Miracool review

In an apparent bid to help the cap and trade proponents pass their tax bill, God has cursed Texas with unusually hot weather the last 10 days (OMG, Texan broke both the politics and religion rules in the very first sentence - don't take the bait.) We've had temperatures over 104 every day for more than a week.

I bought a Miracool vest on ebay last week and it arrived a few days ago. Just two days ago I went out without the Miracool on my ZX14 and after 30 minutes, my shirt was soaked with sweat under my gear. Today, I decided to try the Miracool.

The instructions said to soak the vest for 20 minutes in cool water, so naturally I ran it under the faucet for 8 seconds until it seemed wet. Then I wringed it out and draped it over an underarmour shirt. I put on my Revit Turbine (pseudo-mesh) jacket and took off for a ride. This time I took my Honda Shadow. The Honda is completely naked and I knew I would get full air flow. Plus, I hadn't ridden it in a while and it appeared in need of a good ride.

The temperature was 103 when I went out at 5:30pm. Our typical high this time of year would be low 90s. For those of you who have never been blessed with riding in oven temperatures, here is the truth: If your shield is open even a little bit, your face starts to hurt from the heat blast. It is seriously cooler to keep the shield completely closed.

I noticed a chilling effect on my chest and back as soon as I took off. It was a strange sensation, almost a bit electric - not like a wet shirt, but definitely cooling. After 30 minutes on the bike, I noticed the cooling effect less on my chest, but still on my back. I wondered if the vest was drying out, or if my body was getting accustomed to the feeling.

When I returned home after an hour, I was not overheated. I was still comfortable and could have easily kept riding for a long time, but my wife had promised t-bones on the grill, so I had to get home. When I returned the Miracool was almost dry.

So, I decided to soak it in the sink for 20 minutes. Amazingly, after a few minutes it soaked up water into the vest. My wife felt it and noticed that the stuff in the vest that absorbs the water appeared to be the same stuff that keeps your baby's pampers from leaking.

Final verdict - well worth the money and a better way to ride when temperatures climb above tolerable. Alternatively, you can stuff a wet diaper under your jacket.

Bonus! The Village People endorse Miracool.

I like mine and have sung the praises here for a couple of years. They work best when fully hydrated. I've ridden mine for two days+ before rehydrating on a long road trip.

madmike2 said:

I like mine and have sung the praises here for a couple of years. They work best when fully hydrated. I've ridden mine for two days+ before rehydrating on a long road trip.

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How do you pack a wet vest like that when you travel?? I'm getting less and less tolerant of the heat these days these look like a good option.

rickcorwn said:

madmike2 said:

I like mine and have sung the praises here for a couple of years. They work best when fully hydrated. I've ridden mine for two days+ before rehydrating on a long road trip.

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How do you pack a wet vest like that when you travel?? I'm getting less and less tolerant of the heat these days these look like a good option.

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Actually, unless I need it, I leave home with it dry and carry a large plastic bag. When I need to hydrate the vest I find a water source and wait for the vest to soak up the water before putting it on.

If I have it hydrated I'll wrap it in a plastic can liner and put it in the top case or use a bungie cargo net and carry it on my top case rack or on top of one of the side cases.

haha. this brings me back to the days of my grandmother draping a wet towel over a fan and calling it AC. Methinks I will have to invest in one to survive this oppressive texas heat.

Regards,

davy

Ordered the vest and a hat last week... the heat is really getting to me this year.. think I'm going to try it on the golf course also....

Ride safe... Hamie

Word of warning....do not, I repeat do not leave a damp vest locked in your side case for a week. It can get ugly.

I think I'll get one. Everyone who has and used them loves them, and at 35 USD it's affordable.

I'd go for the quality one at TuffRhino, for $29 plus shipping. I recently bought one on eBay and it was defective, but after a string of emails to the seller, I may finally get some resolution, hopefully in time to use it this summer....

I sometimes leave home in the middle of the night, and want to wait to don my miracool later an hour or two after sunrise.

I leave my vest in a large bowl of water overnight (I leave it in there pretty much all the time when storing it at home) and then pack it into a gallon size zip lock bag (the real name brand zip lock) which I put into a hard bag. Works OK for me.

let's ride safe and be careful out there,

Mike in Nawlins'

Patriot said:

pack it into a gallon size zip lock bag (the real name brand zip lock) which I put into a hard bag.

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Would the Ziploc bag be big enough to hydrate the vest in, as in packing it dry, then later just filling the bag with water and letting it soak for a few minutes?

Toecutter said:

Would the Ziploc bag be big enough to hydrate the vest in, as in packing it dry, then later just filling the bag with water and letting it soak for a few minutes?

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Thats what I do. Fill the bag, zip it up.. drain and roll out excess. Done.

Oh, btw, thanks to Ceddec for the reminder. I charged mine up yesterday morning to get it ready for use, then didn't use it. Sitting here this morning thinking.. theirs something I forgot to do.

Vest is now in the bathroom drying out.

Toecutter said:

I'd go for the quality one at TuffRhino, for $29 plus shipping.

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Yes, Bob, that's the one I have.

Would the Ziploc bag be big enough to hydrate the vest in, as in packing it dry, then later just filling the bag with water and letting it soak for a few minutes?

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I've used a gallon sized bag but the MiraCool is too large and "hangs over". It would work for hydrating the liner but not for storing it. That's why I carry a can liner with me should I need to wrap the vest for storage.

ceddec Posted Jun 28 2009, 05:38 AMWord of warning....do not, I repeat do not leave a damp vest locked in your side case for a week. It can get ugly.

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Absolutely correct! Moist and warm are extremely conducive to bad things growing on your vest and odiferous emanations upon opening the storage bag.

Eewwwwww!

I'm going to go against the grain on this one. I bought one last year for my 6500 mile trip through desert, mountains, cool valleys -- you get the idea. One of the appealing aspects was it was larger and adjustable for us "plus-size" guys.

I soaked that puppy up good and it exploded like a nightmare diaper from my child-raising years. It didn't fit well under my jacket when thick and wet. And then I threw it on top of my large moto-fizz bag to dry out when the temps cooled down.... three days later I still had this big, wet diaper with velcro straps that kept wanting to stick to everything. I'd flip the top over on the moto fizz with that big beige water balloon on it, and hear a big wet "thwap" mocking sound each time I opened the bag. I finally got the thing to dry out and it got thrown in a corner somewhere in my garage when I got home. I was going to throw it away during the trip and save space, but didn't have the gumption to throw away gear I used once. I went through Utah and Highway 50 in Nevada in August, and sweltered rather than rehydrate the devil's diaper.

Maybe if I only soaked it for a few minutes my results would vary. But I won't be pulling it out again this year.

Yep...they're big...but that was the least of my worries when riding I-80 from Sacramento to Steamboat Springs CO last year. Or Sacramento-Caldwell ID-Stanley ID-Craters N.P.-Yellowstone the year before.

They are bulky to store when fully hydrated BUT I can commute or ride for 3 days with the MiraCool when my older hydration liner will last 30 minutes.

Of course, I have plenty of room under my CyclePort gear.

ShinyPartsUp said:

But I won't be pulling it out again this year.

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Sell it to somebody here, and avoid them sending more of their money to China by buying a new one....

I don't imagine they'd work very well in areas of high humidity, but out here, I've had some good results with my old Joe Rocket Sahara, except it kinda shrunk up and no longer fits so good, even though I'm lighter than when I first bought it

madmike2 said:

Yep...they're big...but that was the least of my worries when riding I-80 from Sacramento to Steamboat Springs CO last year. Or Sacramento-Caldwell ID-Stanley ID-Craters N.P.-Yellowstone the year before.
They are bulky to store when fully hydrated BUT I can commute or ride for 3 days with the MiraCool when my older hydration liner will last 30 minutes.

Of course, I have plenty of room under my CyclePort gear.

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Bastage mentioning my lack of extra wiggle room

My trip was Crater, Hells Canyon, Southern idaho, Yellowstone, Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, CO, Utah, NV, and home. Pulled it out in the high desert of Oregon and that was that...

Maybe I'll try again this year after losing 35 pounds and some of my man-boobs. If I can find the shriveled thing in the corner somewhere (assuming mice didn't make it nest material over the winter). Or maybe pass it forward to a forum member.... but right now it's low on the long to-do list I'm avoiding this morning by hanging out with all you guys and gals.

Yeah unfortunately here in the midwest with 120% humidity they don't work all that well.

I do carry the around the neck ones with me, and they help, but I can't see wearing one around here. Maybe out in the desert.

Renegade said:

Yeah unfortunately here in the midwest with 120% humidity they don't work all that well.

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Yeah...I was in GA and FL in the sevice, humidity just isn't "my thing".

On my lovely ride from Cortez CO-across southern UT to Ely NV for the night then Ely to Sacramento last year: Priceless.

These things rock while riding in the desert...and...the Central Valley of CA is a desert-like area except for the irrigated farmland. Ask anyone whose ridden the I-5 corridor from Bakersfield to Redding/Shasta.