Battery Powered Heated Vests, Are They Worth It?

As a 50-year-old motorcycle enthusiast in Central Ohio, I have noticed my tolerance to the cold has diminished over the years. I used to ride wearing a hard-wired heated vest that plugged into the battery on the motorcycle, but I found that the cord seemed to always be in the way.

When I spotted the new battery powered vests on the Internet 3 years ago, I figured that was the answer, so I immediately ordered one of the carbon fiber heated vests from a large catalog house. This vest worked well for one year, but the batteries only lasted for 4 hours, so I made sure I was within range of my home before the batteries gave out.

The second year of use, I found the batteries had dropped to holding a charge to only 1 hour and the vest was starting to break wires which I had to solder together several times to keep the vest working. I am guessing that as the vest is used, the wires get fragile from the heat and break easily. As the cold moved into Central Ohio this fall, I found the vest batteries were almost done and the wires snapped again as soon as I put it on.

I turned to the Internet and found 2 companies who make battery operated heated vests and ordered one vest from each of them.

The Gerbing Lite vest arrived first and I was immediately impressed with the quality and the features in the design. This heated vest has 2 heat pads in the chest area and one in the back. The battery unit is located in an inside pocket on the left side and is accessible by unzipping the vest and pulling the battery from the pocket and turning the vest on. You can set the level of heat you want and on high, it lasts easily over 8 hours. The battery is a little bulky but you get used to it quickly.

The second heated vest I ordered from Australia called the Jett Vest. This vest puts out some serious heat even on low! It has one large heat pad in the back and when you turn it on, that vest is warm within seconds. The Jett vest is a quilted material and is warm even with the vest turned off. The battery pack is in the right inside pocket, but the controller hangs below the vest for easy access to change the heat level. I have been getting 6 hours plus on the battery use.

The only drawback to both of these vests is the lack of pockets. The Gerbing and the Jett both have 2 hand pockets, but I would like an additional inside pocket if they could.

For everyday wear around a cold house or office, I prefer the Gerbing as it is lighter weight and seems more flexible. The Jett is my favorite for cold weather motorcycling as it definitely produces heat, but only on your back. These two companies should get together and combine their designs, you would have the perfect heated motorcycle vest.