Hydrogel Cooling Vests

one type of hydrogel vest

compiled from several sources

High-tech gear to help hikers stay cool in too-hot environments is here. Vests, towels, neck wraps and more are available.

These go beyond soaking your shirt or draping a wet towel around your shoulders, although some do work on the same evaporative principle. Others have pockets where you insert ice packs. Some of the products use batteries to actively circulate cool air, liquid or gel.

Medical uses of vests and pads have been known for a number of years. Multiple sclerosis sufferers often qualify for cooling vests to be provided to them. Pads for reducing fever, easing pain, cooling wounds or blisters are readily available.

Hydrogel evaporative vests often use Super Absorbent Polymer (SAP) technology, provide hours of relief by soaking them in water which then slowly evaporates to cool the body. These vests are lightweight and re-soakable on the trail. They can be washed numerous times and the cooling effect may last up to 72 hours. Some vests are helpful in temperatures as high as 104° F and 90% humidity, but they do work best in lower humidity since they cool by evaporation.

Athletes such as the Australian cycling team already make use of these garments. They are considered good safety equipment for construction crews in hot climates.

The vests are available in a variety of designs, and generally get good reviews from users.

On a personal note, with one of these, I might have been able to complete the Indiana hike I tried several years ago when I tried to take my early-spring-season-adjusted body to the 90+ degrees of southern Indiana without any acclimation. On the other hand, it seems a bit too artificial to really appeal to me.

for options just search for hydrogel cooling vests for athletes.


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Michigan Tech Designs Human Powered Trail Wheelchair

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based on a news article at Michigan Tech News

A student team at Michigan Tech University has designed a wheelchair that can navigate uneven ground, climb 28 degree slopes, and be taken safely downhill as well.

The chair is geared similar to a bicycle, and is propelled with a rowing motion by the user. The projects John Beard, team sponsor, and his students have seek to create vehicles that the disabled can use on natural surfaces.

Issues addressed by the designers are ease of getting in and out, weight of the chair, stability, and comfort of the seat and harness. Other features include one-way bearings to prevent rollback, a suspension seat to minimize pressure points, and adaptability for different sized users. The team stayed within the $3000 budget.

Josh Dorr, an engineering student who worked on the project said, "It could be produced more cheaply, and it would work for getting people out hiking, hunting and fishing."

See Grand Rapids Man Builds Ski Wheelchair
See Strong Arms, High Speed
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Are e-Readers the Next Hot Outdoor Gift?

Kindle reader

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from a news release of the Outdoor Industry Association

The Outdoor Industry Association believes that the electronic reader may become the hot holiday gift for outdoor lovers.

In July, Forrester Research predicted the number of e-book users in the United States would grow from approximately 1 million to 13 million by 2013, as prices drop from the current $250 to $400 range to the $99 price point.

Amazon's Kindle has led the field, but Barnes & Noble, Sony, and the new Spring Design are not far behind. Other large electronics names are likely to enter the market, which will help drive prices down.

Even with the battery, readers generally weigh less than 3/4 of a pound. Of the 136,000 books available for Kindle, there are 1,452 with outdoor and nature titles. Another 364 are available on water sports, 154 on mountaineering and102 on winter sports, according to Amazon.com. Titles include several hiking guides, such as “The Ultralight Backpacker: The Complete Guide to Simplicity and Comfort on the Trail” by Ryel Kestenbaum. The digital price is even less expensive than the paperback.

With a more rugged case, and the availability of maps, the e-reader could easily go to the woods.

E-books have the same potential as the iPod to shape outerwear and pack design in coming years. Amazon has contacted outdoor brands to encourage them to develop Kindle 2 accessories. This year Patagonia began shipping a water-resistant nylon case for the Kindle 2.

College bookstore managers expect that e-books will become standard issue at universities over the next five years. and JanSport research suspects that this will influence backpack design, although the standard daypack design will probably persist because college kids carry so much more than books in their daypacks.
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Days of wooden skis required lots of prep time

The following is an excerpt from a story which we believe is worthy of reading, but would lose too much of its charm if it were re-written for presentation on this blog. Please link through for the rest of the story, but hurry back! ... Editor

by Howard Meyerson

I was on my way out of a local outdoors store over the holidays when I saw a sight I hadn't seen in years: A guy at the counter with a pair of wooden cross country skis.

This wasn't someone looking for an antique appraisal or a spiffy way to affix them over the fireplace. It was actually someone coming in for a pine tar job.

"Nooo," I said in disbelief.

"Yeah," the manager said. "He's probably the eighth this season."

"Nooo," I said again, hardly believing it, but secretly pleased to know wood boards still have their fans.

I too have a pair of wooden skis, a set of Norwegian-made Gresshoppa Finese, though they hardly see daylight...

finish the story at The Grand Rapids Press - see FAIR USE notice.


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Blast Match Fire Starter

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Consider Clothing that Can't Get Wet

The new fabric strongly repels water thanks to nanoscale filaments with a spiky structure (Image: University of Zurich/Wiley Vch)

from a news release of New Scientist, "Nanotech clothing fabric 'never gets wet'", by Jon Evans, Nov 24, 2008

A new waterproof fabric developed in Switzerland just can't get wet! It is the most water repellant material that is suitable for clothing that has ever been created.

The fabric is made of polyester fibers coated with millions of tiny silicone filaments. Drops of water retain their spherical shape and cannot penetrate. If the surface of the fabric is tilted to only two degrees, the water rolls off. Even shooting water under pressure at the fabric can't make it get wet; the water just bounces.

Stefan Seeger at the University of Zurich says the spiky silicone nanofilament layer is the secret. The material is chemically hydrophobic, and the spiky structure strengthens the effect.

As is often the case, science is imitating nature. A similar structure is what keeps the surface of Lotus leaves dry. And the layer of air trapped in the nanofilaments is similar to the method used by some insects and spiders to trap air for underwater survival.

This air layer also suggests uses such as athletic swimwear since it also causes the fabric to have reduced drag.

"Although the textiles did show some degradation in the mechanical abrasion tests, their performance was very impressive," Seeger says. "The era of self-cleaning clothes may be closer than we think."

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Another Powerful Idea for Your Clothes

Can you imagine that your shirt might be able to power the iPod in its pocket? It's a nanotech idea that is already a step past the wild idea stage.

The journal, Nature, reports that Zhong Lin Wang and colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology covered individual fibers of fabric with nanowires made of zinc oxide. These wires are only 50 nanometers in diameter — 1,800 times thinner than a human hair.

Alternate fibers are coated with gold. The alternating strands rub against each other and the resulting pressure generates a piezoelectric charge that can be captured.

Piezoelectric power is created when pressure is translated into an electric current. Other applications include capturing the power of raindrops hitting a building, or the power of many persons walking over a specialized mat- for example at a turnstile.

So far only very small pieces of fabric have been made, but the results have been very positive. The researchers estimate that one square meter of the cloth would produce enough current to power a portable music player. And although gold is currently being used, other metal fibers would work well. The high-tech fabrics would not weigh much more than typical fabrics. The biggest hurdle at the present time is that the fabrics can not hold up to being wetted. Washing your clothes, or a walk in the rain would destroy their special properties.

from Live Science, "Tech-Stiles: Clothes That Produce Power", by Brian Bergstein, Feb 14, 2008
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Belt, Suspenders Can Carry it All

The following is an excerpt from a story which we believe is worthy of reading, but would lose too much of its value if it were re-written for presentation on this blog. Please link through for the rest of the story, but hurry back! ... Editor

by Howard Meyerson

Tom Wiersma wears his carrying system for hunters (photo from MLive)

"Tired of digging around in a daypack for your binoculars, flashlight, shotgun shells, field guide or GPS?

What if you could just reach over to your shoulder or hip and touch it?

Tom Wiersma may have an answer to the "where the heck is my blah blah" blues.

Wiersma, the president of Duckbill LLC in Grand Rapids, calls it body borne customizable carrying gear.

That mouthful refers to a rugged belt and suspender system and an assortment of different fabric modules that can be clipped onto one or the other so that your bullets or walkie-talkie are right where you can find them.

It's not a replacement for a backpack... "

finish the story at the Grand Rapids Press, Feb 8, 2008
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Charge It!

Hybrid power from your knees. Power up while braking. Sounds like sci-fi? Nope, it's real.

A small device that straps to the knee harnesses the energy when your knee reaches it's extension in a step and comes back toward the ground. That spins the gears inside the small generator.

The generator adds little effort when it is charged in this "braking phase" of a person's step cycle. More power is generated if it is set to spin the gears throughout the stride, but more effort is required, decreasing the overall efficiency.

This method of generating electricity is much more efficient than hand-cranked generators that are sometimes used on flashlights or radios. Getting the weight of the device itself down is now on the researchers agenda. But it already provides enough power to operate as much as ten cell phones.

Applications for the military, and for hikers, or emergency rescue units come to mind instantly.

This technology does not produce as much power as the backpack generators which have also been recently improved, but its light weight and small size, in an out of the way location, make it an appealing technology.

from New Scientist, "Knee device makes phone charging a walk in the park", Feb 7, 2008
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Hot Liquids Release Endocrine Disruptors from Nalgene

Scott Belcher, Ph.D, of the University of Cincinnati, tested these polycarbonate bottles for Bisphenol A.

When it comes to Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure from polycarbonate plastic bottles, it's not whether the container is new or old but the liquid's temperature that has the most impact on how much BPA is released, according to University of Cincinnati (UC) scientists.

Scott Belcher, PhD, and his team found when the same new and used polycarbonate drinking bottles were exposed to boiling hot water, BPA, an environmental estrogen, was released 55 times more rapidly than before exposure to hot water.

"Previous studies have shown that if you repeatedly scrub, dish-wash and boil polycarbonate baby bottles, they release BPA. That tells us that BPA can migrate from various polycarbonate plastics," explains Belcher, UC associate professor of pharmacology and cell biophysics and corresponding study author. "But we wanted to know if 'normal' use caused increased release from something that we all use, and to identify what was the most important factor that impacts release."

"Inspired by questions from the climbing community, we went directly to tests based on how consumers use these plastic water bottles and showed that the only big difference in exposure levels revolved around liquid temperature: Bottles used for up to nine years released the same amount of BPA as new bottles."

The UC team reports its findings in the Jan. 30, 2008 issue of the journal Toxicology Letters.

BPA is one of many man-made chemicals classified as endocrine disruptors, which alter the function of the endocrine system by mimicking the role of the body's natural hormones. Hormones are secreted through endocrine glands and serve different functions throughout the body.

The chemical—which is widely used in products such as reusable water bottles, food can linings, water pipes and dental sealants—has been shown to affect reproduction and brain development in animal studies.

"There is a large body of scientific evidence demonstrating the harmful effects of very small amounts of BPA in laboratory and animal studies, but little clinical evidence related to humans," explains Belcher. "There is a very strong suspicion in the scientific community, however, that this chemical has harmful effects on humans."

Belcher's team analyzed used polycarbonate water bottles from a local climbing gym and purchased new bottles of the same brand from an outdoor retail supplier.

All bottles were subjected to seven days of testing designed to simulate normal usage during backpacking, mountaineering and other outdoor adventure activities.

The UC researchers found that the amount of BPA released from new and used polycarbonate drinking bottles was the same—both in quantity and speed of release—into cool or temperate water.

However, drastically higher levels of BPA were released once the bottles were briefly exposed to boiling water.

"Compared to the rate of release from the same bottle, the speed of release was 15 to 55 times faster," explains Belcher.

Prior to boiling water exposure, the rate of release from individual bottles ranged from 0.2 to 0.8 nanograms per hour. After exposure, rates increased to 8 to 32 nanograms per hour.

Belcher stresses that it is still unclear what level of BPA is harmful to humans. He urges consumers to think about how cumulative environmental exposures might harm their health.

"BPA is just one of many estrogen-like chemicals people are exposed to, and scientists are still trying to figure out how these endocrine disruptors—including natural phyto-estrogens from soy which are often considered healthy—collectively impact human health," he says. "But a growing body of scientific evidence suggests it might be at the cost of your health."

a news release of the University of Cincinatti, "Hot liquids release potentially harmful chemicals in polycarbonate plastic bottles", Jan 30, 2008
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Clean Water Great for Wound Cleansing

Have you been concerned about carrying antiseptic solutions in your first aid kit while backpacking? Clean water appears to be a great option, and it's as close as your backpacking stove.

The Cochrane Researchers considered data from eleven trials that compared rates of infection and healing in wounds when treated with various cleansing regimes. Even in traumatic injuries there was no significant difference between cleansing with saline, distilled water or boiled water.

Even using drinkable tap water to clean wounds did not increase infection rates. On the other hand, it did nothing to promote healing as compared to leaving the wound alone.

Cleaning wounds caused by injuries is part of standard medical care, but there is a vigorous debate about how best to do it. Research shows that using chemical-containing antiseptic may slow wound healing. Many people recommend saline (salt solution) instead, but others worry that this will wash away growth promoters and infection-fighting white blood cells. Sterile saline is also not always available and can be expensive. And for backpackers, the question is always one of weight.

The decision to use plain "water to cleanse wounds should take into account the quality of water, nature of wounds and the patient’s general condition," says lead author Ritin Fernandez who works in the Centre for Applied Nursing Research in Liverpool BC, Australia.

by Joan H. Young
with informationfrom a news release of Wiley-Blackwell , "Clean or boiled tap water is as good as saline at cleaning acute wounds", Jan 22, 2008
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Hike Faster - Your Baby Bottle Made You Fat and Your Water Bottle Isn't Helping Either

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in a recent study that about 93 percent of the US population has bisphenol A in their body. Bisphenol A is a chemical found in canned goods and in hard, clear plastic items such as Lexan baby bottles and Nalgene hiking containers.

Low levels of bisphenol A fed to mice in early development became severely more obese as adults than those mice in the control group. This study was conducted at the University of Missouri-Columbia and was verified by Tufts University. The levels are well below the equivilent levels already found in humans.

Bruce Blumberg,University of California, Irvine, has coined a new word for chemicals that can make you fat: Obesogens.

A number of studies have previously suggested that polycarbonate plastics such as the ones used by Nalgene may leach endocrine disruptors.

Endocrine disrupters mimic natural hormones that help regulate, for example, how many fat cells a body makes and how much fat to store in them. Eendocrine disrupters have already been linked to reproductive problems in animals and humans.

Other research has found that fixatives in polycarbonate plastics can cause chromosomal error in cell division called aneuploidy.

Nalgene denies that the quantity of chemicals leached from their products poses a significant threat to health when used within the designed temperature range.

For those who are concerned about this issue, look for alternative products which are free of these chemicals. They can be identified by their greater flexibility, their translucent, "milky" appearance, and by the number 2 triangular plastic recycling symbol on the bottom, rather than the number 7 on a polycarbonate bottle.

from the Boston Globe, "Is plastic making us fat?", by Beth Daley, Jan 14, 2008
and from Wikipedia, "Nalgene",
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Wool vs Synthetics - Skip the Sock-Wringing

The following is an excerpt from a story which we believe is worthy of reading, but would lose too much of its charm if it were re-written for presentation on this blog. Please link through for the rest of the story, but hurry back! ... Editor

by Craig Medred

"Wool is back, according to the manufacturers of today's high-tech outdoor garments, but not just any wool. This is the new, feel-good wool: soft, light, itch-free, with the friendly scent of the pasture and -- most of all -- it's "natural."

Whoopie!

The makers say these fabrics rival exotic synthetic apparel for warmth, weather-shedding and breathability.

Which raises a question:

If wool is manipulated to fool consumers into thinking it's Polarfleece, is it really wool?..."

finish the story at the Anchorage Daily News - see FAIR USE notice.
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Leave the Platypus, Drink Some Air

AquaMaker home unit

Is it possible that before long carrying a water filter will mean something completely different from what it does now?

The AquaMaker company offers both home and industrial sized units which distill water from the air, sanitize, and filter it. What's next... a solar powered hydration bag built into your backpack?

The company's web site says "AquaMaker’s proprietary water purification system delivers consistently high-quality, great-tasting water by removing particles, taste, odor, and potentially harmful substances. The unit is also equipped to prevent the growth of bacteria and provides a continuous effective protective agent in the water, helping to assure consistently high-quality, great tasting water."

Similar to a dehumidifier, the technology works by capturing humidity in the air and converting it into water.

The units are currently sold in the US, Australia, Israel, and several other countries. The large units are capable of producing up to 5,000 liters of water at a time. Backbackers or bikers would need something more on the order of a few quarts at a time.

Maybe someone should give AquaMaker a jingle and suggest this niche market for them.

by Joan H. Young
See AquaMaker
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Strap On Some Power

Arizona State University students have developed a backpack strap that generates power from the motion of the wearer. No motion other than ordinary walking is required.

Space age elastic metallic polymers are used in the generating mechanism. The project was undertaken for military applications. Soldiers often must carry 15-20 pounds of batteries to power such things as "GPS units, radios, satellite links, laptop computers, infrared goggles and lighting — not to mention cell phones and i-Pods."

The straps produce between 20 and 100 volts of electricity using the piezoelectric effect. "Piezoelectric" is the term for material that produces electric current when pressure is applied to them. Familiar devises which use this technique are gas grill lighters and cheap microphones.

Henry A. Sodano, a researcher in ASU’s Adaptive Intelligent Materials Systems Center, added that in civilian applications, someone hiking all day could store enough energy to power a highly efficient LED lighting at a campsite each night.

read the entire article in the Arizona Daily Star, "ASU research team develops power generating backpack strap", by Dan Sorenson, Dec 23, 2007
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