Gerbing 7v Heated Sock Liner
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Owner Review By Bob Dorenfeld
December 8, 2013
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Tester Bio |
Name:
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Bob
Dorenfeld
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I'm
an active hiker, snowshoer, skier, backpacker, amateur geographer and
naturalist. Home base is the Southern Colorado Rockies, where I usually
journey from 7000 ft (2100 m) to above treeline, with occasional desert
trips to lower altitudes. Six to 12 miles (10 to 20 km) hiking in a day
is my norm, including elevation change of as much as 4000 ft (1200 m)
in a day. Most of my backpack trips are two or three nights, sometimes
longer. Often I hike off-trail on challenging talus, snowfields, or
willow brakes, with occasional bouldering.
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Email: |
geartest(at)sageandspruce(dot)net
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Age: |
55
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Location: |
Salida, Colorado, USA
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Gender: |
M
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Height: |
5' 6" (1.68 m) |
Weight: |
135 lb (61 kg) |
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Product Overview
Manufacturer: Gerbing
Website: www.gerbing.com
MSRP: US$199.99
Material: Lycra Power: 7V 2.2 Ah lithium ion battery (per sock), rechargeable Maximum Heat: 135 F (57 C) @ 7.7W
Replacement battery: US$25.99
Included Accessories: Battery charger (for 120V receptacle)
Battery pack weight, each: 4 oz (110 g)
Sizes: xs, s, m, l, xl, 2xl
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Photo: Gerbing
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The
Gerbing sock liner is a pair of heated socks for keeping feet warm in cold weather.
Despite the designation "liner" it can be worn by itself, or under
another pair of non-heated socks. The
upper (black) part is made
of a thin stretchy Lycra, and the bottom (red) section is a thicker,
non-stretch Lycra. The bottom section contains what Gerber calls
"microwires" (tiny wires that I'll refer to as micro wires) that
conduct heat to all parts of the foot - bottom,
sides, and top, and is therefore more durable than the top
stocking. According
to Gerbing the sock liner both insulates and wicks moisture, in
addition to the heat function.
A round power
cable 1/8 in (0.3 cm) thick starts at the middle side of the foot, then runs along the back side and up the leg,
terminating in a plug for the battery.
The 7V battery rests in a fabric
case which is held to the calf by a hook-and-loop strap. The
cable is easily detached from the battery for recharging and for
putting the socks on and taking them off.
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Field Performance
Ah,
warm feet - who doesn't want to keep toasty while snowshoeing, skiing,
or on any outdoor adventure? Especially for those of us who's
feet tend to get cold outside, a little bit of technological assistance
is welcome. I found the Gerbing heated sock liners about three
years ago, and initially balked at the price. But after trying
out less expensive heated socks and discovering that they either didn't
keep my feet warm, or were uncomfortable to wear, or both, I gave the
Gerbings a shot and have been very satisfied with them. I am now
in my third winter wearing them for day trips of snowshoeing and
skiing, where I am exposed to outside temperatures as low as -15 F (-26
C). All told I've put some 150 miles of walking/Nordic skiing on
these socks, plus about twenty days of alpine skiing.
While searching for heated socks I found that motorcycle and hunting
specialty retailers tend to have the best selection. Gerbing
makes a large line of heated clothing in addition to their sock liners,
some of which may be of interest to me as a non-motorized outdoorsman.
Fit
Since the socks are made of rather delicate Lycra, I slip them on very
carefully to avoid tearing the stretchy upper calf portion.
Usually I roll the tops down to avoid snagging on a toenail (I also
make sure my nails are trimmed), then gently slide into the foot,
tugging the heel backwards into position, and finally pulling up the
black tops to just below my knees. The power cable goes on the
outside of the foot, but otherwise the socks are not made for left or
right. I'll wiggle the cable a bit to make sure it doesn't sit
too far down into the instep: ideally it should come up along the
foot's outside, then across the ankle and up the outside of the leg.
I
usually have the battery holder detached from the cable before putting
on the socks. Then, using the hook-and-loop strap I'll attach the
battery holder (photo at left) at about the thickest part of my calf
and pull the strap fairly tight to keep it in place, having routed the
cable underneath the battery case. It's easy to readjust the
strap later on the trail if the case slips down or feels too
tight. Finally, I'll plug the cable connector into the top of the
battery and secure it with the small fold-down hook-and-loop
strap. If I'm wearing long underwear I'll pull the sock leggings
up over the underwear legs so that the cable and battery pack will be
accessible. Now I'm ready for a warm adventure!
What
sets these heated socks apart from some other products is the micro wire assembly: very small but strong and flexible wires run
throughout the red foot portion, small enough that I cannot feel them
at all, despite the thinness of the Lycra material. Once I've got
the socks
fitted as described above, I hardly notice that they're not regular
wool or polyester socks. Sometimes I can feel the cable where it
runs across my foot and up the ankle, but a quick removal of my boot
and repositioning of the cable fixes that for the rest of the
day. And importantly for alpine ski boots, the battery pack sits
high enough on my calf to clear the boot tops with room to spare.
A note about sock thickness and placement:
The Gerbings are somewhere between a thin and a thick hiking sock so I usually slip on another thin sock
over them. For alpine ski boots, I've found that just the
Gerbings are sufficient because of the way my ski boots are
sized. However, I'll always wear these heated socks directly
against my skin, since that's the best way to get maximum benefit from
the heat; I can always find a good combination with second-layer socks
to fit whatever footwear I'm going outside in.
Operation
All right, now I'm on the trail and ready to keep those feet
toasty! The battery has four levels, labeled from lowest to
highest as 25, 50, 75, and 100 percent of maximum power. Most of
the time I choose 25 or 50 percent, but if I'm cold at the start, or
it's an especially cold day outside, I'll choose 100 to start. I
can feel the heat within two minutes, and will often turn down the
setting after five or ten minutes of activity after the blood gets
going. Although I have not measured the heat output to verify
Gerbing's specs, I can say that the highest setting is definitely warm
- not hot, but I know it's there. Most of the time I just need to
keep my feet from getting cold, and don't need them to feel hot, so I
choose the lowest setting that keeps them from going numb.
Starting out cold means it'll be hard to get the feet warm and even
with the advantage of heated socks I'll use up far more of the
batteries than if I had started out warm.
Since
the battery packs are strapped onto the outside of the legs, it's easy
to see and adjust the output using the power button, which is big
enough for my fat fingers (but not big enough to use with thick gloves,
unfortunately). The photo at left shows the green light at the
100 percent level (in operation, the battery would be inside the holder
and under the transparent cover, secured by the strap at the
top). The button has a nice responsive click, and the percentage
indicators light up green in succession: first click from off is
100 percent, and so on back down to off. In bright sunlight the
green level light can be hard or impossible to see, so I'll either cup
it with my other hand, or turn away from the sun to make it more
readable. There is no beep or other sound when the button is
pressed.
Battery Performance
Gerbing states that the 2.2 Ah power cells will deliver heat for two
hours at 100 percent, three hours on 75 percent, five hours on 50
percent and up to eight hours on 25 percent. While I've not
myself monitored their performance as closely, for me the batteries are
good for one or two all-day winter outings, depending on how high I
needed to set the heat, giving a total battery time of about 6-8 hours
before they need to be recharged. Most of that time is spent at
either the 25 percent level or off, with only occasional time at higher
levels for a quick warm-up. I'm not sure how very cold
temperatures affect these lithium batteries' performance, but I haven't
noticed any significant drop in heating ability with very low
temperatures (below 0 F (-18 C)). When the batteries do start to
lose power they won't switch to the higher levels via the button,
indicating time to recharge when convenient.
Battery Maintenance
Gerbing recommends starting an activity
with the batteries fully charged, but if I know I've not used them much
on a previous outing, and it's been only a week or two between since
then, then I'll use them without recharging first. The battery
charge may also be checked when not connected to the socks: after
unplugging the cable from the battery, push and hold the power button
to show the percentage of charge left on the battery.
The 120V wall charger has a double-ended attachment and will charge
both batteries at once. As they are charging, the green lights
will successively light up from bottom to top; this also indicates the
batteries' charge level. If the lights stop at 50 percent, then
it's only half-charged. I find that it takes as much as 6 hours
to fully charge one of these batteries from a fully-discharged state,
about half that time for half-charged. Having both batteries
charging at the same time does not affect rate of recharge. An
indicator light on the charger, one for each battery, glows red when
charging, green when done.
Gerbing also recommends that these batteries not be left discharged for
lengthy periods (exact time not specified), but that at least 25
percent of charge be maintained to preserve life and performance.
So after my winter activities are done, or if I expect a long break
between uses, I'll fully charge them for the shelf. I'll check
them again about every 2-3 months during the warm season and recharge
when necessary.
I have no information on life expectancy of the batteries or how many
recharges they'll take, but when they need to be replaced they are
available directly from Gerbing and other retailers. However, to
date there has been no noticeable degradation in my batteries'
performance or charge time.
Sock Maintenance
I
wash my socks once or twice during the
winter use period, by hand, in gentle soap, being very careful not to
roughly handle the red foot section containing the micro wire
system. I
squeeze out the excess water and hang them to dry in the sun.
Even if not washed, hanging the socks (or any clothing, for that
matter) outside in the sun helps to freshen them up, and the UV
radiation (especially at the high altitude where I live) will eliminate
some microbes from the fabric. (But note that UV can degrade
synthetic materials as well.) Even so, I don't notice that the
socks smell very much after use. Also, as mentioned above, I keep
my toenails trimmed to avoid tearing the heated foot section and the
fragile upper leg area.
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Final Thoughts
These
Gerbing heated socks have allowed me to participate in cold-weather
activities like snowshoeing and skiing that would be hard for me
without the extra heat for my feet. The socks do seem to wick
some moisture, but I can't substantiate Gerbing's claim that they also
insulate; in any case, I let my second pair of socks, plus the boots,
provide the necessary insulation. Although their cost seems high,
with careful use I expect these socks to last for many more years of
use.
Pros:
- fast heating time
- entire foot is heated
- comfortable fit of sock around the foot
- comfortable fit and light weight of battery pack, which is easily adjusted to leg
- long-lasting battery charge
Cons:
- upper leg fabric is very fragile, can rip easily if not careful
- lower foot fabric is less fragile, but still care must be taken while slipping on and off
- battery power button too small to use with heavier gloves or mittens
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‹ Reviewed By ›
Bob
Dorenfeld
Central Colorado Mountains
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