Cooling Vest

[bluestratos]

Well it has been hot here in the northwest, while not as hot as Las Vegas for example, we have been hitting the mid to high 80's. I took my Spyder out both Saturday/Sunday and had another opportunity to use the Cool Vest setup which consists of a vest that contains multiple cooling tubes sown into it and a standard soft cooler that mounts on my back seat.

It holds two bags of ice added to a quart of water, this cools the water to just above freezing and is circulated by the 12v pump. This provides a nice cooling effect over my upper body and makes travel much more comfortable, especially when traveling in the city. Just wanted to provide a review of this set up now that I have used it for longer rides.

[Pirate looks at --]

If yiu post the name of the product, and where you bought it??

[SpyderAnn01]

That sounds like a nice setup especially for stop and go type travel. A regular cool vest doesn't do much for you if you aren't moving. Is this the Veskimo?

[Chupaca]

Great for the slow stop and go. How long will the effect last and how much space does this unit take...does my wife have to stay home....

[KX5062]

I bought my wife a Veskimo and she doesn't use it, so if anyone wants it. PM me. I haven't posted it for sale yet, it's just sitting in the closet.

[Bob Denman]

If yiu post the name of the product, and where you bought it??

A link to the product would be nice...

[PrairieSpyder]

A link to the product would be nice...

Yes, please!

[pegasus1300]

http://www.veskimo.com/

Unless I priced it out wrong though with a 6ft extension hose it is over $600. So far my $25 soak in the sink cooling vest is working just fine.

[Bob Denman]

That's a lot cheaper than buying the entrosys... $1500!

[pegasus1300]

they are both out of my price range.

[Showie]

Did a ride around lower Lake Roosevelt this weekend with temps in the low 90's. Once the temperatures got up I soaked a cotton long sleeve shirt in water, rang excess out and put on over my T shirt and under a mesh Tour Master jacket. I was actually cold on the back of my arms and very cool elsewhere while traveling. The cooling lasted well over an hour and I found it comfortable not muggy feeling. We were traveling highway speeds i'm not sure how this would work in stop and go.

[Pirate looks at --]

Doesn't usually work well in stop and go conditions. The evaporative cooling needs some air movement in order to work well.

[bluestratos]

My set up is from COOL Shirt but Veskimo is similar. Its not cheap but it works very well. By keeping the upper torso cool, it keeps the whole body comfortable. The heat is removed from the blood stream which is then recirculated throughout my whole body. I originally bought the soft cooler pack but it was bulky and hard to close once the ice was in. I took the components out of the bag and bought a fabric cooler with a had liner and installed everything into that. I then added a box on the side that houses the main off on switch and a 2 min on, 3 min off time. Using the timer and two bags of ice it lasted 5 hours and the next morning Ice was still floating in the melt water so I used it until my first fill up about an hour later. Mine was purchased from: coolshirt.com.

These systems are used by race car drivers so you know it works. As far as where to put the cooler, it sits on my back seat unless I have a passenger, then I set it up on the back rack. I have not tried the frunk as yet.

I also drop a few pops into the ice for the ride, lol, yesterday I had 4 cans, in there and the two bags lasted from 10:30 A.M. to 3:20 P.M. when I returned home and still had ice floating.

[Bob Denman]

Question: How big is the "Box"?
(I'm wondering if it could be stored down on the back-half of the floorboard...)

[jaherbst]

$45 cooling vest works for me with a Frog Tog cooling neck wrap.T-shirt under the cooling vest with mesh jacket over. Works great here in the "Old Pueblo" even when

stopped. Evaporation does not stop when you are stopped. Evaporation is what cools you. We ride in 110-120* temps with this. If you do not have a cooling vest soak a T-

Shirt under the Mesh Jacket works the same but will not hold as much water as the cooling vest thus drys faster and needs to be soaked more often.

Jack

[garb55]

I need a cooling helmet
might also help when I get mad
Been called a "hot head" many times

[Brian Kay]

I need a cooling helmet
might also help when I get mad
Been called a "hot head" many times

...same here.

[pegasus1300]

Before the days of electronics in our helmets we used to fill them with water then put them on. It was good for a couple of hours.

[Fat Baxter]

How well an evaporative cooling vest, or just a plain wetted-down t-shirt, works depends a lot on the relative humidity in addition to air flow. I have an evaporative vest, and down here in the Deep South where it's really sticky, it's good for maybe 30-45 minutes on a fully faired bike, then it reaches the same temperature as the surrounding air, at which point it feels like you're swaddled in a warm wet blanket. Stop, remove and re-soak vest, then ride for another 30-45 minutes. Lather, rinse, repeat. Not worth the effort, IMO.

Now, if I were riding in the Rocky Mountain area, with its low humidity, an evaporative vest would be the bee's knees.

[Eagle1]

$45 cooling vest works for me with a Frog Tog cooling neck wrap.T-shirt under the cooling vest with mesh jacket over. Works great here in the "Old Pueblo" even when

stopped. Evaporation does not stop when you are stopped. Evaporation is what cools you. We ride in 110-120* temps with this. If you do not have a cooling vest soak a T-

Shirt under the Mesh Jacket works the same but will not hold as much water as the cooling vest thus drys faster and needs to be soaked more often.

Jack

Jack you are correct, we ryde in 95+ temps and we just wet the vest and place in an insulated cooler until needed. The evaporative cooling continues. We have ridden for 4-5 hours before having to wet vest again. Good investment!

[Gray Ghost]

I need a cooling helmet
might also help when I get mad
Been called a "hot head" many times

Along with an evaporative cooling vest, this http://www.lowes.com/pd/Mission-Blue...Towel/50159263 works wonders. Soak in water, put over the head like a cap and drape the excess down the back of your neck.