Heated jacket or vest

vRSG60

vRSG60

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I’ve recently thought about getting a heated jacket or vest for the chilly days.
My question is, has anyone bought a vest and wished they’d splashed out a bit more for a jacket?

I’m thinking in particular cold or cool arms. I imagine when wearing a vest you miss out on a layer above that would help keep your arms warm.


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I head a similar dilemma

Went for a Keiss jacket and have no regrets

The heat from the sleeves and the collar make the slight extra bulk worth it. Also surprising ow having warm arms helps keep hands warm
 
I’m very happy with my Keis waistcoat, my wife is very happy with the Keis jacket.

I read up on it and went with the scientific approach of warming your core.

I plug mine in to the bike, the wife prefers a battery, but that has a limited working range.
 
I have an old BMW heated waistcoat and it's a complete game changer when I do long motorway trips at this time of year. Even with all the layers I wear id still be very cold but the heated vest completely solves it. Would highly recommend.

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ymfb said:
I’m very happy with my Keis waistcoat, my wife is very happy with the Keis jacket.

I read up on it and went with the scientific approach of warming your core.

I plug mine in to the bike, the wife prefers a battery, but that has a limited working range.
Click to expand...

Got to agree with this ^^^^^^^^^^. I bought a simple cheap waistcoat of the bay. Key thing is to get it a close to your body as possible eg you, thin thermal then heated garment. I know people who layer up then pop waistcoat on and say they cant feel it.

This is why the Keis units are so thin as they need to be worn under things not over.

Once warm ( about two mins) your core heats up and you dont get a sensation of warm chest cold arms. I read as you warm up your kidneys the blood warms and so do you.

Steve
 
As with many things, it’s horses for courses.

I used a Chili heated waistcoat, linked to a Wider controller for years. It’s still going strong I’d guess now 25 to 30 years later, with a friend of mine. It was one of the first and very few electric bits of clobber available. I am not sure that Chili or Wider (who were American) are even still around.

I then changed to Rapid Fire’s heated gear (again American) which includes a full jacket. I’ve never looked back since.

My tips would be:

1. Look at how much you want to spend. If you only nip out for an hour or two once a month, a waistcoat will be fine

2. Try some gear on with your regular riding jacket etc. It’s surprising how bulky something that looks thin can be, sometimes

3. Look at the quality of the controller, the wires and other paraphernalia

30 minutes spent now will repay itself in spades when it’s -5 and falling, trust me
 
Thanks all. I notice the women’s Keis vest has a heated collar and the men’s doesn’t.
Sounds gay but I tried on the women’s vest and it fitted my racing snake physic a treat


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Cue Blackadder’s sea captain: “You have a woman’s vest! I’ll wager....”
 
Either one you choose go for one with a controller. I bought a Widder waistcoat a few years ago, a brilliant piece of kit but I originally go it with the on / off lead only . I was forever turning it on , getting too warm , then turning it off .....and repeat so I forked out for the expensive controller . The waistcoat Looks like new even now but that’s mainly down to lack of use as I got it for one winter when I commuted through it . As Wapping said you can’t get them anymore which is a shame so I’ve hung on to it .
 
I bought a Keis waistcoat. A friend who has a longer commute got the Keis jacket.

We went on an Easter trip to the Ardennes in 2016 and compared notes.

I sometimes find my arms feel a bit cool so I end up wearing a fleece over the waistcoat (rather than the liner that came with the jacket). This adds extra bulk but is easily removed if the weather improves. Also provides a casual jacket for off the bike.

The mate finds the Keis sleeves a bit fiddly as they ride up inside his jacket - unlike a jacket liner you can't fix the sleeves in place.

As you seem to have done, you need to try on the heated clothing with your own jacket. Uncomfortable clothing is very distracting and even painful on a longer trip.

My set up was comfy and warm enough to get me through England and N.France on the way to Avignon at Easter last year when some of the mornings were frosty.
 
Having done a fair bit of research I decided on a Keis X10 heated waistcoat....it was delivered yesterday... Looks very well made and came in at £93 from the sports bike shop complete with controller.... All the connectors seem good quality too

There was lots to read ref sizing, so having a 42-44 inch chest I would have gone normally for large, but ordered a small :eek: it fits nicely over a t shirt and thin fleece. Elasticated panels make it very comfortable and not tight at all. :thumb

I went for the waistcoat as my commute is only 30 mins each way, and I recall my old chilli waistcoat keeping me toasty when I used it a while back riding a newly purchased 1100Gs back from Edinburgh, in a blizzard in February ( great planning) :)
 
Not a bad price that.

Bryn said:
Having done a fair bit of research I decided on a Keis X10 heated waistcoat....it was delivered yesterday... Looks very well made and came in at £93 from the sports bike shop complete with controller.... All the connectors seem good quality too

There was lots to read ref sizing, so having a 42-44 inch chest I would have gone normal for large, but ordered a small :eek: it fits nicely over a t shirt and thin fleece. Elasticated panels make it very comfortable and not tight at all. :thumb

I went for the waistcoat as my commute is only 30 mins each way, and I recall my old chilli waistcoat keeping me toasty when I used it a while back riding a newly purchased 1100Gs back from Edinburgh, in a blizzard in February ( great planning) :)
Click to expand...




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Bought a Keis vest, used it over a couple of winters and decided last year to get the keis jacket as my arms were just too cold on longer runs. Not regretted that decision and feel the jacket is much warmer when the weather is properly cold. I find the vest works well for spring and autumn either first thing or later on when there's a chill in the air!

Just bought the heated gloves too and they are fabulous!
 
Throwing in my ten pence, I've had both the Keis jacket and the Keis heated vest (modern models, last year or so). I found the jacket bulky and I had to remove my jacket's thermal liner. I don't like collars as it restricts motion around my neck etc. I now have the Keis heated vest (no collar) and much prefer it. I wear my jacket's thermal liner with the KEis vest closest to me. No bulk on the arms, only minimal bulk on the torso and happy warn. I rode an hour to work at various speeds in -2.5 indicated temp the other day, no issue.
I too worried about arms being cold. I haven't found that to be so.
 
collier32 said:
I have the keis vest the good thing is it will run on a battery pack where the jacket won't
Click to expand...

Yes that’s a real plus point for the vest; that you can run it from the battery packs. So you aren’t plugged into the bike.

You can also get extension leads to allow you to run heated gloves / inner gloves... if you don’t have heated grips on your bike.




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I have both.
The Keis jacket has really bulky cuffs that don’t sit well with the newer Rukka gore cuffs.
Make sure you do try them on with your actual kit as you won’t know this sort of thing until after otherwise.
The jacket is like a full blown outdoor jacket. Lined, windproof, etc.
Adds a lot of bulk.
Even the waistcoat is bulkier than the BMW one which I also have so tucking things into your trousers sta’rts to get awkward.
Especially important with the jacket otherwise you are either getting a draft or buying another larger waisted pair of trews!
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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