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Heated Gloves/Vest
Posted by klutz on January 12, 2022 at 2:10 pmI’m from Ohio and the winters get pretty cold. Does anyone have a recommendation for long lasting battery heated vests and/or gloves? Has anyone heard of the brand Lenz? Is it worth the price?
dmyhill replied 2 years, 2 months ago 15 Members · 18 Replies- 18 Replies
Do a google search for Action Heat. They have a bunch of products you might like.
I’ve never used them, but heated gloves sound like a great idea. I’d think the vest would be too warm, though.
The only heating item I’ve used are the packs of what feels like sand. It says not to put them against skin I think due to risk of burn but I found wedging them between the top of my hand and the glove warmed up the blood flowing into and out of my hands and it worked pretty well.
Definitely cold this past week here in NC. I know this sounds dumb but I wish there was something that helped with breathing in the cold, damp air. I can manage to layer up for our climate & find decent glove to still work the stylus for the data collector’s tough screen but it’s the air that kills my lungs when you go from a heated office environment to that super cold, damp air. Typical ski masks & things of that nature don’t really help me. Not sure if there’s much to be done here for it but a day in the field in that type of climate leaves me coughing & my lungs feeling funny for the next week or so haha
Try using surgical gloves under your regular gloves. Your hands will be sweating in no time.
I’d ask my doctor about it. A week of discomfort from the temperatures encountered in NC seems excessive to me.
Yeah, maybe there’s something else going on in that environment. I went out to shovel the end of the driveway last night, -8 deg, and I didn’t notice anything like that. But it was pretty dry air. Wasn’t anything going to be damp at that temp
Heated gloves sound comfy. My wife would sleep with them on.
@glenn-breysacher
I must disagree with that Glenn, that’s probably one of the worst things that anyone could do, it may work nice in the short term, but any extended period would only be asking for Frostbite. When I was in the Army they could not stress enough “DO NOT WRAP YOUR FEET IN PLASTIC INSIDE YOUR BOOTS” (There was always at least one guy each winter that knew better than the sergeants though).
I’ve noticed when working below zero that when I start out my hands freeze up really quick even with gloves on, the blood just isn’t flowing after an hour of sitting in a warm truck but after an hour of moderate exertion and swinging my arms a bit it’s like a switch gets flipped and I can feel the blood go rushing into my hands and I can darn near work without gloves.
Willy@richard-germiller I’m not disagreeing, but how does this cause frostbite? The sweat? I would be interested to know. When I worked in Chicago, lots of our instrument operators would wear surgical gloves to cut wind and maintain dexterity on the data collector.
I myself would put old bread bags over my socks before putting on my boots back before I could afford good, waterproof boots. This was usually for a couple hours at a time and it made all the difference. Wet feet = awful. Bags over socks = dry feet. I didn’t argue with those results.
You sweat and the moisture has nowhere to go, eventually your body heat does not keep that moisture warm enough and you now have cold wetness. Keep in mind I was in the service in the late 70’s and most of that time was in West Germany, so there’s probably been some difference in the way things are handled now – I just know that those guys that were “smarter that the sergeants” had some BIG issues. Best method that we learned (for feet anyway) was that you carried two pairs of socks, one on your feet and the other in your armpits and switched them every four hours.
@richard-germiller makes sense. I guess it was a non-issue for us as we only had them on for short periods. Stepping into feet-deep wet snow resulted in immediate cold wet, so the bags made sense. It at least bought us time.
I switched to Mickey Mouse boots that winter and didn’t need bread bags anymore. Boy, those things keep you dry and warm… no problems there.
If you own cordless power tools, you might want to look into if they have heated gear. I have Milwaukee tools and have their heated vest and jacket. I got the jacket first, but hardly wear it anymore. I wear the vest all the time and layer over it if needed. I recently purchased a different battery to power the vest. It is way slimmer and seems to last longer than the Milwaukee M12 batteries. I work in PA, OH & WV and it seems to get the job done. They just came out with a pair of heated gloves, but seem too bulky to do some of the stuff we have to do. I have a pair of gloves that you can put one of those hot hands heat packs in the top of. They are ok, but not perfect.
@jph they are adjustable in temp, low,medium, high. They actually work pretty good.
I also use the Milwaukee heated hoodie, but usually only when it’s really cold or in the fall when I just want some quick, temporary heat. My typical cold gear:
-Cofra or Dunlop winter boots 1 size too big
-boots are 1 size too big so I can wear an extra felt liner; buy 2 and cycle them throughout the day so they dry on the dash (note that I work alone and was raised on a hog farm–I have no idea what my work van smells like as my body learned long ago to scale back its sense of smell). Make sure to dry boots and liners nightly.
-good, thick wool socks (always keep 2 spares in the truck and switch them out a pair at lunch if needed). Everybody seems to think getting socks for Christmas is a bad thing–I ask for good, wool socks every year. I don’t need chocolate, I need socks.
-wicking long underwear (tops and bottoms–change it all daily)
-insulated jeans if really cold, regular work pants if only around -10 C
-really light “splash pants” (basically, wearable thick garbage bags that keep you dry in the snow and help block the wind)
-layered hoodies (shed as needed throughout the day; re-add if needed)
-really light “splash hoodie” (same as the pants, only for your upper body)
-really thin, stretchy, tight gloves (ie. the kind you get at the dollar store) or masonary, knitted gloves (multiples that you cycle at lunch) and then either regular work gloves if it’s warm out (ie. ~0 C) or insulated gloves if cold (you wear the work gloves on top of the stretchy gloves–that way you can adjust the gun and use your touch tablet if it’s set to gloves. When done the “fine” work, place your hand back inside the other glove to warm it up).
-toque
-balaclava
May sure you have a separate pair of boots to drive. I use the slip-on, CSA safety shoe style. SW Ontario for location. I’m sure the Alaskan guys have better tips. The main thing is to get out in the cold, get working, and get used to it. Once aclimitized, it’s just another work day. Bigger issue is the gun tracking the prism in the bad blizzards. GPS Search and Hybrid mode helps w/ that.
- Posted by: @williwaw
I’ve noticed when working below zero that when I start out my hands freeze up really quick even with gloves on, the blood just isn’t flowing after an hour of sitting in a warm truck but after an hour of moderate exertion and swinging my arms a bit it’s like a switch gets flipped and I can feel the blood go rushing into my hands and I can darn near work without gloves.
That was one of the first things my dad taught me when he started taking me fishing. How to have warm hands, even in the cold.
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong.
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