Anyone got/had one? Are they as good an idea as they look, or are they too warm to wear in temperatures where you don’t need sleeves?

I’ve bought a few over the years, never worn them once and ended up selling on Ebay.

conversely, i wear one a lot

there usefulness would very much depend on whether you run hot or cold as to wether you might find one “too warm” or not, like a lot of clothes really

It really depends on what You’re going to use it for

surely if it’s cold enough for a jacket, it’s cold enough for sleeves.

I have a couple of gilets I wear a lot for riding – one is a lightweight pertex jobbie which is great for chilly summer mornings, the other is a much chunkier softshell one which I wear almost all the time in winter. I tend to run warmish but then cool off really quickly, and it seems to be a good compromise for me.

Wear mine for about 3 weeks a year, mid Autumn and late winter when it’s too cold not to wear a jacket but warm enough to not need a full jacket. So npot much use but love it when I do use it.   Rab whatever the gilet version of the Generator was called.

wear mine loads with a hoodie

Got the Galiber one, recommended in a similar thread a few weeks ago. Wore mine a couple of Sundays ago for a reasonably long fast paced road ride, was too hot. Went out early and it was cold, low single digits, but later in the ride after I’d warmed up I was too hot.

Not the most packable either. If my pockets were empty it wouldn’t be a problem. But with it being a bad weather road ride (no rucksack) I have my pockets quite full. So also trying to pack the gillet mid ride was a problem.

I’ve bought a few over the years, never worn them once and ended up selling on Ebay.

So doing the same thing again and again while expecting different results?

surely if it’s cold enough for a jacket, it’s cold enough for sleeves.

I find them oddly useless tbh. Too warm for me on the move, but when stopped, they’re too cold because you actually lose quite a lot of heat from your arms and the forearm in particular.

Paramo used to sell a sort antidote to them, which were insulated, full-length sleeves with an unlined shoulder section. They looked ridiculous, but actually worked surprisingly well for short stops because… you actually lose quite a lot of heat from your arms and the forearm in particular.

I’d rather carry a few extra grammes and have a jacket, but I think it’s probably quite specific to the individual.

I have various, a non-insulated windstopper fronted one with mesh back which is great for cold mornings / evenings in the warmer months. I have a Gore Windstopper soft-shell one for colder weather wear but my favourite is a Mammut Polartec Alpha one as mid-layer insulation which rolls up into my back pocket. It was all I needed between my base layer and windproof top when riding in the arctic at below -20C – amazing given the thickness. I find the tops of my shoulders feel the cold more than my arms.

Paramo used to sell a sort antidote to them, which were insulated, full-length sleeves with an unlined shoulder section.

A colleague absolutely swears by these, says it’s completely cured the cold hands problems which he’s had for years.

surely if it’s cold enough for a jacket, it’s cold enough for sleeves.

I used to think the same until I got one.

Have to have bare arms for work – a cap and a  weskit over a base layer keeps me warm pretty much all year round.

Have a few now from light fleece to down.

And I’m lost without an inside pocket, especially on the way home from Sierra Leone.

*stares wistfully into the distance *

”Look son, gilets as far as the eye can see……..I remember when this was all bodywarmers”

Technical tank top, Shirley?

The lined softshell ones are great for winter down South.

I often get too hot in a jacket once moving uphill, and too cold in just a top and base when stopped or going downhill.

For general use they are really good for cold weather walking etc  Keeps the important stuff warm whilst the rest can breathe.

Lovely rapha one in classifieds if your a medium

They’re a gamechanger as far as I’m concerned.

The perfect transitional garment.

Brilliant if it’s a bit nippy, but you have to do shit still.

As ever: https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/gilet-wearer-admits-his-arms-have-been-cold-for-years-20171031138283

I like mine for when it’s a bit chilly watching telly in winter. Handy for pedalling back from the pub on cooler summer evenings or sat in pub gardens and quite useful when camping.

Bought a nice Finisterre one for cold winter epic rides.

Took it riding once, but wear it most of the winter for everyday stuff.

I assume I’m just not a “cold arms” kinda guy.

Lovely rapha one in classifieds if your a medium

I’d rather cut my own arms off. Admittedly, the second one could be a challenge ..

“Have to have bare arms for work…”

I knew we had a right to bare arms but I never knew it could be an obligation…

And I’m lost without an inside pocket, especially on the way home from Sierra Leone.

There are over 180k threads on the chat forum, and I was idly wondering if every single one has a hmhb lyric snuck in it somewhere…

surely if it’s cold enough for a jacket, it’s cold enough for sleeves.

And how many times do you find yourself pushing the sleeves up? Which then stretches the cuffs so they go baggy. There are many occasions when there’s a cool breeze/wind, but not so cold that your arms feel cold, and a gilet is perfect. I’ve got several, a NF Nuptse down one I wear in colder weather over a light jacket, a Uniqlo ultralight down gilet I often wear over a tee shirt, and I’ve got a couple of fleece ones, one I bought at the ‘94 Worlds in Vail, which is a tad tight now, and a Fox Racing one I bought in Chamonix in ‘95, in grey and yellow, it’s only flaw was not having hand-warmer pockets, only a rear pocket for putting stuff in when on a bike, but a couple of years ago I got to know a seamstress who put pockets in. Even before that, it was one of my most worn items of clothing, I’m wearing it now, and if the weather is cool, but not central heating cold, it’s nearly always what I’ll wear over a tee shirt.

I do also have an old Unabomber hoodie, which suffered the baggy sleeve syndrome because I was always pushing the sleeves off, so I just hacked them off with scissors and I often wear that as an alternative to the Fox fleece gilet.

It’s a really simple, practical item of clothing that takes up very little space, keeps my core at a comfy temperature while allowing my arms to be free of

I tend to run hot when active so like gilets as a cooler better ventilated alternative to a jacket. On the bike I use a thin pertex one or a softshell one when it’s cooler (cut down from a jacket that wasn’t worn as it was too warm). For more general life and outdoorsy stuff I have a fleece one and a Rab generator. They both get worn a fair bit this time of year over a long sleeve top or hoodie if it’s a bit cooler. When it gets cold the Rab is great under the Montane Prism jacket to add extra insulation, and more flexible layering than my thicker down jacket. The Rab is also great to have in the riding pack in winter for stops/mechanicals.

As this is in the chat forum I’m assuming the OP is referring to Bodywarmers.  I hate them and find them quite useless.

If it’s a bike related question, then I’d agree with many of the above posters that a gilet is a hugely versatile piece of bike kit.

Got a really nice Rab down one……really useful round the house this time of year when you’re too tight to put the heating on (and that is all it’s ever used for)

I like my Snugpak gilet. Not for anything too active, but nice for easy walks in colder weather, or for stuff like photography, where you can be standing around. It does help a lot for keeping me warm. And it packs pretty small, so handy to keep in my bag just in case.

My Endura Windchill is the best bit of kit I own, unless it’s arctic I just boil over in a full jacket, wouldn’t be without it.

People seem to be answering 2 different uses here.

On the bike I don’t like them at all. A windproof one is very useful indeed, but anything with any insulation gets too warm too quickly.

Off the bike, like mentioned above, there is a short period of time around about now and another in spring where they’re a useful bit of kit. I tend to find them most useful when I’m not moving very far, so marshaling at Parkrun or watching sport.

perchypanther

”Look son, gilets as far as the eye can see……..I remember when this was all bodywarmers”

I remember when this was all waistcoats… 🙂

I have an insulated Paramo. Ideal to stick on for a brief stop.

I also use it as a top layer in the ‘Puffer for the cold night stretches.

You’re far more likely to slip on a gilet for a quick stop than a full jacket, so although it’s not as good, it’s more likely to be used, and more likely to be carried because of lack of bulk.

For the avoidance of any doubt, I am refereeing specifically to cycling ones, and more specifically only to the insulated ones.

Carry on.

Love mine, on and off the bike. it’s a low bulk synth jobby with polarstretch side panels. Arc’teryx Atom. I’d buy another if I lost it.

All this “but cold arms!” stuff is missing the point a bit. I almost never wear it without long sleeves as well, either over or under. if your core’s nice and warm, your arms will be too.  I like wearing lighter clothes when I’m active because I like the feeling of freedom of movement – just a personal preference.  The gilet is often enough to be the right side of warm – (nicely warm rather than just warm enough) where your body’s still pumping plenty of blood to your extremities, and arm insulation isn’t needed.  If you get a little too warm, you can dump heat straight away by unzipping to the chest.

It’s got to be pretty darned cold to wear it mtbing or on a hard road ride (hard road rides I do 0-1 times a year, and never when it’s cold!) but I wear it for the short commute pretty much every day when it’s nippy – it’s an extra layer to keep my core warm under a lightweight shell. gets taken home in the pannier.  Perfect for long winter touring type, pack a sandwich rides where you’ll be going at a steady pace through cold mornings and evenings and warmer days. done all up to the throat you’re wind-proof, 2 inches down and there’s enough breeze to vent out a little warmth, half way down and you may as well not be wearing it.

I wear it lots off the bike for exactly the same reasons. bump up another jacket for early mornings, late evenings, Better than swapping from a big jacket to a thinner one, and better than layering 2 jackets as you don’t have the extra bulk around your arms, sleeves rucking and bunching under your armpits.

I’ve just added a cheap Endura one to my collection as was half price on Chain Reaction!

Been either too warm or too cold to wear it thus far! Make of that what you will….