So, given the Cooling Vest theme we've had here, and the fact I did a several hundred mile desert ride a couple weeks ago sans a cooling vest, I bought one. here's my initial review.
I did some quick research, looking at price, all that and opted for the TechNiche Evaporative Cooling Vest. I got mine from Soundrider for $30. http://store.mm411.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&theParentId=178&id=848 I figured if I didn't like it or if it didn't work, I was only out $30 so no biggie. Shipment was fast, got it in like 4 days or so after ordering. Came UPS Priority mail.
Okay ... what is it ... it's basically a thin vest. I wear a MC jacket size L so I got the vest in a size L. It fits fine. Soak it in water for a minute or two or three and it'll soak up over 2/3 of a gallon of water. Thus from being light it now has weight. I hand squeeze it to get the loose water out ... squeezing from the top down. It still has plenty of water in it at this point. You wear it under your jacket so it goes on first. It zippers on the wrong side for us US men, but that's okay.
They recommend a mesh or well vented text jacket and that makes sense. This works by evaporation cooling, so you need air flow. I would also think that the drier the climate the better but it'll probably work ok for humid areas, just not as good. Anyway, I ride in an Airglide mesh text jacket whish breathes nicely. The vest, now wet, WILL wet your teeshirt, so just accept that. Besides, that's cooling too.
How does it work ... really good actually. Tho, the more airflow you get the better it would work I'd say. My ST1100 blocks the wind rather well so I don't get as much cooling as some other riders might. I rode in mid 90s, sun blazing, and felt pretty good actually. Body was cool. Arms were hot, but body was feeling pretty good. Basically I had coolness against the torso which felt good. I rode for 2 hours and really felt good. Next test will be a real desert ride, but thats for later.
Theoretically this is supposed to stay wet and cooling for up to 8-10 hours or something. That probably depends on where you are. Here, with a humidity of 15% that may not be the case. Plus, there's "wet" and there is "wet enough to still cool". They vest does stay damp for a long time, but I'm not sure how much cooling that affords by that time.
I'd say if you're an AZ or NM rider, southern NV or UT too, you could skip the wringing out part and keep more water. I wish I had this vest for the 4 hour desert ride I had several weeks ago. Tee shirt was drying out after 15 minutes, this would have lasted the whole way. I'm very happy with it. It was a good $30 investment.
The more wind you get, the better a vest like this will be. you need the wind I think to really make it work well. Thus a mesh, mesh text, or perforated jacket is a must. CA, NV, UT, CO, NM, AZ riders in particular would benefit from a vest like this given our lowe humidities. SInce it is evaporation based, I'm not sure how hot and humid areas would work.
Edit: Oh yeah, forgot to mention ... since it is wet, it is heavy, so you have to get used to that. It's a couple pounds of weight on you. Nothing horrendous, just not a lght tee-shirt, ya konw? It can also feel a bit clammy on the skin, or the wet shirt does. that doesn't bother me but to some people it might.
I've also worn the vest for yard work, cutting the grass, yanking out weeds from my parking strip. It was nice. I know I would have been sweating a LOT mroe than I was had I not worn it. So that was kinda cool.
I did some quick research, looking at price, all that and opted for the TechNiche Evaporative Cooling Vest. I got mine from Soundrider for $30. http://store.mm411.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&theParentId=178&id=848 I figured if I didn't like it or if it didn't work, I was only out $30 so no biggie. Shipment was fast, got it in like 4 days or so after ordering. Came UPS Priority mail.
Okay ... what is it ... it's basically a thin vest. I wear a MC jacket size L so I got the vest in a size L. It fits fine. Soak it in water for a minute or two or three and it'll soak up over 2/3 of a gallon of water. Thus from being light it now has weight. I hand squeeze it to get the loose water out ... squeezing from the top down. It still has plenty of water in it at this point. You wear it under your jacket so it goes on first. It zippers on the wrong side for us US men, but that's okay.
They recommend a mesh or well vented text jacket and that makes sense. This works by evaporation cooling, so you need air flow. I would also think that the drier the climate the better but it'll probably work ok for humid areas, just not as good. Anyway, I ride in an Airglide mesh text jacket whish breathes nicely. The vest, now wet, WILL wet your teeshirt, so just accept that. Besides, that's cooling too.
How does it work ... really good actually. Tho, the more airflow you get the better it would work I'd say. My ST1100 blocks the wind rather well so I don't get as much cooling as some other riders might. I rode in mid 90s, sun blazing, and felt pretty good actually. Body was cool. Arms were hot, but body was feeling pretty good. Basically I had coolness against the torso which felt good. I rode for 2 hours and really felt good. Next test will be a real desert ride, but thats for later.
Theoretically this is supposed to stay wet and cooling for up to 8-10 hours or something. That probably depends on where you are. Here, with a humidity of 15% that may not be the case. Plus, there's "wet" and there is "wet enough to still cool". They vest does stay damp for a long time, but I'm not sure how much cooling that affords by that time.
I'd say if you're an AZ or NM rider, southern NV or UT too, you could skip the wringing out part and keep more water. I wish I had this vest for the 4 hour desert ride I had several weeks ago. Tee shirt was drying out after 15 minutes, this would have lasted the whole way. I'm very happy with it. It was a good $30 investment.
The more wind you get, the better a vest like this will be. you need the wind I think to really make it work well. Thus a mesh, mesh text, or perforated jacket is a must. CA, NV, UT, CO, NM, AZ riders in particular would benefit from a vest like this given our lowe humidities. SInce it is evaporation based, I'm not sure how hot and humid areas would work.
Edit: Oh yeah, forgot to mention ... since it is wet, it is heavy, so you have to get used to that. It's a couple pounds of weight on you. Nothing horrendous, just not a lght tee-shirt, ya konw? It can also feel a bit clammy on the skin, or the wet shirt does. that doesn't bother me but to some people it might.
I've also worn the vest for yard work, cutting the grass, yanking out weeds from my parking strip. It was nice. I know I would have been sweating a LOT mroe than I was had I not worn it. So that was kinda cool.
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