August 29, 2007 This thermal cooling vest from COOLINE has been developed to meet the concern of climate related health issues and combat the enormous stress heat can cause on the human body. Worn under or over everyday clothing to cool the body directly, the vest is designed as a functional piece of clothing that is simply filled with water from the tap and uses evaporative cooling to regulate body temperature.
The cooling vest is made from a high tech fleece that is capable of holding several times its own weight in water, whilst remaining dry on the exterior. COOLINE aims to mimic the natural temperature regulation of the human body with its perspiration and cooling by evaporating sweat. Thus water escapes by evaporation to cool the body and the vest cools more intensively at higher temperatures and less intensively at low temperatures. Perspiration from the body is also absorbed by the vest, helping to maintain an optimal temperature for a number of hours at a time.
With global temperatures rising, climatologists in Germany are predicting a possible 1.8 to 2.3 degrees Celsius rise in temperatures by the end of this century. Studies conducted by the Kiel Institute for World Economics and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), purport that the number of heat deaths will increase every year if adaptation measures are not taken. The COOLINE vest offers a direct and quickly effective solution to the stress caused by overheating, and is suitable for daily use. Producers of the vest say that it can significantly decrease the associated endangerment to health and safety due to heat stress. “Cooline provides fully automatic activation and control and ensures that the COOLINE vests are ready for use 24 hours a day.” The success of the design is in its simplicity. Though more complex solutions such as fan driven cooling vests are in the market, the Cooline vest is lightweight and not obstructive to the wearer. The range of applications for this vest could see such products used in emergency services, fire brigades, sports and leisure activities, military, and all kinds of industry.
