Best jacket I have bought in my life time.

Best jacket I have bought in my life time.  Read Less

I've had this jacket 3 months now and use it all the time. Some say these jackets run on the larger side, i wear a medium shirt...  Read More

I've had this jacket 3 months now and use it all the time. Some say these jackets run on the larger side, i wear a medium shirt and jacket and this fit me snug. I'm 6'1 and the jacket is a little short but not where i wish i had a larger size. If it didnt have adjustable waist tensions i would have a harder time with this fitting snug, but luckily it does. The jacket is excellent quality and much better than the Bosch jacket i have and no dont use because this is thicker and keeps me warm being outside high up in the boom. Plus it heats up very quick! one thing i really liked is how u can have the heated jacket on (2 chest and 1 back) and the heated pockets off and vice versa. That way if my hands r cold and im worried about the bettery i can turn the jacket heat off and leave the heated pockets on! you can also have your jacket on medium or any other setting and the pockets on high, etc. I have not used this jacket with anything underneath except a tshirt and long sleeve shirt. But wearing a tshirt and this jacket i feel pretty warm and have no complaints, except...The battery. Wish it was shaped like a cell phone and not a grenade, a cell phone fits more flush in your pocket than a grenade would and it makes the pocket stick out and look dumb. We are all about making things as small and discrete these days, why not make this a little more flat! Oh well its not a big problem just something to complain about.Now were focusing on the battery again, it is a high quality industrial battery and the adapter it goes into which the jacket plugs into has a battery gauge which is nice to know when your jacket is gonna die. But the Milwaukee Tools site says the jacket provides UP TO 6 HOURS of heat. That means 6 hours of heat on Low, 4 hours on MEDIUM, and 2 hours on HIGH. I havent tested to see if that is just for the jacket or the jacket and the pockets. Luckily if the battery dies it charges in 30 minutes which is nice. But my MAIN problem with this jacket is the battery. There are a handful of batteries that work for this jacket, some being the Milwaukee M12, M12 2.0, and the M18 which comes in a compact or an extenteded capacity model. There are more that fit but they are made for power tools and they will either not fit or be very bulky in the jackets battery pocket. So lets get to some pricing on these if you ever wanted to upgrade or add an additional battery.The M12 is a 1.5amp 1500mah batteryThe M12 2.0 is a 2.0amp 2000mah batteryThe M18 is a 1.5amp for the compact battery and 4.0amp and I cant find the mah on these but some said it was 4000mahSo the M12 is $40, the M12 2.0 is $50, and the M18s are $45-$80. NNow if you get the M18s you need another adapter to accommodate the jackets 12v power source. Thats an additional $30 for the adapter. These prices are cheaper on some sites but im going by Amazon and Home Depot prices.SO wanting a new battery i had to decide what i wanted. So instead i do what i always try to do, make my own method. I thought hmm, power banks for charging cell phone and tablets and other devices are cheap as hell now for how many recharges you get. So i had to find a way to make a power banks USB female work on a 12v Male connector. So after looking everywhere for cables i found 2 that are needed to make this happen. Ebay is the cheapest place to get these and the shipping was actually pretty quick on both. I ordered a 13cm USB A 2.0 Female to DC 5.5x2.1mm Female Power Supply Extension Cable http://www.ebay.com/itm/271275443013?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT for $3.Then ordered a 25CM USB 2.0 A Male to USB 2.0 A Male Sync Data Charge Short Cable Cord Adapter http://www.ebay.com/itm/231313632645?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT for $3.After receiving these cables all i needed was the power bank. But before dropping money on something i wasnt 100% was going to work I connected the cables to the jacket and they all fit perfect. Then i connected the open end of the USB to USB to the female USB on the Milwaukee charging battery pack that came with the jacket. Boom, fired right up and worked perfectly. So now i need a power bank.The Milwaukee battery that comes with the jacket throws a 12v 1.5 amp output. Most power banks throw out a 5v 1A-2.4A. But wait? i had the cables tested on the Milwaukee M12 power banks USB charging port which is a 5v 1A output. So that means it works with the majority of powerbanks that have a 5v output. So now im researching power banks and the first one that comes up is a 10,000mah. That's 10,000! Which is 6.5x more than the battery that comes with the jacket or any battery that fits. Plus it was about $20 shipped!!! Thats just a no brainer. So before doing this I knew i needed a heavy duty and rugged weatherproof power bank. So I found a really well reviewed and tested powerbank, the EasyAcc 9000mah on Amazon for $33 shipped http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HY44VTQ/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_2. It is Waterproof, Dustproof, and Shockproof and also includes has a built in compass, carbiner, and LED. It is a 2.1A output so it will heat the jacket faster and provide 6x more life than the regular battery. So instead of fult tilt boogie high all day being 2 hours you now get 12 hours on highest settings. Just a no brainer in terms of money and life compared to the standard Milwaukee battery. Plus this battery is flat and rectangular, exactly like the pocket it goes in. The type of battery they should use, but selling there batter promotes another product so its what any company would do. LAST but not least, get the jacket from either your local home depot for cheapest price and easy return or Ebay. Amazon has amazing prices on about 90% of items i shop for but for once they have a much higher price for whatever reason.Hope this works for everyone like it did for me and you make the right decision if you love this jacket as much as i do.UPDATE ! The adapters I used for this jackets upgraded battery work but the power bank does not. I didn't realize it was a 5v power bank, you need at least a 12v. So this is what I now use, it's the XTPower 10,000mah from Amazon and it works great!*1 YEAR UPDATE*I have had this jacket for over 1 year now. Couldn't recommend it more, always get compliments on it. Especially the led lights. I feel like I'm in star trek, but saying Beam Me Up Scotty while pressing the button just made me look crazy. I haven't had any problems or real complaints with this jacket, except one! The damn cylindrical battery. I took care of that problem when I bought that power bank by Xtpower. Love it love it. But on long trips I use my upgraded power bank I got on eBay by searching 15000 power bank 12v which is just the xtpower battery on steroids. It has a jump starter in it...yup. Plus two DC outputs now, one is 12v one is...brave yourself...19v! At 3.5 amps. It works for this jacket with no problems, yet. But don't quote me on this. It's definitely more bulky than my previous battery, but it's still not an ugly soda can Milwaukee battery that bulges out.So yes, still in love with this jacket. They have a new version. Which has a hood built in! I recommend getting that since I miss a hood which we don't have. I found out I could power my jacket, my 2.1amp nexus, and my gf's 1.5amp iPhone off of a multi cable ALL at once. Both power banks could do this. Just can't beat it. Keep in mind that Milwaukee created the m12 series, THEN eventually created this jacket. They didn't build the battery to perfectly fit in this jacket. They made it as another m12 product to add to the line of m12 tools. Otherwise this battery would b a power bank.In conclusion, this jacket has held up to everything I've put it through and more. Still looks new, works flawlessly, and always gets compliments. Who compliments someones jacket? Someone with a kickass jacket-thats who!!! If your considering this jacket, get it. Buying my gf the women's version, and she doesn't need the power bank since she practically stole mine because of how handy it is. Highly highly recommend buying this jacket if you spend a lot of time outdoors.  Read Less