are you in direct contact with the water?
I wear the vest over the Under Armor Heat Gear T-shirt; so, yes and no. The vest isn't directly against my skin (although some are designed to be worn against your skin, the one I have isn't) but eventually the T-shirt will get damp.
Yes. You will get wet. Buddy of mine had one, worked great. Not something he could wear with work clothes though...
I never put mine on because I didn't want to get wet (actually, damp). Turns out I was wet at the end of every session anyway
That's the reason I use the Under Armor T-shirt. Even though it gets damp, it never feels yucky like a cotton T-shirt will when damp. The other advantage of the Under Armor Heat Gear shirt is that it doesn't look wet. I've gone into restaurants and such and no one knew anything was out of the ordinary.
this brings up a good point. once you start sweating it does the same thing as this vest IF you have the right kind of clothing on. I bought some BMW full body stuff that in 100 deg heat feels cold while riding with leathers.
You are right; the cooling vest just takes it to the next level. For one thing, you don't have to get hot & sweaty before it starts to work; it prevents you from getting hot. They also have a long sleeve version of the vest but they don't recommend using it unless the temps are above 90F because it might reduce your core temp too much (so they say anyway).
I carry a zip-lock bag with me on long days. If the vest gets too dry to work, I simply beg some water somewhere, put the vest and some water in the bag and within a couple of minutes it's ready to go again. I find it to work for about 5 to 6 hours before I recharge.
