I bought the Ororo heated hunting vest. Along with that, I also got their newest pair of socks, pants and hand warmer. All are in camouflage.
I used them for the first time last night. The temperature got down to 29F with a wind chill of 21F.
The socks were fantastic. I put them on the lowest setting and wore a pair of boots with 1200g of insulation. The toes were very warm for the seven hours that I was out. I alternated between standing and sitting with my back to the wind for most of the time because coyotes usually come to the calls facing the wind. So regarding the feet, the back part of my heels got a little chilled but not intolerable.
I also put the vest and pants on the lowest setting to conserve battery power. With the wind chill it felt colder than the 21F factor that the weather channel put out. I say that because of the exposed area of the skin.
Over the vest and pants, I wore a pair of insulated bib overalls and an insulated, hooded jacket. I felt chilled around the arms and shoulders as well as the back sides of my upper legs which weren't heated.
Like I said, my backside was to the wind. So where I got chilled was the tops of the shoulders and arms. I wore a thick fleece jeep cap which has never failed me to keep the head warm along with the hood.
I like the handwarmer. There was only one problem with it which is not a design flaw. Before I get to that, I need to explain my thermal tactics.
I use a thermal monocular for scanning. I use one hand to hold the monocular to the respective eye. The other one is kept in the hand warmer to keep warm. BTW, I wear fleece fingerless gloves to manipulate the buttons on the thermal devices.
I usually use the disposable hand warmers kept in each coat pocket. So it's a simple matter to keep the right hand in the right coat pocket with a disposable hand warmer and vice versa with the left hand. I'm able to go all night like that.
Now back to the Ororo hand warmer. When I only kept one hand in the warmer, it still got a little chilled. This was, undoubtedly due to the fact that the other end was open and permitted cold air to enter the warmer.
When I took a break from scanning, I put both hands in the hand warmer. I alternated through all three temperature settings. High for when I really need to warm the hands and low, after they were already warm. The hands and fingers got really warm on the high setting and it helped to move the fingers, open and close the hand to keep the blood flowing.
The next time I go out, I'm going to augment the heated hand warmer with the disposable hand warmers. I might use them in the pockets or put them in the hand warmer. This would not be necessary if I were hunting during the day as I would not have to keep my hands out in the cold that much due to using the thermal monocular at night.
Like I said, the fact that the handwarmer didn't keep my hands as warm as I would like is not a design flaw. It's designed with two openings to warm both hands at the same time and it did just that. I still don't regret the purchase cause it does work remarkably well with both hands.
My butt got colder than I wanted. I could feel the heated areas well in the pants which is the lower back just below the belt line and the front upper thighs. With that said, I might purchase one their heated cushions.
Experience all-day comfort with the Endzone Heated Seat Cushion. USB-powered, durable, and lightweight. Get yours today for ultimate outdoor warmth!
www.ororowear.com
Six durable and safe heating elements throughout heating pad. Made of memory foam to contour to your bottom for maximum comfort. 3 heat settings with the push of the power button. Easy to travel with: simply fold in half and pack. Water and stain-resistant outer shell for easy cleaning.
www.ororowear.com
I have one of the bucket back packs which turns a five gallon bucket into a seat and a back pack. It's fantastic for coyote hunting. So having a bun warmer to sit on would be a welcome addition.
The new Venture Bucket Pack Lite is the more ecconomical little brother to our standard Venture Bucket Pack. This NON-insulated version has a...
www.midwayusa.com
The vest was great for keeping my core temperature up. I read some reviews which were saying that it didn't work. These reviewers were putting the vest over insulated clothing. It's got to be closer to the skin with insulated clothing over the vest.
I didn't turn on any of the items till I got on the stand which was a little over 100 yards from my vehicle.
I wasn't prepared for how hot I got with the vest without the power turned on. Just going that 100 yards caused me to sweat a little.
When I set everything up; rifle, tripod and e-caller I turned everything on. I had to take off the jacket and drop the bib overalls to get access to the power buttons for the vest and pants. So it would be nice if they had remote buttons to adjust power settings.
I know that there are electrically heated clothes with Bluetooth connections but I didn't want to go that route because I sometimes hunt during the day and use an iPad for a ballistic app. So I don't want the devices to be competing for a Bluetooth connection.
So, for now, I'll just put up with the inconvenience of removing the jacket and dropping the bibs to get to the power buttons. Or, I will have to find some insulated clothing with openings to access those buttons.
The neck portion of the vest is heated. That's a nice feature. Along with the fleece jeep cap and hood it helped a lot to keep me warm. Remember that 75% of the body heat escapes through the head.
I ordered another pair of socks and some spare batteries. Next on the list is a bun warmer.
