hey youtube winter hiking i always need to bring some extra layers food gear and emergency items
when i hike usually in a backpack now i keep seeing reviews for heated vests and jackets
out there and i wondered how useful they might be while hiking and backpacking i picked up a couple
different models to test out how warm they keep you and whether they interfere with your backpack
so hey guys to do a representative sample of heated vests that are on the market i wanted to
choose more than one so i grabbed two uh that are easily available in any market in north america
one is the aurora lightweight heated vest and the other one's the milwaukee m12 heated axis vest
now there's a hundred different reviews on youtube about heated
vests and uh that's not what we're gonna talk about here we're gonna talk about
how practical is a heated vest while you're backpacking
now these two vests are quite similar they're made out of nylon material they've got multi-heat zones
they've got a three heat settings they've got battery pockets in the lower back side area
which is the real factor when you're backpacking because those are going to be the problematic
areas when you've got your your backpack your chest straps and your waist belt
because wherever that battery shows up that's going to be the biggest imposition to wear in
one of these when you've got a backpack on now i did want to go over just a few features that
are different about these two vests for sure so they both got the chest indicator to change the um
the heat zone red is uh for hot white is for medium and blue is for cooler
depending on what heat setting you have is how long your battery life will last now you'll
notice the aurora is a little bit puffier both are machine washable of course if you make sure
you remove the battery first and uh both are quite similar in fit so uh larges these are
both large size i'm a large guy so uh the one big difference is the battery pack so for the
aurora the battery pack is on the inside and it's a little more accessible with the pocket
that's on the inside of the vest there's the battery now what i liked about this battery
that was different about the milwaukee is that you can charge your devices with it so it's not
just a battery for your vest it could also be a an emergency power supply for your devices of
course consider only if you're not using it for its uh intended function of of heating your body
now the milwaukee has got an exterior pocket on the back
and it's got a much larger cylindrical battery this is a long longer lasting battery it's the
red lithium ion battery so um this is the same battery that works in some milwaukee power tools
so if you if you got some of the power tools around you'll have lots of batteries
you can buy this vest with a charging station as well which makes it really handy but that battery
is a little bigger and a little bit definitely more in position and we'll get into that later
both both vests have carbon fiber heating elements now the aurora it heats the collar
the left and right pockets and the center of the back well the milwaukee it heats the chest
and the shoulders and the upper back we're leaving the entire bottom area unheated
that's really it for the two vests i'm going to show you how they kind of fit when i put
the backpack on and we'll talk about uh what's different and how practical they
are while you're carrying a backpack i've just got my day packed today gonna hike a
little bit around the park and do a bit of a day walk and i'll show you guys how it fits um
today i'll be carrying the gregory mywalk 18 leader day pack it's a great pack in itself and
um i might do a future review if you guys are interested leave a comment down below
so i'm gonna suit up and let's go uh hit the trail
hey guys so i've been hiking around the park here with this aurora heated vest
you can see the uh the red uh indicator light says that it's really hot and i can tell you
what i love about this vest is the collar is nice and toasty warm now it's also heated down
here in the pockets but while i'm wearing my backpack i can't really get at these
pockets easy with my waist strap on so that's uh that's pretty common of most jackets i think
now there's no upper pocket there's no heated chest which is a little disappointing
and definitely the battery the battery is like right here it's like right under my waist pocket
so it's uh i think i've kind of pushed it up inside there so it sits a little bit above
but i can definitely feel it there and it's it's a little bit in the way but i can get
it up and out of the way somewhat and it sits pretty flat so it's good and i could actually
access that one from inside the vest as well so it makes it a little bit usable
i haven't been using my chest strap because when i do it up it actually starts to interfere with
the the heating level which is a little problematic in itself and i'm actually
getting really warm so i'm actually going to turn this uh down to a lighter setting
there on the blue it'll uh be a little cooler so i'll be able to walk around and sweat it up
a little bit inside this vest now i'm actually thinking about putting that milwaukee vest on
for the rest of my trip since this one's clearly got me nice and toasty warm so we'll try out that
other vest and i'm gonna hike up the rest of the park here and i'll check back on you guys later
so been walking around now with the milwaukee m12 access heated vest it's got also the heated
indicator light telling you what temperature it's got and three temperature controls white and blue
and red red keeps you pretty warm i can tell you it's uh it's a little bit warm on the chest
my back's a little bit warm but overall the um the aurora vest was much much warmer
now i can also tell you that uh i really like this vest this is a great vest but as far as the heated
portion of it the aurora's got to beat hands down and this battery i mean i showed you guys that big
cylinder battery i don't even think i'd want to drive in a truck with this vest with that battery
on my back because that thing is that thing's a monster and there's no hiding it it is literally
i cannot maneuver it away from my back and you can see it in there it's like
it's it feels like i'm packing something inside my coat that shouldn't be there
so kind of a design flaw i think of this particular vest i certainly wouldn't recommend it
and i'll be returning it but overall a really nice vest on its own same issue with the chest drop
if i chest it up i can actually get at the indicator a little bit easier
on this one but again overall not too happy with the the warmth of this vest
given the two samples i would definitely choose the aurora over the milwaukee for backpacking
and i would suggest that uh if there's another vest on the market that kind of has a a pocket mid
chest that's probably the one you want if you're really thinking about doing it for backpacking so
all in all not a bad offering but not the best either so hey guys heated vests not so great
for backpacking i find that that battery just kind of gets in your way a little bit
it's a little bit difficult to use the controls with your chest strap
and frankly you got your backpack anyway so just bring a few extra layers when you come
if you guys have any uh questions leave them down below in the comments or
reach out on social media till next week i'll see you guys on the trail it's pop steve on the move