Heat Vest Put To The Test

When I first got the cypher vest, I was both excited and concerned. My first thought was that of possibility; imagine the improvement to my surfing life if I had my very my own central heating system. But clouding this excitement was doubt. It hung there like an ominous storm cloud, waiting to rain on my parade. What if this thing just wouldn’t work. There was one thing to be done. I had to test it.

TEST ONE: ICE-CREAM HEADACHE CONDITIONS

I am generally weary of gimmicks, so I was fairly dubious when I thought about a heating system for surfing. But while prepping the vest and seeing it was a simple device, (a rash vest with thin heating panels on the lower back and and a small pouch on the side for the battery, which about the size of an average cell phone) I began to get taken by idea of actually being warm when surfing icy Cape Town sessions. The childish excitent of having a new toy took over and I eagerly charged up the battery and hit the water. It was great testing conditions; offshore and 2-3ft at Muizenberg, and the water was freezing. Ice-cream headache after a single duck dive freezing. To really vest the device I dug out my old crappy suit which has holes in all the important places; armpits, lower back and crotch.

I smiled about the little secret I had on beneath my suit while paddling out. Is this what women feel like when they wear Victoria’s secret push-up bras I thought? Almost 3 hours later it got dark, and I bobbed around happily, with out that bone-deep chill customary to long sessions in cold conditions, alhtough I did wonder if the vest made me any more enticing to those big grey guys out back. The vest had indeed worked to keep my vital organs warm, thus keeping my overall body temperature up. It was like I was being hugged by a small, flat koala bear. Well not quite, more like having really slim hot water bottles in my suit. I gazed into the distance and a whole world of long sessions lay before me, and I saw myself chuckle and shake my head sympathetically as frigid surfers paddled in, leaving me to float merrily and score their share of the waves.

TEST TWO: SURVIVING THE GIANT FREEZER

So I knew that the Cypher vest worked really well to keep me warm in the Cape’s coldest winter conditions, But I wanted to know how much cold I could endure with the Cypher? I decided to go to the coldest place I knew of; a giant freezer with the average temperature of minus 14 degrees Celsius, wearing only boardshorts and the vest. It was extreme, but the ultimate test. I stepped in and the cold caught in my lungs, I yelped. Matt the ice man smiled wryly. After jumping around and slapping myself I settled down. It was fun, sort of. I sat around on ice stools, and snacked on some snow. After a while my exposed skin started to freeze, but the vest pumped heat into my vital organs, keeping me from shivering uncontrollably, and possibly freezing to death. I decided to leave before frostbite set in and I lost my fingertips, but I gave the vest a mental tick, it had passed the final test.

Features:* FAR Infra-red heat technology* High and Low heat settings* Easily operated under any wetsuit* Rechargeable battery provides hours of heat* Car and Wall Battery Chargers Included* Impact Resistant Suggested Retail Price: R2 999A big thank you to Matt and James from Ice Art for letting me sit in their freezer.