Effectiveness of Four Water Cooled Undergarments and a Water Cooled Cap in Reducing Heat Stress

Abstract
The cooling provided by four different water cooled undergarments was directly measured on a heated copper manikin dressed in a basic hot-weather flight coverall, aircrew helmet, socks and black boots. This cooling, which represents absorption of the heat produced by the metabolic processes of the body plus that from the ambient environment in the cabin, was found to be almost directly proportional to the difference between the manikin skin temperature and the temperature of the cooling water at the inlet to a water cooled undergarment. Isolation of the manikin surface from the hot environments was provided by only a water cooled undergarment and the basic hot-weather clothing ensemble. Although these cooling garments did not, by themselves, completely isolate the manikin surface against heat gain from the hot environment, they did remove about one-half of the potential for heat gain from the ambient environment before the heat reached the manikin surface. The water cooled cap, which covered just the head (or only about 6% of the total body surface area) removed about 1/3 of the total metabolis heat production of a seated person.

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