Season 6 Milwaukee Heated Gear is here and brings some exciting new products to the lineup to improve on what has already the most popular heated gear line up. The biggest additions are the new RipStop items, which include the 3-in-1 jacket/hoodie combo and the RipStop vests. The grey hoodie gets a more stylish darker shade of gray (should hide wear a little better) and the women’s jacket also gets an upgrade for a better fit and hand warmers. These are all in-stock now and as we’ve seen each year prior we’d expect to see popular models and sizes sell out well before the holidays.
RipStop 3-N-1 jacket/hoodie Combo – 2171 ($299, kit) / 2170 ($249, w/o battery & charger)
This combo is definitely the most exciting addition to the lineup this season. While people have loved the heated jackets with the premium price some have used these more as apparel for the weekend than on the jobsite. The most popular 2395 ($199, kit) is closer to a North Face jacket than a Carhatt and while it’s very well made, it’s not designed for heavy construction abuse.
The new RipStop shell jacket on the other hand is constructed of RipStop material, a 900 denier polyester (600 denier at flex points) woven into a grid like pattern for one of the most durable fabrics we’ve ever seen. We took a square of the fabric cut it halfway with a razor and had significant trouble completing the tear by hand, seriously heavy duty. Designed to limit puncture and if a snags or small rips is caused by heavy abuse the fabric will not allow the rip to grow, hence “RipStop”. A super tough outer shell jacket, metal rivets, heavy zipper and built for abuse, we think will get a ton of use as a standalone jacket.
The RipStop hoodie underneath is where the heating elements and battery pack live. This is not the same as the standard Black Hoodie 2380 ($99, w/o battery & charger). The RipStop Hoodie add 600 denier RipStop material on the arms and over the front pockets to stand on its own as just a hoodie in tough work environments. In our opinion it looks cooler and is more functional, hopefully next year all the hoodies will get this upgrade.
The price tag for this combo however might be tough to overcome for some, RipStop 3-N-1 2171 ($299, kit) / 2170 ($249, w/o battery & charger) is a nice investment. Just last year the 3-N-1 Realtree jacket 2387 ($299, Kit) had much less interest vs their Realtree Jacket 2393 ($219, kit) that sold out by November. We don’t think the RipStop will be the same as you are really getting two separate RipStop pieces that each standalone and also work together increasable well.
Ripstop Vest 2173 ($169, kit) / 2172 ($119, w/o battery & charger)
This RipStop vest features the same 900 denier polyester woven construction, metal rivets and high quality of the 3-N-1 Ripstop outer shell. It is definitely designed to get work done. We have never been much of a vest wearer so it’s tough to get. As an outer garment if it’s cool enough to not need sleeves do you need it be heated? Again vest wearers have an art form to layering we probably don’t get. With a shell overtop over this vest it would definitely keep you very toasty so maybe it’s a good option for fall then, fire it up as an under layer in winter. The price point on this unit is hard to beat if you’ve already got the batteries and charger.
Women’s Heated Jacket Upgrade 2.0 2399 ($199, Kit)
This jackets gets a nice upgrade that takes many of the things Milwaukee has learned about making heated garments over the years and has a nice overall upgrade for this update, 2399 model. The materials are better/softer, insulation is better but less bulky, fits better for women, cuffs come out farther and have thumb slots, heating elements for the pockets (independent of body heating) and overall just a more stylish jacket. This one should be very popular.
Of course if you are in the central Ohio area you can actually visit the Ohio Power Tool store and try on a wide variety of all the Milwaukee Heated Gear, one of the nation’s largest single point suppliers with pretty much all sizes and models. Call the pros at 800-242-4424 with any questions on Milwaukee Tools.