I have used personal cooling devices like forehead sponges, neck scarves, etc. They work, but they are less effective during times of high humidity since they are relying on the evaporation of water from your body to transfer heat away from your skin. Lately I’ve gotten almost no relief from them.
So are there personal cooling devices that work that will also work in high humidity environments?
I figure an ice pack on the forehead or back of the neck will work, but if it is too cold that is uncomfortable. not only that but the ice will only last 15 minutes or so.
Is there any kind of battery powered personal cooling device that uses electrical energy from batteries to create an endothermic reaction which can be put on the skin to pull heat away from the body? I assume that would work w/o humidity being a factor.
I know there are exothermic devices like this, like the reusable hand warmers. You start a chemical reaction and it creates heat which you can use to heat your hands. Afterwards you boil it and use the energy from the water to reset the crystals so it can be used again.
So what I am wondering is there a device like that that is endothermic instead of exothermic, and that can use battery power instead of boiling water to reset it? A battery powered headband that is always 20-30 degrees colder than the surrounding environment?
Failing that, I think some of the ones that require you to freeze them and wear them on your neck can last up to 5 hours before needing to be refreezed.
There’s also this gel-filled scarf that can suck up far more water than your average cloth thing, but I’m not sure how it’ll work in high-humidity environments.
Keep in mind that they also sell cooling vests with up to like 10 ice packs that are supposed to last 3 hours or so to cool your whole body down. They still require external cooling, but maybe if you took along a cooler with already-chilled replacement packs and swapped them out halfway through the day…?
A friend of mine would use this under her costume working in haunted houses in and around Phoenix, where Halloween season can still be in the 90s. She said that she would get so cold that she would have to turn it off to defrost.
She’s letting me borrow it right now, but I can’t get over how tightly it fits on my neck, so I can’t validate how well it works.
It’s also really dry in Phoenix so I’m not sure how humidity would affect the cooling ability.
If you want to give the cold compress another try, wrap it in a towel or rag first. This’ll make it much less cold against your skin. Also, use two of them. As soon as one isn’t cooling as well toss it back in the freezer and grab the other one.
I have one called “Ace Reusable Cold Compress with Exclusive Soft Touch Fabric” I loooove it. The fabric really makes a difference. Mine also came with a sleeve that you can put it in and then velcro around your head/neck/arm. I always have two of them in my freezer.
Alternately, you could interpret that - judging by their use of the phrase “optimum performance” - to mean it works best at 70% or less, but will still work above that level. I guess it just depends on how effectively it still works.