If you spend long hours in hot environments, it makes sense to look for ways to help cool you down throughout that time. It’s why we’ve been seeing plenty of people carrying those battery-powered handheld fans this summer. If you’re looking for something more hands-free, though, you might be interested in the Ergodyne Chill-Its 6210 Phase Change Cooling Vest.
No, it’s not one of those vests that incorporate fans or other active cooling systems. Instead, it’s a vest with the front and rear panels all decked in cooling gels – you know, those same gels you put in the fridge and use to bring down the swelling when someone punches you in the face. Except, this one covers huge sections of your front and rear torso, allowing it to help bring your body temperature down to keep the heat stroke at bay.
The Ergodyne Chill-Its 6210 Phase Change Cooling Vest is, basically a lightweight vest that’s made up of separate front and back panels connected together using straps. Each panel is made from translucent nylon with cooling gels strategically installed inside them. Instead of using one large cooling gel, it uses multiple ones cut in various shapes, creating gaps in between. According to the outfit, they did this to allow the panels to flex to the contours of the body, ensuring the entire surfaces are in contact with your torso the whole time you’re wearing them.
According to the outfit, the cooling gels in the vest can maintain a constant temperature of 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to two hours, allowing it to cool you down throughout that entire duration. Obviously, how long it lasts will depend on how hot the environment is, so you might want to wear it under a light jacket just to shield it from the sun if you are outdoors to try to extend it as long as possible.
The Ergodyne Chill-Its 6210 Phase Change Cooling Vest’s integrated cooling packs, by the way, can recharge in as little as 10 minutes. That’s right, you don’t even to put them in the freezer at home when they lose their cold temperature. Instead, you can leave the vest in a cooler filled with ice water and come back after 10 minutes to use it again. Sure, it probably won’t be as cold compared to leaving it in the freezer overnight, but going this route lets it cool you down through long stretches during hot days in the field.
The straps connecting the vest panels, by the way, are all hook and loop style, so you can easily adjust them to find the perfect fit, with the straps long enough to fit folks up to 4XL in size. It’s easy to clean, too, as you can simply hand wash the panels using a mild detergent and wipe it down to dry. Other features include a weight of less than three pounds (so it won’t add any heft at all when you move around throughout the day) and a cooling effect that, the outfit claims, works for both dry heat and high humidity conditions.
The Ergodyne Chill-Its 6210 Phase Change Cooling Vest is available now, priced at $185.35.
