Shopping for a new jacket can be challenging, especially if you live in a place like I do where the temperature outside can drop faster than the NASDAQ after a Washington stalemate.
Where is the jacket for all seasons?
I never expected my search would end with my teenage son, Henry, who asked for a heated jacket for Hanukkah this year. I don’t know what surprised me more— the fact that my son was asking for clothing instead of the latest Call of Duty video game or that there was such thing as a battery-operated jacket.
Where does one buy a battery-operated jacket? A department store? A sporting good store? The Venezuelan black market?
Henry provided me a link to a place better known for selling chainsaws than clothing. Who knew Home Depot sells something you can wear besides a tool belt?
I purchased the Milwaukee M12 Lithium-Ion Jacket for $199, battery pack included. (Too bad it’s not solar). You can expect to pay less if you already own Milwaukee cordless tools because the jacket works on the same Red Lithium battery that charges Milwaukee’s power tools. The jacket holds a charge for up to six hours, which I found impressive considering my own body doesn’t stay charged half that long without a second cup of coffee.
The description reads as follows: “The multi layered soft shell jacket utilizes new cold weather technology to actively warm the body and stimulate blood circulation. The three sewn in carbon fiber heating zones distribute heat to core body areas, with a stylish performance-fit that gives users maximum flexibility and comfort during use,” which I’m pretty sure for anyone who’s not an electrical engineer means, “it’s comfortable and warm.”
When the jacket arrived a few days later my son assembled it by opening the battery compartment, hooking up the battery and holding the heat control button on the front of the jacket for three seconds until it turned red. Then he stood there glowing in his hot new jacket.
It fit him perfectly. It’s lined, yet thin and light weight, and water and wind resistant. The battery bulk isn’t an issue, and he especially likes the heated pockets. The only down side is that it’s hand wash only (after battery removal), which means as long as he’s in charge of doing his own laundry the jacket will never get washed.
Henry has had his jacket for several weeks now and loves it. It has three heat settings, which he usually adjusts to high for his walk to school. By the time he’s eaten his breakfast and packed his backpack he’s powered up and ready to go.
The glowing heat controller that serves as an easy visual reference to confirm the heat setting has gotten the attention of everyone at his school. Three of his friends have already requested a heated jacket for Christmas.
I’ve already put in my early birthday request. I won’t bet my shirt on a great 2015 for NASDAQ, but I will bet on a heated jacket to keep me warm this winter.
Please note: This reference to a commercial product is NOT an endorsement, but rather a reflection of hope that for the first time in seventeen years I won’t be cursing living in New Jersey this winter.
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What? Your teen son willingly wears a coat? I’d get both my teenage boys one if I thought they’d wear them. I have to remind them we live in Ohio, not Florida, and that it happens to be December. Apparently, they didn’t get the memo…
Same trend with NJ teens. Why is it cool to be cold?
A question parents have been trying to answer for generations…
I’m not sure it’s a teenage boy thing only. I see elementary school kids coming to school in the winter when it’s barely 32 degrees, wearing nothing but shorts and t-shirts. Obviously, not just their bodies are frozen, but their brains too. 😉
Crazy, isn’t it? I never had to deal with it until my kids were in late middle school. Guess it took them a while to get ‘cool.’
Heated jackets! Who knew?! What a great idea, and yes, solar powered would be excellent!
If only they could invent a solar powered computer too, then I wouldn’t have to get up from the couch right now to plug in my laptop!
Sooner or later everything will be battery operated. We are getting close. I saw a heated jacket described in a catalogue recently and I broke out in a sweat. No use in sunny Cal unless your a snow bird. My bird qualities have long since disappeared. I wonder about heated pants. I have a friend we used to call hot pants. But, that’s another story.
Happy Holidays,
Lou
Ah, sunny California. I have faint memories of palm trees and sunshine. No batteries required. Happy Holidays!
I would live in a jacket like that!
And it’s more fashionable than a Snuggie!
What a great idea…here in New Jersey…where we can sometimes freeze our butts off in the morning and get a sunburn in the afternoon.
LOL! Happy Holidays, Darlene!
What a great idea…however, I’m having one of those “why didn’t WE think of that?” moments! I’m in the Midwest for the Holidays & am relying on my standard issue, ugly, black, knee-length puffy coat – ugh. I am going to check out Henry’s find!
Happy Hanukkah!
Funny, I’ve got the same black coat! 🙂 Happy holidays!
What an awesome idea!!! I just got a heated mattress pad which now makes it even harder to get out of bed on cold winter mornings. For weeks, I have been trying to figure out how to get an extension cord long enough to allow me to wear it outside. Now that i Know there’s a jacket that does the same thing, I may have to check it out. Happy Hanukkah.
That or get some wheels for that bed! Happy Hanukkah to you too!
Heated jacket? I need one of those, and I live in San Diego! With my luck, I’d get electrocuted though.
Hopefully we’ll reserve our jolts for coffee!
What a cool cool teenage MAN-son! I bet this lures all the hot chicks at school, then college…then makes you a busy, busy Grandmother Lisa! I mean what hottie wouldn’t want to get toasty with him inside!? lol
Seriously though, what an ingenious invention — if it is waterproof! 😛
Waterproof, chickproof, who knows what it attracts or repels? As long as it keeps in the heat! 😉
Several of my biker friends wear heated coats while riding. Me? I want heated boots!
Now that’s a hot idea!
Man! What a great gift! I sure could have used one of those heated jackets when I lived in Central New York. May the warmth be with him. Happy Hanukkah, Lisa, to you and your family. 😉
Thanks, Judy! Happy holidays to you too!
I had no idea that heated jackets existed. I guess they are not that popular in So. Cal. 🙂 Happy holidays to you and your family Lisa.
It was news to me too, LuAnn. Happy Holidays!