A heated jacket works by running a low-voltage electric current from a rechargeable lithium-ion battery through thin conductive threads sewn into the jacket's lining. Those threads warm up and spread heat across specific panels of the garment, called heat zones. You press a button on the chest to turn it on and cycle through heat settings. On GOBI heated jackets, those settings run at Low (113°F), Medium (131°F), and High (140°F), and a jacket like the Sahara runs up to 10 hours on Low from a single 7.4V 5000mAh battery. There is no flame, no chemical reaction, and no bulky insulation doing the work. The heat is generated on demand and you control it.

What Is Inside a Heated Jacket?

Three parts do all the work.

Conductive heating threads. These are flexible fiber elements woven into the jacket lining. They are not rigid wires. They bend, stretch, and move with the fabric, which is why a heated jacket feels like a normal jacket when it is switched off.

A rechargeable battery. It sits in an interior pocket, usually near the waist or lower back, and plugs into a connector inside that pocket to power the heating threads. GOBI jackets ship with the battery and charging cable included. The Sahara uses a 7.4V 5000mAh quick-charge lithium-ion battery. The Polaris Heated Puffer uses a GOBI Heat PD 5,000 mAh fast-charge battery.

A controller button. One button on the chest turns the system on and cycles through the three heat settings.

What Are Heat Zones and Why Do They Matter?

A heat zone is a panel of the garment where the conductive threads are concentrated. Zones are placed over the parts of the body that drive how warm you feel: the chest, the upper back, and in some designs the neck and abdomen. More zones mean heat is spread across more of your core, not that the jacket runs hotter.

Here is how zone counts compare across current GOBI pieces:

Product	Heat zones	Zone placement	Runtime
Sahara II Men's Heated Jacket	3	2 chest, 1 large back	Up to 10 hours
Sahara Men's Heated Jacket	3	2 chest, 1 large back	Up to 10 hours on Low
Polaris Heated Puffer Jacket	4	2 chest, 1 neck, 1 upper back	Fast-charge PD battery
Grit Men's Heated Workwear Jacket	5	Chest, abdomen, back	Up to 9 hours
Ibex Men's Heated Workwear Vest	5	2 chest, 2 abdomen, 1 large back	Up to 9 hours
Ridge Men's Heated Hoodie	3	2 front, 1 large back	Up to 10 hours
Element Women's Heated Vest	3	2 chest, 1 large back	Up to 10 hours on Low
Dune Men's Heated Vest	3	2 chest, 1 back	Up to 10 hours

If you are standing still in the cold for hours, at a job site or on a sideline, more zones across the abdomen and back are worth having. If you are moving, three well-placed zones usually cover it.

How Hot Does a Heated Jacket Actually Get?

GOBI heated apparel runs three settings with defined surface temperatures:

Setting	Temperature	Typical use
Low	113°F	Brisk days, active movement, longest runtime
Medium	131°F	Steady cold, moderate activity
High	140°F	Deep cold, standing still, fast warm-up

The usual pattern is to start on High for a few minutes to warm up, then drop to Low and stay there. That is also how you get the longest runtime out of a charge.

How Long Does the Battery Last?

Runtime depends almost entirely on which setting you use. Battery life figures are quoted on Low, which is the setting most people settle into after the first few minutes.

On GOBI apparel, published runtimes are:

Garment type	Runtime on Low
Sahara heated jackets	Up to 10 hours
Ridge heated hoodies	Up to 10 hours
Dune and Element heated vests	Up to 10 hours
Grit heated workwear jacket	Up to 9 hours
Ibex heated workwear vest	Up to 9 hours

Treat those numbers as a best case: Low setting, mild conditions, still air. Three things pull real runtime below them.

The setting you run. This is the biggest factor by far. High draws considerably more current than Low, so a garment rated for 10 hours on Low will not come close to that if you leave it on High all day.

Ambient temperature. Lithium-ion cells deliver less usable capacity as they get colder. The same battery that comfortably covers a mild afternoon will give you less on a day well below freezing, which is exactly when you are most likely to want it.

Wind and moisture. Wind strips warmth off the outer shell far faster than still air at the same temperature, and damp fabric pulls heat away faster again. Neither drains the battery directly. What they do is push you onto a higher setting to stay comfortable, and the setting is what drains the battery.

The practical takeaway: a cold, windy, wet day works against you on both ends at once, shrinking what the cell can deliver while pushing you to spend it faster. If you are going to be out all day in hard conditions, plan around a second battery rather than the published number.

Is a Heated Jacket Different From a Regular Insulated Jacket?

Yes, and the difference is where the warmth comes from.

	Insulated jacket	Heated jacket
Heat source	Your own body heat, trapped	Electric heating elements plus trapped body heat
Control	None, you add or remove layers	Three settings, adjustable on the spot
Bulk needed for warmth	High, warmth scales with loft	Low, a slim shell can run warm
Works when you are still	Poorly, you cool down	Yes, heat is generated regardless
Requires charging	No	Yes

Insulation only slows the loss of heat your body already produced. If you are sitting still and not producing much, insulation has less to work with. A heated jacket adds heat instead of just holding it, which is why heated gear tends to matter most for stationary cold: hunting, ice fishing, spectating, standing security shifts, outdoor work with long static periods.

Can You Wear a Heated Jacket in the Rain?

The GOBI Sahara and Sahara II are built on a wind, water, and abrasion resistant polyester and spandex softshell. The Polaris Heated Puffer has a durable water-resistant finish. Water resistant is not the same as waterproof. These handle snow, drizzle, and spray. For sustained heavy rain, wear a shell over the top, which also traps the heat and helps it work better.

Are Heated Jackets Safe?

The heating system runs on low-voltage DC power from a small lithium-ion battery, the same class of cell used in a phone or a cordless tool. The elements are conductive threads distributed across a wide panel rather than a single hot wire, so heat spreads instead of concentrating in one spot. The maximum setting is 140°F at the element, which sits under the lining rather than against bare skin.

Sensible practice: remove the battery before washing, do not run the highest setting directly against bare skin for long stretches, and charge with the supplied cable rather than a random adapter.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a heated jacket generate heat? A rechargeable lithium-ion battery sends low-voltage current through conductive threads sewn into the jacket lining. Those threads resist the current and give off heat, which spreads across the jacket's heat zones.

How long does a heated jacket stay warm? On GOBI jackets, up to 10 hours on the Low setting for the Sahara and Ridge lines, and up to 9 hours for the Grit and Ibex workwear pieces. Those are best-case figures. Higher settings draw more power, and cold, wind, and wet conditions all shorten the real number.

How hot do GOBI heated jackets get? Three settings: Low at 113°F, Medium at 131°F, and High at 140°F.

Can you wash a heated jacket? Yes. Remove the battery first, and always disconnect the power before it goes anywhere near water. The garment itself is designed to be washed.

Do heated jackets work when the battery dies? They still function as a normal jacket. You lose the active heating, but you keep the shell, the lining, and the wind and water resistance.

How many heat zones do I need? Three zones across the chest and back handle most everyday cold and active use. Five zones, adding abdomen coverage like the Grit jacket and Ibex vest, are worth it if you stand still outdoors for long shifts.

Does a heated jacket need to be plugged into an outlet? No, not while you are wearing it. The jacket does plug in, but it plugs into its own battery: a connector inside the garment links the heating elements to a rechargeable battery that sits in an interior pocket. That battery is what you recharge from a wall outlet between uses, using the charging cable included with the jacket. While you have the jacket on, you are free to move around with no cord running to anything.

The Short Version

A heated jacket is a normal jacket with an electric heating system built into the lining. A small rechargeable battery powers conductive threads across three to five zones, you pick from three temperature settings, and you get somewhere between 9 and 10 hours on the lowest setting. It is most useful when you are cold and not moving much, because that is exactly the situation regular insulation handles worst.