My Bucket is air conditioned

[Gallid]

Squirrel fans just don't cool me off enough.. Our robes though are good for more than just making us even hotter; they hide things under them pretty well.

I mounted a couple of hand held air-conditioning fans to a back support belt and used some ribbed tubing to duct the air up my collar and under my bucket.

It has made troops so much more comfortable, however, I can't hear anything but the sound of wonderful cool air

http://fav.me/d52rx42
http://fav.me/d52rwwv

The second picture has them against a white shirt so you can see what is going on there.

Some updated pics, I painted the Handy Coolers to match my armor and bucket.

http://fav.me/d58v58i
http://fav.me/d58v504
http://fav.me/d58v4vl

[bdgr]

That is awesome. I didn't even know a small portable hand-held "air conditioning" unit existed. Did a google search and they are super cheap. I just might have to try it. Thanks for sharing.

[Gallid]

My pleasure, and they work really well too.

Next project is to try and mount it into a backpack for out TD brothers.

[FallenJedi]

Awesome, thanks for sharing!

[NoslenLRAc]

I'm very intrigued. I might have to try them...

Here's the site for those units:
http://www.myhandycooler.com/index.html
They are cheaper on other sale sites (amazon, ebay)

How long do the batteries work?
What type of batteries are you using?
Do you have to refill the sponge often? The web site says 30 minutes - 2 hours.

Are your fans mounted on your back or on your chest?
I assume they are under your inner robes, correct?
Do they protrude from under your robes?

[Gallid]

I am using some generic AA batteries and they lasted the entire troop, I left the fans on at home running for about 2 hours more and they still ran, I eventually just turned them off and decided a fresh set of batteries would get me through any day of trooping.

as far as how long the sponge stays wet, once I wet it and put it in I never check it again, the amount of air flow that comes from these two fans is cooling enough. Besides the process of getting the sponges re-wetted is a pain unless you have an extended break. The ambient humidity also plays a factor in how long they will stay wet, so that's completely up to your location.

I wear a bit of armor under my robes for non-cannon, and the fans are mounted to the belt for the armor (the armor plates are removable). They sit in the small of my back and when I stand up straight you can't tell they are there, but if I slouch a lot or bend over you can see the outline of them. For events where I need no armor or might be exposing them I just remove the armor plates and wear the fan belt under my inner robe. The robes don't seem to block too much of the air flow either.

Hope this all makes sense, I will try to get some pictures of the belt set up while I am wearing it, just need an extra set of hands for taking pictures first.

[NoslenLRAc]

Thanks for the info.
More pics would be great! Still thinking of adding them.

[Gallid]

Added some updated pics.

[Deimos]

H there I was wondering how you modded these?

I just got my self 2 of eBay for $50 Australian

[cjfrancese79]

After reading this I went ahead and bought one. It works really well. I mean when it's really hot out there's not a whole lot you can do, but it does a really good job at keeping the fogging down. I just used the black split tubing used for wiring in a automobile and taped the hell out of everything to seal it up.