History

Sometimes it is hard to remember just how a company started and all the changes it went through to be where it is today. To begin with it is important to be clear that with a background in cables and connectors, and being a long distance and multi-country motorcyclist, it was natural for me to get the idea of making a better heated clothing controller with better plugs and better cables and to even help others to make their heated clothing better. For all the good that did. Remember all good deeds don't go unpunished.

In October of 1993, I was riding from France to Germany over the Vosges Mountains and freezing. I realized then that I needed heated clothing. When I got back to the US I bought a Gerbing liner and gloves. Also a control devise they had that was based on a 555 chip and a mechanical switch. A good idea but not really effective. It was basically ancient technology but then almost no one but us believes in changing designs due to new parts and customer feed back.

Over the next year I tried to get some one interested in the idea of a new type of controller for heated clothing and finally convinced another biker, Don Peter, that there was a market for it. I really had no idea if there was but I wanted one for myself. I ride a lot and needed a solution to the problem of regulating the heat in the clothing. Within a few months Don had worked up a prototype of the first design. Over the years we have had to make lots of changes to it as we discovered issues with how the product was being used and how it could be manufacture easily in the US, remember we are a US company and do not buy from China like others. We also designed our products ourselves. By designing our own products, we can solve problems and make better products.

Over the years while we tried to make the Heat-troller™ better, we also helped Gerbing make their product better. We turned them on to our designed SAE connector and cables and when we spent 3 years and lots of money developing the coax connector, we let them use it. Then they copied it. The little pocket in the sleeve for the glove plug, we showed them how to do it. Even the resistance wire they use we helped them by designing a better wire so it would not break as often at the solder points and we advised them to go to a higher temperature fire point on the wire. We advised them to cover the auto style fuse in their battery harness after we blew a fuse using their battery harness. We made ours with a cover so it would not happen. So after all the years of helping them make a better product, we were surprised to see them sell a copy of one of our old designs that they are buying from China. We are also marketing products not just for the motorcycle area but for people in wheelchairs, heavy equipment operators and office workers. We are open to ideas. You need heated gear for your particular situation, let us know and we will try to help you.

Well, this was suppose to be a company history but I am not sure what that really means and why you need to care. The important issues are these. We will continue to make improvements in our products and hope that the Chinese don't copy them. We hope you will help us deal with the Chinese copiers by not buying their products whether it is a copy of ours or anyone else's. We will stand behind our product by making sure that if it is a manufacturing defect you will get a replacement and if it is a use or abuse or just age that kills it, you will get a discount on a new one to show you that we care that you bought from us in the first place. And if we don't stop the Chinese from copying US made products, none of us will have a future!

Thanks and stay warm no matter what you are doing!