body armor and heat

Just a thought here on heat and armor.

I have worn some different forms of body armor before. A lot different than what we use today. And while today's is lighter and stronger they both have the same problem. Heat.
They act as insulation and trap excess body heat. This can lead to overheating and heat prostration if not carefully monitored and factured in.
Hydrating is the key and drinking lot's of fluids helps while on patrol. But should you need to 'spring into action', how long can you excert yourself before over heating while wearing your gimick and armor?
Also remember the added weight. My entire outfit adds about thirty pounds to my weight not counting weaponry. While this dos'ent seem like much, it can add to the problem. While many of us from the military caried much more weight into battle, (I used to carry amost sixty pounds of stuff) we also dropped most of it off when the shooting started.
I think Adam mentioned that SCA contestants can only "fight" for about 15 minutes in cool weather. It's it's very warm or downright hot you may have to consider doing either shorter patrols or taking fluid breaks where you can ventilate as well. (remove some stuff to help cool down)
While I will be doing some limited patroling from time to time. My overall stratagies are different than that so my outfit was designed to allow a couple of hours wear at low action. Low action = less generation of heat. And action or fighting time of about 15 to 20 minutes. Remember that most fights last between leass than a minute to four minutes. Any longer and you might have problems.
Fifteen minutes gives me time to fight, (or whatever) and then do clean-up, interegation, investigation and clear the scene.
Of course this time period is lengthened by cooler or winter weather. For instance, mine will work best in wet rainey weather for both heat management and camoflauge. (hat and long coat) And in Vancouver we get lots of just that.

any thoughts?

Ive used blue ice packs to cool mysefl when in costume. Like Superman said, you place it on the small of your back and it wicks the heat away.

Also, you can purchase or build a cooling vest. These are used by anyone from firefighters to mascots to keep their bodies cool under layers of heavy cloth. They usually last for a couple hours and keep you nice and cool (like air conditioning for your body)

Certain perforated armor and alternative materials used could help too, which can vary depending what you're going up against. Let me know if you're still having issues, perhaps I'll start some armor development? Heheh. :-)

Try looking into this:

http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/personal_neck_cooling_system.php

My wife and I have done Scarborough Faire in Texas for many years. As it runs from April to Memorial Day, the heat can get brutal, especially when wearing period-16th Century European costuming.

The item above is one of the few things that is unobtrusive, requires little power (a single AA battery), and can be started at any time.

Hope that helps.

The Librarian

Thanatos,

First off, you're in Canada? Why would you be worried about heat? lol

Anyway, if drinking the recommended amount of water daily, this is something that wouldn't be too big of a problem.