The indoor work lifestyle isn't all that great for you. Those who get to work outdoors are really lucky, being able to take in the sun's energy and breathe in much needed fresh air; that is until the cold winter months hit them like a cold bucket of water!
If you work an outdoor job, winter is going to be the most dreaded period of the year. Fortunately though, there are warm ways to stay toastie inside without having to overly layer up under a jacket!
The warmest solution is using a heated jacket like the Venture Heat Outlast Heated Softshell Jacket 2.0, which provides heat almost instantly after turning it on, providing full heat within 2-3 minutes.
Like most heated jackets, the Outlast Heated Softshell Jacket 2.0 uses a battery power bank to provide the necessary heating power to keep the jacket warm for up to 10 hours on the lowest setting. Up to 5 hours on medium and up to 3 hours on the highest setting.
The heating element inside the Outlast Heated Softshell Jacket 2.0 is made of carbon fiber, which is less heat conductive than steel and aluminum but, it's much more lightweight. The total weight of the jacket is just 1.2 kg, including the battery pack.
The jacket is also better at insulating heat because the padding used for the jacket is 3M thinsulate insulation, which is a popular type of synthetic fiber thermal insulation that retains its warmth even when it gets wet.
The Outlast Heated Softshell Jacket 2.0 outer shell isn't too thick, which is a good thing as it enables the carbon fiber heating element to rest closer to body, transferring heat more efficiently. The carbon fiber heating element is split into four sections for heating the back and chest upper areas of the body, as well as the neck and wrists.
The battery pack weighs 230 grams and measures 4 inches long, 3 inches wide and 1 inches thick. The battery pack has a rubber enclosure that seems to be made of silicone rubber or TPU rubber, which has a similar feel to silicone. The rubber seems to have some special coating applied to it as it doesn't seem to mark easily with fingerprints the way rubberized casings usually do.
The Outlast Heated Jacket 2.0 lithium ion battery pack is also removable, doubling as a handy power bank to charge external devices via a built-in 5V/2.1A USB port, which is output only; hence you cannot use the USB port to recharge the internal battery.
The internal battery can only be recharged via a DC input/output port for which a DC wall plug is included along with two plug adapters (UK and EU). The DC wall plug is able to output 8.4 DC volts at 2 amps and recharge the internal 7.4V 5200 mAh battery in approximately 5 hours. The battery maximum input charge is actually higher (2.5A) so, you can charge the battery a bit faster by using a 8.4V/2.5A wall charger. The battery pack can hold charge for up to 6 months.
The DC port is bi-directional input and output; hence it can recharge the battery, as well as power the jacket via 7.4V/2.2A charge.
The included DC wall plug does have an led indicator that turns green to alert you when charging of the battery power bank is complete. Without USB input charging though, you are limited to a wall electrical socket, missing out on being able to recharge the battery pack while sitting at a desktop computer.
The battery pack comes also with a built-in led flash, which provides a decent amount of illumination. There are also four small battery status leds on the front side corner of the battery pack, next to a small power button designed to activate the led flash and battery status.
The outer shell of the jacket is coated with water resistance material, same as the zip side pockets, which are coated with PU waterproof coating.
The main zip on the jacket features a rubber pull tab attached to a nylon cord and features a standard zip coil design without any waterproofing applied to it; hence the Outlast Heated Softshell Jacket 2.0 isn't 100% waterproof.
The power button that operates the heating of the jacket is located on the top left side corner below the embroidered Venture Heat logo, whereas the battery pack is located on the front of the jacket along the waist line.
The heat power button measures 1 inch wide by 1 inch long so, it has a perfect square shape. The heat power button has a rubber finish and it's easily actuated with an easy finger press. There is a clicky feedback with each button press.
The heat power button has an led light built-in that can light up blue, red and white and, stay lit up to indicate the current heating setting.
Red is the highest setting, delivering up to 55 degrees centigrade (131 F). White is the medium temperature setting, delivering up to 45 degrees centigrade (113 F), while blue is the lowest temperature setting, providing up to 38 degrees centigrade (100 F).
The outer shell of the Outlast heated softshell jacket is made of 94% polyester and 6% spandex, giving the outershell some elasticity.
The jacket inner lining is made of 100% polyester material with a felt-like texture, which is also used to line the wrist cuffs, the jacket collar and the inside of the zip side pockets, which are large enough to store a phone.
The lining of the arms is also 100% polyester but made with a silky-like finish. The polyester lining is imprinted with Venture Heat branding throughout.
There are three internal zip pockets with labels: two on the left side and one on the right side. The two internal pockets on the left side consist of a small zip pocket that is large enough to store a pair of earbuds and charging case.
The zip pocket below (labeled battery), it's larger and designed to store the battery power bank to power the jacket. The battery pocket compartment features a short cable with DC connection.
The Venture Heat heated jacket comes flat packed inside a sealed vacuum bag stored inside a zip packing cube bag for storage. The zip carry bag features a webbing grab handle and breathable mesh.
The jacket can be put through a machine wash but only at 30 degrees temperature. There is a 12 month limited warranty included that can be extended to 3 extra months by registering the jacket online.