UKH

has anyone tried heated waistcoat/gillet when in the mountains? Probably not to be relied on but I suspect it might make for less bulky wrapping for the skinnier ice climber such as myself....

Heated by what? I think this idea comes up every so often, but the necessary batteries (if you're doing it that way) work out much heavier than the extra insulation would be.

I've used one for a long cold open car journey. Nice.

I just checked out of curiosity, the first I found is 18W (less than expected!) so you'd get about an hour and a half from a 210g 2.2AH 4S LiPO.

8H runtime would cost you £73 and 900g (plus the vest), actually not that mad given how nice they are. There will be more energy dense lower power options if you shop about. The batteries do burn quite explosively if damaged though so that needs considering!

example: https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-high-capacity-10000mah-4s-12c-multi-rot...

jk

sure but I was really thinking about the bulk of layering (I) need to keep warm. I've got enough power to get up the routes but find I get really cold when I stop to belay. More coats restrict movement.

Could you eat more on the day, especially good greasy fatty stuff and hot tea? Insulation can only trap whatever heat your metabolism produces, and more kcals is kind of another type of battery and more reliable.

I've seen a couple made by motorbike companies, although these usually plug into the bike's electrics, so not much use to you.

Pretty sure I've seen a couple from ski companies, but will have limited battery life.

I've also seen a version from a wetsuit company for winter surfing that was basically a thin neoprene vest with pockets for the gel handwarmer packs. Good that once you start getting cold, you can click them on - not so good that once done, you can't stop them - they also go hard when "spent" (stop sniggering at the back!) and need boiling to recharge. 

Berghaus had one, their Heatcell Gilet. No longer marketed though, perhaps that says it all if they couldn't make a success of it?

Useful for standing in the queue for your Mount Snowdon summit selfie.

Just seen an advert for these come up on Facebook - search in the Marketplace and you'll find them.

Obviously, I've no idea about the quality of them!