Maplins - £19.99 heated vests

[Maverick]

Got on this morning on my way to work from Maplins for £19.99

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...47715&source=1

• Keep warm with a waistcoat that heats up to 40 ° celcius in 5 minutes
• Great for sports, travel, pain relief and active outdoor people
• Constructed using the most advanced heating wire
• Can be worn as an outer garment or underneath other layers
• Zip doubles as a handy compass
• Batteries are stored in two discrete pouches
• Requires 6 x AA batteries (sold separately)

Not sure how good it is but for £19.99 not to be missed this winter

[Whealie]

Anton has made one himself by superglueing an element inside an old cardigan or something. He showed us on Sunday.

[digitalcaptive]

"this should be used in the following way; turn on the power for a few minutes to warm up the jacket - turn off. It is not deisgned to be powered up constantly and if used in this way the batteries will last no more than 40 to 50 minutes"

A quote taken from Maplins sight, A little restricting maybe??

[Maverick]

Originally Posted by digitalcaptive

"this should be used in the following way; turn on the power for a few minutes to warm up the jacket - turn off. It is not deisgned to be powered up constantly and if used in this way the batteries will last no more than 40 to 50 minutes"

A quote taken from Maplins sight, A little restricting maybe??

The leaflet in the box suggest otherwise without having to swith it off. I am more thinking in lines of "how can I wire this into the bike's electrics"

[steveR]

Bought one and the zip was crap and broke before really trying it on. Have heard of similiar stories.... Maplin took it back and gave me a refune just fine. I was pondering on the possibility of using an adapter from the 12v bike supply...

Heat pad was actuall two tiny little pads on the chest and I am not convinced they would be up to bike wear.

The gloves did look interesting I have to say.

[steveR]

Originally Posted by Whealie

Anton has made one himself by superglueing an element inside an old cardigan or something. He showed us on Sunday.

That's clever. You can buy the wire online, I am sure I have seen it somewhere.

[simon0bikes]

Oohh, I got one of them earlier in the year, batteries do go flat quickly and it does get warm. Have not fitted it to the electrics yet though. Was thinking of getting some heat from the engine via tubes to blow over the handlebars to keep the puds warm, anyone done that yet?

[winxp-master]

Originally Posted by Maverick

I am more thinking in lines of "how can I wire this into the bike's electrics"

you can get a converter from maplins for a tenner and u can switch the voltage output from 12,9,6 volts etc so powering the vest off the bike should be a doddle

Still, at £19.99 i don't know how good it would be for a bike but u aint breaking the bank to find out i suppose.

[anton88]

I made mine from a heated pet balanket ! £9.99. Just opened the blanket, took out the element and superglued it into an old cycling jersey i had. Its already wired with a cigarette plug, so into the socket and off i go

BUT, just seen this proffessional diy kit in a copy of riders digest i got from Wemoto - worth a look:

http://www.heat4jackets.com/index.html

[YEN_POWELL]

Originally Posted by simon0bikes

Was thinking of getting some heat from the engine via tubes to blow over the handlebars to keep the puds warm, anyone done that yet?

Now that is a good idea!