one of the first things I noticed was that the actual vest is made by a company called Keela who specialise in outdoor wear, you will find there products worn by the Scottish mountain rescue teem as well as the British Police Force, Ambulance crews and other members of the public sector. The shell of the StormRider vest is one of Keela’s new flagship fabrics called AirExtream, this fabric has already won lots of awards for clothing. Having worn Keela’s clothing before I was in no doubt as to the quality of the vest, this coupled with exo2’s unique polymer sheeting has made a very good piece of clothing.
After trying on the gloves I adorned the StormRider vest, a huge grin appeared upon my face, I just couldn’t help myself, it was so toasty and warm, it was honestly like wrapping my torso in an electric blanket. The heating pads are extremely well placed around the body and supply heat not only to the front but to the lower back area as well.
The vest is extremely well made, the stitching is excellent, the zip works and is sturdy and smooth. The fit is nice and body hugging until that is you get to the upper torso just below the neck, this part is a bit baggy (for me anyway I’m a size 40” chest and this is the smallest vest they do), I can pull the excess material in by about 4 inches old money or 100mm.
The vest is too long to be worn with a 2 piece leather race suit, in that you have to tuck the lower part into the trousers, which in turn increases my waist by 2 inches.
Another thing I do not like are the pockets, what’s the point in having pockets on something that goes underneath your normal riding gear, these pockets add unnecessary bulk to the garment especially the top pocket. If I were looking for an outdoor pursuits heated vest then this would be the one, but since its primarily aimed at motorcycle riders, then I think exo2 need to go back to the drawing board or do more R&D. the vest can be powerd by a separate optonal battery pack or wired directly into the bike via the supplied harness.
Detailed overview of the StormRider Heated Vest:
Front view:
Bottom picture outlines areas of heating pads.
Back View:
Bottom picture outlines area of heating pads.
Logos:
Connections:
Top picture outlines the pocket the connections are kept. Bottom picture outlines the connection for optional battery pack.
Conclusion:
The StormRider heated vest is priced at £175, and I think is a bit overpriced due to the fact that its aimed at motorcycle riders. If exo2 gave it a slight redesign then I think the vest would be worth every penny of its price tag. The wiring could have been placed a little better as I find it a bit awkward where it is. I also think that the optional battery pack is of no use to motorcyclists in the fact that every rider will plug themselves into the bikes electrical system and to walk any distance in winter in motorcycle gear is hot enough. I suppose there are the few that would use the vest in other pursuits like walking the dog, so I suppose the inclusion of a pocket for the battery pack would be of use.
Heat wise while on the bike is tremendous it does what it says on the tin. But has the same problem as the gloves in that whilst stopped for any length of time it gets a bit to warm, but on the move and its really good at keeping you nice and warm.
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