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Air Flow Test Rig
I've built a good half dozen fursuits and heads and one thing I've learned from all of them is that ventilation could always stand improvement. Some people use only foam for the heads, others use fiberglass, plastic canvas or whatever but they all need to be ventilated.
I've used fans in the past and they work, but their use needs to be considered into the design itself. If you mount a fan in the muzzle to blow across your face, where is that air going to come from? If it has no place to draw air from, then it won't really actually do anything. You need an air intake, and ideally that should be from the outside so it's cool.
Where do you put an air intake? The heads I use have black plastic canvas for the eyes. That's good for an exhaust, but I don't want air coming in from there. Heat rises, so that air intake should be as low as possible. It will also need to be fairly not visible to the external viewer.
I have chosen to mount an air intake under the muzzle behind the chin. The lighter underbelly color of most suits will let it help blend into the fur. If you want, you could leave this open with something like plastic canvas covering it. It should be mostly invisible, but... it could be better. What materials do you use? What works best?
I built this test rig using a CPU fan and a shoe box. With the fan mounted in one end and an opening on the other, I could seal the box with duct tape and use it to test materials stretched across the intake opening. I tried fun fur, felt, foam, and panty hose. Yes, I said panty hose.
Each time I tried the materials and noted the airflow from the fan itself. I ended up using panty hose stretched over plastic canvas as the best combo for my purposes. Viewed straignt on, you can see the plastic canvas. Go off even slightly at an angle and it becomes opaque. Since this would be under the jaw/chin, you'd have to be looking right up at the head from under it to see it. I think this will blend in pretty well with the fur that will surround it.
Go ahead and build a test rig. It took 10 minutes and with it I was able to determine what material to use *BEFORE* building the head and learning later that I had chosen the wrong materlal too late to change.
I've used fans in the past and they work, but their use needs to be considered into the design itself. If you mount a fan in the muzzle to blow across your face, where is that air going to come from? If it has no place to draw air from, then it won't really actually do anything. You need an air intake, and ideally that should be from the outside so it's cool.
Where do you put an air intake? The heads I use have black plastic canvas for the eyes. That's good for an exhaust, but I don't want air coming in from there. Heat rises, so that air intake should be as low as possible. It will also need to be fairly not visible to the external viewer.
I have chosen to mount an air intake under the muzzle behind the chin. The lighter underbelly color of most suits will let it help blend into the fur. If you want, you could leave this open with something like plastic canvas covering it. It should be mostly invisible, but... it could be better. What materials do you use? What works best?
I built this test rig using a CPU fan and a shoe box. With the fan mounted in one end and an opening on the other, I could seal the box with duct tape and use it to test materials stretched across the intake opening. I tried fun fur, felt, foam, and panty hose. Yes, I said panty hose.
Each time I tried the materials and noted the airflow from the fan itself. I ended up using panty hose stretched over plastic canvas as the best combo for my purposes. Viewed straignt on, you can see the plastic canvas. Go off even slightly at an angle and it becomes opaque. Since this would be under the jaw/chin, you'd have to be looking right up at the head from under it to see it. I think this will blend in pretty well with the fur that will surround it.
Go ahead and build a test rig. It took 10 minutes and with it I was able to determine what material to use *BEFORE* building the head and learning later that I had chosen the wrong materlal too late to change.
Category Other / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 900 x 1200px
File Size 194.8 kB
One of my heads has an articulated jaw so the air intake is actually in the roof of the mouth. Get too hot? Pant and the air flows in. :)
Air exhaust is handled by mounting small fans in PVC pipe mounts for the ears. Air comes in through the mouth, across the face and exits through the ears.
Tibo keeps joking we should use compressed air somehow to 'pop' the ears off the mounts. POOOOMPH! :)
Air exhaust is handled by mounting small fans in PVC pipe mounts for the ears. Air comes in through the mouth, across the face and exits through the ears.
Tibo keeps joking we should use compressed air somehow to 'pop' the ears off the mounts. POOOOMPH! :)
Try it and find out. :)
I looked at that material and figured I would have to take 2-3 layers of it to get the right opaqueness and that would restrict airflow too much. I like the panty hose so far as I know I can airbrush it to match the fur surrounding it. A good reason to start with white material there.
I looked at that material and figured I would have to take 2-3 layers of it to get the right opaqueness and that would restrict airflow too much. I like the panty hose so far as I know I can airbrush it to match the fur surrounding it. A good reason to start with white material there.
You guys know they sell cooling vests designed for police and construction crews which you could wear under the suit if it's too hot, right?
I'll bet you could also rig something up with a fan blowing over those chemically activated or frozen chill packs. Stick a few in the top of the head, have the fan blow downward... Seems like it would work well.
I found out about those vests when I was looking into whether it would be possible to use some kind of liquid cooling system with thin pipes sewn into the suit. The vest seemed like a much simpler solution. I think you just stick it in a freezer like most chill packs to get it cold.
I'll bet you could also rig something up with a fan blowing over those chemically activated or frozen chill packs. Stick a few in the top of the head, have the fan blow downward... Seems like it would work well.
I found out about those vests when I was looking into whether it would be possible to use some kind of liquid cooling system with thin pipes sewn into the suit. The vest seemed like a much simpler solution. I think you just stick it in a freezer like most chill packs to get it cold.
Those packs are pretty good for their designed purpose. People experimenting with use of those in costuming have run into issues with hypothermia. THey also do not address heat in the head which is the greatest concern.
Chill vests and camelbacks are good for parade or longer duration usage as they can keep the core body temp cooler, but if your head overheats, it causes the body to go wacky and react falsely.
Chill vests and camelbacks are good for parade or longer duration usage as they can keep the core body temp cooler, but if your head overheats, it causes the body to go wacky and react falsely.
Hypothermia? In a sweltering costume in warm weather? That's crazy.
Well what abou the other thing I suggested? Thin plastic tubing that is woven throughout the suit. Could have a couple valves for connecting the head to when attaching it. Would need some kind of backpack power source, and since you couldn't likely vent the heat except through the ears or tail to some degree perhaps, some chill packs to act as a heat sink past which the cooling fluid would flow.
Well what abou the other thing I suggested? Thin plastic tubing that is woven throughout the suit. Could have a couple valves for connecting the head to when attaching it. Would need some kind of backpack power source, and since you couldn't likely vent the heat except through the ears or tail to some degree perhaps, some chill packs to act as a heat sink past which the cooling fluid would flow.
In highschool there was a priest that spend some time in the Congo. He once said to me that the best way to cool off in summer was not to drink lots of cold water but to cool the patches of skin that had a lot of blood flowing through them. Being the wrists and the ears.
You might want to try cooling the area's of the body that have the most sweat clands on them per square inch. And let the blood circulate the heat from the body to the cooled area's.
You might want to try cooling the area's of the body that have the most sweat clands on them per square inch. And let the blood circulate the heat from the body to the cooled area's.
I've kicked around ideas with some fursuiting friends about the ventilation/fan issue before. As much as I'd like to build some sleek, high tech vapor compression system for a friend's suit, I realize it's a complete waste of time and effort. Hypothermia, integration into the suit, the added weight, etc. You got it right man: KISS. :)
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