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Refrigerated Undershirt

For when you have to wear heavy clothing on a hot day
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I am rarely obliged to wear a suit in the normal course of my life and work. When I am obliged to dress more formally --- say, to a wedding on a brilliantly sunny June day --- I notice that the thing is MADE OF WOOL and that it's HOT. I propose a refrigerated undergarment. The undergarment would be a network of fine tubes that can be worn under the clothing, against the skin. A liquid with good heat-carrying capacity but low viscosity (so it can be pumped through the tiny tubes) will be pumped from a cooling pack on my belt, through the tiny tubes, and back to my belt. The tubes can either form the evaporator half of a conventional heat pump, or they can just carry my body heat to the cold side of e.g. a Peltier-effect cooler. Hopefully the other guests will be polite enough not to comment on the gurgling and/or whirring noises I make.

(There are few places on men's clothing with enough space to stash a bit of machinery. The belt, while traditional for gadgets, isn't really that good a place. Other possibilities include:
- in the soles of shoes. This means you will have to wear platform shoes with your suit.
- under your arm. People will wonder if you are an FBI agent with a shoulder holster.
- between your thighs. People will wonder why you are wearing a codpiece to a wedding.
- in a hat, with a quick-disconnect. You will have to disconnect the system when you go indoors, but hopefully the indoors will be air conditioned. Unfortunately the tube from the hat to the rest of the system will be visible.)

wiml, May 01 2001

Try these guys. http://www.glaciertek.com/cooling.htm
"without fear of frostbite." [angel, May 01 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004]

F1 have 'em http://www.atlasf1....eb14/grapevine.html
Baked (at a v low temperature) [al, May 01 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004]

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       If you put the pump in the shoes, then the pump can be powered by your steps. A couple check valves, and each step will send cooling relief through the network of tubes!   

       The only bad part about that is that when you have to stand in one place (like when you pose for the wedding photos) you will have to shift your weight from foot to foot.
mwburden, May 01 2001
  

       I would think you would need to vent waste heat somewhere. An Abe Lincoln Fashion Line top-hat cooling tower would be ideal, but of course may not fit in with the rest of your wardrobe.   

       You know, if the ceremony doesn't last too long you may get by with a shapely lump of ice (in a watertight flexible bag) pre-frozen into your cummerbund; then all you need to do is circulate water through your tubing by the action of your heel-pumps. It would certainly do to prototype the concept, I think.
Dog Ed, May 01 2001
  

       This isn't just for men -- Ladies who want to keep up that "perky" look can now do so in style.
BierGuzzl, May 01 2001
  

       A ribbed tank would work well to discreetly locate the tubes. As for not having space for the pump, I think my jackets have large enough pockets, although the shoe-pump is a good idea, too.
nick_n_uit, May 02 2001
  

       Pockets are large enough, but I think it would produce a noticeable and unsightly bulge.
wiml, May 02 2001
  

       And of course, if you want receive cooling drafts while attending a wedding, you can't go wrong with a Kilt, especially worn as a True Scotsman(tm) would.
mcscotland, May 02 2001
  

       Is there a way of using a slow delivery of dry ice (frozen CO2) or liquid nitrogen?   

       What about a slow release of compressed gas, which also has 0% humidity? How could we do it?
gz, May 03 2001
  

       I nursed a woman with the opposite: feeling cold, despite the heat. The cure was adjusting the potassium levels in her diet - something to do with thyroid problems.   

       Are there medical drugs to give the feeling of 'cool' desspite hot temperatures? I have brain injury, so even though it is normal temperature, I feel the air is too hot. Conversely, I cannot feel the cold weather.
gz, May 03 2001
  

       astronaughts use somthing like that
vivaelryan, Apr 26 2002
  

       mwburden: There's a product called "Whoopie Slippers" that do something similar. I wanted a pair when i was a little kid, but didn't get any...oh well. I'm flat-footed, so I make raspberrys walking barefooted on hardwood floors anyway.
Eugene, Oct 05 2003
  
      
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