[Steve91T]

Sometimes I like to reinvent the wheel, I don't know why.

So I hate being hot. Worst thing is wearing a helmet where I can't feel air on my face. I can't imagine what it's going to be like with a full racing suit. So my plan is to buy a G Force helmet with an air hose attachment and my wife can make a shirt with fish tank hose running through it.

I then want to mount a removable cooler of some sort in the car with a drain valve. I'm going to use the windshield washer pump as the water pump for the shirt.

So, another idea I have is instead of ducting air hot air from outside, I'm was thing I'd rather have cold air go through my helmet. I'm going to mount a small fan on the side of the cooler, pulling air from inside the car, through the cooler, then suffer through my helmet. I imagine sitting in the car staging, everyone else will be roasting, and i can flip a switch and be comfortable. I'm pretty sure I can make this whole set up for very little. I would image just a few lbs of ice and water would last the length of a race.

What do you guys use and how well do they work? What about weight?

[mesospeedy]

You could just make a shirt with some slots sewn on to it and then just get some of those re freezable cooler pouches or similar to put in before you start the race. They won't melt completely in a short CMC race. Probably wouldn't even have to be completely frozen. If you use it for an endurance race though, they might melt and the water will get hot.....not comfortable! Years ago they gave us some kind of military vest thing to try on the race crew. It had freezer pouches that went in pockets all around it to go under the fire suit. I can't elaborate on the design though, I wasn't working the particular race this happened at, just got a rundown from the other guys. They said it was great for a short time but if you didn't change the pouches when the started warming it would get unbearably hot! Just a thought, I'm sure a redneck version could be fabed up on the cheap.

[CrashTestDummy]

You could just make a shirt with some slots sewn on to it and then just get some of those re freezable cooler pouches or similar to put in before you start the race. They won't melt completely in a short CMC race. Probably wouldn't even have to be completely frozen. If you use it for an endurance race though, they might melt and the water will get hot.....not comfortable! Years ago they gave us some kind of military vest thing to try on the race crew. It had freezer pouches that went in pockets all around it to go under the fire suit. I can't elaborate on the design though, I wasn't working the particular race this happened at, just got a rundown from the other guys. They said it was great for a short time but if you didn't change the pouches when the started warming it would get unbearably hot! Just a thought, I'm sure a redneck version could be fabed up on the cheap.

We use the freezable cooling packs a lot. My wife works at a hospital, and they throw the things out by the bucketful. We have all sorts of sizes and shapes. The freezer in our garage is completely full of them. When we autocross, we use the thin but wide ones. They go behind the driver, and work wonderfully for the minute, or so you're behind the wheel. For our LeMons races, where we'll be driving for an hour or so, we use the largest ones that will fit in the pockets of our firesuits. They also help wedge us into seats that are usually too big (for me, at least). Those do a nice job unless it's oppressively-hot outside. We will also throw a couple at the driver when they first get out of their car and get their suit off. They help cool the driver down.

They are also good for first-aid, when we get overheated drivers at our autocross events. It gets terribly hot and humid in Southeast Texas, and we occasionally get drivers who haven't stayed hydrated and are doing stressful stuff like changing tires and such. Put one under each armpit, between the legs (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) and on the bottoms of the feet, and you can cool someone down quickly.

Oh yeah, and they're great for keeping your food and water cool and not have everything floating around in a pool of water.