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Keeping Cool Dilemma Solved

Roll up your sleeves and save hundreds of pounds...


Posted: 22 March 2001
by Jon

It's official, the best way to keep your cool in a waterproof jacket isn't with pit-zips or core body vents after all, it's simply to expose your elbows.

MHW's new sleeve vent -
the answer to keeping
your cool?

When Mountain Hardwear were designing their new season jackets, they got hold of a heat imaging device and measured which parts of the body were most effective at losing heat. No prizes for guessing the head, but next on the list was the forearm - presumably because the blood vessels are close to the surface and the pipe-like shape exposes proportionately more surface area to cooling air.

Which is why the new for winter 2001 Ethereal Ice jacket has vents not under the arms, but on the sleeves. Of course you don't have to pay over £300 quid for a new jacket to vent your forearms, heck, just roll your sleeves up, which, if you're like us, you probably do already.

Our hot tip though, if you already have a jacket with pit-zips, is to take things a stage further. Rather than just airing your armpits, crook your elbow out of the vent then remove your entire arm from the sleeve and feel the cooling breeze - it works amazingly well.

Plus it probably also explains why fleece vests are never as warm as you think they're going to be...


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If the most effective venting's rolling up your sleeves, then does that make all those weird pit and core vents a gimmicky rip off? Are we all just suckers from supposed technical innovation or are there real benefits from vents?

My take, for what it's worth is that vents work ookay when you're moving fast or it's windy but in stiller conditions have a marginal effect. But then I've always rolled my sleeves up anyway.

Posted: 23/03/2001 at 07:57

I've got nothing with core vents, but do have a Vander Ice wall jacket with pit zips.( I won it for 'letter of the month' from a well known outdoors mag beginning with Tra..)
I use these zips quite a lot often in horrible conditions when you would think you needed all your orifices closed (ooer missus!)
When pushing up steep hills even in driving snow or whatever I find that if I have the zips open I get some ventilation without the weather getting inside.
My problem is forgetting to fasten them and then wearing the jacket in simple wet conditions. I remember when my arms start to get wet

Posted: 23/03/2001 at 08:07

I always have found the quickest way to cool down apart from taking off my hat is to push my vest sleeves up above my elbows. Now I know why. It's nice to be proved right by science!

Posted: 23/03/2001 at 12:10

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