Battery Powered Heated Vest
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Battery Powered Heated Vest
Jett Heat Vest
By bogie, 11/13/06
Wow! That’s the review – just Wow!
The Jett Heat Vest is a battery powered heated vest made in Australia. The vest itself is a lightly quilted with one quirk for the guys in the US – the zipper is opposite what is the norm here – a small difference for all the benefits.
The vest uses a rechargeable battery pack to power the infrared heating elements and comes with the required charging unit and a three setting thermostat – all included, nothing extra to buy. And if you mention you read this review (tell them ‘bogie’ sent you), I’m pretty sure they will honor their special of including a second battery pack so you can be charging one while using the other.
I used the vest on three rides in varied weather conditions with one commonality – the high temp for the day was not greater than 35° F and the rides started at 20°F or less – I’m sure most would consider that cold. One ride was about 100 mile round trip in a light rain, another of about 450 miles in two days included constant 35 MPH cross winds and expressway speeds of 65+ MPH (think extreme wind chills), the third was about 150 miles on a calm overcast day. On all three occasions, I found the lowest of the 3 temp settings to be plenty warm. The heat is immediate – push the on button and you feel the heat – just that quick. I’d kick it up to medium if I got an additional chill, but found it not necessary to keep it there for long. I did try the high setting for a while – but honestly feel that, unless the vest is the only outerwear you have on, would seldom be used. For the rides – I had a long sleeved t-shirt under the vest (it is not recommended to wear the vest without at least a t-shirt under it), a fleece top with an integral neck wrap and my leather coat (or rain gear). I also used plug-in the bike heated gloves, appropriate head covering and chaps (or rain gear) over insulated jeans. I can honestly say I did not feel cold. In addition to the time riding, I also was involved in activities that required me to stand outside in the weather for the better part of each day – and that’s the biggest advantage to the Jett Heat Vest versus most competitors – you don’t need to be plugged into the bike. You carry the lightweight battery with you in a specially designed pocket in the vest – you have the heat with you everywhere. Using the vest mostly on the low setting, with an occasional bump to medium, I was able to have the heat going for as long as 7 hours with no noticeable drop in effectiveness. I only wish my gloves had portable power.
The heating elements are positioned only in the back of the vest – one at the lower back, about kidney level, and the other up between the shoulder blades. The infrared heat is absorbed into the body, rather than heating the air – this warms the muscles, bones and blood of the central core, which then transfers the heat to all parts of the body. The manufacturer indicates the heating elements are only in the back of the vest because “it is dangerous to have heating directly on your heart or too close, as experience has shown it can cause fainting” – and that would be especially bad while riding.
The charging unit comes with the appropriate plug for US applications. It has an indicator light that tells you when it is charging and when the charging cycle is complete. After running the vest for the 7 hours, it took less than 4 hours to recharge the battery pack. The battery technology allows recharging after any period of use without concern for the ‘memory’ effect some batteries have. A suggestion I have relayed to the manufacturer would be to create a charger that could be plugged into the cigar lighter of many touring bikes to be able to recharge the second battery while riding.
The Jett Heat vest is reasonably priced at $275 Australian dollars, which equates to about $210.00 U.S. dollars pl
By bogie, 11/13/06
Wow! That’s the review – just Wow!
The Jett Heat Vest is a battery powered heated vest made in Australia. The vest itself is a lightly quilted with one quirk for the guys in the US – the zipper is opposite what is the norm here – a small difference for all the benefits.
The vest uses a rechargeable battery pack to power the infrared heating elements and comes with the required charging unit and a three setting thermostat – all included, nothing extra to buy. And if you mention you read this review (tell them ‘bogie’ sent you), I’m pretty sure they will honor their special of including a second battery pack so you can be charging one while using the other.
I used the vest on three rides in varied weather conditions with one commonality – the high temp for the day was not greater than 35° F and the rides started at 20°F or less – I’m sure most would consider that cold. One ride was about 100 mile round trip in a light rain, another of about 450 miles in two days included constant 35 MPH cross winds and expressway speeds of 65+ MPH (think extreme wind chills), the third was about 150 miles on a calm overcast day. On all three occasions, I found the lowest of the 3 temp settings to be plenty warm. The heat is immediate – push the on button and you feel the heat – just that quick. I’d kick it up to medium if I got an additional chill, but found it not necessary to keep it there for long. I did try the high setting for a while – but honestly feel that, unless the vest is the only outerwear you have on, would seldom be used. For the rides – I had a long sleeved t-shirt under the vest (it is not recommended to wear the vest without at least a t-shirt under it), a fleece top with an integral neck wrap and my leather coat (or rain gear). I also used plug-in the bike heated gloves, appropriate head covering and chaps (or rain gear) over insulated jeans. I can honestly say I did not feel cold. In addition to the time riding, I also was involved in activities that required me to stand outside in the weather for the better part of each day – and that’s the biggest advantage to the Jett Heat Vest versus most competitors – you don’t need to be plugged into the bike. You carry the lightweight battery with you in a specially designed pocket in the vest – you have the heat with you everywhere. Using the vest mostly on the low setting, with an occasional bump to medium, I was able to have the heat going for as long as 7 hours with no noticeable drop in effectiveness. I only wish my gloves had portable power.
The heating elements are positioned only in the back of the vest – one at the lower back, about kidney level, and the other up between the shoulder blades. The infrared heat is absorbed into the body, rather than heating the air – this warms the muscles, bones and blood of the central core, which then transfers the heat to all parts of the body. The manufacturer indicates the heating elements are only in the back of the vest because “it is dangerous to have heating directly on your heart or too close, as experience has shown it can cause fainting” – and that would be especially bad while riding.
The charging unit comes with the appropriate plug for US applications. It has an indicator light that tells you when it is charging and when the charging cycle is complete. After running the vest for the 7 hours, it took less than 4 hours to recharge the battery pack. The battery technology allows recharging after any period of use without concern for the ‘memory’ effect some batteries have. A suggestion I have relayed to the manufacturer would be to create a charger that could be plugged into the cigar lighter of many touring bikes to be able to recharge the second battery while riding.
The Jett Heat vest is reasonably priced at $275 Australian dollars, which equates to about $210.00 U.S. dollars pl
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