Severe Weather Alert For Las Vegas Nv

[lil_freak]

has anyone ever used this product before... "cool offs" by a company called Allegro?

i know i've seen them in a variety of outdoor catalogs, with claims that they stay cool a very long time, can be "refreshed" back to chill temperature very quickly by means of soaking, and that they are relatively non-drip. anyone have experience with them? do they live up to the claims made?

I have one very close to one you're asking about. I got mine from this site. They work wonders. Plus, from the site I got mine from you can pick which design you want and they don't cost too much either. They keep you cool but you do have to make sure to refresh them.

[AlxRogan]

I used them a few years ago, and they worked well to cool me down to a reasonable level when I got out of my gear. They don't last very long, so for maintaining your temperature, I wouldn't recommend them, but if you are looking for something to cool you down quickly, check them out.

[John D]

One blatantly obvious thing just occurred to me that didn't get mentioned in this thread previously...

Whatever you do, don't drink only Gatorade or similar sports drinks expecting to beat dehydration.

Seriously, this will fuck you up as badly as if not worse than dehydration and in no short order. Your body needs water, so give it water. Yeah, you need to maintain electrolyte and mineral balances as well, but remeber they're just that - balances. It's real easy to go overboard if you keep having the Pavlovian thirst response of buying Gatorade from the vending machines to keep yourself going. By all means have one if you feel you need it, but don't have more than one every four or five hours. Again, keep a pallet of water on hand in your room or other place and drink it.

Yeah some ex-SF guys (now contractors) I know told me to mix Gatorade 50-50 with water. The Gatorade will dehydrate you (your body uses what little water it has to dilute the salts in the Gatorade dehydrating you even more).

[Vegas]

Flavored water

[hackajar]

does crystalice count?

[Gadsden]

has anyone ever used this product before... "cool offs" by a company called Allegro?

i know i've seen them in a variety of outdoor catalogs, with claims that they stay cool a very long time, can be "refreshed" back to chill temperature very quickly by means of soaking, and that they are relatively non-drip. anyone have experience with them? do they live up to the claims made?

I did not go on Goon duty last year w/o mine.. it was worth its weight in gold.. WELL worth it. As a matter of fact, I need to see if I can grab one from work... ;)

[Deviant Ollam]

As a matter of fact, I need to see if I can grab one from work

if you don't come across one, feel free to find me at the alexis, since i just ordered a five-pack of them online. i figure i'll offer them to the four people (myself included) on my wi-fi team as we slag through the heat haze whilst searching for faint 802.11 signals. the extra can be yours for the low low price of one stout and one lager. (guiness and heineken, respectively, are preferred... but really whatever's available. hey, wait... was it you who had the homebrew at last year's forum meet? if somthing like that will be available again then a few cupfuls will be a more than adequate reward for the cool-off.)

incidentally... is there anyone who perhaps know what exactly the "gel crystals" inside of the cool-offs are? is it possible just to order those little crystal grains and custom make a cooling garment of one's own design? i'd love to do something like that.

[alklloyd]

Kaos was talking about bringing one of those sharper image around the neck coolers...said they worked pretty well...just fill em with water.

Al

[octalpus]

incidentally... is there anyone who perhaps know what exactly the "gel crystals" inside of the cool-offs are? is it possible just to order those little crystal grains and custom make a cooling garment of one's own design? i'd love to do something like that.

On occassion, I make these to sell at festivals. The crystals can be found at Wally World in the plant arranging stuff, over by crafts. They're available in a small bag or a big tub.

[Deviant Ollam]

On occassion, I make these to sell at festivals. The crystals can be found at Wally World in the plant arranging stuff, over by crafts. They're available in a small bag or a big tub.

interesting... i could sort of see the application. you can "over water" and instead of it killing the plant or draining all out the bottom the crystals would hold the moisture and release it slowly. very nice idea.

is there any chance that this product goes by a specific name or brand? (We don't have Wally Worlds near here, but i imagine that they are sold by other craft, gardening, and plant stores)

[update: it seems that a local garden shop had a product with these crystals in it. "Soil Moist" is a product that uses these polyacrylamide crystals to retain and slowly release water. they sold it for about $11 in a one-pound container... but it looks as if bulk purchases of it could be had for as little as $6 or $7 per pound. heh... i am definitely going to be making those cooling bandanas and selling / giving them as swag at future defcons. hmm... depending on how packed my weekend is i may try to produce them before DC13 in limited amounts. ]

[Gadsden]

On occassion, I make these to sell at festivals. The crystals can be found at Wally World in the plant arranging stuff, over by crafts. They're available in a small bag or a big tub.

Do you make underwear that has them in it?

Deviant: I snagged one, trying for more. Yes, I was the one with all the homebrew last year.. bringing some this year although I don't know if I will be dishing it out at the forum meet.. I doubt I will be distributing brew at the meet this year, as I will be on Goon duty then. That should make things more exciting.. no one will know just when the homebrew will be whipped out..

[renderman]

Do you make underwear that has them in it?

Deviant: I snagged one, trying for more. Yes, I was the one with all the homebrew last year.. bringing some this year although I don't know if I will be dishing it out at the forum meet.. I doubt I will be distributing brew at the meet this year, as I will be on Goon duty then. That should make things more exciting.. no one will know just when the homebrew will be whipped out..

You still owe me from about 3 cons ago :) Save me one and I'll put it through my beer cooling contraption

[Deviant Ollam]

I did not go on Goon duty last year w/o mine.. it was worth its weight in gold.. WELL worth it. As a matter of fact, I need to see if I can grab one from work... ;)

question 1: how many goons and staff are there this year? (approximately)

question 2: if goons were perhaps given these to wear when they have outdoor detail, what might the best color for them be? red to match the shirts? (that might limit their appeal when people change into typical attire, making people appear as pirates or something) black since it goes with anything? (would that have any counterproductive effect with cooling by the sun heating it?) some light shade? O.D. green? a pattern of some kind?

i'm in a pretty generous mood and might want to whip up some surprises for all of you who slave in the sun to make the con safe and fun. of course, time is getting really short so i don't know what, if any, of my remaining projects will be accomplished before i fly out if they aren't done already.