Retailers warm up to hot idea for cold water

Hamish Heard
The nation’s retailers have been quick to snap up the latest offering from a Geelong inventor who brought the world’s first heated wetsuit to cold-water surfers and divers.
Hotsuits owner and inventor Chris Lyons said a modest price tag had helped his new heated kidney belt sell out within a week of delivery to his central Geelong business.
The kidney belt, like the heated wetsuit, keeps users warm by producing a chemical reaction within specially-designed heat packs to generate 54 degrees Celsius of warmth.
“By heating the kidneys you can heat up the central core of your body and get the blood circulation flowing more effectively to other areas of the body,” Mr Lyons said.
He said the heated water-sports products were so effective at keeping users warm in cold water they had to wear a thin layer of neoprene between their body and the wetsuit or kidney belt to avoid burns.
Mr Lyons has been busy marketing the wetsuits and kidney belts to retailers throughout Australia.
He said he was now seeking distributors to supply American and European markets.
Mr Lyons was confident the success of the kidney belt, which retailed at $89, would help boost awareness of the Hotsuits wetsuit.
“It’s really just a matter of getting the wetsuits more off the ground because people are a bit reluctant to pay $600 for the suit but the kidney belt is a way of getting people in the water with our products at a less expense,” he said.