Honolulu-based Oceanit Laboratories, Inc. is on the cusp of bringing one of its multimillion-dollar research and development projects for the military to the consumer market.
A civilian version of a wearable body cooling pack that Oceanit began developing six years ago — meant for U.S. Special Forces and Navy shipyard personnel in extreme environments — is in the final stages before launch. The "Honu Cooling Pack," which is meant to be worn like a turtle shell, uses a system called ThermoCore to circulate cold water around the body through polymer tubing.
"We’ve had a multimillion dollar budget to develop the cooling technology, product design, and ergonomics of the system over that time," Oceanit product designer Jimmie Harris told Pacific Business News in an email. "The work with the government is ongoing and we’re working towards building additional features and advancements for them as well."
To help get the consumer product to the finish line, a Kickstarter campaign will launch on Aug. 10, with $299 being the earliest pledge level. Harris said the company plans on delivering the packs in six months following the close of the Kickstarter campaign, with April 2022 as the delivery target, taking into account pandemic-associated supply chain delays.
As the pack was designed to be worn by people in dangerously hot conditions, the priority is to beat next summer's heat with the launch.
The consumer version of the product will be launched under a new in-house Oceanit brand, called 19°N.
"We held tests of a military version at Pearl Harbor and then created 19°N to adapt the technology to provide comfort and cooling to civilian workers, athletes, and adventurers," Jay Andrews, Oceanit director of marketing, told PBN. "It is a leading-edge innovation in climate-adaptive gear that we think will become more commonplace as we face warming global temperatures ... and heatwaves."
ThermoCore draws heat from the wearer's body through 60 feet of microtubing that run throughout the pack’s chest, shoulder, and back areas.
NASA was an early adopter of the same basic liquid cooling concept for its astronauts, but the development of casual garments that could do the same thing has proven more difficult. Oceanit believes it's solved that problem with its cool water reservoir and polymer tubes that can more readily transfer temperature; it claims that ThermoCore has double the thermal conductivity of standard PVC, or polyvinyl chloride.
Oceanit's pack is meant to provide support for a half-day of high-exertion activity in temperatures ranging from negative-76 degrees to 185 degrees Fahrenheit. Its basic weight is 1.9 pounds with the potential for up to six more pounds of cooling power to be added.
"When we decided to enter into the consumer market, we had to go back to the drawing board and redesign the cooling system from the ground up to make it as easy to use and functional for the outdoor enthusiast as possible," Harris said. "We’ve also faced some challenges balancing the important requirements from our users, specifically around the tradeoff of cooling power and weight.
"Ultimately, we’ve designed a system that allows people to adjust their weight and cooling potential based on their specific needs. Now, if you only need an hour or two of cooling power, you can use a really light pack or if you need a bit more oomph you can increase that."
