Electrically Heated Clothing

[patrickg]

For those late night vigils in winter trying to "GET" a varmit or do some teloscopy on the night sky I think I would like to have a heated flying suit or equivalent. Lots of heated socks on the market and some gloves but where to find heated coveralls or ...??? There are some pricy heated items for morotcyclists ($100 + for gloves) but I would like something similar to a snow mobile suit but electrically heated. I could pay well over a hundred for the comfort but not just for gloves and socks.

If I didn't have a cab with a great heater on my tractor I would certainly be looking for an electric "tractor suit".

Anyone tried this route?

Patrick

 

[gws]

You would be lucky to get a good pair of high tech thermal long johns for $100.
Get a good ski snow suit they are more than warm enough.

 

[beenthere]

Sounds like this is similar to standing on a deer stand from 6:15 am to 4:30 pm, when the temps start out at -18 F and get to a high of hopefully 0 F. Often wished for such a suit, but afraid I wouldn't want to lug the battery for the 1 1/2 miles that that expensive suit would require. With wool and down clothing, and a snow suit, you can stay warm. Also, consider the hand packets of heat that can last up to several hours for the extremities such as hands and feet, as well as one down the back of your neck (really takes the chill out of the air).

 

[fishman]

Patrickg,

No answer to your battery powered suit question, but I have found that the "Jon-e" type portable heaters are great. They are made of metal, and use lighter fluid. You light a catalytic burner and put them in a pouch. They last for hours, and put out a heck of a lot more heat than a disposable heat pack. Get at least two, because you'll want one in each pocket. Also, watch out, they can get very warm. Make sure you can get to them in a reasonable amount of time, because they might just get too hot!/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

The three I have are cheap knock-offs that cost about $5 each, but they work just fine.

 

[Thomas]

Have you consider looking into military surplus winter gear.
They have about anything to keep your nose to your toes warm.

 

[Christopher]

This reminds me, I have a set of electric coveralls, they look like a flying suit from the military. does anyone have any idea what kind of power these might take? 12 volt? 24 volt? They have a two prong plug like an old electric apliance except these prongs are round, not flat. I would like to try them out sometime. thanks

 

[Bird]

It might get real interestin' if you try the wrong voltage, Christopher./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Christopher]

I know! that is why I haven't tried them! I probbably will never get around to it from always worrying if I will get zapped or worse!

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Chris,

Sell em to Patrick he will pay $100.

Al

 

[PaulT]

Boy, does The North Face want to talk to you. (to the tune of $499). They have a fleece pullover with battery powered heat that is meant to be fired up when standing in a cold skiers lift line. Then it can be turned off when you start to exert yourself. I think it would be best used as one of your layers. Check out these links:

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.thenorthface.com/code/products/product_pages/14078_standard.html>MET5 Jacket</A>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/sports/sportcol1101/barbara_johnson_121701_2001.shtml>sportswriter review of MET5 jacket</A>

The review article suggests that its only a matter of time before we mortals can afford these clothes for less money from "knock-off" manufacturers.

 

[patrickg]

Thanks for the suggestion. My parents used to go ice fishing and used the "J" version, original recipe in two sizes, some with cut away holes in burner cover for cigarette lighting (great for fireworks lighting). They came in drawstring flannel bags to help keep from burning you. I used them off and on since grade school and have some yet. They are great for what they are as are snowmobile suits, arctic flying gear (non electric - non PC with wolverine ruff around hood), military cold weather gear including "bunny" boots. I lived in Ohio for 7 years, been fishing in Alaska, Canada, Michigan, did 3 winters in Minot, ND in Strategic Air Command and have had USAF arctic survival training. Thanks again to everyone for all their ALTERNATIVE suggestions B U T what I really want is an electric flying suit and or electric longhandle underwear. I can't drive my VW powered "dune buggy" with bunny boots on, the benzine/lighter fluid powered catalytic heaters/handwarmers reek and are difficult to throttle/regulate. If I wear enough arctic gear to be comfortable while remaining motionless or nearly so for hours then I can hardly move as required to operate equipment such as astronomical telescope, cameras, or varmit rifle.

I have found one net info source for DIY electric clothes and a parts list/schematic for building a pulse width modulated heat controller. As the controller design is better (at least more modern) than my own which I was going to use, I'' take that as an upgrade but still prefer store bought vs DIY for the electric suit. I have toooooo many projects to take the time to prototype and develop a good one. Wish it weren't so cause it ain't rocket science just T I M E.

Again, thanks FISHMAN and all other respondents with alternative suggestiions.

Patrick (as I type this I am wearing a Carhardt jacket, longhandles, thinsolite insulated boots and a rabbit fur hat)

 

[patrickg]

Rub it in Christopher! (insert appropriate emoticon here) Truth is if they are military they are probably 24-28 volt but might be warm enough with 12 volts. 12 volts wouldn't hurt them if they are 24 v. The best approach is to use a controller to allow regulation of the heating. Much of the motorcycle gear comes with an off/on switch so you turn it on when your cold and turn it off when you get too hot. Not a very satisfactory solution since there is such a delay and yoiu need to anticipate that you WILL get cold and turn the switch on in advance and likewise anticipate overheating and turn it off in advance of actual need. Wrong use of the human brain!

That said, you could still experiment with 12 volts and an off/on switch just to get an idea of the heat generated. It might take several minutes to "feel the heat". Controllers for this use work like a light dimmer and vary the duty cycle of the applied power. Since solid state switching components dissipate little power when in the on or off state (so don't get too hot in this application) they lend themselves to this application. Typically the controller turns the 12 volts on and off several times a second but several times a minute would be fine. The percent of on time versus off time is what determines the heat developed in the load (electric clothes). Say for example your controller put out 1 pulse per second that was 1/2 second in duration. This would be the same as running the suit on 6 volts. If the pulses were only 0.1 seconds in duration that would give you 10% of max available or the same as 1.2 volts approx. If the controler's pulses were 0.9 seconds in duration then you would get the effective heating of about 11 volts. And so on.

If you are an electronic DIY you'll have few problems making a controller. If you want store bought, search on hotgrips

Hot Grips® Mfg.
166 Methodist Hill Road
Plainfield , NH. 03781
They have a COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) product $38.95 but are out of stock and backordered, in theory, until middle of this month. I'd try the suit on 12 volts and if it makes heat build or buy a controller. They say their controller gives you from 0.5 to 99.5% of applied voltage. Sounds good.

Again, I am jealous. Those wouldn't happen to be in size XL-tall would they? I'd suffer to wear XXL or XXL-T and would pay a fair price.

Patrick

 

[patrickg]

Paul, Thanks for the info. I too will wait for a price drop. $500 is more than I am willing to pay, just now. I will go as far as 2 maybe 3 hundred for the "RIGHT STUFF" but 500 for a jacket/vest is exorbitant. I need better distributed heating so while remaining motionless or nearly so for literally hours (sometimes) I don't freeze off some portion of my anatomy that I have become acustomed to using.

Back in the 60's-70's North face wasn't mostly aimed at YUPPIES. They had some seriously good (for the times) backpacking and mountaineering goods. This was when REI was an insiders membership co-op frequented by hippies, ex-hippies, and folks looking for GOOD STUFF. Now they too cater to the YUPPIE LARVAE.

Patrick (gonna go drool on the north face site)