We’ve all been there, haven’t we? We’re on a long trip and we didn’t bring our heated gear because it’s the middle of summer! And now we’re freezing on our bikes first thing in the morning, but then dying of the heat in late afternoon.

Maybe it’s just a really hot day and we’re trying all our tricks: staying well hydrated helps a lot. Wearing mesh helps to a point; maybe you stop for gas and go soak your shirt in a bathroom sink just to get a little relief.

Maybe you’re an MS sufferer, which we all know can play hell with your thermostat, and you overheat really easily. It’s maddening to let something like that keep you from an activity you love, isn’t it?

Enter, perhaps, this new heating and cooling technology, as demonstrated by our friends at RevZilla. If you’ve ever owned a piece of heated gear, you know that, especially with the older tech, there were wires embedded throughout the garment to transfer heat to you. 

Heated gear tech has advanced from round wires to flat carbon to heated panels for extreme comfort. The Rukka vest uses heated coils interspersed with cooling air tubes throughout the vest, and those tubes will probably feel a lot like the old fashioned heated wires. The controller for the garment controls both heating and cooling, but unlike other heated gear there is no adjustability. You press the “heat” button to warm up and the “cool” button to cool off.

If this takes off, perhaps the $1200 price tag will come down. Hopefully the tech will advance, too, and there will be more options than just on or off. In the meantime, if you travel by motorcycle, are a dedicated long distance rider, ride for work, or are wealthy enough to toss that kind of scratch at a product that may or may not suit your needs, this might be the thing to try. Perhaps you’re a dedicated track rider whose one-piece leathers aren’t so cool; you might find a way to make this work for you.

Keep in mind that the air it pushes through the tubes is simply ambient air, so you may still need to soak your shirt in that gas station sink. Any breeze is better than no breeze, though, right?

Source: Revzilla, Rukka

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