Is there any good reason for this?

[elizilla]

I have owned a couple different heated jackets. In every one of them, the power wire that connects them to the bike, comes out on the left side at waist height or slightly above. But all but one of them, the wire comes out on the inside of the jacket, and I then have to snake it down and around the bottom edge of the jacket, then find a spot for it to exit my riding gear.

Why????

Why do they put this cord on the inside? I can't think of any advantage to doing it this way. It's so much more convenient to have this wire coming out the outside of the jacket.

Does anyone actually like it this way? Is there something I am still missing after ten years of struggling to snake that darned cord around the bottom of the jacket and back up out of my pants? Or is it some kind of traditional logic failure on the part of the heated gear manufacturers?

I'm tempted to modify my new jacket, to move the power wire to the outside. It is so much more convenient not to have to fight with it all the time.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Katherine,

Warm and Safe jackets (sold by First Gear, I believe) have all the cords in zip-up pockets on the outside of the jackets. Very convenient. The only loss I notice is that I don't have a pocket for my hands on the outside of the jacket, but since I never wear my heated gear for "formal wear," that's no issue for me.

 

[Herb]

My Widder is wired as you describe. Since I leave the switched extension plugged into the jacket, it's never been an issue. Yes, when off the bike, i walk around with this extension wire hanging down. If i want to look more presentable i tuck it into my chaps. You get the picture, i'm a function, not fashion guy. Very simple to plug this 2 foot extension into the plug coming off the battery on the side of my seat.

now I did have a problem when one of the wires to the male socket coming out of the jacket severed. When I refitted a new male plug, I extended the wiring coming out of the jacket so the plug now hangs several inches below the jacket, making it easier to find when i do take the switced extension off. Might this help you? Seems easier to extend the plug length than to cut into the outside fabric, rewire the whole thing and then patch up the fabric.

 

[elizilla]

Katherine,

Warm and Safe jackets (sold by First Gear, I believe) have all the cords in zip-up pockets on the outside of the jackets. Very convenient. The only loss I notice is that I don't have a pocket for my hands on the outside of the jacket, but since I never wear my heated gear for "formal wear," that's no issue for me.

Yes, the jacket I have with the power cord on the outside is made by Warmnsafe. It is very nice. But the Warmnsafe has other irritating features, like huge thick wires routed so they chafe under my shoulder armor, and also it's barely waist length so when I am on the bike, half my back is cold. So I bought a jacket made by Powerlet at the motorcycle show. It's warmer and doesn't have thick wires in bad places. But it, like the Gerbing, has the power cord inside. Gah! At least it doesn't have the stupid elastic at the bottom hem. That was the thing that drove me most crazy about the Gerbing. That elastic band that fell at the widest point of my hips, and always slid up and bunched half the heating elements in the jacket at my waist. And having to route the power cord out around the bottom, and then back up to get out of my pants, made it even harder to keep that elastic from sliding up. Unisex, shmunisex - it's purely a men's jacket and we women can only wear it if we don't mind a constant battle to keep it where it should be. The Powerlet jacket is men's, too, but at least it has some stretch panels on the sides, and they didn't include that terrible elastic band at the hips.

I could move the connector to the outside. That's well within my skill set, though it will be a pain in the neck.