My biggest dislike about vests is usually the air leakage around the pits. If you were actually to cut it back to a "short sleeve sweater" configuration you'd probably have a nice light insulating layer and not miss the lower sleeves as much as I miss full sleeves on a vest with cold air in my pits.

That and go buy a new one that you don't put next to the stove <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />