It’s that time of year again, when heated gear is practically a necessity for a keen motorcyclist. I’ve put in long, hard miles without heated gear mid-winter, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. So when Kemimoto (online retailer of made-in-China powersports equipment) asked if I wanted to review their Lightweight Heated Vest, I said sure. I was curious as to whether you could save big bucks by buying Chinese heated gear, because the made-in-North-America stuff has seen its price tag skyrocket in recent years.
The Kemimoto Lightweight Heated Vest is battery-powered, with a 10,000 mAh battery included that’s certified by several safety orgs, coming with a USB connector. This is a long-needed improvement to battery-powered riding gear, as it can be used to charge your phone or other devices as well as power your vest. The battery has a handy LED readout that tells you how much charge is remaining. Spare battery packs are only $26.99 on Amazon, which is a lot lower than any competing brand I’ve seen.
The vest itself is a windproof puffer style, with elastic sides. A reflective lining means a lot of body heat is captured, making it a good insulator even when the heating elements aren’t working.
The vest showed up a bit later than expected, in size XL as requested. It fit fine under my jacket, and I’ve had plenty of opportunity to ride in it through late November and then a few trips in December. I’ve also used the jacket plenty off the bike, sitting in deer stands. And I think that sort of use is what the jacket really excels at, more than on-the-bike use.
The jacket pumps out lots of heat from its elements in the lower front, upper back and neck areas. This is great when you’re sitting in a cold set of bleachers at a rink, or standing around waiting for your partner to tee off (Kemimoto actually markets this as a golf vest on Amazon), or otherwise waiting around immobile.
The heating elements on the lower front are actually built into the pockets, so you can put your hands into your pockets and hold them, warming your fingers. Obviously that doesn’t work on a motorcycle, and I would personally prefer the heating element be situated higher in the vest, over my chest area, warming bloodflow from my heart.
And, the heating element on the collar, which is also glorious when you’re sitting around, is going to cool quickly if it’s stuck in the airflow underneath your helmet.
Add it all up, and you’ve got a vest that isn’t really designed for motorcycling that will work to keep you warm on the bike, but other vests will work better, at least when the temps are truly cold. But those vests are also a lot more pricey, and might not be as comfortable off the bike.
Will I keep using this vest, or go back to using an older one? I think the multi-use versatility of the battery packs is itself enough to make me want to keep using this one, as long as I can easily recharge the packs at night. I’ve found no way to directly plug the vest into the bike unless I use the USB cord that plugs into the batteries, so I’m likely to stick to the batteries, which last for maybe 3-ish hours on the highest setting—fine for a half-day ride, but not for all-day touring without nightly top-ups.
But for the money, I think this is probably the second-best bang-for-buck on the market right now, as long as you get it on sale for under $100. This seems to be quite common, although current price is listed at $149 CAD; bounce around between various websites and you might be able to find it cheaper. I don’t think it’s quite as practical as the Aerostich WarmBib and not as good bang-for-buck, but the Kemimoto vest is more versatile and easier to deal with (no connection to bike needed). If that sounds good to you, and you find it for a low price, it might well be worth the purchase, if it can extend your riding season.
