Slashdot Mirror
Self-Warming Jackets
jeffy124 writes: "Those of you in the frigid north who find their coats unfulfilling of their duties may be interested in a self-warming jacket. By using steel microfibres woven into the fabric plus a lithium battery, heat is actually generated to as much as 114 degrees fahrenheit. The jackets, sadly, come with a nasty price -- US$500. Among those interested in purchasing are skiers (including some Olympians), and the Military."
a reason to plug in my coat!
...what? Why are you all looking at me like that?
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
-Do NOT do that.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Although its not cheap either, its comparable to some of the regular leather (read: cold) jackets sold in stores.
You just just figured that out right now? Besides, the top of the line 300 Fleece jacket from North Face are just as good, over the long term.
BTW, FP.
... but most jackets are designed to be "self heating". At least, any good REI type jacket is. They should create multiple layers of air around your body that your body heat will warm, with a protective layer outside that blocks most wind and water.
Not to say that this isn't cool, but it seems a bit impractical. One wonders if it can sufficently operate as a normal jacket once its battery's worn out.
I was told by some DARPA person that one of the problems the military had with wearable tech was that a bullet which has just travelled through a lithium battery was more toxic than one which hadnt; wearing a coat with Li-ion elements is not the kind of thing you'd want to do on the battlefield. is that correct?
I guess the steel mesh woven into it makes them partially metal jackets then....
I'm a semi avid skier and I'm amazed at how much people spend on ski crap. $150 bucks for a pair of flimsy nylon pants (like th kind I got at Kmart for $12) isn't uncommon. So I would imagine a selfwarming jacket (if it has stylish logos) at $500 will have no problem selling.
Wow! These were shown in Mens Health magazine here in the UK before Christmas...
Slashdot/CNN need to get with the times or get more healthy! Check it out!
MET 5 Jacket
This reminds me of that talking jacket in BTTF2:
"Drying... jacket drying... your jacket is now dry."
When Batman went to fight the order of St. Dumas in the Sword of Azrael miniseries, he carried a special version of his Bat-suit that had the same technology. Leave it to the fucking Canadians to rip off something from a truly gifted American innovator like Bruce Wayne.
Liberate your mind in two clicks or less.
the jackets filled with the aerogels made in micro gravity. sadly, they cost more like $5000 though.
Is the heat actually produced by the current running through the metal strands, or does the wearer get the sensation of heat due to the electro-magnetic field interacting with his tissue/cells?
Replace the lithium batteries with a small methanol fuel cell easely rechargable and that last 10 time longer and you have the ultimate jacket. hehe
$500 really isn't bad when you consider the prices people paid for first generation Gore-Tex jackets. I'd just worry about shorting it out and bursting into flames.
I think this is a not so good idea.
- Batteries work very bad/not at all in cold conditions, you world have to keep the entire resupply of batteries inside the jacket.
- Adds complexity, will probably not work when it is really needed (Murphys laws of combat)
- Cotton still works very well from -15 deg C
to -30 -15 deg C, in fact t-shirt, jacket and winter camo works quite well if walking.
- May be usable as a emergency blanket, if you need to reheat someone suffering from mild hypothermia. Having tried that once, it was not very pleasant.
What happens if you turn the jacket "on" when nobody's wearing it? This thing must generate lots of heat in a small amount of time. My chem lab experience make me think the jacket might start to melt or burn...
What the Butt Naked Brigade actually ordered was a warmer for their --
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
I certainly agree - many of my wealthier friends ski, and the resort prices they pay often astounds me. These are frequently also the people slightly on the larger, lazier side, less inclined toward the difficult skiing likely to warm them. Any additional convience would be worth their money. Aside from that, everyone wants to be the first to say "I not only have my three condos and courtside seats and season passes, but I also have a self warming jacket." Beat that, Joneses!
Finally I can stop using methane to heat up my pants.
6 months later...
Man catches on fire while falling asleep in new "self-warming" jacket.
First off let me say that I wear electric clothing on a regular basis. Of course, mine is the somewhat low-tech variety. More cheap electric blanket, less lithium-ion.
The main reason I wear them, is for when you need to be stationary in the elements for an extended period of time. Sure, I'd be warm if I were moving about, but if you have to sit still for 60 minutes it's going to take a *LOT* of insulation to equal the warmth of a good electric vest.
There's another subtle difference between heavy insulation and active heating. Alterness. You'd be amazed at how fast your reaction time sinks when you get a little cold. That's not so bad when your hiking along a trail, but if you're driving a motorcycle (like me) or holding a gun (soliders) then a half second can be critical.
What about those Slashdotters in the Frigid South? It gets cold two directions, remember, and fall is upon those down under pretty soon.
just make sure you don't overdo the voltage; you wouldn't want to end up with a waffle iron pattern on the skin underneath!
When in doubt, do like the doubters do
Mmmmmm... toasty warm.
dominionrd.blogspot.com - Restaurants on
That you need to buy the $400 "Light Parka" to zip this thing into, bringing the grand total to $900. And that's not even including the price of Lithium batteries
Any volunteers to be experimental subjects?
Heck, lightning isn't unknown in snowstorms, either...
Am I the only person here who's hands are always cold, (even more so outside during the winter)?
Maybe I should send them an email about it? =)
I had a friend when I was a kid...camping gadget freaks, we were...that had these socks you put batteries in and they supposedly kept your feet warm. I made fun of them, because I couldn't imagine lugging around batteries around your feet!
I don't remember what kind of batteries they used, but they obviously didn't go anywhere (that I'm aware, anyway).
This jacket is the same thing...big deal...they found ANOTHER weird idea that they can sell to people with too much money just because it sounds interesting.
Now, if that jacket was actually a flexible circuit board that ran Linux....
It makes perfect sense.
I'm looking into buying a Testarossa.
I figure I have another 40 years to live,
so if I calcute....
With logic like this, any idiotic spending can be justified. Ever work for the government?
...a self-warming toilet seat.
Just curious, with all the unknowns of magnetic fields causing cancer and such.
Maybe even if it has a field, it's not very strong since it just runs on batteries.
I dunno, could make you steril... but warm.
Man, I just hooked up with slashdot a few days ago thinking I could do to have some nerd type conversation in my life and today has been the best day ever. I feel like I am back at military.com, I was able to check out 2 military related articles on this site, SWEET! and even got an updated Matrix site, SWEETER! Man we are giving the boys some mac & cheese MRE's, maybe some scrambled eggs also and now heated jackets also, man bring on soddom and that bin ladle guy, we are definetely gonna kick some gluteus maximus now. To all those that are tired of reading my military perspective sorry, to all who like it OOHRAH! Semper Fi all and good night!
I ride year round and it's frequently cold enough to put on my electric vest under my motorcycle jacket. These things are a life-saver and they're pretty low-tech, with fine wires laid out in an electric blanket configuration surrounding your torso. Of course, I guess this approach to keeping warm is much easier to pull off when you're riding a high-current, 400+ pound battery on wheels...
Reminds me of the bit on Jimmy Buffett's Feeding Frenzy CD, where he refers to his first pickup truck costing less than a pair of sneakers today. Which, if you go look, the new Nike's are less than you can pay for an actual running car.
Now whether you actually need each, that's another question. If I want to stay warm I eat carbs and wear a well insulated jacket.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I think somebody must have found that jacket Marty McFly brought back from the future. They just need to install a blow-dryer in this baby and we'll be all set.
And, BTW, my last Columbia Parka cost about $350, on sale, shell and liner, 2 winters ago. Don't even bother to price sports logo stuff if this shocks you, it's worse.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
My titanium puts out a lot of heat - and I'm moving to Europe soon (Germany) - so I know it'll function quite nicely as a bed-warmer during those long nights.
... in a tight little package.
...
Plus it plays DVD's, so in all it's pretty much like snuggling up in front of the fire and watching a movie
If they could one day *use* the heat that these sorts of devices put out, instead of trying hard to reduce it, things might become a little more efficient
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
...I haven't worn a jacket for several years now. Of course, I live in Northern VA, near Washington DC which doesn't really qualify as the frigid north. This winter has been rather warm, but I didn't wear a jacket last year when we had a good solid month of cold in December (ice on the canal was thick enough to skate). How do I do it?
Well, first of all, I find that I just don't spend that much time walking from the car to the inside. If you get that cold walking outside for a few minutes, you are a wimp. There is simply no other way to put it.
Well you say, what about when you are doing non-wimpy things like hiking along the banks of the semi-frozen Potomac?
In situations like that, I layer. Sometimes as much as 5 or 6 layers. More often than not, I end up pealing them off as the physical activity causes body temp to increase. In an extreme situation (e.g., hiking up the Blue Ridge) body temperature increases to the point where I have gone shirtless in 20 degree weather just for the thrill of it. You have to be doing heavy aerobic climbing for that to be comfortable though. No, I'm not overweight either. It is essential to pack several T-shirts and change the innermost layer if you are going to rest during such an outing. Otherwise the moisture can really get to you.
My only special equipment for dealing with the cold is a warm cotton hat to cover my ears, and gloves. That takes care of most of the body heat loss.
I can see how something like that jacket would be useful in Minessota, especially if you did a lot of driving and were concerned about getting stranded in the middle of a blizzard.
For me though, I've found that most special Winter clothing is something I can do without. More Winters like this one, and I may not even have to endure much discomfort to save a few bucks.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
First, heat is NOT the same as temperature. (grabs a physic textbook)
:
Temperature = mass/(3k)(v^2), where v is the average root mean squared velocity of the gas
Internal energy = 3/2nRT, with n in moles, R a constant, and T in Kelvin
Finally, HEAT actually refers to the TRANSFER of energy, it is NOT a state variable : that is, a system can "have" a temperature but it CANNOT have "heat". A system CAN have an internal energy state, and as you TRANSFER energy via heat, the internal energy changes via
Internal energy = Heat - Work, with work referring to work done ON the surroundings by the system.
So there.
What purpose do the steel wires serve? They could be used to generate the heat directly, merely by passing current directly through the skinny woven wires. That sounds like the method that would spread the heat the most evenly. However, its also possible that they are merely being used as conductors to transfer the heat from heating elements located near the battery pack.
I saw one MAJOR flaw in the jacket : the battery is located outside the garmet. Since most batteries have a significant internal resistance and are inherently inefficient, that means a considerable amount of the heat energy produced is being wasted. The battery pack should be located inside the jacket to improve its performance and to reclaim the waste heat.
The big problem with this idea is that the power density in J/kg of lithium batteries is terrible compared to more dense fuels such as butane or gasoline. A more effective system could work by actually burning a fuel inside a tiny, protected combustion chamber designed to shield the wearer from the open flame and prevent the flame from going on.
Ionized Li, in or out of solution, is still lithium, that's true, but since it's outer shell (2s2) is emptied, it attains a positive charge and BEHAVES ELECTRICALLY LIKE HELIUM, AN INERT GAS.
P.S.: In Sodium Chloride, (NaCl or Na+ Cl-) the Sodium (an alkali metal from group 1, or 1A as they used to call it) surrenders it's outermost electron to empty it's outer shell (and thereby stabilize and become unreactive) over to the Chlorine atom, making a sodium (Na+) cation, or positive ion, and the chlorine atom (chlorine being in group 17 or 7A, and a Halogen) becomes a chlorine (Cl-) anion. They both achieve the same electron configurations, with 17 + 19 or 32 electrons in total. Disolving in water does not separate them.
The electron configuration is (in energylevel sublevel numberofelectrons):
1s2 2s2 2px2 2py2 2pz2 3s2 2px2 3py2 3pz2, which as it happens, is argon (Ar) another inert, Noble Gas.
Litium does the same thing, but I think it is with Hydrogen to form Lithium Oxide, (Li2O) but I'm not sure, we haven't covered that in class yet.
How many of you have ridden motorcycles in a cold winter climate? I don't care how many layers you have on, what nifty fibers they contain, etc. If you wear something that doesn't breathe, you end up covered in sweat. If you wear something that does breathe, you freeze at highway speeds. That's why heated electric vests are so popular.
I've only been riding motorcycles for about 28 years, so I expect there will be some people that weren't born when I started riding that are sure that they know far more than I. You will find their responses following this.
For 500 bucks, they should throw a palm interface in there to monitor the body temperature and how much heat is being generated.
How cool would it be if you can sync up your body stats to a website.
"Frank's avg temperature for today was: 101F"
Live web cams
I had read it as "Self wearing jackets" and I was about to be really impressed... Oh well, maybe someday!
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
Let's see...Normal Coat: $300. Good winter pants: $100. Bunny Boots: $200. Polarfleece layer between coat/pants/boots: $200. I don't know about anyone else, but I see a SAVINGS here...
Also, reminds me of George Jetson in one episode (when he thought he was going to die) trying out some indestructable suit for Spacely Sprockets to win the Good Spacekeeping Seal. It survived all the tests, but was ruined when Jane put it in the wash. Dry Clean only!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Get your warm toilet seat right here.
Last night I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I'll never know.
No need for batteries that way.
Try to be more judgemental, ok?
ame kind of kids that buy the "Timberland" boots and leave that stupid leather keychain looking tag on, just so they can show off their newest "Tim'"s with all the logos they can.
This reminded me of reading about electric socks, years ago. You can still find them in sporting goods catalogs. For my money, I take along two pair of socks, one heavy and one light. Wear the heavy ones over the light ones. Quite a bit of this is outdoors common sense.
Some fashionable jackets are actually functional, but I've noticed the tags and extra designer junk gets to be more and more of a hassle. And for hiking boots, I have Raichle, probably one of the best boots on the market and you can hardly tell, because the only tag is tiny, as opposed to the 4 Swooshes i counted on the last pair of Nike boots I saw at the shoe store. My Salomons lasted about 1 year (made in taiwan of pretty much 100% manmade fibers and junk) My Raichles will probably last 20 years (made in Hungary of natural materials and not batteries required.)
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
self cooling jackets
:)
you can just pile on more and more clothing till you look like the michelin man, but you can only take off so much
Don't even think about going out in cold weather in cotton, particularly if you plan to do anything which may cause you to break a sweat, since cotton will absorb all the moisture and is a long time drying out. Better to go with Polypropelene or other synthetics of wool if you don't have a reaction. Cotton's not the first choice for shells either as it'll hold water and get heavy.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
While the Li-Ion cell taking a hit would certainly be a problem, maybe even starting a fire (is this thing fireproof?) I expect these microfiber wires aren't insulated, themselves. So you get some salts from persperation in there and poof, caustic could be produced. No thanks.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
now my Marty McFly: 2015 outfit is nearly complete . . . someone, quick, invent the hoverboard!
I ski and have never needed a battery heated jacket. Even when it was negative wind chill. But hey $500 is not bad when you consider a gore-tex shell and windproof fleece, and polypro long under wear will set you back at least $600.
"I don't think it's selfish, to eat defenseless shellfish." -NOFX
I prefer living in a climate where I do not need one. Like I do now.
Have any of you people ever owned a jacket that doesn't say "Members Only" on it?
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
How does the jacket taste? If you're lost long enough in the arctic to need this thing, you may get hungry.
You know, it's like the sleeping bag:
1. the great things about the sleeping bag is that there's a key to the locked box at the bottom.
2. The inner-lining of the sleeping bag is edible
3. There's a map of the surrounding desert including oasis's (where water is to be had) is printed on the inside.
4. Just kidding: there is no sleeping bag.
-Paraphrasing from the "Infidel" hint-guide regarding the sleeping bag.
I was going to say something nice, but you spelled "Huah!" wrong, and then I noticed that "Semper Fi" thing...
/has/ to be destroyed, overnight!
Tell me one thing, would you? If they could get marines to say "Semper Fi", which is all the way up to three syllables, why couldn't they teach you all the other two?
:-)
When it absolutely, positively
~Rejected recruiting motto to replace "Be All You Can Be..."
Batteries don't do well in cold weather. More importantly, the colder it gets (and the more you want your jacket to be warm), the worse the jacket's battery will perform.
Some form of fuel cell would be just the ticket:
Laptop Methanol Fuel Cells Promised This Week
It should be easy to convince the propane-toting crowd that a fuel cell is a sensible way to supply heat to a jacket.
And you'd never again have to face that sinking feeling, high on an alpine ridge, that what you thought was a jacket battery was actually the battery you used to complete that chunk of code during the flight out...
I could just see this jacket being taken off and then used as a decoy for a heatcam. That could help a soldier out of a pinch, although ditching your jacket is probably a big no-no, especially if it's cold out.
which gets a lot of its stuff from REI, is paying much attention to this. Mostly they're discarding what doesn't work, and continuing to go after the bad guys.
God bless Western Civilization (minus the French, Germans, Spanish, Italians, and other former fascists).
668: Neighbour of the Beast
Just wondering: if you used one of the new human powered generators (squeeze or stomp-activated) to supply the power for the coat, would this keep you warmer (inefficient conversion) or colder than if you were to just do the equivalent exercises (work), without channeling the energy into the coat?
Marty McFly's jacket
Why an outer layer? Wouldn't you just lose that heat more rapidly than if it were under other layers? Would this be more effective as long underwear? Would it need to be set at such a high temperature if the heat didn't have to go through any layers to reach your body? How much longer would the battery last if you didn't have to set the temperature so high?
You're precisely right. Anti-personnel land mines are often designed to (seriously) injure, not kill. Not so much for economic damage, but as a tactical matter - if your buddy gets wounded by a mine, you're going to go help him and not keep up the pursuit, whereas if your buddy gets killed by a mine, you're going to keep pursuing. Plus smaller mines are cheaper.
Just another reason why they're so evil....
You know what I hate? Wait, what do you like? I hate that!
Sounds like an army limpie trying to make a statement, or maybe a navy squid? Question? What did you do in service? ncoic of some supply closet? question 2? how does it feel having have cheated yourself out of serving your country right with the Marines? Well anyways, those are a couple to ponder on. Kids remember, if you want to serve your country the way you are supposed to, join the Marines! Semper Fi and good night!
If I boost the voltage a bit, and cover my body with high quality thermal grease....
Get a free ipod.
"hey sarge, my infra red detector is barely working!"
"don't worry kid, the yanks are using those stupid self-heating jackets - stand out like a sore thumb no matter how clapped out our gear is.."
Wow! I'm pretty shocked at this post. Its really really old news. Its been around for about 6-9 months. I even have the Mountain Equipment Co-op catalogue from like 4 months ago with it in it.
whats up with that?
-- "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." Jean Jacques Rousseau
Electrically heated garments date back to 1913 and the early open-cockpit aircraft days. Electrically heated gloves and socks are common. But battery capacity has been a problem. Lithium-ion batteries give about a 2x power density improvement, so that's a step forward. But this is hardly a new idea.
Bring it on!
User Info for Christopher Bibbs (14)
http://www.mdlug.org/
Christopher Bibbs has posted 130 comments. Below find the most recent 24 comments.
Only 130? man that's very low for someone with one of the first IDs, maybe he's an editior?
- Kaos games and encryption systems developer
maybe this is a dumb question, but i just had to ask
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
Recently I heard of a better (and obvious) idea - a coat with inflatable pockets inside it that you can inflate by mouth if you need additional heat protection. It's actually better than electrical heat.
As far as I know, no rider has burst into flames yet. ;)
In 1979, I skied with some chemical reaction pouches tucked inside my gloves at Whistler, B.C. in some seriously cold weather. It was a joy, but back then the thermal regulation sucked. At times they would get a bit too hot. I did try electric ski socks once, but having the battery strapped to the sock was uncomfortable. I think that was in '80 or so.
There is no reason why this tech hasn't come far enough now to make it totally practical, reliable and safe.
a coats nice but frostbitten balls hurt, so work on that.
Give me heat so I can sleep more. Sadly, frozen persons got to do something to keep it cool.
At 500 bucks, last thing I will do it is buy it.
Fireplace? Yeah, woods, matches, history. Develop your own individual society folks, that's not what we need.
Okay?
Buy a Nintendo DS Lite
This one just uses a battery instead of a bike's 12V electrical system. I think a heater plug is an option on some BMW motorcycles now... I had to solder in a connector for my jacket on my Ninja, but it works fine. I wonder how long that lithium ion battery really lasts, though?
Why not get rid of those batteries and make it into a body powered device?
"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson
For those of us who ride motorcycles in wet and cold weather, these things'd be great. When it's raining and 40 degrees out and I've got a synthetic 90mph head-wind, I get to work frozen to the bone and can't warm up for hours(even w/ coffee). I want one!
--- The reclining dragon deeply fears the blue pool's clarity.
I have seen a jacket made from a carbon fibre cloth. It conducts and the current path is such that you can make holes in the thing (i.e, for arms) without problems. The only critical pints on thw whole structure is where the wire joins it.
The heater can be used for other things as well such as engines or pipes. I forget the company making it, but I believe they are Russian. The jecket are cheap enough to give to a night watchman.
$500 may seem steep to some, but my paragliding and hang gliding friends will all buy them when they are more readily available. In fact gloves, pants and socks would be great too.
I fly a paraglider, and launch off a mountain at 2000 feet, and am able to ride rising hot air current (called thermals) to well over 7000 feet. There's a lot of variation in climate and temperature when flying, and it gets _very_ cold when you're up at the base of the clouds. Many times I've landed because I was too cold.
Batteries wouldn't be such a big deal since I could carry a larger cell on my harness and just plug in.
Ruby on Rails Screencast
Well I'm in our far North (Townsville Australia) and up here you know it's winter cos you have to turn the fan off. The only thing we use insulation for is to keep the beer cool.
The jackets, sadly, come with a nasty price -- US$500
What is wrong with the price?
My favorite winter coat cost almost twice that.
It is hard to find a good warm coat that is not huge/puffy, and that does not restrict movement.
-
Hmmm... and I am sure that anyone who has purchased a real leather jacket has spent about that price. and I am sure their leather jacket wont be as warm as this thing.
My cousin actually owns a neoprene jacket with
microcapsules of wax. The wax melts at room
temperature and can store quite a bit of energy.
When it's cold outside, the wax slowly releases
the heat to the body.
I'm not sure whether this jacket is on the market.
He was jobbing for a sports fashion producer when
he got it (Adidas?).
Cheers!
I could see this being VERY usefull for skiing. I've been skiing in zero degree weather and layered so much that I couldn't help but get really hot while skiing aggressively but then find myself bundling up as much as possible and still being a bit chilly on the windy lift ride up the face of a mountain. I wasn't terribly uncomfortable but if I had a lighter amount of clothes on for skiing and could just power up my jacket or even better plug my jacket in to a socket on the chair lift, that would definitely kick ass.
--Let's hack root on 127.0.0.1 --panZ
Many of you likely do not know that Malden Mills suffered a fire a few years back and as a result, was closed until the damage was repaired. In the meantime, the many people that worked there were facing not getting paid, until the factory was operational. Aaron Feuerstein (owner of MM) continued to pay everyone out of his pocket until the factory reopened, which was a considerable sum of money. I hope this is a great success.
Here's to Mr. Feuerstein and his generosity and loyalty to his workers. Talk about Karma...
114 degrees fahrenheit?
wouldn't the military require standardized units of temperature?
consider what would happen when some designer or tester misunderstands this and interprets it as celcius! (or kelvin)
According to military tactics (I'm a vet), on an assault, you can't stop and help a buddy until the action is over. Then if he's alive, you can administer 1st aid, and call in medivac,. etc. You have to keep going, even if he begs for help.
--- RFC 1149 Compliant.
Anyone ever think about what happens when the battery goes out?
Being as how steel is woven into the fabric, and being as how steel is a very good conductor of heat, it also means that it's a very good heat-disipator as well. When the battery goes out, not only will the heat be lost quick, but your body heat will also be lost quicker through the fabric of the coat.
Something like this would work nice as a vest or an inside liner, but I wouldn't want to have it inside the coat itself.
Words of wisdom from a northerner who loves the cold (and hasn't been getting enough of it this winter).
The real showstopper with general use clothing is the need for a battery to replace power from a bike or airplane. As battery technology has not radically surged forward in the last year or two, this jacket sounds a complete gimmick.
You don't need electric heating to be warm on a bike. Just get a decent quality bike jacket that was made this decade.
Hein Gericke do some reasonable ones at reasonable prices. They breathe, do keep you warm at 90 on the motorway in winter, and are completely waterproof. I use one and ride daily in the UK, renowned for it's warm sunny weather, in all seasons.
Heated jackets are popular because the rest of you are all PFFs.
Deleted
I don't like heated grips on bikes. Bike electrics are dodgy at the best of times without throwing heated grips into the mix.
Again, HG do some fantastic non electric 3 finger gloves that are waterproof and warm in all but the coldest freezing fog.
I don't work for Hein Gericke BTW, just use some of their products.
Deleted
Us motorcyclists have been using electric heated vests/chaps/gloves for years. Check out www.widder.com.
I ride all year round in the UK and these days bike jackets are *completely* waterproof, warm at 90mph on the Motorway in freezing weather and breathable.
The Hein Gericke Voyager II jacket is a good example, though, like all sequels, not as good as the original Voyager I.
Gloves are a bigger issue. HG Pathan three finger gloves are fantastic for all but below zero temperatures, but I might be persuaded to use electric gloves if they were simple to use.
Deleted
$500 isn't that expensive considering when you walk into a store and see the same price on an unheated Tommy H. coat. I've seen many coats over a $1,000.
$500 seems like a reasonable price for a new product like that and I'm sure price will come down after a while.
"A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
This jacket sounds like it would be perfect for motorcyclists, many of whom already depend on electrically heated gloves and vests from companies like Widder.
Finally that jacket from Back to the Future 2 will be available! Now if only they could make the high top Nike's with automatic velcro straps.
A friend of mine used to be a missionary near Resolute Bay (way far north). The Inuit up there already know how to keep really warm: moose hide.
;)
I can't remember where I read it, but someone once did a study comparing moose hide jackets to microfiber/artificial material jackets. The moose hide left the wearer the warmest under cold temperatures - apparently had something to do with the structure of the hair and how it overlapped.
The downside: if you want to keep the hair, you can't tan moose hide - apparently all the hair falls off. So, when you're not in a cold environment, you literally have to keep your moose hide jacket in the freezer
Glenn
For us who ride motorbikes, this concept isn't new by any means. Especially for us who ride all year round, like me.
A good jacket will cost you $500 and up anyway. A good jacket which keeps you warm, dry, and safe at highway speeds and considerably more will often set you back somewhere between $700 and $900.
Gloves, jackets and even underwear with built-in heating have existed for some time. Most of them plug into the bike's generator.
"Down the road, fibers could relay not only heat but also data..."
Imagine a beow... ah, nevermind.
I can't wait till they make it into a hunting jacket with a shell made of material like MT050.
Sometimes when doing late season still hunt for whitetails or moose, tempature can drop to -15 Celcius and with windchill maybe -25C and due to the fact that I am sitting still for 3-4 hours+, my body just do not generate enough heat to warm myself even with the MT050 extreme jackets from Cabelas. It is those occasion where this jacket would come into play. I would buy it even if it is more expensive (which is very likely if they convert it into hunting version)
I ride a motorcycle and it's almost impossible to find a jacket with proper armor and construction for under $400. And that still leaves you without pants. $500 for a good heated jacket doesn't sound out of line if the weather regularly gets gold enough to require it.
Slashdot item for 2012:
This article over on FoodDot reports that researchers at Nutriglomerate have invented bread that toasts itself. A network of conductive thermal protein monofibers woven through the bread during baking draws power from an organic battery in the center of each slice. When the toast is done the battery's own heat converts it to a pat of butter. Bon apetit!
45 degrees...
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
I don't know if this exists, but with the focus of news going to wepons and military hardware [nerdware]... let's use a Military category.
I would like to list news that is related to Military improvments, but so would the Bad Guys [tm]
Get your Unix fortune now!
Oops. The first commercial implementation of this technology (in a very big selling electric blanket from Land's End) is being recalled. From Land's End's website:
CPSC, Lands' End, Inc. Announce Recall of Electric Blankets
PRODUCT: Electric Blanket -- Lands' End, Inc. of Dodgeville, Wis., is voluntarily recalling about 15,000 Polartec Heat® electric blankets. The recalled blankets are style numbers 73176, 73197 and 73198.
I live (strangely enough by my own choice) in Grand Forks, North f@#$ing Dakota.
This thing would help me get to class in the morning.
Currere potes, sed oculare non potes.
This is a company that's been in the news because the main plant burned to the ground several years ago and the owner, a family owner 2nd or 3rd generation refused to take anyone off the payroll even though the company nearly went bankrupt recently until it secured new capital. This new project will probably save the company which proves that sometimes good deeds are rewarded.
From the article:
The company even dropped one climber in a 20-foot crevasse and buried him in snow until he started shaking, then had him flip on the jacket.
"Soon afterwards he stopped shaking, and we realized this was a pretty cool project," said Thomas Laakso, advanced project manager at The North Face, the San Leandro, California-based unit of VF Corp.
Does anyone else see something ominous here?
...following the principles of Heisenburger's Uncertain Cat...
I don't know much about mild hypothermia.
But I can tell you that you may kill a severely cold person (bad hypothermia) if you try to "re-heat" him from the outside.
It will release very cold blod from the outer skin and this may cause the heart to stop.
A severely hypothermic person should be gain normal temperature from the inside mainly generated by himself.
This can be done by placing them in dry isolating blankets, one blanket wrapped around the body and another one around arms, shoulders and head. If they are still concious, they may be given small amounts of hot non-alcoholic drink.
-- From Denmark