Practitioners can take advantage of a variety of cooling vest options to stay safe and productive in various occupational settings. However, they need to understand how each works in order to select the best one for their unique needs.

Several cooling vests were evaluated using a whole-body thermal manikin, comparing their cooling capacities to the baseline clothing ensemble (Control). 

High-Visibility

A cooling vest with high visibility helps people in hot work environments stay visible to other workers, motorists and heavy equipment operators. This reduces the chance of serious accidents and injuries on the job.

Some safety cooling vest also have integrated hydration, making them ideal for long periods of activity in hot weather or conditions. Other cooling vests come with ice packs or circulatory cooling systems. These types of cooling vests provide more cooling power, but may be less effective for very hot weather and intense heat exposure.

Water-Based

Cooling vests that work with water are often worn by people who work in high-intensity occupations that involve physical stress or where the body’s natural cooling mechanisms are hindered. These include fire fighters, industrial workers, police officers and medical staff. They also are popular with sportspeople and people who suffer from medical conditions like multiple sclerosis that cause extreme heat sensitivity.

Circulatory Cooling Vests

Developed using technology from NASA, circulatory cooling vests and shirts work by circulating cool water through non-kink tubing that is wrapped around the user’s body. As the water passes through the vest, it removes heat from the wearer and then flows back to a reserve of cold water where it is automatically cooled before being re-circulated around the vest again.

These cooling vests are ideal for outdoor and indoor workers in hot environments, EMS, firefighters, welders, miner and construction workers. They can be worn with closed protective clothing and provide cooling for hours without requiring recharging or a bucket of water to refill.

Air-Based

Cools and dries quickly to help reduce heat stress without sacrificing mobility. This cooling safety vest can be worn in addition to protective clothing, and it doesn’t require any refrigeration or ice water to activate. It also automatically turns off when it is no longer needed to avoid overcooling.

This cooling safety vest features tubes incorporated into the fabric that carry cold water pumped with an electric pump. This water is then pumped over the body to cool it down. However, these cooling vests can be expensive to maintain since they often need to be refilled with ice after each use.

According to a recent study conducted on an artificial manikin, cooling capacities differed between different cooling vests and cooling concepts. The active air-cooled vest VRTX had the greatest cooling capacity followed by the three hybrid vest combinations (IH wet, IH with PCM inserts of different Tm, and IH with gel) and then the evaporative wet safety vests.

Customization

Cooling vests can be customized to fit different body types. They can also be screen printed with a company logo, which makes them an effective and affordable way to promote your business. This method of printing uses silk screens and ink to create a digital image of your logo on the cooling vest.

PCM based cooling vests use chemically bonded solids that dissolve in water to release a significant amount of cooling energy. They are more portable than ice, but can be heavier and do not last as long as a regular cooling vest.

Evaporative cooling vests are a more affordable option that use a special fabric material that interacts with water or crystals to absorb it, and then releases it over the body to reduce body temperature. These vests must be submerged in water for 3-5 minutes before wearing, and can be wrung out or blotted dry after use. They are lightweight and can be worn over protective clothing, making them ideal for use under HazMat suits.