661 Radiator Core Cooler

I do a lot of road walking for training. This means walking in hot weather now.

Today, I tried out my 661 Radiator Core Cooler I use when riding the motorcycle in hot weather.



It has those moisture beads inside you see in flowers from the florist. Soak it in water for 10 minutes the night before. Wear it under the shirt and it will cool for about 12 hours. It feels like having a swamp cooler under my shirt. It feels dry to the touch, but it works great.

It's not something I would wear a heavy pack with as it might squeeze the beads out of the seams. But it would great for a day hike in hot weather.

Ever considered a dripping wet cotton T shirt? Makes a great swamp cooler, and everyone has cotton Ts around. This is one place where cotton is actually a good idea. This cooler might not work for those of you back east where high humidity goes along with high heat and evaporative coolers are ineffective.

Oops, I'd better clarify my geography! To most residents of the Pacific NW, even Colorado is "back east"! However, I grew up in Wyoming, so to me "east" doesn't start until central Nebraska. That's also more or less where summer heat starts to correlate with high humidity.

Because my dog is even more sensitive to heat than I am, my hot weather workouts or hikes start at the crack of dawn.

It actually got up to 82* here yesterday and I thought I was going to die! Until this past weekend, highs have been nearly all in the upper 50's or very low 60's, with a few days in the low 70's.

Oregonmouse,

The cooler is kind of a specialty item as it doesn't work under a pack well. I've tried cotton shirts and they dry too quickly. Unless you are near water, there is no place to wet them again. I wouldn't use the cooler except I already had a couple.

I'm down south in Pueblo. About 3 miles from the old Mexican border which used to run along the south end of town.

It's supposed to hit 89 here today which is about 6 weeks early. We should be having frost at night, but haven't had any since early March. Strange weather. It will probably turn into a lot of thunderstorms.

Quest Outfitters has been offering a similar MYOG product that is more hiker friendly. Check it out:

http://www.questoutfitters.com/miscelaneous-cart.htm#CRYSTAL%20COOL

Oddly I wear merino wool in hot weather. Mind you I do that in cold weather too...
The reason is that like cotton it takes longer to dry so I sweat less with those Merino tops than with the "wicking" synthetic stuff.
by hot I mean 100f and there about.
I also tend to soak my Buff and wear that around my neck.
Franco