Heated vests - Do they actually work ?

[MidOH]

I'd rather have a heated hood.

Does such a thing exist?

 

[Whitrzac]

I'd rather have a heated hood.

Does such a thing exist?

No, but it could be made easy enough

 

[rjack321]

With little or no body fat,I am now considering buying a Venture vest for Cozumel diving. Would appreciate seeing more comments from wetsuit divers experiencing use in,“cooler” tropical waters.

What wetsuit are you diving now? A new wetsuit is way cheaper and vastly more reliable than heat

 

[k4kafka]

What wetsuit are you diving now? A new wetsuit is way cheaper and vastly more reliable than heat

5m Henderson TherMaxx. One year old and very warm.

 

[inquis]

5m Henderson TherMaxx. One year old and very warm.

If you don't have a hood, I'd start with that. So much heat is lost through the head.

 

[rjack321]

5m Henderson TherMaxx. One year old and very warm.

Hooded vest is your next step not battery heat

 

[k4kafka]

Hooded vest is your next step not battery heat

Own one,and use it. Not the answer.

 

[Still Kicking]

I occasionally use a reusable Hot Shotz heat pad to take the edge off the chill. I put in the front of my wetsuit and if I need it, I pop the button through the neoprene and it keeps me warm for the rest of the dive. I wear a Sharkskin shirt under the wetsuit -- don't put the Hot Shotz next to your skin or you will overheat.

5×9 WRAP | HotShotz Heat

www.reusableheat.com

 

[Marie13]

With little or no body fat,I am now considering buying a Venture vest for Cozumel diving. Would appreciate seeing more comments from wetsuit divers experiencing use in,“cooler” tropical waters.

You could always add some bioprene.

 

[TrimixToo]

A break or crimp in any nichrome wire based vest will burn you. The Santi uses nichrome wire and every motorcycle vest I've seen uses a similar technology. And for whatever reason in a drysuit its very hard to detect/realize you have a major hotspot until you are already burnt.

There are other types like the light monkey carbon wire pads but they are arent as waterproof and typically have lower wattage overall

Sorry it wasn't clear. The point I was trying to make is that any heating design that does not allow the power to be quickly, completely, and reliably disconnected without unzipping a dry suit is a bad one.

If you get a hot spot you should be able to unplug the heated vest or undergarment or whatever. You might get a minor (maybe 2nd degree) burn while you cope, but I know someone that surfaced with 3rd degree burns on one hand because the heat could not be positively turned off or unplugged from outside the suit and there was a significant deco obligation to be discharged before surfacing.

I personally use dry gloves and wrist seals with a piece of cord under the wrist seal. If I had heated gloves I could take off the outer glove, unplug the heated glove, and pluck out the cord, but that wasn't the setup. (The reason I have things set up this way is in case I tear a glove.) That doesn't work with, say, a motorcycle vest.