I was thinking about how unbelievably miserable it must be for soldiers in combat there in Iraq, and having those bloody flak vests to boot.

I was wondering if the guys in Iraq use those cold pak thingees used to chill fresh fish to cool down in the field?  They're basically a water/ammonium nitrate gel which creates an endothermic chemical reaction (becomes cold) encased in plastic.

Iraq vets, active military personnel here, are these used in Iraq by our troops?  Maybe development of a specialized vest to cool down a soldier's core temperture might be a useful thing to stave off dehydration, heat exhaustion?

I've been sending Cool-Danas with every care package.  Those are the bandanas that you soak in water and wear around your neck.  I have received a few emails from the guys that got them and they say they really help.

We use them at my work all the time. We have vests that hold 3-4 on both the front and back of your torso, and they work very well.

Quoted: I was wondering if the guys in Iraq use those cold pak thingees used to chill fresh fish to cool down in the field?  They're basically a water/ammonium nitrate gel which creates an endothermic chemical reaction (becomes cold) encased in plastic. Iraq vets, active military personnel here, are these used in Iraq by our troops?  Maybe development of a specialized vest to cool down a soldier's core temperture might be a useful thing to stave off dehydration, heat exhaustion?

www.thermotux.com

prolyl not a bad idea, but i'd be worried abotu thme bursting under the weight. WE had our interceptors on underneath LBV's. putting the packs on the outside woudl make no sense, and under the plates, they'd likely squash.

I do have one of them cool dana things... they work pretty good.

Merkava (sp) tanks have A/C and a chilled water tank on board.

You would think they could figure a way to put a decent HVAC system in all but the most bare-bones vehicles.