The story of how the cooling vest developed by Chemoner was adopted by the US military
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Travis, who has completed 14 years of military service, wears a character costume called 'Struff' that combines the characteristics of snow leopards, tigers, wolves, etc., and is active in the furry fandom who rides motorcycles and skis. . Furry Fandom is a group of fans who like to wear beast costumes and become characters themselves, among the people called chemoners in Japan. Overseas media The Daily Beast reports that the cooling vest developed by such a chemer is now being used by some US military.
How a Cooling Vest Invented by a Furry Made Its Way Into the US Military
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-a-cooling-vest-invented-by-a-furry-made-its-way-into-the-us-military
Furry fandom activities are not always comfortable, wearing costumes and doing activities. The reason for this is that in many cases it is hot inside the costume, and the activity location is often outdoors in the sun. Furry Fandom costumes are also covered with fur, so they retain more heat than normal ones. Therefore, when wearing a costume, there are cases where a specially designed cooling vest with a liquid pack is used to cool the wearer's body. Such a cooling vest is said to be ``a blessing itself'' for the wearer of the costume.
Travis also wears a Dutch cooling vest called EZ Cooldown . Mr. Travis first purchased a cooling vest around 2012, and it seems that he started using EZ Cooldown in the latter half of 2014. Travis says of EZ Cooldown, ``Wearing a costume raises the core temperature of the body considerably, so wearing a cooling vest makes a big difference.''
During his military service, Mr. Travis was in charge of maintenance and repair of small arms such as the Mk19 automatic grenade gun at McCord Air Force Base in Iraq and Washington State. A person who is Mr. Travis said he had the opportunity to attend a military ceremony, but since he had already retired at that time, he could not wear a military uniform, and the military advised him to 'wear something else.' It seems that it was taken. Therefore, Mr. Travis attended the ceremony wearing a Struff costume and was widely spread on SNS.
Mr. Travis said that he often wore EZ Cooldown during his military service and participated in daily work and training exercises.
The developer of this EZ Cooldown is Pepeyn Langedijk from the Netherlands. Langedijk is also a furry who wears a costume called 'EZ Wolf'. Like many enthusiasts, Langedijk has succeeded in producing EZ Cooldown by remodeling military cooling vests, worrying about the low comfort of the costume. According to Langedijk, EZ Cooldown has sold more than 1000 units in 2018, and about 80% of sales are said to come from American customers.
Langedijk says that although there is no formal contract, some US Navy units stationed in Japan made inquiries about EZ Cooldown in 2018 and asked if shipping to the base was possible. Although a formal contract with the military was never reached, the US Navy eventually purchased 10 EZ Cooldowns. In addition, Mr. Langedijk's friend bought 20 first and then 30 later. It is unknown where and how the US Marines learned about EZ Cooldown.
The U.S. Navy did not respond to The Daily Beast's request for comment, but a spokesperson said, 'Soldiers are permitted to purchase and wear cooling vests on a personal basis.'
In an interview with CNN in 2012, Langedijk said he first noticed military soldiers using what they called 'phase change cooling vests.' A spokesperson for the Army Equipment Division said the cooling vest is intended for soldiers working inside armored vehicles such as tanks in hot environments such as deserts. Phase change cooling vests have the problems of 'requiring their own portable power supply' and 'bulky'. However, the phase change cooling vest can effectively cool the wearer's body by circulating the coolant.
Langedijk is a professional photographer who takes videos of cosplayers. He thought that using a phase change cooling vest would help performers stay cool for longer periods of time, which would be useful for their work. However, phase-change cooling vests were military-grade, bulky, heavy, and 'too clumsy to wear under a costume.' So Langedijk says he decided to create his own cooling pack vest. Langedijk explains that by placing a pocket for a cooling pack in the waist of the back of the vest and a high chest position, the wearer's body can be cooled efficiently.
And Mr. Langedijk released his own cooling vest in the event 'Eurofurence' for Farley in 2013. After that, it seems that many furries soon began to describe EZ Cooldown as a game changer! EZ Cooldown is not the largest cooling vest manufacturer on the market, but it seems to be the only cooling vest manufacturer operated by Farley, Langedijk said, ``The trust of the community has helped a lot.''
In addition, EZ Cooldown has attracted attention from communities other than furry, and has provided cooling vests to several celebrities, such as
According to Langedijk, EZ Cooldown is loved by various users such as roofers, miners, marine miners, surgeons, game testers, pet owners, and mascots appearing at sporting events. 'We can't even imagine all the uses for the best,' says Langedijk.
by Julian Hodgson
Langedijk predicts EZ Cooldown's business will continue to grow, saying, 'People living in temperate climates like Scandinavia are most interested in vests. Europe is suffering from a severe heat wave. It's the second year in a row that we've been hit,' he said, adding that climate change will spur demand for EZ Cooldown.
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in Hardware, Posted by logu_ii