solar/wind powered heated Jacket/pant

>>> Just imagine the bulk of warm sleeping pad and down/synthetic insulation gone from your pack.. This could be a possible future.

Just imagine freezing your butt off on cloudy, windless days :)))

Actually, I'm curious about ideas like this – especially generating electricity from dark clothing and packs.

You can carry a spare charged battery for such a day. Use your brain a little :)

Just 2x HYmini are 26oz. At a guess those 2x 1200Mah batt will deliver the equivalent of a few oz of down for a couple of hours. How many extra batteries and solar panels would you need for the rest of the day/cloudy days/not enough or too much wind days and d-mn I have just broken the flex.
You go ahead guys, I'll be fixing my jacket whilst I'm freezing my butt.
Franco
BTW, heated jackets do exist, but you need a power outlet for recharging.
http://www.heatedclothing.com/
Franco

>Just 2x HYmini are 26oz.

Franco, thats not correct. Each HYmini weighs 3.5oz. It may by possible to strip it down to less.

>How many extra batteries and solar panels would you need for the … too much wind days

The power stored exponentially increases with higher wind speed until 40 mph. Please note the first generation of HYmini is designed to capture wind power between 9-30 mph. The maximum capacity is set at 40 mph (65kmh) , which means extra power cannot be converted after that point.
[http://www.hymini.com/html/FAQ.html]

I think I have found a better, more efficient solution. Its called windbelt.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4224763.html

imagine these fitted to the sides of your backpack. way more efficient then HYmini. And cheap to MYO!

conbined it with a flexible solar cell lid/pack cover. (lets give the cap a break) and a SUL battery (anyone got ideas??)

Problem with electronics is, they break. Batteries are heavy and when they run out of charge, they're just dead weight, not going to keep anybody warm. I do like the idea of personal electricity generators being applied to backpacking, but even if such things were light enough, and the batteries light and compact enough, there would still be the problem of, if the thing were to short circuit or simply stop functioning for mysterious reasons, it would be worthless and whoever was depending on it for warmth at night would probably get hypothermia or die.

Lithium-ion polymer batteries are the lightest I found. They are used in mobiles and some laptops.

>if the thing were to short circuit or simply stop functioning for mysterious reasons, it would be worthless and whoever was depending on it for warmth at night would probably get hypothermia or die.

Art, nothing stops working for mysterious reasons :) If you understand the system you can fix it. Did you even go on the above link and read on windbelt? I suggest anyone wanting to argue against the idea to first give the link a try. You will be surprised by the simplicity of the invention.