Cooling Device for Body Armor Vests: Provides Air Circulation and Reduces Sweat - Perfect for Police, Security, Tactical, and Military - Works with Kevlar Vests and Body Armor

I purchased this exactly one year ago tomorrow. This definitely fit the bill when it came to my job. I work armed security at a movie theater inside a mall. The theater is located in a higher crime area and a slightly rougher neighborhood than most in the Seattle area. I first started out with IIIa armor, but the activity in the area quickly prompted me to upgrade my armor. I went with a Safelife Defense FRAS set up. I made the choice because it had front and side rifle protection. We've had shootings here here and around the mall, but it doesn't always show up on the news. When I first deployed the armor, it was soaked after one shift. It's cool and usually raining in Seattle, so it goes to show how just wearing the armor can heat up so quickly. I didn't want to muck up my new carrier, so I did hours of research and came up with Bluhalo. After reading the reviews and watching the videos, I felt confident that this would do it with very little bulk. With my gear and extra mags, my vest alone weighs 25.2 pounds. My battle belt is about 10.2 pounds.Installation: I first installed it on my soft armor. It worked well. I then tried the iron-on velcro on my hard armor carrier. It temporarily worked because the inside was lined with a breathable polyester mesh. It had hardly anything to stick onto and came off within a couple of weeks. I solved part of the problem by sewing velcro into the pertinent areas of my soft armor carrier.However, the shoulders of the hard armor carrier didn't allow room for a sewing machine to get into. I have rolls of Velcro and iron-on adhesive on hand so I could experiment a little. I sewed the bottom Velcro, but had to iron on the Velcro on the shoulders. The shoulders didn't last long and the Velcro adhesive came right off. My next step is to just hand sew the shoulders. Obviously, most people don't sew, so I would highly recommend having it altered by a tailor. It will be worth it! From what I understand, the Bluhalo is now sold with sticky adhesive backed Velcro rather than iron-on adhesive. I haven't used it yet, but I would still recommend sewing it on.After a couple days of wearing it, the Luer Lock stopcock (valve) leaked. I ended up talking to the inventor, and he sent me some new ones. From what I understand, Bluehalos don't come with the stopcocks anymore. I think it's a good move, because they crack easy and it's one more thing that could possibly fail. Also, it does stick out a little out of the armpit of my vest, so not having it would look more streamlined. The vest worked flawlessly and you could actually shove a hand under the vest. I'm 5'10 at 220 lbs. I got a gut, but the air pontoons work great. I also bought a personal electric fan on Amazon to put in that space between the pontoons. I was in heaven. My back was still toasty and damp, but not soaked since there was no fan in the back.I inflate this at full force so it lifts up the armor about 2" off my body. I haven't had any problems except for the stopcock. I contacted the inventor/owner, Gareth. He was kind and very receptive to feedback. We discussed about internal fans and inflating options. You rarely find an upstanding, honorable, and committed business like this nowadays. Gareth immediately sent me 2 stopcocks after our conversation. After putting on the first replacement, I screwed on the pump too hard and I heard a snap. Totally my fault for overtightening. That valve only lasted about 1 minute after I had put it on. I immediately replaced it and it lasted about a year. I want to iterate that the failure all happened within about a month. After replacing the part, the entire kit lasted about a year, today.I have to admit that I got real spoiled by the Bluhalo. It worked flawlessly for 11.5 months. I'm surprised it lasted because every time I came back from work, I left it fully inflated. I would throw the 35.5 pound vest over my head and let it freefall onto my body. When I got back from work, I would undo the right side of the velcro of my vest and throw it onto a chair in a corner where the vest would collapse on itself. I was pretty rough on the Bluhalo and it took it like a champ. This also included all of my constant donning and doffing in order to use the restroom during a code brown. Frequently, I would be chasing after teenagers sneaking into the theater before they turned the corner and disappeared into the dark theater. Again, there was a lot of wear and tear from the Bluhalo moving and rubbing around attached to 25 pounds of armor and equipment. It's been about a year now, and I had an issue with it deflating. I took the Bluhalo out and wore my armor without it over a weekend. I WAS MISERABLE!!! I felt like I was wearing a heated jacket. I was soaked and the print label on my armor carrier smudged for the first time due to sweat and rubbing. I was ready to order another one, but decided to contact Gareth. He took care of me and now my kit will be up and running again. Outstanding customer service!!!Frankly, even if this thing was disposable and could last a year, it is worth every penny of what you're paying here. Would I pay $5 a month for that much comfort and be MOIST free? Why yes, I would. However, this thing is bulletproof (pun intended) and will last a while.My only recommendation is to make Bluhalo more visible on Amazon. When I type "Bluhalo", the search results comes up with muscular shirtless men and video game characters.Thank you for such a great product!I like that the Bluhalo is light, easy to use, reliable, and is likely the most effective product out there when it comes to ventilation. I definitely will buy another soon so I don't have to move it between two carriers (or three or four). Thank you for such a great invention and solution. It has increased my comfort and less wear and tear on my carriers, as well as the constant washing of them. It saves me money in the long-run.

For some reason now since I bought it keeps deflating.

Between my wife's family and mine, we have a retired police chief and police captain, a state trooper, and two FBI special agents. I ordered one out of interest and to see if any active family members would like one. It arrived this morning. I'm not the tallest guy and it fit me perfectly. So when my 6' 3" nephew stopped by on his way home from his shift today I had him check it out. It fit and worked perfectly him too. It is 92 degrees here today so the timing was right. He loved it! So easy to use, very lightweight and well made. The way it lets air under the vest is instant relief on hot, humid and sticky days. I'd say you'd never know you're wearing it, but you can't miss the welcomed air. No more opening vests to let the air in on these steamy days.

This is not a desirable tool should you need ventilation and/or circulation. There are wearable fans which are much cheaper than this and do the job.However I suppose it could be used to provide more room for ventilation if something you are wearing is hot and isn't receiving a decent natural airflow.

I work in Central Texas and this Summer has been extremely hot and humid. Wearing a plate carrier and being outside in the weather 90% of my shifts is brutal. The Bluhalo is an absolute game changer. I no longer have to walk around with my thumbs in my vest holding my front plate off of my chest. A few quick pumps and both plates are lifted off allowing airflow to cool you down. I absolutely recommend this device to everyone that wears armor for a living. And their customer service is excellent.

Really nice but doesn't work with flexible armor very well. Wish it had it was very comfortable.

Does the job

Works great