Why we're not putting batteries in jackets

Electronics age faster than fabric.

A well made shell can be worn for many years. The electronics you might sew into it usually can't keep up. Lithium cells lose capacity as they cycle. Phone connectors have changed more than once in the last fifteen years. Most people replace their phone well before a good jacket wears out.

Build a battery and wiring into a garment and the garment inherits the shortest lifespan in the system. When the cell fades or the connector goes out of date, a jacket with plenty of life left becomes hard to use. Washing gets harder too, because the electronics need to come out or be protected every time.

Design around the devices instead.

FIELD // LAB clothing has no built in power. The design work goes into giving devices a good place to live.

The FIELD Shell concept has interior device pockets. The Atlas Overshirt has hidden device storage, a foldable phone pocket and internal cable management. The Vector Fleece has a device pocket intended to work when worn under the shell.

These features don't depend on a specific phone or battery. A pocket sized for a large or folded phone has a reasonable chance of fitting the next one. When it doesn't, we change the pattern in a future version. Nothing electronic gets thrown away.

Cables are the real annoyance.

Much of the friction of carrying electronics comes from cables. Battery in one pocket, phone in another, and a cord across your body that catches on a pack strap.

Internal cable management in the Atlas Overshirt and internal cable routing in the Command Pack are meant to give that cord a path. It is a simple idea that is easy to get wrong. A channel that is too tight is useless. One that is too loose lets the cable fall out. We expect these details to change once they are sewn and used.

Power belongs in the bag.

People still need to carry power. We think the better place for it is the bag, in a module you can lift out.

Field Essentials includes tech and battery modules and cable organization as concepts. The Nexus Organizer is planned as a set of cable, power and drive pouches that clip or magnetically mount into the Command Pack, Traverse Travel Pack or Horizon Carry-On. The battery inside can be one you already own.

When that battery wears out, you replace a battery. If a better one comes out next year and it is a similar size, the same pouch should hold it.

Repair is the same decision.

Keeping electronics out of garments is one part of designing things that can be fixed. The Atlas Overshirt and Axis Pant include reinforced wear zones. The Horizon Carry-On lists repairable components as a design goal. Modular pouches can be replaced one at a time.

We haven't worked out spare parts, repair pricing or which components owners could replace themselves. Those answers depend on factory input we don't have yet.

Heated clothing makes sense for some people, like someone working outdoors through a freezing winter. For the offices, workshops and trips we design for, we think a good device pocket and a clean cable path will be useful on more days than a battery would.

Products in this note.

Keep reading.

02. Designing pants around sitting, not hiking04. Building the FIELD // LAB Dock standard