Heated Pants Review: Can Your Buns be TOO Hot Crossed? (Yes They Can)

I've put this off too long. With the weather warming up, it's no longer so relevant. You may recall some time ago, dissatisfied with the performance of Venture Heat's heated pant liners, I cobbled together an improved battery for them. However that just got me to thinking.

Surely something better exists by now? I only bought the liners because proper heated pants didn't exist when I last went looking. Well this time, they did. Mobile Warming makes a line of heated garments mostly intended for motorcycle use, as they run off 12 volts and can plug into either a motorcycle 12 volt socket or an included 12 volt lithium battery.

Holy moly, is the battery serious business. It's six cells! That's laptop battery territory. Even my jacket runs off 4 cell power banks, and I thought that was plenty. This battery really lasts forever, it's satisfying to finally have heated pants with such excellent battery life.

That said, they are actually too warm. As they're meant for motorcycling conditions, with cold air whipping over you, in all but the coldest outdoor conditions where you're just walking around, you're liable to get overheated in these.

That's on the lowest setting, too. Other heated garments skimp on battery and consequently only really warm you properly on the highest setting. These pants are the opposite. Even the lowest setting is slightly too much. These are heavy duty.

The battery packs include a USB port so you could charge a phone or tablet from them if you wanted. I can't imagine wanting to divert precious heating power to something like that rather than using my own separate power bank for that purpose, but it's a nice option to have.

My complaints are few, but present. First, the battery packs don't charge via micro USB. They have their own laptop style DC charging port, which means you have to use the wall wart they come with. This is an inconvenience as now I have to buy a replacement wall wart should I lose one or just want an extra for the car.

I'd rather they charge from USB so I could use my numerous solar panels (and backpack) to charge these puppies. Although maybe I can? My backpack came with a bunch of different tips, and the backpack battery has a 12v output option. This may warrant experimentation.

The other complaint is that it only warms the tops of your thighs. Namely, where cold air would be blasting you on a motorcycle. So good choice of placement. My pant liners only heated my kneecaps and the spot just above my butt, so this is an improvement in total coverage area tbh.

Do I recommend this brand? Absolutely, but only for people with heavy duty heating needs like riding a motorcycle in the winter, skiing, or other winter outdoor activities where you don't move your body enough to work up heat naturally. I want to recommend this brand full stop, but it's actually too heavy duty for most peoples' needs.

That's high praise coming from me. I love the value proposition of being able to use their garments powered either from the motorcycle battery or the pocketable one. You don't have to choose, you can have the best of both worlds. It's just overkill for all but the most bone chilling conditions.

I hope they see this and consider making a lighter, less cumbersome line of gear for the chilly months like october and november, january and february. I'd love to have a jacket and pants of this quality, with such insane battery life, but with light materials that afford easy movement.

That's the real promise of heated clothing in my book: All the warmth of a bulkier, thicker garment but at a small fraction of the bulk, thanks to the battery constantly replenishing the trapped heat. If they do release such a line, I won't be able to throw money at them fast enough.

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^{Stay Cozy!}