Ice vest?

[rwthomas1]

I wonder how long those last. It looks a lot like the water pump for a couple of tile saws that I've had. Those pumps do not last all that long, probably because of the grit from the cut tile. However, these pumps do not strike me as a long lived item. My guess is that a year or two is an optimistic guess and it is not repairable.

Hahaha, my tile saw pumps always responded to a bit of "percussive maintenance" when they got cranky.

 

[Obo]

I wonder how long those last. It looks a lot like the water pump for a couple of tile saws that I've had. Those pumps do not last all that long, probably because of the grit from the cut tile. However, these pumps do not strike me as a long lived item. My guess is that a year or two is an optimistic guess and it is not repairable.

Well I can't speak to longevity, but they should run at least 12hrs a day (assuming you had it in a pond and had at least 12hrs of sun light), 7 days a week.
If you got one Summer out of one in pond use, that's likely more hours than you'd be using it riding. I figured they'd last longer than some of the windshield washer pumps others had posted. I can't see automotive W/W pumps lasting very long when being run on continuous duty.

 

[rdmsttrav]

I've had the phase change ice vest and it worked pretty well, for 1.5-2 hrs in 100-106f temps and unknown humidity levels. It was in the Central Valley of California for summertime so it felt pretty humid, nothing like Georgia though. It came with two sets of packs and I'd keep one in an ice chest and would switch out but that still limits the ride to 3-4 hrs in the heat. I stopped one time and bought a home depot 5gal bucket and a bag of ice which froze up the phase change ice packs after about 20 mins or so. I didn't think that was sustainable though ongoing.

I recently bought a compcooler backpack from amazon (https://www.compcooler.shop/) to use going back and forth from Oregon to Southern California to my folks.They claim about the same time as the phase change vests but the refill is easier.
I haven't been able to test it out yet so can't comment, but I thought the concept was worth a try. I got the 5 liter size. I can put just regular bagged ice into it as I'm going along as needed. I have an extra battery for it if needed. I'll report back how it worked which should be a couple of weeks from now.
I was looking at these https://coolshirt.com/product-category/motorsports/ too as they've been around for longer but they didn't have a small cooler in stock at the time the bug hit me to buy something.

 

[Ryan_B]

A guy at work that was into road racing had something like this:

https://competitionmotorsport.com/products/coolshirt-complete-club-system-all-in-one-kit?variant=43204980310235&gclid=CjwKCAjwt52mBhB5EiwA05YKo-yaZAa7_5jMUf8AkYK4xaNUbrYbJ1obYU1-yzaz8uE56Qjxl_-74hoCGREQAvD_BwE

Basically a cooler of ice water that is connected to a 12v pump that runs through your shirt tubing grid.

I am not sure of the brand he used, but he said it worked well and was a game changer on the track. Always curious if you could adapt it to a motorcycle, maybe a smaller cooler.

 

[Obo]

A guy at work that was into road racing had something like this:

https://competitionmotorsport.com/products/coolshirt-complete-club-system-all-in-one-kit?variant=43204980310235&gclid=CjwKCAjwt52mBhB5EiwA05YKo-yaZAa7_5jMUf8AkYK4xaNUbrYbJ1obYU1-yzaz8uE56Qjxl_-74hoCGREQAvD_BwE

Basically a cooler of ice water that is connected to a 12v pump that runs through your shirt tubing grid.

I am not sure of the brand he used, but he said it worked well and was a game changer on the track. Always curious if you could adapt it to a motorcycle, maybe a smaller cooler.

You certainly could. Key would be the size of the cooling mass (to maximize the duration of effectiveness) and ensuring the tubing to and from the cooler to the vest was insulated.
A regulator for the flow speed of the liquid would also be good. It could be a simple adjustable bypass valve for the liquid but would be better if it controlled the pump speed.

 

[Obo]

While cooling of your core is important, you can get a lot of relief from cooling high blood flow areas other than that of the body.

Forearms and neck are great spots for that.

The neck is why Aerostich promotes the wet silk scarf around the neck, and why you can buy cooling neck towels from many places. There's a lot of hot blood that the brain uses and it all passes close to the surface in the veins and arteries. It's also the easiest place to put / wrap a cooling device.

Forearms work well too, but it's a harder place to put something. It's a great place to run cold water over your bare arms to help cool you down quick when needed.

We'll leave out internal core cooling by chilled enemas. lol. You usually attempt internal core cooling by consuming cold liquids as it's much simpler and well, easier.

 

[Ron]

... A regulator for the flow speed of the liquid would also be good. It could be a simple adjustable bypass valve for the liquid but would be better if it controlled the pump speed.

A cheap PWM might work.

 

[Mikedo]

I just found this online. I know nothing more about it.

HyperKewl Deluxe Evaporative Cooling Vest - Deluxe 6530 - The Warming Store

TechNiche HyperKewl Products are great to Help You Stay Cool and Combat Heat Stress. This deluxe cooling vest provides hour of cooling refre...

www.thewarmingstore.com

Just bought one from Amazon. May have it Saturday. If I remember I'll update.

UPDATE:
Yesterday I rode with this vest for the first time. I did not get the high neck version, but rather the V-neck version as described on the webpage. I have to admit I was a little disappointed, but it did fit the description. The photo shows the high neck version with two pockets.

As directed, I soaked it for several minutes in cold water and rung it out a little. It did not "drip" as I put it on, but it was heavy with water. The day was 28-30 degrees C or 82-85 F. The humidity seemed fairly low, and is listed at 55 %, so not the worst conditions for the test, nor the best. (the weather online https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/canada/chatham-kent/historic).

I felt cooler for certain. I rode for three hours and the vest remained damp the whole time and providing cooling. I wore it under my Olympia vented jacket, as well as by itself, without the jacket. At a stop is when it had the greatest effect at these temperatures. With the jacket on I heat up quickly, but with the vest on, I did not. I have ridden in 34-38 degree C heat (high 80's to low 90's F) just this year in early July. There is no reprieve from the heat at that temperature, even when going 70 MPH. I believe it would help more at those temperatures. There is none of that in my forecast for the next couple weeks, so it might be next year before I get the chance to really test it again.

I do think it began to provide a little less cooling near the end of the three hours, but still clearly had at least several more hours to go. They claim up to 10 hours. I'm unlikely to ride that long, at least not very often, but I think 6-8 hours of cooling seems likely. A quick refresh of the vest with a bottle of water spilled in at the top would easily extend it's ability. The top was the part getting dry at three hours. My blue jeans, at the belt line, at the back, got wet from contact with the vest. My wicking shirt (under armour) did not seem wet, even when I first put on the vest.

I'm happy with it and look forward to using on hot days, for me that would be 27 C (80 F) and up. I think it was a well spent $ 50 CDN.

 

[ASPC]

UPDATE:
Yesterday I rode with this vest for the first time. I did not get the high neck version, but rather the V-neck version as described on the webpage. I have to admit I was a little disappointed, but it did fit the description. The photo shows the high neck version with two pockets.

As directed, I soaked it for several minutes in cold water and rung it out a little. It did not "drip" as I put it on, but it was heavy with water. The day was 28-30 degrees C or 82-85 F. The humidity seemed fairly low, and is listed at 55 %, so not the worst conditions for the test, nor the best. (the weather online https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/canada/chatham-kent/historic).

I felt cooler for certain. I rode for three hours and the vest remained damp the whole time and providing cooling. I wore it under my Olympia vented jacket, as well as by itself, without the jacket. At a stop is when it had the greatest effect at these temperatures. With the jacket on I heat up quickly, but with the vest on, I did not. I have ridden in 34-38 degree C heat (high 80's to low 90's F) just this year in early July. There is no reprieve from the heat at that temperature, even when going 70 MPH. I believe it would help more at those temperatures. There is none of that in my forecast for the next couple weeks, so it might be next year before I get the chance to really test it again.

I do think it began to provide a little less cooling near the end of the three hours, but still clearly had at least several more hours to go. They claim up to 10 hours. I'm unlikely to ride that long, at least not very often, but I think 6-8 hours of cooling seems likely. A quick refresh of the vest with a bottle of water spilled in at the top would easily extend it's ability. The top was the part getting dry at three hours. My blue jeans, at the belt line, at the back, got wet from contact with the vest. My wicking shirt (under armour) did not seem wet, even when I first put on the vest.

I'm happy with it and look forward to using on hot days, for me that would be 27 C (80 F) and up. I think it was a well spent $ 50 CDN.

Thank you for the report.

 

[CDNolddude]

UPDATE:
Yesterday I rode with this vest for the first time. I did not get the high neck version, but rather the V-neck version as described on the webpage. I have to admit I was a little disappointed, but it did fit the description. The photo shows the high neck version with two pockets.

As directed, I soaked it for several minutes in cold water and rung it out a little. It did not "drip" as I put it on, but it was heavy with water. The day was 28-30 degrees C or 82-85 F. The humidity seemed fairly low, and is listed at 55 %, so not the worst conditions for the test, nor the best. (the weather online https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/canada/chatham-kent/historic).

I felt cooler for certain. I rode for three hours and the vest remained damp the whole time and providing cooling. I wore it under my Olympia vented jacket, as well as by itself, without the jacket. At a stop is when it had the greatest effect at these temperatures. With the jacket on I heat up quickly, but with the vest on, I did not. I have ridden in 34-38 degree C heat (high 80's to low 90's F) just this year in early July. There is no reprieve from the heat at that temperature, even when going 70 MPH. I believe it would help more at those temperatures. There is none of that in my forecast for the next couple weeks, so it might be next year before I get the chance to really test it again.

I do think it began to provide a little less cooling near the end of the three hours, but still clearly had at least several more hours to go. They claim up to 10 hours. I'm unlikely to ride that long, at least not very often, but I think 6-8 hours of cooling seems likely. A quick refresh of the vest with a bottle of water spilled in at the top would easily extend it's ability. The top was the part getting dry at three hours. My blue jeans, at the belt line, at the back, got wet from contact with the vest. My wicking shirt (under armour) did not seem wet, even when I first put on the vest.

I'm happy with it and look forward to using on hot days, for me that would be 27 C (80 F) and up. I think it was a well spent $ 50 CDN.

Thanks for the report. I bought the high neck version but haven’t used it yet as I thought it wouldn’t do much with the humidity we’ve been getting here this yr.

 

[diferg]

Alphacool says the stand-alone circulating water vest (water inside tubes) without tank and pump is $149.00 . I went to good will and bought a used "Ice Therapy machine for $10.00 the machine is its own insulated) tank for water and about 5 lbs Ice (lasts about 4 or 5 hours). will try system using a cooling pad for a knee replacement on chest or back. Pump and hoses have the same connections as the Alphacool vest . will report success or failure.

 

[Ron]

Alphacool says the stand-alone circulating water vest (water inside tubes) without tank and pump is $149.00 . I went to good will and bought a used "Ice Therapy machine for $10.00 the machine is its own insulated) tank for water and about 5 lbs Ice (lasts about 4 or 5 hours). will try system using a cooling pad for a knee replacement on chest or back. Pump and hoses have the same connections as the Alphacool vest . will report success or failure.

I used a couple 12oz. soda bottles filled with water and frozen. I put ice water (up to the water line), frozen bottles and topped it off with ice (much less than 5 lbs.) from the freezer. It lasted 4-5 hours.

If you use the Alphacool unit on a shirt or vest, allow more water for the vest than the knee unit.

 

[ASPC]

It was 106 F yesterday.

 

[ST Gui]

The neck is why Aerostich promotes the wet silk scarf around the neck, and why you can buy cooling neck towels from many places. There's a lot of hot blood that the brain uses and it all passes close to the surface in the veins and arteries. It's also the easiest place to put / wrap a cooling device.

This ^ I would think any cool/cold/ice water pump device would include the neck minimum and maybe the wrists. If cooling the wrists didn't yield sufficient results then the forearms.

But I've gotta say that all this is far far too much work or cost for me to stay on two wheels in high heat. I'll just nick the A/C up a notch and have another lemonade extra ice. I'd sooner brave cold weather and I won't do that either. So my hat's off (uncomfortable in the hammock) to those who want to ride in extremis.

 

[diferg]

Report on Ice therapy machine experiment. TOTAL BUST! These systems are excellent for post-surgery use but are not robust enough to be used as riding gear. Also the cooling pad and tanks are
not large enough..... On the positive side I am now saving up to purchase a purpose-built recirculating cooling jacket. need to research different manufacturers then make decision.

 

[Jeff F]

UPDATE:
Yesterday I rode with this vest for the first time. I did not get the high neck version, but rather the V-neck version as described on the webpage. I have to admit I was a little disappointed, but it did fit the description. The photo shows the high neck version with two pockets.

As directed, I soaked it for several minutes in cold water and rung it out a little. It did not "drip" as I put it on, but it was heavy with water. The day was 28-30 degrees C or 82-85 F. The humidity seemed fairly low, and is listed at 55 %, so not the worst conditions for the test, nor the best. (the weather online https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/canada/chatham-kent/historic).

I felt cooler for certain. I rode for three hours and the vest remained damp the whole time and providing cooling. I wore it under my Olympia vented jacket, as well as by itself, without the jacket. At a stop is when it had the greatest effect at these temperatures. With the jacket on I heat up quickly, but with the vest on, I did not. I have ridden in 34-38 degree C heat (high 80's to low 90's F) just this year in early July. There is no reprieve from the heat at that temperature, even when going 70 MPH. I believe it would help more at those temperatures. There is none of that in my forecast for the next couple weeks, so it might be next year before I get the chance to really test it again.

I do think it began to provide a little less cooling near the end of the three hours, but still clearly had at least several more hours to go. They claim up to 10 hours. I'm unlikely to ride that long, at least not very often, but I think 6-8 hours of cooling seems likely. A quick refresh of the vest with a bottle of water spilled in at the top would easily extend it's ability. The top was the part getting dry at three hours. My blue jeans, at the belt line, at the back, got wet from contact with the vest. My wicking shirt (under armour) did not seem wet, even when I first put on the vest.

I'm happy with it and look forward to using on hot days, for me that would be 27 C (80 F) and up. I think it was a well spent $ 50 CDN.

Hey Mike
I've had an evap cooling vest for a lot of years. Its biggest test was riding in Utah 38 to 42 degree heat. I didn't die.
2 points from my experience:
1) Evap cooling works best when the humidity isn't too high. The higher it gets the less cooling effect it has. Like you said, bundle up and open the vents. Hot air on any exposed skin really sucks the moisture out of you quickly.
2) Wear a LD Comfort base layer. Long sleeve. High neck. 2 layers. It keeps you cool yet keeps the dampness (clammy feeling) off your skin, even if you also soak it down as well. Its great stuff, the shorts etc too.
https://ldcomfort.com/products/top-long-sleeve-mock-turtleneck

 

[rdmsttrav]

I ended up using the Compucool backpack/vest the other day for the first time. I was on my goldwing with less airflow so the vest worked fantastically. It really cooled down my core. I think I stopped twice, after initial start, to fill the ice up, both times using most of a 7lb bag between that and my camelback bladder. It was between 95-100 degrees where I start to use the device.
So far I think it was worth the cost.
The extra benefit on this particular ride was that towards the end of the ride the temp was low enough I turned on my heated seat and grips, by the coast. If I had used the evap vest my shirt at the least would have been wet and this would have been more uncomfortable. As it was I just changed vests to my heated one and rolled onward.
If I was purchasing this again I would probably get the shirt and head covering option, it wasn't available with the backpack and wasn't going to make the shipping timeline I had at the time. I put the backpack standing upright back against the passenger seat behind a travel bag. I got an extra hose as well to facilitate reaching the vest from that distance.

Time will tell on quality of the device and how well it performs ongoing.