 1) batteries can be changed/upgraded as desired leaving you with a 'new' unit all over again, and 2) most cases includes a USB port for charging cell phones or such.

If you are comfortable with basic electronics, you can save a lot over an OEM battery pack and gain significant flexibility. Basically, you'd require:

• a battery case unit with 12v output
• a charger for topping up the case between usages. A simple wall-wart type works well and is portable enough to carry on trips easily. Bigger power rating charges faster in general.
• sufficient 18650 batteries for your chosen case, capacity rating of your discretion but best QUALITY is highly recommended. No-name units rarely meet their stated specs in my experience.
• a DIY cable to connect the pack to your clothing

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by PeterL
typo

[maximo]

I love heated gear (I use Gerbings).  In order of preference/necessity:

1. Gloves. This is the absolute starting point. You can always pile up layers under the rest, but you can't pile up gloves on top of gloves.

2. Jacket. I've done both, vests and jackets, and I absolutely swear by jackets over vests. With arms being out in the wind, they get colder than the torso. I hate having warm torso and cold arms.

3. socks/soles. This is kind of a luxury thing, but it's nice having toasty feet.

4. Pants. I have them and rarely use them. I'll only put them on if I'm going to be out for a long winter's ride. Anything under 3 hours I find that my legs stay toasty enough. 

[2and3cylinders]

I have an ancient TM vest w-collar I modified to coaxial plug I use with a single WnS Heattroller and a older WnS 90w jacket liner with the panels not monofilament and their carbon armored knuckle touring gloves along with the dual heat troller but with the heated grips I rarely wear the gloves and like the jacket liner over the vest because it's thinner and it's arm coverage.

[iamthedruman]

On 8/20/2019 at 9:41 PM, betoney said:

I use the Tour Master Synergy 2.0 Heated Vest Liner W/ Collar   I only use it on the lowest setting (it gets HOT) and in conjunction with the heated grips, I'm good to go down to freezing weather.  The best part on a frosty morning - the HEATED COLLAR!! 

I have had my Synergy (1.0) jacket liner with heated collar for 11 years. Still using the original controller and just needed to replace the battery coax cable after it frayed at the connectors. This system gets poopoo'ed quite a bit but I haven't had any trouble with mine. Warm and wind resistant so it's a great base layer over a light moisture-wicking t-shirt or thermal wwhen it's damn cold (think 0C or 40F).

Picked up a Warm n' Safe Waterproof Coloured Jacket Liner and cordless dual controller for my partner. She's always cold so we'll try this out. Folks at ADV Rider swear by them. Only thing is it's not wind resistant so she'll need a windblock.

My advice is make sure you buy your heated gear snug as it needs to be close to your body to transfer warmth. It doesn't work if it's loose. Also, if you get cold easily, go with the full jacket liner rather than a vest, as others have mentioned.

Edited July 27, 2021 by iamthedruman