Hey Spiderman.
This is the cooling vest I went with due to the fact I can customize the fit to any body type. I'm a big guy.
It's called the premium STACool vest and it's $265.
https://stacoolvest.com/stacool-premium-industrial-vest/The initial purchase comes with 2 sets of cooling packs. (There are 6 in a set).
I had a chance to use the vest on Fork last year with Dad I got him one as well. It was a game changer for us.
How long they last depends on so many factors from how hot it is, humidity, the individual wearing it, what your doing while wearing it.
I would say like on a day that we had yesterday with high searing heat and high humidity you get a good solid 2.5 hours out of the vest possibly 3 hours. Then you take a 5 minute break and slap in some new packs out of the cooler. You get another good 2.5 hours of use easily. That's 5 hours easy possibly more. This is on a brutal day with a big guy like myself. I bought 2 additional sets of cooling packs. $45 a set. That would get me to a full 10 hours in the most extreme heat and if I was guiding it would be mandatory as a boat and fishing pole.
https://stacoolvest.com/thermopacks-for-stacool-vests/You have to have a dedicated cooler for the vest cooling packs. You need to keep them cool with frozen ice packs instead of ice. I guess the ice causes them to use energy.
These cooler shock is what I went with for my cooler to keep my vest cooling packs cold:
https://smile.amazon.com/Cooler-Sho...1-1-191b1ae3-0539-4250-ad39-b698e0b800f6I know they aren't for everyone and many just fish mornings and evenings and take midday off.
What got me to buy a cooling vest was I got introduced to an episode of heat exhaustion while fishing Lake Tawokini at 10:30am last summer and it scared me good. Luckily I was fishing with Dad and he raced me back to the ramp.
My wife who is a paramedic schooled me on the subject that I thought I understood and obviously had no clue about it or the dangers of it. It was an eye opener to me. It can kill you. Now that I've had it I'm more susceptible to it again.
We only got to use the vests one trip at Fork and summer was over, but after the one trip Dad and I both agreed the vests were game changers for us. We fished that trip until 2pm on Fork and there is no way we could have made it that long without the vests.
We only had one cooling pack change at the time on that trip. Now we have 3 changes after the initial set is used. Enough for a solid 10 hours of use possibly longer.
I know Buff2 bought one I'm anxious to hear how it has helped him.
My wife had stocked the freezer with some food and I went to load my cooling packs up and found them in a bag next to the freezer yesterday.
Anyway, that problem is solved they are going out next trip.
I'll report more after my next trip with it and see if my initial observations hold.
Hope that helps.
I do not regret the purchase and wish I had it 10 years ago.