The Pacific Northwest has a lot of great stuff to offer. It’s the home of Starbucks, Nike, Amazon, and, most importantly, the Columbia River Gorge.

My favorite part of growing up here has been being right in between both the ocean and the mountains, giving me access to both. I also get to enjoy all four seasons here! Well… I enjoy only three of them…

I’m honestly not a big fan of Winter. I love wearing sweaters and I love the way snow looks in the mountains. But I really, really, really hate being cold…

Anyone who knows me can tell you I’m a little dramatic. 50 degrees? I’m sleeping with the heater cranked. 60 degrees? I’m still wearing sweaters. 80 degree Summer nights? There had better be a bon fire.

So I hate that the Pacific Northwest has so much to offer all year round and I’m just not about it in the Winter. So I teamed up with Torch Coat Heaters and they more than delivered when it came to helping me enjoy this season!

I grew up in a family of very avid hikers and snowboarders. I always have fun with with my dad and brothers when we hit the mountains, but then I get cold and then it’s not so fun…

For this collaboration I met up with a friend and we picked Cape Horn as a good trail for testing out this awesome product!

Torch was founded by Anthony DeVito in 2015. When looking for some sort of heater that he was able to put in his coat, he realized nothing like that was available. He decided to take matters into his own hands and used his engineering background to start building a coat heater.

He started his crowdfunding campaign in early 2016 and, after meeting his goal, the brand was in instant success! Last year they released the Torch Coat Heater 2.0 (pictured below) and added heated insoles and gloves to their lineup.

How does it work?

The heater has three heated pads on it and they use velcro to stick to adhesive patches that you are able to stick to the inside of your coat or jacket. I picked my wind breaker because for rainy days I need something water resistant and it’s very effective in a windy area like The Gorge. Adding the coat heater made my thin wind breaker perfectly warm enough for a hike in the winter!

One of the pads has a pocket and a small chord that plugs into the battery, giving it power. It has three heat settings that you are able to switch between.

Something really cool about the battery is that it has both a USB port and a microUSB port. When the heater is plugged into the microUSB port, you are able to use the other port for a phone charger! Raise your hand if your phone has ever died while you spent the day up in the mountains… I know mine has!

The whole package also comes with extra adhesive pads so that you can switch the heater between different coats! Next up: my snow coat!

I love learning about new innovative products within the fashion industry, especially when it comes to athletic wear. There is so much room for technology and it’s really exciting to think about all the ideas that individuals are coming up with everyday.

You can read more about Torch and shop their products here! I usually wear a small in jackets and coats and the small coat heater fits perfectly!

Sponsored by Torch
Photography by Jordan Jones