Cooling Vests

[eric nielsen]

Searched the forum & no mention of these:

http://www.texascoolvest.com/cvc.html

Saw some F1 drivers wearing them out on the starting grid just before "start engines" command was given. Anyone seen them in person, talked to the owner?

This page - near the bottom - explains them pretty well. Phase Change Material:

http://www.ishn.com/CDA/Articles/Feature_A...M100000f932a8c0

Looks like 2&1/2 hours of cooling, then 1/2 hour dunked in water to "recharge" them.

If they actually keep you cool out in the August sun it's a deal at $160. Yes??

Edited August 6, 2006 by eric nielsen

[shred]

Interesting. "Phase Change" means "melting" in this case, but it does suck up a good deal of energy. I wonder what sort of goo they found that melts and freezes around 65'F.

I wonder how it'll work for active sports, and it will add 5 lbs weight, but you could take it off right before a stage.

[vincent]

The standard cool wraps are suprisingly effective and a lot cheaper. It's the other phase change - evaporation.

The cap inserts and neck wraps work pretty well. They work best when you have at least a small cooler with you so you can "recharge" them with cool water during the match.

Here's some examples:

http://www.thermo-cool.com/PeopleCooling.html

http://heatreliefdepot.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_34

[Merlin Orr]

I see the tech info on their web site but it really does not say much to me....

Such as what caloric exchange actually takes place?

[smokshwn]

I am a firefighter in my grown up life and we have tried a few different cooling vest type devices. After testing a few we have found that while doing work there is no net change in body temperature. What that tells me is that with the added weight/movement restriction I am creating as much heat as it is taking away.

Now for the true cat's ass if you can try the systems which circulated refrigerated water, they are the kind. Unfortunately you need an whole lot of gear to make them work if you are outdoors.

Take care, Craig

[Vlad]

The evaporation kind, cooldana's and the like, work rather well. In fact, my dog approves too, he wears a doggie version when hiking in hot weather and it sure helps him too. The vest sounds cool, and I'm sure the technology is there and that they are not selling frozen snake oil ... but at that price I can buy 10 cooldana's and a few bags of ice.

[Trisha Lowry]

I have one that I bought years ago and use when I ride my motorcycle for long trips in AZ in the summer time......115 during the day and you will take any amount of cooling you will get if you are crazy enough to ride :-) Never found any of them to last as long as they say they will and they to tend to get pretty heavy when wet but like I said....that extra bit of cool is nice if you are crazy enough to venture into the heat....

[eric nielsen]

Wow these are good ideas. Thanks smokeshwn especially, that's great info.

The neck wrap I could put under my shirt, carry a cooler with me till about December anyway.

The cap insert would help with forehead sweating which gets BAD this time of year. There's days where I've put ProGrip there & it still sweats.

Right now I use the "cold wet neck towel" which in central FL/July means recharge every 10 minutes. It's wet & makes a mess.

A whole bunch of this stuff still costs less than 160.

[dajarrel]

When I was a kid, my Daddy and I would be fishing and he would take his hat off, dip it in the water, shake out the excess and put it on his head. That was a poor mans way of staying cool but was very effective. I still do it today.

All of the evaporative clothing items work good in a low humidity envirionment such as the desert southwest. Unfortunately, the southeast US is not typically a low humidity envirionment so sometimes all you get with the evaporative (phase changing) devices is wet. They still work, but not as well as with a dry environment.

FWIW from Hot and Humid Mobile, AL

dj

[D-Man]

When I was in Baghdad in 2005 they came by and gave us some those vests to try out for a week or so. They were cold, lumpy, and alot people said they smelled, but that could have been the third world ice they were stored in to freeze.

Anyway, this was in July, and temps were in the 120's, 130's. They gave us the vest in the morning, and we were out all day. At first they were kind of comfortable, but by 10am the ice had all melted, and under the body armor the melted fluid was twice as stiffling as the armor alone.

But all that was the absolute extremes. Do they cool you down? Sure. Would I buy one? Nah.

[Matt P.]

if you are looking for a REAL cooling vest, come up to Minnesota with us and shoot!

[Throwin Lead]

You may be interested in a product called the Core Cooler Link.

At last year's Area 8 match Todd Jarrett was using one and gave it great reviews.

They are alailable at Midway - Link to cooler for around $40.

[Flatland Shooter]

http://www.texascoolvest.com/cvc.html

I took a quick look at this site. They sure look like body armor. I'm not sure I want to walk around at a major match looking like I don't trust anyone!

Bill

[chrisa006]

I have a core cooler and it works great at about 50 bucks That and a frog togg hat and you would be surprised how comfortable you are

core-cooler.com

[Radical Precision Designs]

Before I got back in the shooting biz I was designing and building race boats for APBA racing. Mostly "tunnel" boats. In tunnel boat racing you have a very small kevlar reinforced cockpit to fit yourself in while strapped to a five point harness system, and you have a full canopy around it. This is nice and comfy, except that you have to wear a full suit flotation vest made out of heavy nylon or cordura, and a helmet with eye shields. Most drivers wear driving gloves two and long sleeve shirts and pants or full uniform underneath the full flotation jacket. There is no AC. Most boats have some vents to draw some air as you drive at very high speeds. But the real hot spot is when you are waiting in the water milling about prior to the start of the race. Some drivers will open the canopies for a little breeze. When you are in the middle of the water at 95+ degrees under mid afternoon sun ... how do you spell heat stroke ?? Years ago the Offshore division with bigger boats started experimenting with refrigerated circulating water vests. They only covered your torso, but they worked great. Some of the bigger tunnel boats like the Formula 1 circuit had the space to carry the bulky refrigeration systems, but not the smaller classes like SST 45 and the sort. Now I hear that they are experimenting with small slow speed low volume miniature pumps in self contained vests using small dry ice compartments in the vest and a thermostat to control temperature and flow ... Hmmmm !!! They need to be light weight because they have to make "minimum race ready weight", and self contained because sometimes you have to extricate yourself or be extricated while upside down very quickly before you drawn. Something like this might be the ticket. Now don't ask me where to find one, since I have been out of that business for quite a while now, and most of them are custom made ... and very, very expensive.