Venustas Heated Jacket Review | Are Heated Jackets Really Worth It?

After living in a van in Scotland for two and a half years, and then moving into a new van in the United States full time, we’ve experienced some really cold temperatures. We’re always on the lookout for ways to safely stay warm both inside and outside the van, and the Venustas Heated Jacket provided an answer for us! So yes, heated jackets are worth it!

A heated jacket is the extra piece of van life kit we never knew we needed. But it’s better than just for vanlife, it’s great for everyday life too. Now let’s dive in this Venustas heated jacket review and see if this company creates a jacket that we keep in our kit for years to come.

Choosing the Venustas Heated Jacket

In the interest of full disclosure, we were gifted our heated jackets by Venustas in return for a review of them. However, we never just accept these kinds of collaborations. If we did, shoot, we’d be writing many more reviews.

The Venustas Heated Jackets stood out to us though. We never knew all our cold evenings in the van, wet hikes, and below-freezing sunrises and sunset photography sessions could be made 1,000 times better with a simple product — queue the heated jackets.

After our jackets arrived, we were even more blown away by them than the hype we felt before. And shoot, multiple people in our family have said they too want/need a Venustas Heated Jacket!

5 Reasons You Need A Heated Jacket

Heated jackets may seem a bit extra, but shoot, the extra luxury of the jackets truly brings adventures to a new level. Being warmed from the inside out while outside in the freezing cold, with a rechargeable heated jacket — that’s a no-brainer.

1. Early morning and late evening sports? No worries, stay warm with a heated jacket!
2. Sunrise photography in below-freezing temps — the Venustas heated jacket has you covered.
3. Is it raining on your hiking holiday? The durable waterproof jacket and the heat are the perfect recipe for the rain not ruining your day.
4. Getting back to a cold camp whether you’re in a tent or in a van? Don’t worry about a heater, instead throw on your jacket to warm you up.
5. Sitting by the fire and your back gets cold — not anymore with the Venustas Heated Jacket!

The Heated Ladies Jacket | Dual Control + Cute

Heather’s jacket is the Heated Jacket for Unisex with Dual Control Button, 7.4V, and she’s in love! This jacket is super cute, it’s cozy on the inside, and keeps her super warm. With a quick charge time and a long lasting battery, she’s yet to be cold in the van!

The first time we tried out these jackets, we were in a torrential downpour, and I’m happy to report I stayed not only dry, but warm too! But let’s look at more of the details.

The Packaging

Upon opening the package for this jacket, I immediately liked that the jacket comes in a compressible bag. This bag is perfect for travel and keeping it in the van.

The bag has a zipper, which in my opinion is more convenient than a drawstring bag, and it only compresses when it’s shoved somewhere tight — keeping the jacket fluffy and in its original shape when stored.

The Battery Weight + Storage

I was a bit hesitant about the battery in my jacket. I wasn’t so sure it would be nice to carry around a heavy weight in my pocket. However, it’s not like that at all!

Yes, you can certainly tell there’s a battery in your pocket, but it’s a separate pocket on the inside of the jacket so it doesn’t interfere with the pocket use. And honestly, it just feels like a heavy phone in your pocket with the small size!

Battery Life

This jacket comes with six different heating options, three different settings for both the front and the back heating panels. When the front and back panels are all on full blast, the battery can last for up to 9 hours! However, when actually put to the test, the jack was only able to stay on high for a max of 4 hours. Maybe if the jacket was on low could it actually last for 9 hours.

The heated jacket may actually last much longer if you don’t have both the front and back panels in full warmth mode! The battery is said to be able to last up to 18 hours on a single charge, however, we’ve yet to test that to its full capacity, as we just recharge it after a few uses.

I think a more measurable approach to the battery life is actually how many times you’re able to wear it. I wore mine three different times for a few hours each, switching between high, medium, and low modes, and still had battery life after!

This is huge for life on the road and/or camping. This means one full charge can likely get you through a weekend in the woods!

The Unisex Venustas Heated Jacket Settings

This jacket in particular stood out to me for the many different heating settings and panel placements! There are six different panels, two on the chest, two on the stomach, one on the back, and one on the neck.

And oh. my. goodness. they are placed perfectly!

Within the six panels, they’re broken down into a button regulating the front heating panels, and then a separate button regulating the back.

I typically start with mine on the high setting on both the front and the back to warm me up quickly, but then find myself sweating and hot if I don’t turn them down to the low setting.

After a quick heating from the high setting, the lowest warm setting is perfect for me, even in freezing cold temperatures!

*Note from Jason…This ‘unisex’ jacket is intended for both sexes. However, the look of the jack on me has more of a womanly feel and look to it. And that is not just because I see my wife wearing it and just think it’s a woman’s jacket. I genuinely see it being more feminine in because of the way it is shaped.

The Heated Jacket Look

Honestly, a big part of me choosing this heated ladies’ jacket was because it looked both cute and comfortable. The fit of it is perfect too, and I love that you can take off the hood if you don’t want to have it on! It’s literally perfect all around, and even without the heated settings, it’s one of my favorite jackets.

I love that the Venustas Logo isn’t blasted across the jacket, and that the buttons are pretty sleek when not in use. The only thing I’m not in love with is the buttons glowing when on, lighting up in white, blue, or red, depending on the setting it’s on.

With that said, it’s also nice to know what setting the jacket is on, it’s a great conversation starter, and honestly, it’s not obtrusive enough to not get the jacket, especially with how small the buttons are.

Water Resistance

We really put this jacket to the test, not only running it underwater to check how waterproof it really was, but then also wearing it out for a 2 mile hike in the pouring down rain!

I’m happy to report, the water resistance is 100% accurate and works perfectly! I stayed completely dry even in the pouring down rain — and maybe even better than staying dry, I also stayed super warm.. that’s a win-win!

Men’s Heated Jacket 7.4V | Water Resistant + Long Lasting Battery

Jason’s jacket is the Venustas Men’s Heated Jacket with Battery pack 7.4V, Windproof Electric Insulated Coat with Detachable Hood. This jacket is stylish, comfortable, true to size, and durable. Not to mention extremely warm and water resistant.

The Packaging

The packing cube was a welcomed surprise when opening the box. The heated jacket fits into the packing cube nicely and is a bonus when we live in such a small space of a minivan campervan. The cube keeps the jacket tidy and nicely folded.

Another thing that I like about the packing cube is that if we leave for a big trip we can now use these packing cubes in our luggage for more efficient packing.

The Battery Weight + Storage

The battery pack is small and isn’t too heavy or bulky. The jacket, though, is fairly heavy, but that is because of the heavy-duty material used for the outside. So when you add in the battery pack to the inner hidden pocket, it really doesn’t add too much weight or bulk to the overall jacket. It’s just like another phone in your jacket pocket.

Battery Life

According to Venustas’ jacket description for this item, “The jacket heats up in seconds with the help of a 7.4V 4800mAh certified battery on a single charge that can operate up to 10 hours on low, 6 hours on medium and 3 hours on high”. Just like Heather’s jacket, in real use, we didn’t find the operating times to be quite this accurate.

In real life, it’s likely 10 to 15% less time for the actual use of the heated jacket. This isn’t a make it or break it factor for me because the

The Men’s Venustas Heated Jacket Settings

The Vensustas heated jacket has 5 heated compartments. Compared to the heated ladies’ jacket above, only one button turns on the whole jacket at once. You only get all or none with this heated jacket.

However, because there are still low, medium, and high settings, you can really dial in the desired heat setting you’re after and be sure to stay at the perfect temperature.

One thing that I really appreciate about both the jacket is the reflective inner lining that helps keep the heat in and back on your skin. This attention to detail reduces the potential for heat loss. Creating two highly efficient jackets.

The Men’s Heated Jacket Look

The overall look and feel of the Venustas heated jacket is pretty great. It looks like it could be worn out to a nicer-style restaurant, to a construction job outside, or just for everyday activities. If you think you’ll be extra cold for the day, bring this jacket along. Is there a potential for it to be raining, don’t hesitate in packing the Venustas heated jacket.

The zippers are of high-quality YKK brand zipper. The front pocket zipper is fully taped to keep water out when raining. And the hood has a zipper so you have the option to detach the hood if you don’t need it or want to change up the look of your jacket.

All the velcro is strong and grippy to keep things cinched down tightly.

There are two things that I don’t really like about this jacket. The first is that the shoulders come to a bit of a point. It almost looks like it was trying to go for a blazer suit jacket look but failed to pull it off. And the last thing is that when I remove the hood of the Venustas heated jacket, the collar around the neck doesn’t fold down nicely. One side tends to stick up even after repeatedly trying to fold it over.

Nonetheless, I still really like this jacket and it will be a piece of kit that I will bring with me for many years down the road.

Water Resistance

The first time we took these jackets out was in the freezing cold (mid 30’s F) in pouring down rain of the Redwoods during the heart of winter. I was extremely blown away at the performance of the jacket holding up in the cold, keeping me warm. And while it was raining cats and dogs, I stayed dry. The water just beads up and rolls off the jacket.

However, at the end of our two-mile hike in this weather. I began to notice some wet spots in the seams of the shoulders. Therefore under normal rain, this jacket will absolutely hold up against the elements.

Are Heated Jackets Worth It?

If you have been doing a bunch of research, you may have come across a plethora of different heated jacket brands that all more or less look the same and claim similar capabilities. And that could be true. However, we were provided the Venustas heated jackets in exchange for this review and until we can test different companies’ heated jackets to verify similarities or differences, we will stand behind Venustas and say, “These heated jackets are great and will stick around in our van kit for quite some time”.

FAQs

Final Notes

Both Heather and Jason gave their firsthand experience and feelings about their respective jackets in this Venustas heated jacket review.

Overall both the ladies heated jacket (unisex*) and men’s heated jacket are great cold weather and rainy weather jackets. They each hold up to the test of mid-30’s Fahrenheit and torrential-ish down pouring rain. The fabric on both jackets are slightly different but serve different purposes. The ladies heated jacket is of a more lightweight higher water resistant technology, while the men’s heated jacket is less water resistant but heavier and more durable against abrasions and rips.

The battery packs on both jackets certainly deliver a decent amount of power to keep the jackets heated for a few hours at a time. However, the battery packs definitely do not hold up to the claimed 9 and 10 hours of use for Heather’s heated jacket and Jason’s heated jacket, respectively.

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