TechNiche Evaporative Cooling Sport Vest, Powered by HyperKewl

I am pleased with the quality. It is substantial, not flimsy, and appears to be well made. I ordered the XL, which is what I normally wear in a T-shirt, and I find the vest to be true to size (my chest measures 44"). I am short (5') so the length hits about hip level on me. The lime green color is easy to see at night, which I consider a nice safety feature. Once saturated, this vest is a little heavy and hard to wring out, so it will drip, and you will get wet. I think it would help to run it through a rinse/spin cycle in the washing machine to help with this issue, but you wouldn't be able to do that if you weren't near a washing machine. It definitely works better at cooling if there is a breeze. I use mine while walking; if you are on a bike you'll get more air movement, even if there is no wind. I am in AZ, so even at night, the temps can be in the 90's, however, humidity is pretty low. I'm not sure how well this would work in a humid climate. I have some of those neck coolers with gel beads that swell up when soaked, and I was using them prior to getting this vest. The vest does not puff up like the neck coolers do, and that is a good thing. Overall, a good product for my purposes.

I purchased this for a late August Seattle to San Diego ride via the eastern Oregon desert and then through CA's central valley. The temps got as high as 116 degrees (in Studio City, while stuck in traffic on the 101... had to bail to a subdivision near Burbank to cool down!), and it stayed above 100 degrees across the central valley. This vest is what made riding in such hot temps with full Motoport mesh gear possible. Soak it, then put it on... if it's really hot don't wring it at all. It lasts for two to three hours in really hot temps, a little longer when it's a cool 90 degrees. I also use a tank-bag mounted Camelback bladder, so I can sip water while I ride... and you can 'refresh' the vest by taking a mouthful of water and then letting it dribble out and down your neck inside the jacket. Yeah, it's gross, but feels so good when it's really HOT and you've been riding for a ways.Definitely worth buying if you plan on traveling in high 80s or hotter weather.

The vest has good cooling but, on my motorcycle it is not as effective as it could be due to the full fairing on my bike. The vest needs periodic rewetting or it begins to make the wearer feel too warm. Soaking the vest is a consideration the user must allow time for. It does not happen quickly. I found the vest would drip down onto my pants once I had it on. I would recommend it to a friend with the caveats explained above. Works better on an unfaired bike.

I have found this vest to be very effective in the heat of our Texas summer weather. I have a medical condition which causes me to adversely react to extreme heat and sunshine while working outdoors. I have found that with one wetting of this it vest will keep me cool and preserve my energy level for two to three hours without any problems regardless of the high temperature. I think it will also be very effective for riding my motorcycle in the heat. My only criticism is that I believe there could be a bit more effective absorbent material inside the vest to retain the moisture level of the vest for a longer period of time.

Worked great this last weekend in Northern California. 108 degrees!! Soaked in plastic bag with water and ice. Then worn for 80 miles in very hot dry (20% humidity) and vest kept me cool. Used a mesh Moto jacket. I'm 5'-11", 198lbs with a little potbelly. Size Large was perfect over a t-shirt. Be sure you buy the one with smaller "diamonds" sewn into the fabric. This vest does not have pockets like other models. Worth it if you ride in hot weather!

I walk for an hour in Florida. If I soak it in cold water...it works perfectly and suits my needs smoky. If one were working hard outside, all day, I'd suggest resoaking every couple of hours. Before, I could not walk in the heat of the day. Now I can.

Excellent product. I have lupus with heat intolerance and this helps me be able to stay outdooes in normally too hot of weather and works great riding on the back of a motorcycle. I wear it while push mowing the yard but mainly got it to help keep my body core temp cooler while riding on the back of my boyfriend's motorcycle. It works by soaing the vest, wring out the excess water a tad and it slowly evaporates while helping to cool. It works best with a slight or big breeze. It does not do well in humidity. If the air is humid, it wont work or barely cool you. I give it a thumbs up. If it evapirates after a bit, you will have to have water to resoak it with.

We bought two of these for our motorcycle trip to Sturgis this year. The hottest weather we had was in Washington between Yakima and Clarkston. We soaked the vests in Yakima and rode for 4-5 hours in 95 -102 degree heat and they kept us cool under our leather jackets the whole way without re-wetting. I would have been drained riding for this long in this heat, but at the end of the day I felt fine. I highly recommend this product for riding in hot weather. For the rest of the trip we kept them wet and stored in large zip-lock bags so they would be ready to use at any time but we didn't need them.