Hi all, I purchased a phase change vest from a company I deal with regularly for construction products, screws, anchors, tools, ladders, etc. The company is Dixie Construction in Atlanta, GA. They don?t make the vest, but they are a distributor. It may be possible to find a local construction products company that also sells this vest if you are interested and don?t want to buy it from Dixie. If you do want to buy form Dixie, probably call the Alpharetta branch at 678-328-1100, the Vest is item number 390-PCVKT1 from Protective Industrial Products. The extra gel pack set is # 390-PCVCP1
Page 13 of this document contains some ?official? information, but my review may be of use as well.
http://www.pipusa.com/img/document_files/2012_Q1_EarlyBuyBrochure.pdf
I live in Atlanta, and I wear ATGATT, and my suit is an Aerostich roadcrafter, so I have been looking for something to make me a little more comfortable when it is above 80 degrees F.
I saw this vest at a trade show and it was a bit different than others I had seen advertised, plus putting my hands on it really sold me on the idea in general. The major difference I noticed between this and other products I had seen was the way the chemical pack is made as one large pack on the front and one large pack on the rear of the vest. Others I have seen have two smaller packs on the front and rear of the vest. My thinking was that this type has less pieces to deal with, a larger surface area against the body, and I also can?t help but wonder if it might contain more ?goo? than the others. I did notice that this vest advertises a 65 degree melting point where some others advertise 59. Not sure if this is true or important, but I thought I should point that out. The engineer in me says that if one melts at a lower temperature, it might keep you cooler, but would melt faster.
This vest with a second set of packs and 7% tax was $270. I believe that was about $150 for the vest and packs and $120 for the second set of packs. This is slightly less than others I had seen at $170+$130, so that also played a part in my decision to buy this model.
If you want a story, read on?
I took a trip last weekend to the TMac memorial ride with a bunch of VFR?s in Franklin, NC. Before I left the Atlanta suburbs I made sure all 4 of my ?packs? were solid. I didn?t want them too cold, so I had just been keeping them in the refrigerator. When I left at about 3:15pm I put two of the packs in the vest and the other two in a soft cooler with no ice and put that in the Givi trunk. I rode home from work (only a few minutes) and spent about 20 minutes with my suit on loading my luggage into the bike. At about 3:45 we were on the road, but we stopped at an accessory store a few minutes from home for my buddy to get some new gloves. I did remove my suit (kept the vest on) for 20 minutes at the gear shop, but while packing I was wearing my suit the whole time. I would have normally been pretty miserable walking around in the suit in and out of the house, but I was very comfortable, even up and down the stairs. I think we left the accessory store a little after 4pm and until 5PM we were riding in traffic and eventually made a stop for gas at about 5pm. At this point I had been wearing the first packs for about 2 hours and I was pretty comfortable, even in an hour of stop and go traffic. After gassing up, I took off the suit and the cooling vest and the pack wasn?t completely melted, but I knew this was the last stop, so I went ahead and changed the pack. The pack that was in the cooler for about 2 hours at this point with no ice was still almost completely solid, which was a nice surprise. I put nearly a bag of ice into the cooler with some drinks and the mostly liquid pack and we were back on the road.
For about 3 hours I wore the vest until we arrived in Franklin. For the first hour or so, the outside temp was probably 85. For the other 2 hours, the temp dropped to maybe 65 for a short bit at the top of Blood mountain and probably 75 for the last hour and a half of the ride. I was very glad I had the vest on. It wasn?t as if I was 100% cool, parts of my body were certainly hot (legs and head), but this was similar to how a heated seat or vest works. I was pretty cool overall even though parts of my body were hot. The vest was a constant cool for at least 2 hours. It was never too cold even when it was 65 outside at the high elevations.
At the hotel before I went to sleep I folded all 4 packs in half, and put them in the sink with a couple buckets of ice. All the ice was melted by morning, but all 4 packs were completely solid. On Saturday morning, it was much too cold to need this, so I carried all 4 packs in the cooler again, this time with no trunk, but in a saddle bag. At about noon I finally put the first set on and it performed well again although most of the ride was mountain riding, Hwy 28, Cherahola Skyway, etc. so it wasn?t miserably hot outside. By 5pm I had gone through both sets of packs and this time I didn?t buy a bag of ice, so the last couple hours I had to ride without the vest. I was noticeably less comfortable and I definitely intend to use this as part of my gear any time it is over 75 degrees.
Sorry for the long write up, but you could have quit reading at any point, so it?s your own fault really.
Page 13 of this document contains some ?official? information, but my review may be of use as well.
http://www.pipusa.com/img/document_files/2012_Q1_EarlyBuyBrochure.pdf
I live in Atlanta, and I wear ATGATT, and my suit is an Aerostich roadcrafter, so I have been looking for something to make me a little more comfortable when it is above 80 degrees F.
I saw this vest at a trade show and it was a bit different than others I had seen advertised, plus putting my hands on it really sold me on the idea in general. The major difference I noticed between this and other products I had seen was the way the chemical pack is made as one large pack on the front and one large pack on the rear of the vest. Others I have seen have two smaller packs on the front and rear of the vest. My thinking was that this type has less pieces to deal with, a larger surface area against the body, and I also can?t help but wonder if it might contain more ?goo? than the others. I did notice that this vest advertises a 65 degree melting point where some others advertise 59. Not sure if this is true or important, but I thought I should point that out. The engineer in me says that if one melts at a lower temperature, it might keep you cooler, but would melt faster.
This vest with a second set of packs and 7% tax was $270. I believe that was about $150 for the vest and packs and $120 for the second set of packs. This is slightly less than others I had seen at $170+$130, so that also played a part in my decision to buy this model.
If you want a story, read on?
I took a trip last weekend to the TMac memorial ride with a bunch of VFR?s in Franklin, NC. Before I left the Atlanta suburbs I made sure all 4 of my ?packs? were solid. I didn?t want them too cold, so I had just been keeping them in the refrigerator. When I left at about 3:15pm I put two of the packs in the vest and the other two in a soft cooler with no ice and put that in the Givi trunk. I rode home from work (only a few minutes) and spent about 20 minutes with my suit on loading my luggage into the bike. At about 3:45 we were on the road, but we stopped at an accessory store a few minutes from home for my buddy to get some new gloves. I did remove my suit (kept the vest on) for 20 minutes at the gear shop, but while packing I was wearing my suit the whole time. I would have normally been pretty miserable walking around in the suit in and out of the house, but I was very comfortable, even up and down the stairs. I think we left the accessory store a little after 4pm and until 5PM we were riding in traffic and eventually made a stop for gas at about 5pm. At this point I had been wearing the first packs for about 2 hours and I was pretty comfortable, even in an hour of stop and go traffic. After gassing up, I took off the suit and the cooling vest and the pack wasn?t completely melted, but I knew this was the last stop, so I went ahead and changed the pack. The pack that was in the cooler for about 2 hours at this point with no ice was still almost completely solid, which was a nice surprise. I put nearly a bag of ice into the cooler with some drinks and the mostly liquid pack and we were back on the road.
For about 3 hours I wore the vest until we arrived in Franklin. For the first hour or so, the outside temp was probably 85. For the other 2 hours, the temp dropped to maybe 65 for a short bit at the top of Blood mountain and probably 75 for the last hour and a half of the ride. I was very glad I had the vest on. It wasn?t as if I was 100% cool, parts of my body were certainly hot (legs and head), but this was similar to how a heated seat or vest works. I was pretty cool overall even though parts of my body were hot. The vest was a constant cool for at least 2 hours. It was never too cold even when it was 65 outside at the high elevations.
At the hotel before I went to sleep I folded all 4 packs in half, and put them in the sink with a couple buckets of ice. All the ice was melted by morning, but all 4 packs were completely solid. On Saturday morning, it was much too cold to need this, so I carried all 4 packs in the cooler again, this time with no trunk, but in a saddle bag. At about noon I finally put the first set on and it performed well again although most of the ride was mountain riding, Hwy 28, Cherahola Skyway, etc. so it wasn?t miserably hot outside. By 5pm I had gone through both sets of packs and this time I didn?t buy a bag of ice, so the last couple hours I had to ride without the vest. I was noticeably less comfortable and I definitely intend to use this as part of my gear any time it is over 75 degrees.
Sorry for the long write up, but you could have quit reading at any point, so it?s your own fault really.
