How DO you Keep your Cool in the suit?

Figured i would revive this topic since i just finished my suit.....i wore it around my house twice and both times i had to put some parts on myself therefore i broke a sweat within 10 minutes....im getting worried that when I wear this thing on and around halloween and probly out to bars that im gonna pass out...i mean the times i suited up so far it was kinda an Indian summer and humid...im in jersey and it should be pretty cool then....basically how often should I take breaks to be safe? I have a pee hole slit and plan to poke holes or slit in other areas like arm pits and the butt since they will be covered to vent some heat.....will they tare even if i use hot glue at the ends of the slits to act as a bond to prevent taring???

give me some answers here....u guys werent kidding when u said it gets hot in these things....

by the way...its a MR Suit, almost fully latexed
 
ShawDizzle said:
Figured i would revive this topic since i just finished my suit.....i wore it around my house twice and both times i had to put some parts on myself therefore i broke a sweat within 10 minutes....im getting worried that when I wear this thing on and around halloween and probly out to bars that im gonna pass out...i mean the times i suited up so far it was kinda an Indian summer and humid...im in jersey and it should be pretty cool then....basically how often should I take breaks to be safe? I have a pee hole slit and plan to poke holes or slit in other areas like arm pits and the butt since they will be covered to vent some heat.....will they tare even if i use hot glue at the ends of the slits to act as a bond to prevent taring???

give me some answers here....u guys werent kidding when u said it gets hot in these things....

by the way...its a MR Suit, almost fully latexed
Click to expand...

Don't know if it's too late to offer a little help, but in lieu of hot glue, try using a hole punch to, well, punch holes at the ends of whatever slits you're putting in your suit. This is a pretty good method for lessening the chances of tearing latex.
 
and maybe replace latex with soft mesh in the parts that arent visible...anywhere where you can help air move thru..and dont stand in the one spot...move around, as standing still means all the heat radiates up to your head...

if you can find an aircon inlet stand close to it and it will draw air quickly past you into the vent. i did this at a convention,,,cooled very quickly and well i kinda stayed in front of it most of the time, or at least kept going back to it when i needed to cool down ;)
 
Ive opted to go chap style legs with my new suit to try and keep my man bits cooler. My current suit has seperate arms so the pits stay cooler. Dont know how im gunna get on with my new torso skin with arms attached. Defo gunna get a half mask this time, to swap with my full head at times, just to have some fans under the bio to keep my face cool.
Nothing worse than being so sweaty that it runs in your eyes and you cant see squat. ;)
 
Guan-thwei said:
Are the ICe Packs heavy like weights?
The heaviest out of the pictures would probably be this one because of it covering your entire width of your shoulders, but it would not be that bad I'm sure.

Whats in them?
That varies on the brand of Ice Pack you purchase they will vary in cold retaining compounds.

Do you have to freeze them before using and they melt?
How long you would be in your suit will determine how long you would either refigerate or freeze. I do recommend wearing one of these to keep you from getting Hypothermia if you decide to freeze the ice packs and plan on wearing them for long periods of time.

I had also forgot to mention that there is an ice pack for your head as well when you are wearing your masks.
Click to expand...
Frost bite is a main cocern when freezing something and putting it even close to oyur skin not hypothermia
 
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I think that cool vest is the best idea out there, it wont add any bulk to your suit light weight, and even for the price isn't too bad when you consider to cost of most suits. Thanks DHB.
 
I have worn between 65 and 100 pounds of armor and equipment in the desert. Heat injuries are no joke. If it doesn't kill you you could be eating with spoons instead of forks for the rest of your life. Not making a joke about it, it can seriously impair or destroy your mental faculties and motor skills. Add a MOPP suit and it gets even worse and that's not far off from what we are dealing with here. No breath-ability, not heat evacuation.

I would recommend using a camelbak full of ice water, maybe a neck bag full of ice and maybe one in your Bio. Keep the head cool and stay hydrated and you will be good. I actually fill my CB with poweraid. I do wash it very well afterwards.

If you feel light headed or dizzy, get it off. If you feel cool and clamy, get it it. If you feel hot, swollen and sweaty, get it off. And when I say get it off, get it ALL OFF! RIGHT AWAY. You have to cool down and get hydrated. Also, get some gatoraide, poweraid and some salts into you. Not only are you dehydrating you are also loosing salts and minerals and they need to be replaced. I recommend a large COLD poweraid or gatoraide and a jumbo snickers. I have seen it work wonders on guys down range when they go down. When you think you are ok, drink another large drink (other than water alone) and go pee. If you cant pee, drink another half sized one. After a bit, half hour or so you can get back in your kit but be EXTREMELY mindful of your condition. You are already suffering from heat injury symptoms, you DO NOT want to become a full blown heat casualty.
 
NO Joke I listen to good advice when I get it.

Here's proof
Predatorade_Fuel_for_the_Hunt_by_MichaelLoh.jpg
 
i've looked at this with a friend. i'm a 16 year old boy,so it is your own choice whether you like or dislike this.
the bag that dboyblade has in that picture is called a platapus bag, its a small bag that keeps a bag of water if you can imagine and it holds water and the pipe leads to the water sack. i have a few of these. and the good thing about the one i have is that. it also acts as an ice pack in a way becuz the water can be kept cool in a fridge for a while and when its on ur back the water in the sack is cold and you can feel it through the bag.
this may only be in my case though.

you can pick this up handy in any scout or adventure shop. i've a bit of knowledge on this from being in the likes of beavers,cubs,scouts and im know in ventures.

i think kithunters idea is an brillant one also.
the idea with the platpus is excellent too.
althought i see one major problem with the ice packs.

i was very unlucky when i was younger. i had an under trained medic for my football team, who decided to apply an ice pack directly to me skin which left me with a burn, and has scarred me for life around my ankle.
so i wouldnt suggest the ice pack idea, even if it was the way uratz did unless.. from what i gather from being in scouts etc.

just last year i was in malta which has a daily temperature of 40 degrees which is ridiculous seeing as im irish where the temperature might be 8 or 12 degrees maybe, but i did something similar, i had to hike up a mountain there in the heat and found that if you wrap something like the thing uratz has in a towel you WILL NOT BE BURNED BECUZ OF THE COLD!!!

i picked up something very similar to what uratz has in the pictures... best 25 euro i spent. i got to laugh at my friends who were dying of the heat, but in the end we suffered from bites and sun burn.

this may be helpful

jonathan ;-D
 
I was in the Boy Scouts for years living in Arizona and going on hikes in the heat was always a challenge. As for inside the head, I used to have a gel bandana, it was basically a forehead wrap that you soaked in water, tied it around your forehead and your head would be cool all day long.
But while I was looking the the first page of this topic I noticed two things the Camelback, and the Pro Ice packs, you will definatly need thick clothing if you wear the pro-ice or wear the underarmor to keep yourself from getting burns if you freeze it, as for the camelback the no.1 thing you can put in it is gatorade.
There's not a lot of things that you can use to keep yourself cool while in a full costume. I've been inside full latex suits for hours with no air conditioning, and wearing the suit for hours without taking the headpiece off.
Course I was always covered in sweat at the end of the day, and I was wearing a suit for 8 hours straight without sitting down, but the only thing I had to keep me cool was the tempature inside the place I was at. The rest of the time I just put the heat out of my mind. I will put money on it anytime, anyday that I can wear a Predator suit longer than any other person here.
 
So I had a go at this earlier today, I got my body cooler vest and the platapus (water sack).

I then suited up for a while and here are the results I got. I found that you can have te piping go under the suit and up through the neck skin and into your mouth or whatever and you have a supply of water that way, the only thing is it may be a little uncomfortable.

Besides that it worked perfectly!
 
i was thinking of something like this http://www.apexperformance.net/CartGenie/prod-1498.htm a little on the expensive side but looks like it would do the trick. could make the backpack hole a reservoir. theres cheaper shirts out there. then source a pump that will work
 
i got a much simpler solution in the latex make holes where the armor, loincloth, and other " props" go. the hole will ventilate the inside of the suit but since the armor and cloth will be there il cover them subtly 

( note:  the armor CANNOT be Dead on otherwise it wont ventilate. )
 
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