Our friends from UK-based with BCB Industries are showcasing a product at SHOT Show this year typical of the company's sometimes unconventional approach to common problems in the field (you'll remember the company's water cannon breaching system we profiled a few months back).
Dubbed the "Chilly," this lightweight device attaches to any hydration pack and uses water circulated through membranes while you're drinking, and simply through evaporative cooling, chills your H2O in hot dry environments like Iraq or Kandahar.
Top US sales exec Ed Schmitt said troops are far more likely to drink enough water when it's chilled, and the system only cools to a comfortable degree so the water doesn't drop core body temperature too much.
I'll tell you, for any Kit Up! readers who have spent time in the Helmand summer (or Iraq for that matter) will know how miserable it is to try to choke down a CamelBak full of warm water on patrol. It may look kinda goofy, but at less than one pound in weight, the chilly might be worth the extra ounces to make life in the hot zone a bit more tolerable.
(Video in the works)
