What if your jacket had its own in built heater?

The Milwaukee M12 HJ jacket showing the
dust and dirt of a Winter's day in the shed.

IT is strange to read that your new jacket is regarded as a power tool.
But that's the way it is with the Milwaukee M12 HJ.
The HJ stands for 'heated jacket', that's right, heated jacket. It's a battery-powered jacket with a heating element that runs on either low, medium or high.
And it works.
At first glance this might seem an extravagance in the Australian climate but I have been using mine in the pre-dawn cold of a NSW New England Winter and, for me, it's worth it.

The heating system operates on a rechargeable battery that sits in a holder which is plugged into the heating element that runs up and down your back. The front of the jacket features a press button that allows you to pre-heat the element and then operate it on low, medium or high.

The on-off switch sits on the left chest side of
the jacket and is easy to use..

It all starts with the 12v battery charger you plug into the mains power. Everyone knows how they work...red light means not charged, green means go. Once the battery charger shows green, usually in about an hour, you slide it into the holder and attach the holder to the jacket and slide the lot into its own pocket low-down on the jacket's left side.

The battery pack in its pocket.

Once the battery pack is in place, the focus turns to the press-button switch on the left breast of the jacket. The first press activates the pre-heat function and the button flashes red. Once the pre-heat phase is complete the button will glow white to indicate the medium setting. Pressing the button cycles through the heat settings from medium up to high (red continuous light) and to low (blue continuous light).

The level of heat determines the battery life. On low the battery will last about six hours . On high the battery is one in about two hours.

 

But does it work?

In short, yes. I use mine when I get up to get ready for a hunt. That usually involves getting out of bed at 4am, going out and letting the dogs out for a run in the frost or fog before getting them on the truck and saddled up ready for a 5am departure. There are other things I have to do as well but most of them involve being cold and trying to warm up. With the Milwaukee jacket I just put it on, press go and it goes. Within minutes I am warm and I feel I can concentrate on what I am doing.

I don't take the jacket hunting but I do take it camping.

Getting back to camp after dark and waiting for a fire and your dinner to heat up is now a piece of cake. Just put on the jacket, even on low and the pressure is off.

 

There are a few rules with a heated jacket. Hand wash it only (minus the battery pack and holder), don't iron it and don't wring it out.

It is said the be water resistant but I wouldn't wear mine in the rain, it just doesn't strike me as a smart thing to do.

 

The latest versions of the jacket now feature USB points to recharge your phone and pocket warmers but mine is the simpler style. I can, however, buy a camo 'skin' to use for stalking which will take the same little battery pack and give me another option.

Indeed, I could also buy a skin in blaze orange or red or yellow to go with my formal black.

 

The heated jacked is one of those things you might not buy for yourself because it can seem, as I said earlier, a bit extravagant.

But it is exactly the sort of thing someone else can buy you for your birthday or Christmas to fill a niche in the wardrobe and solve the gift givers' need to find something for the person who has everything.

 

The battery in its holder is surprisingly unobstrusive.

 

The battery slides into its housing which is then plug
into the cord which runs to the heating panel.

 

The battery will recharge from flat to fully charged in about an hour.

http://www.milwaukeetools.com.au/products/m12/show/m12hjcamo2-21