IMPORTANT: Before purchasing any cooling vest or cooling technology, ActiveMSers recommends reading our detailed Cooling Vest Buying Guide, a comprehensive look at the different types of cooling options available, complete with plusses and minuses of each type. Although we highly recommend the winning vest in this test, other cooling vests and technologies may be better suited for your individual situation.
Shootout! Cooling Vests Face Off Four vests tested, and one truly excels Updated July 26, 2011
“Dave, which cooling vest is best for my multiple sclerosis?” It’s a question I’ve been asked more than the number of times a busload of kids verbally wonder “are we there yet” on a 4,784-mile cross-country road trip through Russia. I’ve talked about wanting to do a comprehensive cooling vest test for a good couple years; it’s just so hard to compare these vests side-by-side because it takes time, patience, and a budget. Finally everything came together last month thanks to donated vests in a variety of styles from Steele, ArcticHeat, Glacier Tek, and Polar Products, all major manufacturers of cooling vests for multiple sclerosis. And my hydrologist wife was totally cool (pun intended) with me taking over the freezer for a few weeks in the interest of science.
NOTE: Evaporative vests and active vests were not tested in this shootout. Because evaporative vests perform so differently depending on humidity levels—what works well in my home town of Albuquerque, NM, might work like crud in humid Washington, DC—they are difficult to compare to other cooling vests. Active vests also weren’t tested in this round because it would be hard to have a standard testing protocol. Why? They are powered by electricity or battery and, well, they cost a lot of money.
Glacier Tek's concealable vest
The Competitors
We tested four vests: a standard ice vest with packs that freeze (Steele), a hybrid gel vest where dry crystals expand to form a gel when activated by water, which can then be frozen (ArcticHeat), a concealable phase change vest where the liquid packs form a solid wax-like substance when chilled (Glacier Tek), and a concealable ice torso wrap/vest with conventional ice packs (Polar Products).
Weight is a common nemesis of cooling products. In theory, if you want more cooling power, you’ll pay in more weight. And with MSers already wilting with the heat, carrying around an extra small baby strapped to your chest certainly isn’t going to help matters. Here’s how our vests dented the wallet and tipped the scales fully loaded with its cooling packs.
TALE OF THE TAPE
ArcticHeat (gel, activated): $220, 14 built-in gel ribs, 2 lbs, 3 5/8 oz
All ice packs, phase change packs, and gel vests (ArcticHeat) were frozen overnight in a freezer set to -2 degree Fahrenheit, a typical temperature of a home freezer. To simulate a human torso, we rolled up a thick rubber yoga mat (go with me here) and dressed it in a lightweight T-shirt. For each test we wrapped the vest around the T-shirt-wearing yoga mat, placing a weather thermometer under the T-shirt below a frozen pack on the vest. The exterior temperature for all tests was a constant 77 degrees with 26% humidity.
How long would each vest last in these ideal conditions: a torso producing no body heat and an air-conditioned laboratory (i.e., kitchen nook)? Time in hours/minutes, temperature in Fahrenheit, and humidity were recorded regularly until cooling was exhausted. Humidity levels were taken as a potential predictor as to how damp clothing may get when worn below the vest. This was difficult to properly gauge in New Mexico’s dry climate as anything wet dries fast, but T-shirt weight gain was noted for comparison purposes.
77º
ArcticHeat (gel, activated):
00:20 – 50.4º, 41%
01:00 – 51.4º, 53%
02:00 – 53.1, 60%
02:30 – 56.7, 60%
03:00 – 61.5, 58%
T-Shirt: +3/8 oz
Discussion: Based on my earlier experience with this vest, these numbers did not surprise me. The humidity levels may have been a touch high because the vest was recently activated.
Steele Vest (ice):
00:23 – 50.4º, 29%
01:16 – 28.6º, 35%
04:56 – 31.5º, 53%
05:52 – 47.1º, 71%
08:12 – 51.3º, 72%
09:02 – 56.7º, 77%
09:39 – 60.1º, 79%
T-Shirt: +2/8 oz
Discussion: The vest started cool, and then WOW, got really cold, staying under 32 degrees for over 5 hours. The humidity soared once the ice packs started thawing at the 6 hour mark.
Polar “Secrets” (ice):
00:19 – 37.6º, 29%
02:45 – 34.9º, 52%
06:09 – 35.2º, 68%
07:44 – 39.6º, 74%
09:05 – 51.3º, 72%
10:05 – 58.1º, 69%
10:26 – 60º, 68%
T-Shirt: +1/8 oz
Discussion: For such a small wrap/vest (covering only the lower torso), it does pack a surprisingly long-lasting punch. It was still producing cooling power a solid 10 hours into the test, albeit with high humidity.
Glacier Tek Concealable (phase change):
00:22 – 42.4º, 28%
00:54 – 47.7º, 29%
03:56 – 56.8º, 39%
05:42 – 59º, 38%
09:54 – 61.9º, 37%
14:13 – 63.5º, 36%
T-Shirt: +0 oz
Discussion: This vest never got that cold, but it held temps comfortably cool for over 14 hours while humidity stayed low throughout, meaning shirts under or over this vest will stay dry.
The ArcticHeat vest
The Steele vest
The Polar "Secrets" vest
Round 2: Scorching Heat
For Round 2, we upped the ante and placed each vest over a chair in full New Mexico sun at a steady summer heat of 98 degrees. This may have been an even more interesting test had I volunteered to sit in the sun for a full day wearing each vest, but I valued my health and sanity. To ensure each vest was tested under the same outdoor conditions, no temperature readings were taken (alas, not enough thermometers, which would have needed to stay within each vest for the duration of the test for accuracy). Instead, vests were checked every 15 minutes and I subjectively gauged whether the vest still had cooling power.
98º
ArcticHeat (gel, activated):
00:45 – Still cold, but ribs starting to soften.
01:00 – All ribs soft, still cool but not cold.
01:15 – Cooling power exhausted.
Discussion: The ArcticHeat vest suffered in the direct heat and sunshine, struggling to remain cold for an hour.
Steele Vest (ice):
01:30 – Ice packs softening, still cold, damp spots appearing on vest
02:00 – Now all ice packs mostly soft, still maintaining cooling power.
03:00 – Barely any cooling left, on fumes.
03:15 – Cooling power exhausted.
Discussion: The Steele vest hummed through the first two hours before beginning to fade. Would a white vest instead of khaki have made a difference?
Polar “Secrets” (ice):
01:30 – Rock hard and cold.
02:00 – Softening slightly, still chilly.
03:00 – Ice packs completely soft but still producing cooling power.
03:30 – Cooling power exhausted.
Discussion: This tiny vest held its own in the heat and even outlasted the Steele.
Glacier Tek Concealable (phase change):
01:30 – Firm and cool, but not cold.
02:00 – Phase change packs still mostly hard.
03:00 – Packs about 50% “thawed.”
03:30 – Vest still producing cooling power.
04:00 – Cooling power exhausted.
Discussion: The Glacier Tek vest never felt “cold” but its cooling power in direct sun maintained longer than any other vest in our test.
With our indoor and outdoor controlled tests complete, all we had left to test was how well these vests performed in the real world—actually worn over a T-shirt on a person with a true, warm-blooded torso. All four were tested indoors at 76 degrees during regular activity. And that proved to be far more challenging than anticipated.
ArcticHeat (gel, activated):
For the first five minutes, the ArcticHeat vest felt cold, cold until my body adapted. For the first hour, the vest remained a nice, chilly temp with the ribs thawing slightly and my 100% cotton shirt getting a touch damp. After one and a half hours, the ribs were still cold but thawing; some were still frozen. By hour two, the upper chest ribs had thawed, but the lower ribs remained cool. The vest’s cooling power was mostly exhausted within the half hour, providing a total cooling time of 2.5 hours.
Steele Vest (ice):
After five minutes, the vest felt extremely cold to the point of being uncomfortable. Over the next 15 minutes the cold proved unbearable. My chest was numb and bright red; I removed the vest for an hour. I then tried again, and again it was too cold (see photo). Over two and a half hours later the vest was comfortable enough to be worn. It lasted for almost another two hours, thawing first on the chest and upper back. My shirt was slightly damp.
Polar “Secrets” (ice):
While this mini vest is meant to be worn below clothing, I quickly found that bare skin was a no-no, and wore it over a T-shirt. That didn’t help at all. The cold turned to pain and the torso wrap was removed after twenty minutes. The pain and numbness inexplicably persisted (think MS hug x10) for the next hour. I couldn’t bear to put it back on, so instead I used it as a six-pack beer koozie (really). It chilled the beer nicely over the next several hours, although one of the ice packs sprung a leak.
Glacier Tek Concealable (phase change):
This vest is worn like a poncho and fits snugly with Velcro straps. For the first ten minutes the vest was cold, but not too cold, before settling to a nice cool temp. Three hours later, the vest, still cold, started to soften (think Play Dough). Four hours into the test, the vest was petering out in the upper chest and upper back, but surprisingly it was still cool and comfortable. Flipping the phase change packs extended the cooling to nearly five hours and might have gone longer had I done it sooner. The shirt remained bone dry.
Polar Products six-pack beer koozie
The Steele vest too-cold aftereffects
Glacier Tek's zero afteraffects
Members of ActiveMSers can save up to 20% on select cooling vests with reserved coupon codes. To get your discount, join today by signing upfor our newsletter. NOTE: ActiveMSers has negotiated these discounts and has no other affiliation with these companies and receives no compensation or commission of any kind. Vests were donated for testing purposes.
Final Bell: Conclusions and Recommendations Despite promising controlled tests, real world testing doomed two of the four vests in our shootout. Did I not test them properly? Just in case, I wore the Steele ice vest again, this time to an outdoor late afternoon lunch in shaded 95-degree temperatures. It was too cold and had to be removed. I tried once more, this time leaving the vest unzipped. That was survivable, but not that cooling. And when I took off the vest 40 minutes later I realized I couldn’t feel my lower back. Steele vests are well made and comfortable, and their ice packs are of high quality and extremely durable. But this version was just too cold. Interestingly, on their website they cite a clinical trial on a manikin that shows their vests have more theoretical cooling power than a comparable phase change vest… and where the ice packs were frozen to only 14º, far warmer than the recommended freezer temperature of 0º. And we proved just how reliable manikin-only studies are (surprise, manikins don’t whine about potential frostbite). UPDATE: In one more test (recommended by one of the manufacturers) an extra T-shirt layer upped the baseline temps into the upper 30s, making it thankfully wearable with lasting performance similar to the phase change vest of Glacier Tek. This is fine for industrial purposes where you have to be dressed in thick uniforms and when you need cooling to penetrate that, but for the MSer it seems counterintuitive to be forced to wear more clothes when going out with this vest lightly dressed. Overall with the changes, the Steele vest was palatable but not preferable. The Polar Products “Secrets” ice vest also proved vexing. In my opinion it wasn’t made as well as the Steele Vest and its ice packs, which like to slide out while you are putting it on, are run-of-the-mill thin, which may explain why one failed during testing and leaked. But it did succeed on the concealable front, being barely noticeable when wearing a loose-fitting shirt (alas it was not very “secret” under a tight T-shirt). And the wrap-around design meant it was easy to put on and remove while wearing clothes. How would it work just cooled in the refrigerator? So-so, producing about 45 minutes of cooling power. But only your mid torso is cooled, which isn’t as satisfying as a full vest. The Polar torso wrap is lightweight, convenient and hidden, but ultimately disappointing. One wonders if Polar Products, which has been in the cooling business for over 25 years and makes all varieties of vests, would have been more successful using phase change packs instead of those made of ice. UPDATE: Polar has announced to ActiveMSers that it will be offering this wrap with phase-change cooling. We commend this decision. A final test with an extra T-shirt did make the torso vest wearable in terms of temperature, but by the time it was concealed with a third T-shirt it all seemed beside the point. I was hot and uncomfortable with three layers in 90-degree sun (even though my abs and kidneys were chillin). For this mini vest to be successful, it has to be able to go directly against the skin and be something MSers can just quickly toss on when overheated. We are excited to see the evolution of this product. The ArcticHeat vest is one that I’ve worn for five years. I’ve promoted it for athletics due to its light weight, but recommended other vests for all-purpose use. This test bears that out. The vest just doesn’t have the lasting power for handling an afternoon of errands. I wondered, then, how much body heat generated during vigorous exercise (what it’s designed for) would affect its performance. The difference was noticeable, with the vest lasting about an hour to an hour and a half without being refreshed with a shot of ice water. A no-brainer for a quick run on the treadmill or exercise bike, but problematic for three-hour hikes. And your shirt likely will get damp if you are working up a sweat. Still, there is no better vest for exercise (we also like the evaporative cooling shirt from Fros-T). And it's one of the best looking vests on the market. The Glacier Tek phase change vest, which claims a constant 59 degrees of cooling and up to 2.5 hours of cooling, proved to be the ringer of this shootout. Not only was the vest cooler than claimed by Glacier Tek (it didn’t reach 59º until hour 6 of our controlled test), it also lasted longer (at least 3.5 hours). How refreshing! The Glacier Tek phase change vest handily bested every other cooling vest and wrap in ActiveMSers’ battery of tests. Was it really that good? I set about to retest the Glacier Tek in a wider variety of situations. It performed surprisingly decently in exercise testing despite its weight, but it was uncomfortable to wear lying down on your back (say for chest presses or certain stretches) and held in some sweat, resulting in a damp T-shirt. I also found the vest could be worn directly against the skin without issue—it was comfortable and fit snuggly. Finally, I tested the vest after the phase change packs had been charged only in the refrigerator (38º). The performance was remarkably similar to the frozen test, only losing at most about 10-20 percent of its power, making it extremely convenient and ideal for travel (especially when freezers are hard to find). In fact, we were able to charge the well-made, nontoxic/nonflammable phase change packs (a proprietary blend they call RCPM that is made of processed fats and oils) in less than 20 minutes in a slurry of ice water and salt. Is there an Achilles heel? Maybe. While promoted as “concealable,” the Glacier Tek vest would truly fit that category only if viewed at a distance by your half-blind grandmother. I wore it under a loose-fitting shirt to grocery shop on a 97-degree day. And while it didn’t scream for attention (nor did anyone scream in fear), it was clear on any inspection that my barrel chest and slight hump back were not normal. Avoid tight shirts, though, and most strangers probably won’t notice or, if they do, bother to care. Heck, I wore the vest to a 3-hour outdoor concert in 90-degree temps for its final test and not only did it stay cool the entire time, I had to tell my friends I was wearing the vest under my shirt. They actually didn't notice at first (one guy said he thought I had just bulked up in the last week). Based on our tests, ActiveMSers gives our highest recommendation to the phase change vests from Glacier Tek, the best all-purpose vest of our 2011 shootout. We now recommend phase change vests in general, which both Polar Products and ArcticHeat sell. Our findings also reinforce the findings of a 2007 cooling vest study with firefighters, which found phase change vests (these made, ahem, of flammable paraffin) outperformed ice vests and that “wearing ordinary [ice] cooling materials on T-shirts may lead to not only body overcooling but possibly frostbite.” Curiously, though, even this scientific study had flaws, as the temperature the ice packs were frozen to was not noted, a crucial omission.
While this test sheds light on how well certain types of cooling vests perform (and that I have a very pasty chest and may have more of a cold sensitivity than some), if they remain in your closet because you are too embarrassed to wear them, well, then they are of zero help. So buy what you'll wear and perhaps add a cooling neck wrap. And don't forget to use other free tools that are effective at lowering the core temperature: cold baths and iced slushies. Stay cool!
Still best for sports: ArcticHeat vest
Glacier Tek's vest under a baggy shirt
Is the Glacier Tek concealable? Sort of.
BONUS COVERAGE: Many more images of these vests, including those on a female model (my wife) are available to members of ActiveMSers onour private forum. Join today by signing upfor our newsletter.
