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milwaukee women's axis vest

photo from the milwaukee website.  cos i didn't buy this vest.  and will never.  from what i remember in our brief encounter in the newly remodeled eldredge portland store, this vest feels weatherproof, is around $125 without batteries, and runs about 2 sizes small.  5/10 for warming functionality only.  product description also from the milwaukee website:

so.  the vest holds an M12 battery, the little triangle sized ones that are about half the size of a regular stapler.  now imagine that crammed into your ribs, always pointy side in, and then zip it up tighter, over a hoodie, cos it's winter in maine.  and then bend over to pick up a tool, squat to measure something, or you know, breathe like a normal person.  based on the website reviews 2.8/5 mostly saying its too tight when you sit down, i assumed eeeh these aren't working women reviewing the vest; one said she's worn it everywhere for the past month. [also due to terrible sizing, she appears to be half my size, and ordered a large]  but they weren't wrong.

without an xxxl women's version available, i tried the men's large with comical results.  we ordered mediums for me and one of the guys, and left the store with larges for the other 2 on the crew.  through no fault of eldredge, the medium men's vests never came in.  no big loss.  i do see the two with milwaukee vests changing batteries a couple or 3 times during the day, which is fine since we have a large stash of M12 batteries, and never use the tools they came with.  seems functional for that purpose; the women's vest has miles to go, starting with being able to fit actual working women.  then they can retry making it fitted and flattering...

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