Current state of the Union on heated undies?

[stuartv]

correct

SF X-Heat:

It says total power draw is 60W, and it heats the panels to a surface temp of 111F.

There are 2 heating panels. One over the stomach/ribs, and one over the lower/mid back.

EXO2 StormRider Bodywarmer:

It says total power draw is 34W, and it heats up to 122F.

There are 4 heating panels. One on each side of the zipper in the front and 2 in the back (upper and lower). From the pictures, it looks like the EXO2 gives more square inches of coverage of the torso with heating panels than what the SF system gives.

Either, somebody has inflated their specs, or the EXO2 uses a hella more efficient heating element.

Thoughts?

If one wanted to use the EXO2 with a UWLD heat controller, through a Vega, where would one get the E/O cord that goes in the middle?

 

[RyanT]

If you have a heat failure and you've had it on so you are nice and toasty in the beginning you're going to bend yourself like a pretzel. You are increasing the rate of inert gas uptake by being warm at the beginning, and if it fails, you are slowing the rate on the way out.

@stuartv, it sounds like you are thinking carefully about this, so that's good. tbone's point is worth repeating for general consumption though. Back in the early 90's (before I knew much of anything about decompression), I used to make 4 or 5 dives in a day. All over 100' (some beyond 165') on air, and decoing out on my backgas, using a very liberal computer. There was a consistent thermocline at around 90' where the water temp dropped from 84 to 70. I only dove a 3 mm shorty because I hated wearing weights. I froze to death on the bottom and then on the way up, hitting the thermocline felt like bathwater. After several years of doing those profiles I finally got bent. Looking back on it now, I'm convinced that being really cold on the bottom and warm in deco probably kept me from getting bent before I did. And when I did get bent, I think it was a factor in it being a relatively mild hit.

 

[tbone1004]

@stuartv the exo2 uses a very different technology for their heating pads. I haven't looked at total coverage to compare each of them, but this is resistive heating, so it's not really efficiency. They are both current limiting so they won't burn you either which is good.

You can get the vega with an EO cord from most dealers, then you put whatever plug you need for your vest on the other side.

 

[stuartv]

@stuartv the exo2 uses a very different technology for their heating pads. I haven't looked at total coverage to compare each of them, but this is resistive heating, so it's not really efficiency. They are both current limiting so they won't burn you either which is good.

You can get the vega with an EO cord from most dealers, then you put whatever plug you need for your vest on the other side.

Thanks. I thought (was hoping?) somebody would already be making the right EO cord for connecting to that vest.

Oh, well. I have a soldering iron and heat shrink tubing and know how to use them both...


Oh, and, if the pad is bigger, gets hotter, and consumes half as much power, I would call that better efficiency... No? Or, somebody is fudging their specs...

 

[Dark Wolf]

Nothing to add, as I have zero experience with heated garments. I have started thinking about them, however. Thanks for this thread, and some very good information.

DW

 

[tbone1004]

Thanks. I thought (was hoping?) somebody would already be making the right EO cord for connecting to that vest.

Oh, well. I have a soldering iron and heat shrink tubing and know how to use them both...


Oh, and, if the pad is bigger, gets hotter, and consumes half as much power, I would call that better efficiency... No? Or, somebody is fudging their specs...

Unfortunately not. If you get vests from a dive manufacturer you can, but when you start looking around at different options you have to go old school and DIY.

In terms of the efficiency, I'll have to look at the square inches, but the Exo2 does use a very different type of heating technology with resin impregnated panels, so it's possible that they self regulate at a lower power consumption.

 

[macado]

Honestly I don't know why people keep pushing the ScubaForce vest. It sucks. I don't find the build quality particular good and it it is not as "warm" as my Light Monkey vest even though the ScubaForce heating pads claim to be 60W (30W/each). That is obviously a subjective opinion but I stopped using the ScubaForce vest I bought and went back to the Light Monkey one. The Light Monkey vest is much more flexible. I just find it better even though it's only 40W of heat.

The pads inside the ScubaForce vest are in zipped pockets inside a ~150gram type base layer/fleece. They are sandwiched between a layer of trilaminate or something to I assume make them more waterproof. I like this but it makes the whole system more bulky and less flexible. The pads move around inside the heated vest and get bunched up. I had to install velcro on the sides of the heading pads inside the vest zipped pockets to keep them from moving around.

 

[ericfine50]

I was looking at the new santi Flex 2.0, which looks like a thinner (200G) UG with heat vs the 400 w. heat. I got to see one in person (did not try it on as it was an XS), material wise, looks well made and the wires for the heated glove liners are run through the arms already.

Don't know if anyone has used it for diving yet?

 

[stuartv]

I was looking at the new santi Flex 2.0, which looks like a thinner (200G) UG with heat vs the 400 w. heat. I got to see one in person (did not try it on as it was an XS), material wise, looks well made and the wires for the heated glove liners are run through the arms already.

Don't know if anyone has used it for diving yet?

That looks really nice! But, $800?!? Ouch!

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

i remember there being some hype about electric blankets being bad for you.