# Cooling neck wraps



## WingDog (Sep 1, 2011)

So I was wearing my suit around the other day and kept getting really hot (surprise right?) So I began to research other ways to stay cool inside a suit when I came across these http://www.polarbreezebandanas.com/

They are these neck wraps that you soak in water for about 30 minutes and then will stay cool for days as the water evaporates from them.

My question is, has anyone tried them or know anyone who has? Do they really work, or will they ruin your suit from the water being released? Which I don't imagine would happen as it is probably better than getting your suit all sweaty.

They also seem to be a cheap alternative to things like ice vests, and these you don't freeze or refrigerate.


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## Volkodav (Sep 1, 2011)

I wouldn't wear it in a fursuit because of all the water inside it.
I know there are pet bandanas that have a pack inside that you freeze & put around their neck... look for those? There's no water dripping out of it AFAIK


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## WingDog (Sep 1, 2011)

The problem with anything that needs to be frozen is that you need a place to freeze it. If your at a con, your a bit out of luck, unless you put it in the ice bucket, even then that won't freeze your pack, just cool it down.

Anyway I don't think these drip with water, the crystals hold the water and it evaporates over time. But i'll look into the ice packs like that.


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## Arlo (Sep 1, 2011)

I got one to use at work this year and I have to say I do not like them.  Although the crystals don't actively drip, the cloth outside of the wrap does leach water onto anything it comes into contact with.  The other thumbs down factor for me was the fact that it goes from cool and refreshing to lukewarm and irritating in about ten minutes.  For me it was like having a warm, slimy worm wrapped around your neck (and the crystals do leave a slimy residue on your fingers, neck, whatever they touch).  I've since thrown mine out.

I'm looking into investing in a cooling vest to wear underneath my suit, if I plan to do outdoor suiting on a regular basis in the future.

Hope this helps!


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## Littlerock (Sep 2, 2011)

The thing about water-evaporation cooling is that it needs to evaporate to work (duh). Considering how closed in a suit is, the water would probably not evaporate at all, just the same way you sweat in a suit. But when added alongside a good cpu fan, it just might work better than either method alone. For it to work properly, I'd imagine you'd need to create some sort of vacuum effect with two fans, one pulling in new air from down, in the bodysuit itself, and one pushing air out through the head. If it's the other way around, I think the water vapor might just condense in places you really don't want it to.


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## SacrificerPS3 (Sep 7, 2011)

Used these before, they are VERY DRIPPY!  Would not recommend for fursuiting, unless you want to have to hang it out to dry every time you use it.


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## MikeHamemelton (Mar 1, 2018)

So, this gadget cool well or not? Any suggestion?


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## Dongding (Mar 1, 2018)

I'd go for a fan and maybe a cool-vest with some replacement ice gel cartridges for swapping. (Like the ones we took in our lunches to keep our juiceboxes cold.) I think it was one of the "Bullet-proof/resistant Fursuit" threads that had a very satisfied customer of the cooling vest with removable cartridges and swapping from a portable-electric-cooler they bought and kept in their hotel room for quick convenient swapping whenever the packs lost their cool.

And fans are better for removing humidity from enclosed areas as long as there's ventilation for it to be pushed out of, if it's a fan providing positive pressure. (Fan pushing fresh air _into_ the suit.)

This is randomly aquired, old, and unchecked knowledge mind you. I just know that cold stuff causes the humidity in the air to condense into a liquid like on an ice cold drink in summer.

Cold=wet, so I'll ignorantly suggest with the best of intentions that a fan *and* a cool-vest *not utilizing water condensation cooling* is probably the simplest option, though not the cheapest. It will keep you cool, and because it's constantly pushing spent sweaty air out of the suit, it will keep you dry.

But then I hear nothing about what ungodly moist nightmares those things are to wear so I can only assume there's no _good_ answer. Good luck!

Also if someone can verify anything that I mentioned from your own personal experiences, that'd be very cool and informative of you. :3

Cool-vest with ice packs is probably enough and you could make one at home easily too... probably. I'd avoid the wraps from what everyone else has said.


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## Kellan Meig'h (Mar 1, 2018)

Mascot cooling vests and systems | EZCooldown

Here are the vests and the neck wrap. These work on the phase change principle, not evaporation. They can be recharged in ice water, too. I've had the opportunity to wear one (vest) at a 'con and I can attest, they freaking work.

Don't bother looking for a knock-off copy of this; nothing works like this phase change material they use for their inserts. A cheap copy needs to be frozen to work again. This just needs the insert to be dunked in ice water. Or have that spare neck wrap and a set of vest inserts in a handy cooler that your spotter can lug around. That's what spotters are for, right?


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## SuperNaturalHorse (Mar 1, 2018)

Lol my dad would like the heck out of this post  because he can never have too many neck cooling warps and he has an obsession with this stuff is this drives me so dang crazy and he is doe's same thing with tape and  flashlights and annoying cheaply made tv infomercial products what is wrong with him???


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## Dongding (Mar 1, 2018)

He's just cool AF, that's all.


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## Kellan Meig'h (Mar 3, 2018)

I will point out the "Blue Ice" we use in our lunch boxes works by giving up the cold it has absorbed. That causes condensation. Nothing worse than a wet cooling vest or neck wrap. I also have some cooling towels that work by evaporation - they leave your clothing wet where it's laying on you. They didn't work worth squat last summer in the stupid-hot heat we had in NorCal. Also, the "Blue Ice" starts out too cold to begin with and that could cause freeze burns to the skin it you're not careful.

I had the chance to do a side by side comparison of the EZCooldown vest and a cheapo (less than $100) vest from Dick's Sporting Goods. That cheap vest was an insult to cooling vests everywhere. The "Blue Ice" type of inserts were done in 25 minutes, took about ninety minutes to re-freeze. The EZCooldown went almost 4 hours. Those were the 70 degree tan/yellow four cell inserts. Recharged them in about ten minutes in a small cooler full of ice water. Suit was the Old Warhorse Ver 1.0 body, hooves and head (no gloves), House was about 90 degrees, I just kinda walked around, sat and surfed the 'net, played guitar, etc.

The EZCooldown System uses a Phase Change Material that stays dry to the touch. Much better for helping cool you off or keep you cool. I'm buying a whole system for work this summer, having had the opportunity to do an acid test to a vest from EZCooldown. I work in some ridiculously hot spaces so any edge I can get is worth it. Besides, I'm a gray-muzzle; I need every advantage I can get.

BTW, I do not work for EZCooldown. Just making that clear, okay? It's just I have had some experience with cooling vests of various types and this one is the only one that truly gives you what you would expect for a cooling vest. I really wish I could have had one of these when I worked at the Ford Motor Company Milpitas Assembly Plant. It was murder in the summertime working in that plant.


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