Choosing the right cooling vest or cooling jacket

Explanatory buying guide for choosing the right motorcycle vest and no longer cooking on a motorcycle

Technical fabric, water tank or active cooling?

Riding a motorcycle under strong heat is not always a piece of cake, except that you have to get used to it now as heat waves have become a must in the summer. To avoid suffocating on the handlebars in the middle of a heat wave, we have already offered you a complete guide on the motorcycle equipment to adopt. We are now tackling the case of cooling vests in more detail.

What is it?

The heat wave is not a problem when you drive a car, because you can use and abuse the air conditioning to adjust the temperature inside the cabin . Except that on a motorcycle, it's impossible and if the air acts as natural cooling during driving, protective equipment can interfere with ventilation. Even well ventilated, the latter is also useless when stopped and much less effective in town where the speed is reduced and where the engine can cause significant heat build-up.

Fortunately, there are vests with cooling power that allow you to maintain a feeling of freshness under your jacket or jacket.

How does it work?

Basically, all cooling vests work the same way: through water. There are two slightly different techniques here. Either we soak the synthetic textile fiber of the vest in water, the Hyperkewl being the most widespread, which, without apparent humidity or feeling of wetness, cools and refreshes the temperature of the body. Either the vest forms a pocket that is filled with water and which will then vaporize on contact with body heat.

Technical fiber vests have the advantage of being lighter, while pocket vests provide longer cooling.

Recently, cooling vests have also taken a technological step forward by equipping themselves with an active cooling system that can also be used as a heated vest. They are heavier, but also much more expensive, but they can be used throughout the year.

The different existing models

There are a host of refreshing vests on the market. But a large part of these are designed to equip workers on construction sites and are therefore not necessarily well suited to the practice of two-wheelers, for example with a poorly positioned water filling opening which leads to discomfort, the absence of stretch elements for comfort of movement or even designed to be worn under a jacket. Opting for a vest from a motorcycle supplier is therefore to ensure that it is suitable. However, we can turn to completely different brands, taking care to check that they suit our needs.

For about ten years now, motorcycle equipment manufacturers have also started to offer this type of vest. On the side of the Hyperkewl type fiber models, which must therefore be soaked then wrung out, we find the CoolDown vest from BMW Motorrad which promises a drop of 6 to 12°, the Macna Cooling Hybrid or the Challenger from Rev'it. The latter was originally marketed as a stand-alone vest, but has since been revised and is now only compatible with certain manufacturer's jackets.

As for vests with a water tank, we find Macna and its Dry Cooling Vest which promises up to 15° cooler and an autonomy of 1 to 3 days. The Alpinestars Cooling Vest offers a similar experience.

Cooling AND heating vests

Here is a special case, that of temperature-regulating vests, which work just as well for cooling as for heating. Better to avoid the fan-powered electric accessories that you find for a pittance on Chinese marketplaces; as always here we know what we order, not what we will receive.

The market today has only one offer with the M-Clima vest from Rukka. No water here, but an electronic system based on a small box with a fan and resistors that allow air to be blown inside the jacket, either as standard or by heating. The vest works thanks to a battery which provides up to 2 hours of autonomy. The price is also prohibitive since the set is sold for €999!

The Toulouse start-up Chill Ride also promises to develop a thermoregulated system, but which passes here through a cooling fluid circulating in the vest and cooled at the level of the fork of the motorcycle thanks to small radiators. The disadvantage of the device is that it needs to be connected to your motorcycle, even if the pipes are designed to detach automatically in the event of a fall and prevent the device from being torn off. On the other hand, no Chill Ride before at least the summer of 2022 and this one will be sold for 649 euros.

How much does it cost?

Apart from the special cases of thermoregulated vests, cooling vests are much more affordable. It takes a minimum of 50 euros for an entry-level vest from non-specialized motorcycle brands, such as Inuteq, for technical fiber vests that can go up to a hundred euros in the case of the BMW CoolDown or Macna Cooling Hybrid.

As for water tank vests, the price is a little higher since the first prices start at €120 and go up to more than €200, for example at Chill-its. The Alpinestars Cooling is displayed for its part at 154.95 euros but is almost always on sale and the Macna Cooling Vest Evo at 149.95 euros.