Those in glove handwarmers are pretty poor at getting the toasty palm effect. Heating elements in the pole grips would put the heat right where it's needed. 'AA' sized rechargeables slipped inside the pole mean no clunky external battery packs.
-- drew, May 29 2002

Google whacked - the only reference to "heated ski poles" http://www.bbc.co.u...97/09/24/world.html
1997 BBC World programming. 8:30 timeslot mentions "centrally heated ski poles" as a failed invention. Don't know what centrally means. [half, May 29 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Heated Gloves http://www.beachcom...inter/glovwarm.html
Still no heated ski poles/grips found... [thumbwax, Aug 10 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Not a bad idea, but I can't say I've ever had cold hands when skiing. Wet yes, but not cold.
-- stupop, May 29 2002


Neither have I, but there's a whining noise I hear regularly from nearby, which this product might solve.
-- drew, May 29 2002


That whining is the helicopter spooling up. Whatcha going to do, throw a heated ski pole at it?
-- bristolz, May 29 2002


Heck no! A perfectly ordinary pole would do. No sense wasting the gadgetry.
-- drew, May 29 2002


take the same technology and apply to kayak/canoe paddles
-- rbl, May 29 2002


. . . or snow shovel handles.
-- bristolz, May 29 2002


The last thing I need when shovelling snow is another source of heat.
-- drew, May 29 2002


umbrellas? (we get our snow in handy liquid format, no shovelling required)

really surprised this all hasn't been done.
-- rbl, May 29 2002


I like the emergency equipment aspect of it. The handle would be useful for melting snow to drink. Also, the handle might show up on an IR camera, indicating the location of a downed or buried skier (assuming the pole is above the snow).
-- phoenix, May 29 2002


Don't let them get too hot, might melt the piste.

[Edit]: Sory, I'll read it...
-- NickTheGreat, May 29 2002


[half]: Good link - can't imagine why they failed though. In my experience, skiers will buy almost anything.

[bliss]: Shudders at the word....
-- drew, May 29 2002


How did you get a Google return for "heated ski poles", half?

I get 'nothing found'.
-- drew, May 29 2002


So do I, now. Maybe I just have the entire BBC World schedule back to 1995 memorized (which would be particularly strange for an American). Beats me, I didn't think anything *ever* dropped off of a search engine. I just did the search this morning. Maybe I got it with an accidental typo?
-- half, May 29 2002


How about this- rather than putting a heating element directly in the pole grip, it would instead contain an electromagnetic coil that would induce currents in the heating circuits of some specially- designed gloves. If the heating elements are in the gloves, then the heat will reach your skin more readily.
-- gastronaut, Feb 11 2004



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