Warm and Safe make gloves that have a bit more protection like sturdier palms and knuckle protectors than Gerbings.

You can mix and match stuff between Warm&Safe (aka FirstGear) and Gerbings as they use the same connectors. Warm&Safe seems to be a bit pricier than Gerbings. FirstGear heated clothing is made by Warm&Safe but is the older style Warm&Safe gear. HD heated gear is made by Gerbings but is the old style Gerbings (not MicroWire) gear.

http://www.warmnsafe.com/
http://gerbing.com/

With Gerbings controllers you need to purchase a separate $10 holder/cover for the controller to be able to clip it on the outside of your jacket where it is accessible. Shoving a heat controller in your pocket is not a good idea as I think most people will find they want to frequently fiddle with the temperature to stay comfortable while underway.

 

I just got my Gerbings liner gloves and dual tem controller. Hooked it up and road for several hours early Saturday morning. It was in the lower 40s and I only used the liner and the glovers. No jacket over it. Ran up the highway at about 80 for an hour and was still toasty. Never got cold and actually turned the temp down because I got hot. Its not really cold enough to need it in the 40s but I have a trip coming up mid November and anticipate temps in the 30s.

 

Gerbings jacket liner, Gloves and insoles. With the jacket liner I find that my legs just don't get that cold. I should say that I also have Desert Dawg hwy bar lowers and National Cycle hand guards. Both do a good job of keeping the wind of your feet and hands.

added later as I had to run out for a meeting this AM.

The NC Handguards block all the wind so down to 40 I just wear my summer gloves. The DD lowers do a great job for my feet. Rode 12 hours a week ago Tuesday in 34-42F wet fog for the first 5 hours. I did not need electrics. My hands got cold, but not real cold. I had standard knit liners under an uninsulated gauntlet glove. Since my VStrom which had hand guards, I learned than your hands stay a lot warmer with guards. I suspect Hippo Hands do the same thing. The DD Lowers really do keep my feet warmer. I had uninsulated boots with wool socks. Would not have made the first 5 hours with out these two windblocks.

The heated would have been nice, but I live on a Mountain and when I open the garage door to leave, it was 50 F and sunny at my home and I made the wrong decision. I thought the weatherman was wrong. 3 miles down the mountain and all the way up the Snoqualmie Valley and up 9 to Sedro Woolley no sun. It was 34-42 and a soaking wet fog. It did not get above 50 F until Mazama. Had I know that I would have worn the gloves and vest. If I was not meeting someone in Sedro Woolley I would have gone home and switched. But the National Cycle hand guards and Desert Dawg lowers made it more than bearable. I did not even need to stop when I got to Sedro Woolley. This from a guy that has had to run hot water from the bathroom faucet over his hands to shut the petcock off. That week I bought Gerbing Gloves and never looked back.

I don't have pant liners as the jacket liner, gloves and heated soles do a great job and my legs have not yet gotten cold. I went with heated soles over socks as they last better and do a good job with the DD lowers even into the 20Fs.

Carry a spare 15 or 20 amp fuse. If the fuse goes for what ever reason, it is really nice to pop the seat off, change the fuse and ride on glowing like a hot stick of iron.

 

Went with Tourmaster 2 winters ago up in Washington state. Only reason was did not have to buy the controllers seperately. Had planned to get pant liners but now that I live in Georgia don't really see a need to. My next upgrade will be heated jacket and pants, the waterproof kind. Really do not like having to put on too many layers.

 

I have Gerbing gear but, it doesn't matter. Either will do.

I do have a couple of recommendations. Buy heated gloves and not heated glove liners. You have to get too bulky a glove to go over the liners and it makes it difficult to operate the hand controls.

If you only plan to ride into the 30's, you may be able to get by with just the heated gloves (at least for a while). However, you'll need a good coat and insulated pants (ski pants will work) regardless. For example, this morning (33°F) I rode with a winter coat and a fleece and my Gerbing pants without the heat plugged in. But, I did have my heated glove liners on. I stayed nice and toasty during my 45 minute drive to work.

If you plan to ride into the 20's, you may need a full compliment of heated gear (IMHO). In addition to the heated pants and glove liners, I also have a heated jacket liner and heated socks. I usually don't mess with the heated socks unless the temperature drops into the teens. This year I'm riding with a new pair of boots which are waterproof. They seem to work much better at keeping my feet warm. I also have a pair of waterproof socks which I may try with the boots if the temp drops into the teens this year.

Just remember that everyone has a different tolerance for cold and what works for someone else, may not be right for you. You'll have to experiment with different combinations of gear. Eventually you'll get to the point that you'll know exactly what combination of gear you need each day based on the outside temeprature.

 

That's twice you said that. I bought a pair of HD heated gloves a couple of months ago:
Men's Heated Gloves

The Heated Gloves feature Microwire™® heating technology
The HD jacket liner doesn't specify online if its Microwire or not but I think I read somewhere - probably on the tag on one in the store - that it is. It only makes sense that the older HD stuff used older Gerbing technology and the newer stuff would use their MW design.

 

My heated gloves came from a place called CozyWinter.com They have stood up to 4 winters now of use. Rest of my heated gear is HD. I had a 26% off coupon at Christmas a few years ago. Got the HD stuff instead of Gerbing with that discount.