Many of the Goods

[fervid_dryfire]

As always, it's great to be home. The cats were overjoyed to see us! Both of them clearly wanted to have lots of pets and other contact: Luna actually climbed on me as I was lying in bed for a little after-dinner rest (and phone scroll), and licked my face everywhere and vigorously nuzzled on my forehead. I hugged her and announced that I was

Comments

[coercedbynutmeg]

Sounds like a great trip! I've seen ads for those heated jackets but have never tried one. Does the wiring make it feel heavy or bulky?

[fervid_dryfire]

The wiring is stranded low-voltage; not all that thick or heavy, and really flexible. I hardly notice it's there unless I'm flexing or reaching in a certain way.

All the weight and bulk of the battery pack itself is what makes it feel a little awkward, but they have an internal and external jacket pocket to accommodate it; whichever best suits the user. Also, the heating elements have a little extra insulation on them so you don't feel "direct heat" pressed on your skin, if that makes sense.

[prester_scott]

Maybe I just haven't been out working in cold enough temperatures, but the heated jacket strikes me as profoundly uncomfortable. Specifically, it would make me sweat, and so get damp, and then get cold, and then too warm, and so on.

[fervid_dryfire]

A balance must be struck, certainly. The jacket has 3 heat settings that can be easily toggled, and you can turn it off altogether at any time. I have done all of these things on both workdays using it so far; they were playing with the internal HVAC system a lot on Friday, so I took the jacket off entirely most of the day.

I don't remember the last time I had to do electrical work strenuously enough to cause me to sweat inside my jacket- but yeah, if that happened it'd suck. The scenario I see myself most benefitting from this jacket is if I'm crouched on a roof, in a heavy or gusting wind, trying to wire up an environmental control unit. Sweating problems could arise if I'm outside in the cold having to dig a trench or carry/lay pipe- but a little birdie told me that my company has a number of renovation jobs lined up for the year (rather than new construction jobs), so it's unlikely that I'll do any work like that in the next 2-3 months.