# air conditioned suit jacket? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-conditioned-suit-jacket/495907 "2009-05-10T02:49:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pope\_hentai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@pope\_hentai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pope_hentai)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-conditioned-suit-jacket/495907/1 "2009-05-10T02:49:40Z")
i’ve reently been put into a situation where i need to wear a suit jacket, outside. me and heat don’t get along very well so i came up with the idea of venting or conditioning the suit with small fans and tubing, before i go through the hassle of figuring out exactly how to go about doing this i was wondering if such a thing has been done before. I’m unable to find anything with about 20 minutes of looking and was wondering if any dopers have either seen a similar product or idea, or had any ideas of keeping cool in a suit. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-conditioned-suit-jacket/495907/2 "2009-05-10T02:59:08Z")
Been done: > **[Kuchofuku's air conditioned bed, clothing line](https://www.engadget.com/2007-06-29-kuchofukus-air-conditioned-bed-clothing-line.html)** > > Sure, you could blow a cool million on a bed you'd never sleep on, but why not grab one that actually provides some relief (and won't run you $5k a month... forever) after a hard day in the blazing sun? Enter Kuchofuku, who certainly has the right... > **[株式会社空調服](https://9229.co.jp/)** > > 株式会社空調服の公式サイトです。 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-conditioned-suit-jacket/495907/3 "2009-05-10T03:05:14Z")
The best way to stay cool while wearing a suit in hot weather is to wear a summer-weight suit. ---
**Author:** ![firstname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ab992/32.png) [@firstname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/firstname)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-conditioned-suit-jacket/495907/4 "2009-05-10T11:40:40Z")
My suggestion is sew a number of internal pockets into the suit and fill them with ice packs of some description. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-conditioned-suit-jacket/495907/5 "2009-05-10T11:47:28Z")
> [@firstname](#): > > My suggestion is sew a number of internal pockets into the suit and fill them with ice packs of some description. Get a ziplock bag, & fill it with ice. Be certain it is sealed well. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-conditioned-suit-jacket/495907/6 "2009-05-10T12:13:40Z")
Get a summer weight suit, keep the jacket off for as long as possible. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-conditioned-suit-jacket/495907/7 "2009-05-11T05:27:30Z")
You can get one of these: [Renewable Phase Change Material](http://www.glaciertek.com/) vest. > [@](#): > > RPCM® (Renewable Phase Change Material) is made from high-technology processed fats and oils - even classified as “food grade” by the FDA. Think of it as “second generation” phase change material for the 21st century. All other phase change material (PCM) cooling vests use old-style petroleum byproducts like hexadecane, which contain hazardous chemicals. If it doesn’t say RPCM®, it’s just not safe! > > RPCM® Cool Vests maintain a comfortable 59°F (15°C), while ice or gel based systems are too cold at 32°F (0°C) or less. Learn more about how the body cools and the pros and cons of the various types of cooling vests on the market today. > > RPCM® Cool Packs quickly recharge in only 20 minutes in icewater. I don’t know how inconspicuously it will fit under a dress shirt and suit. But probably at least as well as an air conditioning system, and no fan or compressor noises. I met someone who used one when he drove his sports car on the race track. He swore by it. It fit easily under his driving suit, but he didn’t wear a tie with it. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-conditioned-suit-jacket/495907/8 "2009-05-11T07:00:03Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Get a ziplock bag, & fill it with ice. > > Be certain it is sealed well. Sealing it well won’t make any practical difference. If you’re somewhere hot, the atmosphere inside your suit is going to be very humid. High humidity plus a near ice-cold surface equals heavy condensation. The outside of the bag is going to be soaking wet very quickly. Leakage is the least of your problems. I’ve done a lot of hiking in a hot humid climate. Putting a water bottle half filled with ice in your pack is a “trap for the inexperienced”. It seems like a good idea but you end up with the inside of your pack soaked. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-conditioned-suit-jacket/495907/9 "2009-05-11T16:06:34Z")
To paraphrase an old hot-rodders’ axiom, “Cool costs money; how cool do you want to spend?” Also, how strange are you willing to look? You can have a garment made with a network of tubing sewn into it. On the low end, you can circulate water through your cool vest and a loop inside a cooler of ice, until the ice is gone. On the higher end, the tubing contains refrigerant, and a little compressor and external coil will keep you cool until your battery pack runs out. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-conditioned-suit-jacket/495907/10 "2009-05-11T16:09:03Z")
Not a serious suggestion, but just to let you know what has been done for special applications: [Racing cool suits](http://www.saferacer.com/auto-racing-underwear/cool-suit/?cat=56&tagarray=29). They require a cooler filled with ice and an external 12-volt power source, so they obviously wouldn’t work for your purposes, unless you placed the hardware in your car and retreated to it for cooling sessions. Of course, if your car has a regular air conditioning system (which race cars don’t), a cool suit like this is unnecessary. ETA: Double-post with **AskNott**! My link is to systems that are exactly like the low-end devices he describes.