Makita Fan Jacket

From a recent Wall Street Journal article headlined "The Summer Is So Hot, Workers Are Wearing High-Tech Ice Packs":

In his 2021 novel "Termination Shock" [excellent, BTW], about a near-future Earth that is much warmer, science-fiction maestro Neal Stephenson imagined that in the hottest and most humid parts of the world — including Texas — people would don spacesuits, but for Earth, called "earthsuits."

That science-fiction future is, for millions of Americans, our present.

Heat waves are more intense and longer thanks to climate change.

For people who work outside in hotter regions or in broiling indoor spaces like large warehouses without air conditioning, heat injury, illness, and even death are a growing concern.

New technologies for keeping people cool no matter the conditions are growing in popularity and sophistication.

Used by soldiers on patrol, fast-food workers, or mascots in costumes, what they have in common is simplicity, affordability, and ease of use — all factors that have limited the deployment of this technology to date.

These real-life Earth suits have the potential to keep people from suffering heat injury when the weather outside exceeds the temperature and humidity at which the human body can effectively cool itself.

Popular in Japan is the "fan jacket" [above and below] and the U.S. arm of Japanese toolmaker Makita sells these garments stateside.

These jackets include an actual fan — or two — and are enabled by the more advanced motors and batteries that are also going into modern power tools, says a company spokesman.

From $155.33.