Quiksilver is heating things up – review of the Quiksilver Cypher Heated Vest

I recently had the opportunity to give the new Quiksilver Cypher Heated Vest an extended test run.  So how did the vest work?  Well, let’s just say that I really, really, really didn’t want to give back the sample.

Quiksilver has made an impressive opening volley into the slowly growing field of heated wetsuits.  Moreover, they’ve done it at a mere fraction of the price of their most well known competitor, taking a BYOS (Bring Your Own Suit) approach to the heated wetsuit game.  I was able to use the vest in air temps that ranged from freezing to the mid 70s, and water temps that dropped down to around 50 degrees.  The vest kept things toasty in all conditions.

What’s in the box?

It really is all about presentation. When opening the vest’s very fashionable box, it’s eerily reminiscent of the stylish packaging that Apple “showcases” its products in. Inside the box was one Quiksilver Cypher Heated Vest, one rechargeable battery, one wall charger, one car charger, a set of international plug adapters and a detailed instruction booklet.

One important thing to point out is the thinness of vest.  While the heating elements and battery add a little bit of extra thickness in certain areas, the vest itself is nearly as thin as your average rash guard.  This was a pleasant surprise, as I expected to find something in the box more akin to a life vest. 

How does it work?

The vest has two heat settings, both operated with a simple press of the watertight button located on the battery, which was easy enough to access through the 3 mil wetsuit I was using it with. A push of the button is acknowledged by a vibration, with one vibration for high and two vibrations for low. Push once and the high setting and red light come on, along with a single vibration.  Push the button again and you’ll feel two vibrations, accompanied by a green light and lower heat setting.  Set it and forget it.  It’s that easy.  If you want to turn the vest off, you can hold in the button for four seconds and the 6 vibrations you feel will let you know you’re powered down.  The high setting hovers around 130 Fahrenheit/55 Celsius, while the low setting is around 113 Fahrenheit/45 Celsius.  These results are not constant, but are dependent on the surrounding temperature. 

I mostly used the vest with an older 3/2 (that I keep meaning to replace). While it didn’t turn it into a wondersuit, the difference was noticeable. For starters, the vest fit seamlessly underneath my wetsuit. There was no feeling of carrying extra suit thickness, and there was no noticeable change in mobility or flexibility.  Moreover, the vest caused absolutely no chafing, a problem I’ve frequently had with other vests. 

I found that the low heat setting offered more than enough warmth in the gradually cooling waters of the North East. I’d turn it on moments before paddling out and put in a good 2 to 3 hours of surfing without losing power or warmth. I often switched between the low and high settings, and was surprised to find that the battery would persevere through some of my longer marathon sessions. Over the course of several weeks of use, I slowly noticed that I was the only guy in the water who was still sporting a 3/2, with nearly everyone else having moved on to 4/3s, 5/4/3s and beyond. The warmth given off by even the high setting on the vest is not always apparent while you’re submerged, but your core is still being warmed and your session will be extended. I found that the warmth especially kicks in while you’re paddling, when the heating system isn’t at all submerged. This offered a nice treat while paddling back out after each set, and if I found I was feeling a little chilled, I would simply lay prone on the board to bask in the heat of the battery powered goodness.

Power the vest on with a good wetsuit, and you’ll almost instantly feel the heat.  Throw it on with a beat up old suit and you’ll probably have less positive results. Though the wetsuit I used the vest with was hardly ideal for fully appreciating the vest’s potential, the vest still did its job and kept me toasty.

The Good:

The battery connection on the vest is superb. Quiksilver opted for a bottle cap-like connection, where the connector on the vest screws together with the connector on the battery.  This forms a watertight and unbreakable seal between the battery and the vest, avoiding the connectivity of the other heated suit technologies on the market.

Another nice little touch that Quiksilver offered (which I’m sure others will pick up on) was to include a car charging cord, for on the go battery charging. I found this to be essential for inter-session charging and for charging on the road each time I foolishly forgot to charge the batteries the night before a surf.  This simple addition saved me from having to buy a pricey new power converter car adapter just to charge up the battery between sessions.

The Bad:

The vest gets all thumbs up, but one can’t say the same for whatever wetsuit one combines it with. The fact is, different people using different wetsuits are going to have different results. While the vest may work exceptionally well with one suit, its heating effect may go largely unnoticed when paired with another suit.

I had a few friends looking into the vest as a cheaper solution to avoid buying a pricey new winter wetsuit.  Their thinking was that the heated vest would surely convert their stinking, worn out old wetsuit into a top of the line winter worthy suit.  My suggestion to them and others – definitely get the vest, but also… buck up and get a new wetsuit.  Paired with the right suit, the vest exceeds expectations.  Wearing the heated vest with a patchy old suit is like putting $250 special edition balsa wood, hollow centered FCS fins in the oldest beater board in your quiver.  You just won’t be happy with the results.

The Ugly:

It’s hard to find any fault with Quik’s initial offering.  The nitpickers out there will likely point out the unusual battery form factor.  Weighing in like a Nokia cell phone battery from the mid-90s, the battery doesn’t exactly contour to the body.  It’s in the form of a “D” shaped column, with the rounded off part of the battery facing inwards, towards the body.  While the apparent clunkiness of it quickly becomes unnoticeable, I’m sure a better form factor will evolve with the next generation of the technology.

Overall, Quiksilver has put together one hell of a solid heated wetsuit product. As long as you don’t approach this vest expecting the heating element to turn your threadbare 3-millimeter suit into an arctic worthy winter suit, you’re likely to be quite happy with its performance. Get one now before the water temps bottom out and there aren’t any to be found.  You’re sure to be stoked with the results.  Check ‘em out at your local surfshop or order one online at one of Quiksilver’s authorized online dealers.

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3. 2009 Quiksilver Pro France – Dane Reynolds dominates, Adriano de Souza bows out
4. Quiksilver TV Ad – If Quiksilver is Microsoft, does that make Billabong Apple?
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