DeSoto cool wings

[thekarens]

I appreciate all the suggestions/advice. I'm actually a sun lover and do well in the heat overall, but I'm also very prone to skin problems, so I want to be as proactive as I can be.

PS NYBiker, I had an almost brand new jersey at Hotter N Hell last year and in the evening after the ride I noticed I had several yellow spots on the white of the jersey. I wasn't impressed considering I had paid $90 for that jersey.

[OakLeaf]

I concur that they're no cooler than bare arms ... when I'm training for a fall marathon in 90° and humidity in the 70+%s, I have tried just taking them off.

But they're no hotter, either. And they keep my arms from burning.

Sunblocking creams that keep me from sweating are a bad idea in hot weather. And I don't really want to be carrying and re-applying sunblock on a long run, anyway.

It's great to be able to just put a tiny little bit of sunblock on the back of my neck, my nose and cheekbones, my décolletage if my shirt is cut lower, my lips and my ears, and leave my arms free to sweat.

[Owlie]

I had the PI sleeves, and loathed them. Took-them-off-mid-ride hated them. These sorts of things didn't work well for me in a humid climate (SW Ohio). I sweat buckets and they get soaked. I also find them hotter than no sleeves, but I'm the sort of person who has deformed all of their sweatshirt sleeves by rolling them up. I haven't tried them down here, where I might suffer through them so that I don't feel like I'm developing melanoma every time I go outside for more than five minutes.

[OakLeaf]

My instinct is that they would be much different, and likely much cooler than bare arms, in an arid climate. Like, when you first put them on it's like there's a strong fan blowing on your arms, they're so much cooler than ambient. Once they're saturated, which happens to me in 10 minutes or so, the cooling effect is at equilibrium, so it's the same as bare arms.

But, I've never even seen the PI sleeves. The fabric of the DeSoto sleeves is very different from the Zoot, so I wouldn't be surprised if other brands are also very different.


The other thing is that any cooling garment must be skin tight. If it's not, it'll just trap heat, like those goofy gel bandanas.

[Boudicca]

I also tried arm coolers once, and they just didn't work for me. Brand was Sugoi, I think, which I usually like, but they were too tight at the top, and they just felt warm and clammy. So I go the sunscreen route -- luckily I tolerate it well, and the only bits that burn are the bits I missed.