@drewkaree - what
@robby76 ^^^ said!
This is great feedback. I'll add mine.
As a side note, amazing how far the new battery tech has come. People complaining they
only get two hours of battery life with those jackets, I'm old enough to know the only 12v accessories as plug-ins.
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I know that's not feedback from you, it's from reviews. I think I see the reason for such low battery life comments. They sell these with a 1.5ah battery and a 2.0ah battery. My bet/belief is that those with the 2 hour battery life had theirs on the high setting and they had the 1.5ah battery. Until looking at these for this thread, I didn't even know they offered anything lower than the 2.0ah batteries.
I have MULTIPLE m12 tools, and easily over a dozen batteries, but nothing less than 2.0ah, and my assessment of battery life over multiple different batteries is that on low, I have no idea how long it would actually last, as I've never had it on long enough to drain a battery (turning it off when going inside or when it'd get too uncomfortable to have the heating function turned on). The closest I've ever gotten is one LED. The first time I ever used it for snowmowing, I had it set on medium, and I didn't realize just how much I was sweating in it until I took it off, but that lasted (on medium), at least 4 hours. We had a foot of snow dumped, and myself and the neighbor were clearing out all the elderly neighbors, and ourselves. On high, I would guesstimate somewhere between 3-4 hours, as I've never been able to tolerate high for anything approaching those times, but my wife had it for a round-robin party where we spent a LOT of time outdoors at everyone's house. That's the only time I can recall having to swap in a fresh battery.
My recommendation is that if you have one with a 1.5ah battery, I would pick up a 2.0ah battery and use that as the primary, and use the 1.5ah as your backup in case you require another battery. One caveat to keep in mind - you may not even need it on high. Best to start off low and ramp up, since you have heat on demand. If you're layering for a ski trip, you do the reverse, because you don't have heat on demand, you start off with as much as you think you'll need, and strip off layers as needed. You're looking at doing a hybrid with the wife - layers AND adding heat, because she needs better layering options than what she currently has. My suggestion adds a layer that can also add heat on demand, so ramp it up slowly - the jacket itself MAY be enough for her on the boat, but if not, you have the option to slowly increase the level of heating.
Thanks for posting and sharing your experiences on this type of coats. I’m keeping an eye out to get one of these jackets for myself. Continue the presentation, VERY good information and the timing is perfect. Good job.
Your local Home Depot (or some vendor in your area) should have at least 2 sizes available to try on, I'd recommend doing so. Just picking up the different types, you'll see which one you might like. The men's jacket I have weighs 5.4lbs with a battery in it. I can't find weights of these things easily, so I'm going by eye on the items I don't personally own, and I'll say the AXIS and the hoodie will weigh less. I bring this up because the weight alone demonstrates a substantial jacket to begin with, and adding heating to this can only improve the warmth of these, as my personal experience has shown me this is true. If you can try one on, you'll have a better idea of which one might suit your needs better.
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I recommended above to pick up a 2.0ah battery if you don't already have any Milwaukee tools. I cannot stress this enough - I WILL NOT buy one of the knockoff batteries out there (Powerextra is a common "brand" sold as a "replacement" battery). I feel my partial success with knockoffs was ultimately a mistake I won't repeat. You may still wish to go down this road, and that's up to you, but here's my experience for you to do with as you see fit.
I bought a total of 6 knockoff batteries, a single and a 2-pack of the extended-life (4.0-6.0ah size batteries), and a 2-pack of the "typical" battery (the 2.0ah batteries). With both types, one of each would simply not work. The fitment was such that it was loose, leaving a gap around the base of the tool itself, and the battery life did NOT seem equal to the OEM Milwaukee of equal size. I also got 2 DOA's from the extended life batteries, the single, and one from the 2-pack. These were all from the same vendor, who ended up replacing one, and crediting me for the other. I've heard horror stories since then - make sure you check the return policies of any online vendor you're buying these from. As it was, I ended up sending pics and a video to prove my batteries were bad, in order to get resolution. On the 2-pack of the typical battery, one of them lasted less than a month before it wouldn't take a charge, and I was SOL with that vendor.
Certain vendors won't take these back because they're deemed a "hazardous substance" (the lithium, maybe? Although how they'd ship in the first place...?), so you may end up with a buy-at-your-own-risk proposition. Essentially, I paid for 3 extended-life batteries and 2 typical batteries, to end up with 1 typical battery and 2 extended-life batteries, and with seemingly less battery life than indicated. I have not experienced any issues with these burning/melting or ruining any of my chargers, but I looked into this when first buying them, and I do not charge these unless I can observe them while charging. Anyone can get a lemon, even with OEM batteries, and many have success with their purchases. My experience leads me to the decision to avoid the knockoffs with the m12 system, even though I have had partial success.
