Keep Your Cool: Temperature Tee
by Sgt. Katie Fuchtman, PCI #1414
Arizona State University Police Department
The summers in the Arizona desert can reach above 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.9 Celsius), which make it difficult to stay cool while riding your bicycle on patrol. When I became IPMBA certified 17 years ago, I rode my bicycle every shift, all shift long. These days I find it more difficult to deal with the extreme temperatures and that is why I jumped at the chance to test the Temperature Tee.
Temperature Tee is family-owned, a small business, and their items are made in the U.S.A. The owner of the company, Jay Carnes, a former law enforcement officer in Colorado, developed this shirt after 10 years of policing and seeking relief from the heat of wearing body armor.
The Temperature Tee is designed with a pocket located on the chest which can be used to hold either an ice pack or a heat pack. The compartment has a soft snap closure to prevent the pack from falling out.
Jay was quick to send me two t-shirts with ice packs to try on and test against the heat.
When the shirts arrived, I was a little skeptical about how it would feel to have an icepack on my chest beneath my vest but I quickly got used to the feeling.
The placement of the icepacks helps cool the body quickly and provides a much-needed cooling feel in hot temperatures.
Shirt: The material is soft on the skin but durable. It moves with the body and is moisture-wicking. It is thicker than I would prefer, but thin enough to allow the cooling effect to get through to the skin. A thinner shirt might cause the pocket holding the cold/hot pack to sag.
The sleeves are short enough that they do not extend past the uniform shirt sleeves, and the shirt is long enough that it stays tucked in. The shirt I tested had a snap-close pocket, but an open-pocket version is also available.
Ice Packs: The “Bundle” comes with two Nordic Ice reusable icepacks, which can also be purchased separately. The packs are available in two sizes, depending on the size of the shirt. They are very easy to replace. The small packs lasted around an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the temperature and how hard I rode. The maximum temperature during testing reached about 100 degrees (37.8 Celsius), when I got a little over an hour per ice pack.
I did change it out earlier than I needed to, so it may have lasted a little longer. I recommend having an extra ice pack to swap out while the other one is freezing. There was no condensation from the icepack, but that might not be the case if the user decides to go with a different brand of icepack.
My days of riding 12 hours in 120-degree (48.9 Celsius) heat are probably a thing of the past, but at least when I choose to ride, I will have a tool to keep me cooler for a few hours.
The pricing for the Temperature Tee ranges from $20 (t-shirt only) to $50 (t-shirt + two cold packs), depending on which items are purchased. Ten percent of all profits go to “Back the Blue” campaigns. They offer IPMBA members $5 off the cost of the tee through the Product Purchase Program. Further information can be found at temperaturetee.com.
Katie is currently a patrol sergeant for the Arizona State University Police Department. She has been with the ASU Police for the last 19 years and has been riding bicycles on duty for 17 years. Katie was certified as an IPMBA instructor in 2014. She earned a Masters of Science in Leadership in December of 2022. She can be reached at Katie.Fuchtman@asu.edu.
Photos courtesy Katie Fuchtman
(c) IPMBA. This product review appeared in the 2023 Board Issue of IPMBA News.