Cool Vest

[Charlie]

Anybody have any experience with the evaporative type cool vest? Do they work? Will they work under a mesh jacket? Has anyone adapted the "Fast" cool suit to a motorcycle? Thanks in advance for your input

 

[FJRay]

MiraCool works very well. It is a little heavy when full of water but it will last for days. there are a number of places to buy them. The cheapest I found was an outfit called Tough Rhino in Florida.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

I spent $19 on a cheapo evaporative vest and while it only works for three hours at a time, it friggin works. I use it under mesh

 

[BobbyBlue]

I purchased one from cyclegear for 29.95 and it works great, it aint airconditioning but it'll cool ya down 15-20 degrees, also wet down a t-shirt and go for a ride...it'll get nippley at night..woo yeah....

Bobby

 

[bikerskier]

Love my evaporative vest and neck rag as well. The vest feels pretty slimy when wet but wring it out a bit and put on over a t shirt and under your mesh jacket and you will be amazed at how effective this is for 3 or 4 hours.

 

[kulwen]

You might find some info here.

Link

 

[bvail]

I have a couple of cool vests. The one I like best I bought here: SOUND RIDER Click on the Sound Rider Store near the bottom for all kinds of cool riding stuff. Another thing that helps is to go with synthetic undies instead of cotton Ts.

I also like the Sokz socks. They are very comfortable and wick sweat away.

Mesh suits are the best, especially the Cycleport that Wayne was selling at WFO. I wore my 1st Gear Kili Air Mesh jacket last weekend and after using the Cycleport this year, I felt as though I had nothing on for protection.

The big baggie trick works very well for recharging a vest.

Check out the rest of the Sound Rider e-Zine for some pretty good articles.

 

[Niehart]

colorado coolwear, little outfit out of colorado builds a great vest.

 

[bvail]

colorado coolwear, little outfit out of colorado builds a great vest.

Googled them and their web address doesn't work www.coloradocoolwear.com Maybe they are not in biz anymore. That

would be too bad.

 

[KrustyKola]

Just to pile on I would also vouch for the cool vest and mesh jacket combo. I found that I could handle the heat up to about 95 then I would pull out the vest and when you get going again it is like a new day!

I also found that by the time you have re hydrated at a gas stop the vest will have picked up enough moisture from the water in the bag to go another couple of hours. If you are not used to the heat out west it is a wise investment.

 

[Niehart]

This email address with get you Colorado Cool Wear

[email protected].

She was very good to deal with and got of vest out quickly so we could use them for a road show.

 

[Ari Rankum]

MiraCool works very well. It is a little heavy when full of water but it will last for days. there are a number of places to buy them. The cheapest I found was an outfit called Tough Rhino in Florida.

+1

I bought from them, too. They are a good outfit with speedy shipping.

I bought the vest for 100+ weather in the desert(s) for WFO-5. It worked very well out west. It more than paid for itself each and every day I used it.

I have no intention of trying it out in the mid-atlantic, though, where it is frequently near 100F and 100% humidity during the summer. Today's 200 mile ride ended in a cooling, but dramatic, high-voltage drenching.

Basically, that vest is the bomb in drier climates where it will actually live up to the "evaporative" part of its description. In humidity below 50%, it is fantastic. In the mid-atlantic summer, donning the cooling vest would be the mark of the *******. It may be reasonable to summarize that the cool vest is really good for travel west of the Mississippi River, south of Canada, and north of Ecuador during summer. YMMV.

 

[OhioFJR1300]

I might add that it does depend on the humidity when you are wearing the vest. I live in Ohio and the normal humidity in the summer here is 50% or more most days. In that kind of humidity I find the vest does not help. But I worn it out west in the Black Hills on 100 degree days and it is wonderful. They are well worth the money.

 

[Low Level FJR Pilot]

bvail, you must have had a bad link to it. I googled and here is what I got:

https://www.coloradocoolwear.com/

Worked just fine for me. Good luck on the link from here. There is a note that due to a family incident, they will not be shipping until September 15th.

 

[bvail]

bvail, you must have had a bad link to it. I googled and here is what I got:
https://www.coloradocoolwear.com/

Worked just fine for me. Good luck on the link from here. There is a note that due to a family incident, they will not be shipping until September 15th.

Must be my computer. Tried it again and only get a blank screen. I'll have to try another computer.

 

[MCML]

I bought a SIXSIXONE Core Cooler just prior to WFO6 and used it on an 11-day ride to/from that gathering (Southern California - Wyoming - Utah - return). The temperature was often in the triple digits. While the manufacturer claims that a single soaking will keep the vest hydrated for several days that was not the case. Still, it did stay moist for an entire day at a time - no small feat given the miles, speeds and temperatures. It is also smaller and lighter than most cooling vests covering the shoulders but not the torso and it has a collar closure which eliminates the need for a wet kerchief tied around the neck. Recommended.

 

[motorgod]

I think you are going to find supporters for all different types of cool-vests. In reading most of the theads devoted to this topic you will not find one clear winner. What I have found with the vest that I wear is how much air does your outer jacket flow. The vest cools you by evaporation. The more air flow you have the better cooling effect you will feel. However, more air flow = faster evaporation = less time the cooling effect lasts. A more restrictive mesh jacket will still cool you down and it will last longer. So it just depends how long you will need the cooling effect. Just my .02 worth. Opinions to the contrary are welcome.

 

[bvail]

MiraCool works very well. It is a little heavy when full of water but it will last for days. there are a number of places to buy them. The cheapest I found was an outfit called Tough Rhino in Florida.

+1

I bought from them, too. They are a good outfit with speedy shipping.

I bought the vest for 100+ weather in the desert(s) for WFO-5. It worked very well out west. It more than paid for itself each and every day I used it.

I have no intention of trying it out in the mid-atlantic, though, where it is frequently near 100F and 100% humidity during the summer. Today's 200 mile ride ended in a cooling, but dramatic, high-voltage drenching.

Basically, that vest is the bomb in drier climates where it will actually live up to the "evaporative" part of its description. In humidity below 50%, it is fantastic. In the mid-atlantic summer, donning the cooling vest would be the mark of the *******. It may be reasonable to summarize that the cool vest is really good for travel west of the Mississippi River, south of Canada, and north of Ecuador during summer. YMMV.

I thought the same thing about evaportive cooling and I live here in Colorado, where the humidity is quite low most of the time. I recently went on a ride to the four corners of the U.S. My first check point was Key West and it was very hot (around 95) in Florida and Louisiana. Humid too and I was very uncomfortable (ATTGATT with Cycleport Kevlar mesh suit). I had my wet vest soaking in the big baggie and thought "What the hell, I'll give it a try". So I did and it reduced my body heat considerably, much to my surprise. A good soaking lasted quite a bit longer, since the evaporation was significantly less. About a month later when I finished my ride and was returning home across the Great Basin Desert, the wet vest saved my ass (and maybe even kept me out of the hospital), since the heat (high was 113) was making me all gooned up. It was so hot, I couldn't even open my face shield. It was much cooler with the shield closed. But the wet vest wouldn't even last between gas stops and you just don't want to stop out there in the desert unless it's absolutely necessary, since there is no shade. Only shade I came across was the canopy over the gas pumps. Someone asked me to move my bike after a fill in Baker CA and I told them they would have to wait until I was ready or move to another pump. I was busy hydrating :blink:

 

[FJRMGM]

I have to disagree with these comments - "Basically, that vest is the bomb in drier climates where it will actually live up to the "evaporative" part of its description. In humidity below 50%, it is fantastic. In the mid-atlantic summer, donning the cooling vest would be the mark of the *******. "

I wear mine all the time here in Houston and the humidity is rarely below 80 percent and it works quite well - evaporative cooling is evaporative cooling - especially when the hot sun is on you and air flows over you when riding.

In fact, Saturday at a group ride lunch I was showing the vest to some people while we were standing around and they were amazed at the difference with it on while not even moving!!

here is the link to the MiraCool Poncho cooling vest I have been using for over a year.

Great buy for the money. The comments on the bottom of the page are mine from when I posted on the Two Wheeled Texan forum (www.twtex.com)

Get one.

MiraCool Ponch Vest