December 27, 2000


What do you think of personal air conditioning systems?

A few months ago I read a question to you from some poor soul that was interested in portable outdoor air conditioners for summer camping. The oddness of the question really stuck with me, so when I saw one in The Sharper Image catalog (where else?), I figured I had to let you know. It looks sort of like a piece of audio headgear, but you wear it around your neck like a necklace or bandana, and it blows cool air on your head; hot air too, if you go for the more expensive model. Now you've seen it all.

— Tom Bielavitz Portland, Oregon

Yup, I saw that too, not long after that question came up. I think I'd suggested something similar —- some sort of water spritzer, with a batter-powered fan, or even a hand fan. But the Sharper Image item is pretty high-tech -— it's called the Personal Cooling System, and is sort of a Buck Rogers-looking thing that fits around your neck. A little fan (powered by one AA batter) inside the device blows across a water reservoir; the resulting evaporative-cooling effect is transferred to your body via aluminum plates held against the neck. As the blood flows up and down the arteries and veins in the neck, it receives the benefit of the cooling. Pretty clever, and it ought to work at least a little (Sharper Image claims you'll feel 20 degrees cooler). Cost is $50. Another model includes a heating element, this takes C batteries and costs another $20.

One is tempted to roll on the floor, slap thighs, and laugh oneself sick. But there's no question that some people are sorely affected by heat. I can easily withstand 90 to 95 degrees when the humidity is fairly low, but absolutely wilt in the summer conditions found on the East Coast. I was backpacking in northeast Quebec last August for a travel story, and thought at one point that I was going to collapse on the trail, die, and be picked over by vultures. I mean, I was projectile sweating. So it might be that such a device would be useful in certain cases.

Or not. Pardon me while I roll on the floor and laugh myself sick...

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