What is the Veskimo Personal Cooling System and what does it do?

Who will benefit from using the Veskimo Personal Cooling System?

What makes the Veskimo Cooling Vest better than the other water-cooled garments on the market?

How do I fill or "recharge" the system?

How long will the ice last?

How long will the batteries last?

Won't this feel like pouring ice water on my skin?

How do I control the temperature or amount of cooling?

How do I make sure I order the right size vest?

How tight should the vest fit?

Why are there flaps (shirttails) at the bottom of the vest?

Can I wear a T-shirt underneath, or do the tubes have to touch my bare skin?

Can I wear clothing over the vest?

Isn't that hose coming from the vest a little large in diameter to fit under my jacket?

I wear one-piece racing leathers. How do I get the hoses to the outside?

Will the Veskimo Vest work with other companies' coolers?

Will the Veskimo Vest work with a HANS device?

What maintenance is required?

What is the warranty?

What is the return policy?

What are your shipping costs?

Why didn't my order go through?

What is the Veskimo Personal Cooling System and what does it do?
The Veskimo Personal Cooling System is composed of a lightweight Cooling Vest through which ice-chilled water is circulated from an insulated Backpack via a battery-powered pump. The backpack also serves as a source of chilled drinking water (hydration pack). The system provides the wearer relief from heat stress, even when worn under heavy, insulating clothing and is sure to appeal to a wide variety of people who work and play outdoors, for whom no other practical & effective personal cooling solution exists.

Who will benefit from using the Veskimo Personal Cooling System?
In general, anyone who works or plays in a hot environment, particularly those people who need to be mobile, active and unencumbered by a heavy or wet cooling garment. Some specific examples are:

Athletes of all types, including auto racers
Outdoor adventurers and tropical tourists
Motorcycle riders, especially those who wear jackets or full (racing) leathers
Bicycle riders, especially mountain bikers and long-distance riders
Construction and event workers, costumed mascots and security guards
Welders, coal miners, foundry workers and other "hot" occupations

What makes the Veskimo Cooling Vest better than the other water-cooled garments on the market?
As part of our product development process we have tested most of the competitors' offerings and strongly feel we have a vastly superior product in terms of cooling effectiveness, ease of use (particularly taking on/off), durability and value. All Veskimo Personal Cooling Products are Proudly Made in the U.S.A.  Please email us if you would like to discuss the comparisons in more detail.

How do I fill or "recharge" the system?
Simply open the zippered flap on the back of the backpack, release the quick-disconnect fitting on the hose and unscrew the fill cap. Then add four pounds of ice plus one pint of water. Screw the cap back on, reconnect the hose, close the flap and you are ready to go! You can use store-bought ice, home-made ice cubes or any form of ice that fits through the 3.5 inch diameter fill port. This photo shows the blue fill cap under the flap and this photo shows the fill port with the cap open. See the "Filling the Reservoir" section of our downloadable Backpack User Guide for additional details.

How long will the ice last?
The ice can last as long as four hours or more, or can melt in as little as 90 minutes in extreme cases. The actual duration depends on many factors which can be divided into two groups: How much "cold" you start with and how rapidly heat is absorbed.

It takes more heat to melt a pound of ice just removed from a deep freezer than a pound of ice that has been sitting out and is beginning to melt, thus the colder the ice you start with, the better. When you add water to that ice (which is necessary for circulation through the pump and vest), it "warms up" the ice, so adding only a minimal amount of the coldest water possible (ice water) is best.

More body heat is generated by a person rigorously exercising than at rest. More heat will be absorbed when the vest is worn tightly against bare skin as compared to loosely over a shirt. In addition, more heat is absorbed from the surrounding environment when the ambient temperature is high and there is nothing worn over the vest. This is why we recommend wearing a lightweight windbreaker-type jacket over the vest to minimize loss of cold to the atmosphere.

The heat absorbed by the water in the vest is in turn, absorbed by the ice, causing it to slowly melt. You will obtain the best cooling performance if you start with the coldest ice, the coldest and least amount of water and minimize your loss of "cold" to the atmosphere by wearing a lightweight garment over the vest.

How long will the batteries last?
The water circulation pump in the backpack can run for eight hours or more continuously on a fully charged set of batteries. If run intermittently, the total run time can be even longer. When required, the batteries can be easily changed by removing the quick-change Power Pack (see the "Changing the Batteries" section of our downloadable Backpack User Guide).

Won't this feel like pouring ice water on my skin?
No, not at all. When the water is circulating, the temperature inside the tubing is 32° F, but the outside of the tubing is approximately 60° F. There is a "temperature gradient" through the wall of the tubing which controls the heat transfer rate from your skin to the water. The 60° F tubes feel cool against your skin, not cold.

How do I control the temperature or amount of cooling?
Use the Power Switch on the backpack's left shoulder strap to turn the pump on & off as needed. See the Backpack Features for more detail. As a point of reference, the volume of water in the vest is cycled through the system approximately four times per minute when the pump is on.

How do I make sure I order the right size vest?
See How to Determine Your Correct Vest Size. If you do end up receiving a vest that is the wrong size, we will gladly exchange it for you. Please read our Return Policy to ensure you understand our conditions for a no-cost exchange.

How tight should the vest fit?
It is necessary for the tubes to be touching your skin (or a very thin garment against your skin) to take heat away. There is no cooling where they don't touch. Tension or "stretch" in the adjustable-length elastic straps on the sides of the vest cause the tubes to be pressed against your body. Adjust the straps so that as much of the tubing as possible is touching your skin, but not so tight that it feels uncomfortable or limits your movement. See the "Adjusting Your Vest" section of our downloadable Vest User Guide for information on adjusting the vest to fit you correctly.

Why are there flaps (shirttails) at the bottom of the vest?
These are designed to tuck into your pants to keep your vest securely in place during all of your work & play activities. Of course, you don't have to tuck them in if you don't want to.

Can I wear a T-shirt underneath, or do the tubes have to touch my bare skin?
You will get maximum cooling when the tubes are against your bare skin, but a thin T-shirt underneath is fine as long as you wear something else (another T-shirt or thicker) over the vest. Otherwise, you may cool the surrounding air more than you cool yourself. See the next FAQ for more information about wearing clothing over the vest.

Can I wear clothing over the vest?
Certainly! That's what it was designed for and how it works best. By placing a layer of clothing over the vest you insulate it and yourself from the surrounding air, thus keeping more of the cold inside to cool your body. We recommend that bicyclists wear at least a thin jersey over the vest. Leathers worn by motorcyclists are ideal.

Isn't that hose coming from the vest a little large in diameter to fit under my jacket?
Inside the sponge rubber insulation are eight 3/16" diameter tubes which when "flattened" lay nearly side-by-side, thus reducing the thickness of the bundle of hoses to about one-half of what you see. The sponge rubber insulation additionally ensures user comfort where the hoses exit from under your jacket.

I wear one-piece racing leathers. How do I get the hoses to the outside?
You will have to cut a "buttonhole" in your leathers at about waist level. An upholstery shop that makes leather seat covers can probably do this for you. The vertical slit should be about 2-1/4" high. On the inside, back up the slit with a 3" high by 1" wide piece of Velcro Loop (the soft part, not the scratchy) material. In winter, when not using the cooling vest, you can simply place a 3" x 1" piece of Velcro Hook material over the Velcro Loop piece before putting on your leathers to ensure that the slit stays shut. We can provide the pair of Velcro pieces with your order if you tell us you wear racing leathers.

Will the Veskimo Vest work with other companies' coolers?
If you are an auto racer and already have a chilled water supply but would like to use our vest, then yes, certainly that's possible. Please contact us to purchase the mating quick-disconnect fittings to adapt your chilled water supply to our vest. Simply remove the existing fittings from your chilled water supply source and replace with ours and you should be ready to go!

Will the Veskimo Vest work with a HANS device?
Yes, it should work fine. We purposely routed the tubes connecting the front of the vest to the back as close as possible to the neck and not on the tops of the shoulders so that a HANS device would not pinch the tubes closed.

What maintenance is required?
Only periodic cleaning of the water circulation system. See the “Care & Maintenance" section of the Vest User Guide and Backpack User Guide for more information.

What is the warranty?
One year on all materials and workmanship. See our Policies page for more details.

What is your return policy?
Full refund (less shipping) for returns of unused items within 30 days. Please read the entire Return Policy on our Policies page to ensure you understand our definition of use.

What are your shipping costs?
Please see our shipping rates on the Policies page.  You can see an estimate of shipping costs by viewing your cart. However, final shipping costs will be displayed on the Invoice you see before confirming your order.

Why didn't my order go through?
There could be a number of reasons: If you are outside the US, if your payment method was not approved, or for any other reason that may have prevented you from placing your order online, please contact us either by email or by phone, toll free at 877-MY-VESKIMO (877-698-3754). We will be happy to serve you.

How can I view the status of my order?
Go to the Customer Service page. Enter the Confirmation Number of the order whose status you wish to view and click Go!

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