Hello, my name is Ken Phenix and I'm addicted to JACKING ON! :hello:
If you've never tried heated gear, it's like cheating. I literally don't care how cold it gets. I have ridden cross country in sustained temps as low as 17f and I actually prefer winter riding to summer.
At highway speed, windchill starts out at whatever the static temperature is minus 26 degrees and and gets steadily worse the longer you ride. Regardless of how good your insulation is, in time the outer layer will assume the outside temp minus the windchill factor. An internal constant source of heat is the answer.
Being in southeast Texas, not knowing I'd get addicted, not thinking I'd use electrics more than a few days a year, I couldn't justify the expense of buying retail heated gear so I started doing some homework. A few google searches later, I had a plan.
Electrics are not hard to make if you're handy and patient. Homemade gear has advantages too. The stuff is way cheap to make. You can put the heat where you feel the cold most. If you make it you can fix it. All heated gear will fail eventually but rather than having to make it home on a dead glove or jacket and then wait for warranty repair or replacement, I have made field repairs and never missed a beat. I also just don the electrics in winter instead of trying to figure out how many layers to wear - even if I don't turn them on. I don't even have to check the weather before I ride.
Got it wired up and sewn in. Ken, the back gets warm, but the front doesn't. I've got continuity all the way through, does it just take a bit longer for longer strands to heat up?
Seven years ago I began making heated gear, and I started with glove liners. I have made a few revisions and several repairs.
Version 4.0:
That's the nature of the beast I guess - all heated gear fails sooner or later. I have made repairs while traveling and I carry back-ups which have come in handy. They keep my hands toasty in anything. However, as I do more Iron Butt rides I have realized the liners can be cumbersome on four-minute gas stops. I searched for alternatives to save time donning and doffing. Several Iron Butt riders swear by heated grips with hippo hands style bar muffs. I gave them a try. Call it a dubious flirtation. They were effective but not for me
I even broke down and bid unsuccessfully on a pair of lightly used Gerbing's gloves. But I learned that Gerbing's founder due to illness sold the company to his son who promptly ran it into the ground. The company was sold again and the new owner no longer honors nor offers the lifetime warranty. So much for that. The good news is the old man is back. Founder Gordon Gerbing started another venture and partnered with The Churchill Glove Company to build US made gear guaranteed for life Gordon Gerbing Welcomes You! which is great but two bills for gloves is not in the budget at present.
Thinkage. The problem with my glove liners that do work well and that I already own and can make again and repair easily is that they're a pain to put on. They bunch up if I leave them inside my gloves.
Answer: Gauntlet liners! Now I can grab the outer glove and liner and pull them both on simultaneously. Voila!
In the kitchen cabinet I located a suitable molded plastic gauntlet form (a tumbler) and made a pattern.
I fashioned gauntlets out of some heavy fleece and began to stitch. I added some small braided rope in the outer edge for something to pull on.
Update:
First off, that whole heated grip and bar muff thing - bad idea. I'll sell the whole rig cheap. The Oxford grips drew more juice that my heated gloves and did not keep my finger tips warm.
Perseverance. I finally discovered a carbon fiber braid with similar properties that is actually easier to work with and infinitely more dependable. It also allowed me to use thinner liners and sew them right into my gloves. Done deal.
Oh, I forgot to mention in my frustration with the grips 'n muffs I actually broke down and bought a pair of the new Gordon's heated gloves. Gordon Gerbing's Heated Deerskin Leather Gloves The deerskin is supple, the workmanship is impeccable however, my new creation is superior in every way. My Revit Alaska gloves have better insulation, better Gore Tex waterproofing, much better crash protection and now they're warmer. In fact this new carbon fiber powered integrated liner setup works so well I have started taking orders. (I never had much luck getting anybody to DIY this stuff anyhow) I currently have orders for 3 pairs of gloves, 2 older Gerbing's jackets in for repair and I'm building a new heated base layer. I already gutted mine and converted it to carbon fiber too.
So if anybody has good quality winter gloves with enough room inside for thin liners I can add heat to them for about $75.
Really cool stuff Ken. That carbon fiber tape looks like it's a lot more durable than the thin wire.
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