Hi HeatCker and all,
I'll post my experience here for everyone, but if anyone has any specific questions or is interested in trying or buying one, please PM me and let me know. My apologies for the length of this post, but I think it helps for you all to know a bit about my background and experience.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I did my PADI training and most of my dives in the far warmer waters of Southeast Asia while I was living in Hong Kong. I would dive mostly Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia; really some beautiful and unspoiled diving. I've been diving now for about 6 years, just about 100 dives and would consider myself an experienced recreational diver, mostly diving on holidays or maybe a weekend.
I moved back to Southern California from Hong Kong in 2011, about 3 years ago, and started looking into local places to dive. In making some new dive friends, I learned that the waters are typically 45F to 65F depending on depth, time of year, etc. WOW! That's cold! Now, I admit, I am a big WIMP when it comes to cold water. I had grown SO used to diving in 75F-80F waters in tropical areas and I couldn't imagine diving in waters 20-30 degrees colder. My friends were diving with 7mm wetsuits with hoods, gloves, some with dry suits, anything they could find to make themselves warmer. I would have to find something to help me with this cold water.
I have been working in design engineering most my life. I studied product design engineering in University and have been developing consumer electronics such as cell phones, iPhone accessories, medical equipment, etc. for over 15 years. I am very passionate about technology and am very knowledgeable about how things work, especially when quality, safety and durability are concerned. I am not an impulsive buyer. I do a LOT of research, I ask a LOT of questions, and I try to weigh all the benefits and disadvantages from an objective perspective before I make a decision. My friends make fun of me for this. But they also listen to my advice.
I love diving in a 3mm wetsuit. I don't like a lot of weight underwater. I like the freedom of movement and flexibility that a thinner wetsuit gives me. I like to feel 'one' with the ocean and marine life when I'm diving. I really didn't want to mess with that feeling and I was afraid that going to a dry suit or a thicker 7mm wetsuit with more weight would spoil it for me. While researching solutions for cold water diving, I came across Thermalution's heated vests. From what I read, they were relatively new for deep water diving - mostly they had provided heated vests for surfers and 'above water' sports. They had a 'new' line of heated vests for divers which I was interested in. Perhaps this could fix my cold water diving problem?
They had a 12 month warranty and when I contacted the company, they were very helpful with my questions and concerns. I was curious about the battery life, durability of the connectors and batteries, how the heating technology worked, etc. A lot of answers you can already find on their website
www.thermalution.com and the website of their East Coast distributor
www.heatedwetsuits.com. I decided to go for it and ordered the Thermalution Yellow Grade heated vest.
It didn't take long to receive the package. Inside was the vest, two 7.4V/4.4A sealed rechargeable batteries, battery charger/adapter, wireless controller and manual. Instructions were simple. Plug in the batteries to the charger until the LEDs go solid green and you're good to go. Manufacturing quality was very good. Batteries were well sealed with gold water-proof connectors. The vest was well-made and had the same gold water-proof connectors. Before my next dive, I charged up the batteries and made sure all was working for the dive.
The system worked great.
I hadn't really dived in cold water before (I did some Cenote diving in Mexico, which can be pretty chilly) but I didn't feel cold in the 50F water. I wasn't sure the vest was working, so I tried turning it off while underwater. I didn't take long for me to feel the frigid icy water flowing around my back and chest, so I immediately turned it back on again. Yep. Definitely working. I kept it on 'high' for most the dives. The batteries had enough juice for about 3-4 dives (45min/dive). I'm not sure if colder water or deeper dives affects the battery life, but it's possible.
One thing I did notice after about a dozen dives with the vest is that the wireless controller would have difficulty communicating with the vest. Sometimes I would have to bend my arm around to my back so the controller and received (the red disc on the back of the vest) were closer together. Not ideal. Then, I started having some trouble with the vest turning off mid-dive. I thought it may be a battery issue, but when I checked the batteries after getting out of the water, they still had a nearly full charge. Something wasn't working right...
I contacted Thermalution to ask about the problems I was having and they suggested I send my vest back for them to look at and repair it. They were very helpful and assured me I would get my vest back as quickly as possible. At the time I was in direct contact with the Taiwan main office.
A few days later, I received an email from Thermalution explaining that they were 'upgrading' the 'Yellow Grade' vest to the new 'Yellow Grade
Plus' vest. This new version had a number of upgrades including a rechargeable wrist controller (charges wirelessly with a Qi charging pad - same as for mobile phones) and an improved transmitter/receiver and controller modules. They sent back the new upgraded vest and told me to test it out and let them know if I had any further issues.
On the next dive, I tried the new upgraded vest. Again, it worked great. No problems with controlling the temperature during the dive. I didn't have to bend my arm around to the back anymore, communication was MUCH better. The vest didn't turn off during the dive, no problems at all. It was this same was for the next dozen dives. And the next dozen after that. Still working great today.
I have told ALL my dive friends about my heated vest. Those that have tried it (I let them borrow mine) have decided to buy one. Usually they buy either the same Yellow Plus that I have or the 'wired' version which is the Compact Dive series (which is a bit cheaper). Many have changed to thinner wetsuits (7mm to 3/4mm) and less weight and are very, very happy with the freedom their heated vests give them.
Rarely have I heard of any problems, and certainly NOTHING about any shocks or zaps or anything like that. Personally, I have had more problems with shorts and leaks in underwater flashlights. A friend of mine lost his GoPro when the casing failed. In all my checking online and with my dive friends that use Thermalution, I've never seen/heard of anyone getting shocked or zapped. They are very safe and thoroughly tested.
There have been a few minor problems... One friend of mine was having problems charging their batteries. The charger would show that the batteries were charged (full green LEDs) when in fact the batteries weren't. When I plugged her batteries into my charger, they charged up fully and her vest worked fine. I can only put it down to a faulty battery charger, and as it's under warranty, I'm sure Thermalution will replace it - no problem. Another friend was a bit chilly before diving and turned on their heated vest while it was dry. It left some red marks on his back where the infra-red 'wires' are located. It didn't burn him, but it did look more like a heat rash. Perhaps he has sensitive skin, but I would recommend to only use these heated vests while they're wet or underwater.
My friend and I have had such a great experience with Thermalution's heated vests, we decided to become an authorized reseller of their heated vests and bring them over here to Southern California. We have a great contact at the East Coast distributor and we have the best pricing available (way below MSRP). I'm actually not allowed to say (or advertise) how low our pricing is, but if you're interested, please send me an email or PM me for pricing info.
We do a lot of diving around the area, and chances are if you've been diving around Laguna Beach, Veteran's Park (Redondo Beach), Palos Verde, Catalina Island or the Spectre dive boat, you may have seen us. If you're interested in trying a heated vest, let me know and I can arrange a demo unit for you to try.
My Thermalution heated vest makes ALL the difference for me. Without it, I wouldn't be able to dive unless I was on holiday in much warmer waters. Which is not very often at all. Some people have no problem using a dry suit, some people prefer a thicker wetsuit. Not everyone is going to feel safe using a battery powered vest, no matter how safe it is. And that's ok. The most important thing is that we're all out there happy, safe and diving as often as we can.
Again, if you have any specific questions about Thermalution heated vests, or if you're interested in trying or buying a one, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thanks for reading and HAPPY WARM DIVING!
Chris Hennessey
chennessey@scubawestcoop.com
