Blog Post

Do you like pain?

jasonrulo • Apr 05, 2018

Chances are if you are like most people then you loth pain/ discomfort. So why is it that so many people put themselves through discomfort unnecessarily… Now I’m not talking about that pain that leads to something great like crushing a hard workout nor the discomfort of grinding out a brutal race. The pain I am referring to is when it is most certainly avoidable but we are willing to put ourselves through it because we are either too lazy to do what we know is necessary, or we simply didn’t have the foresight to plan ahead for the contingency that we are facing.

Think of it in this scenario: you go into a dealership to buy that new car you have been eyeing, researching, even stalking for the past couple of months and today is the day. You are then given the option, do you buck up and pay the few thousand more for the all wheel drive (AWD) upgrade or stick with the 2WD model. You think to yourself, “I don’t think we’ll need the AWD, it doesn’t really snow that much here and we rarely get off the pavement. 2WD will be fine.” Fast forward to the first obstacle race of the season… with parking in a field. It’s also been raining for like four days prior to now. So now there’s this. You wife is pissed because the new SUV stuck in a field and now you have to find two buddies to help you push her out of this ridiculously muddy field all because you didn’t see this coming.

Unfortunately the above scenario is more common than most would like to admit. Wouldn’t you just prefer to have that warm and fuzzy confidence of knowing that you could simply push a button on your dash and this problem would be solved?

Now let’s rewind to a few hours earlier. It’s cool and there is a chance of rain today and you are getting dressed for the race. There are three possible scenarios here:

A. You decided you wanted to have a third pair of racing shoes because they looked cool and you like shoes rather than purchasing that Neptune Thermoregulation System. Now you are going to have to deal with the possibility of freezing your ass off while you are waiting for the race to begin and God forbid it start raining during the event. There is also a chance of failing an obstacle and having to stand in the rain and rest for a bit while your body heat is quickly dissipating it’s heat… Well this is all very unfortunate!

B. You opted to buy the Neptune over those shoes and now you are getting ready for that race and you are thinking; “it’s not supposed to be cold very long today and there is only a 30% chance of rain. I am in awesome shape right now… I’m going shirtless today! Spartan Up MF’er! So you are now basically in the same predicament as you would be if you bought the extra shoes.

C. You have your Neptune AND you are wearing it to the race… AND you brought your body warmers. Great planning you freaking boy scout! You planned ahead and now you can make the decision of whether or not you need to load the heaters or how many heaters you will need. Now you are not freezing your nuts off before the race. You have properly configured your Neptune to keep you from getting too hot during the event and now have no worries about hypothermia if you get stuck during the event.

Man what a difference experience life can be if we just make a few decisions with the forsite of Murphy’s Law. The military puts together a contingency plan for their back up plan…Maybe you should too. That way next time your shirtless body will not have froze before the race causing ridiculous shrinkage, and then getting you again at that damn slick obstacle. Nor would your wife be giving you the silent treatment and forcing you to sleep on the couch tonight because it’s your fault she had to park far away in a muddy field and got stuck without AWD in her new SUV and now missing that baby shower she was supposed to attend.

Clearly the lesson here is to be the boy scout. Plan ahead. It’s always better to have options and be able to avoid the pain. Be smart! Life’s easier that way!

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Cold Water Swimming

By Jason Rulo • 25 Oct, 2019

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BROCR Podcast (Racing in the Cold)

By Jason Rulo • 25 Sep, 2019

On the BROCR Supercast we discuss the current world of OCR (Obstacle Course Racing), the people in it, and hot topics of the week. The BROCR Supercast is a no frills dive into the mud for the die hard athletes that are the OCR community. 9/23/19- This week's episode= It’s getting Cold in here- so put on all your clothes WRONG! Join Jacob and Leah as they speak with Jason Rulo- the inventor of the Neptune Thermoregulation System, and expert in cold weather prep! Headed to Tahoe this weekend? Or perhaps the upcoming Sweden Ultra or World’s Toughest Mudder? You won’t want to miss this episode to learn all about what you can do to prepare for the cold and ensure you finish your race as intended! Find the podcast on Google Podcast here: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MzIzZjgwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz&episode=NjM0N2E3MDUtOTM0Yy02NzVkLTM1ZGUtOTJhZTFlZmY2YTBh

New Age of Thermoregulation

By Jason Rulo • 04 Aug, 2019

When the Neptune Thermoregulation System made it's debut at the 2016 World's Toughest Mudder it marked a new age of temperature regulating clothing. Until that time nearly all of the clothing that provided external assistance in thermoregulation was outerwear in the form of a jacket, sweater type long sleeved shirt, or a down jacket/vest. The Neptune base-layer brought in a new type of product and still the only waterproof option. Wearing temperature assisting clothing close to the skin allows for a lot more flexible clothing options by selecting more traditional apparel to wear over it if necessary. Companies love to use technology to address this issue...even if "high tech" may not be the best approach. Sony has recently developed a new product called the Reon Pocket through their crowdfunding site. This product claims it can lower your body temperature 23 degrees F or raise it by 14 degrees F. This of course isn't actually true. Dropping your actual body temp by more than a few degrees puts you on the road to hypothermia and is really no fun at all. On the opposite end, you would not be able raise your body temperature much over 100 degree F before triggering a heat related illness response. They aren't painting the entire picture. Probably a better way to describe the effect of the Reon Pocket is that it lowers/ raises the SKIN temperature AT THE SITE OF THE DEVICE. The Neptune will actually produce AT LEAST similar results but it utilizes a much more low tech and more reliable method... Why? because I can never seem to find a charging port out in the woods or on a race course when I get that dreaded low battery warning! The method of application is another topic. However, given the fact that the Neptune shirt can actually hold up to six body warmers or even six Reon Pocket devices and the fact they are around the core only serves to increase the benefit. I will caution users that the more insulation you put over a warming device the more localized heat will be retained. At localized temperatures over about 115 degrees F you can burn the skin. I am guessing Sony limited the heat output of the device to help prevent this. However, I hypothesize the unit could get hotter than the 115 degrees F unless it has it's own "governor" if you will to prevent it from continueing to produce heat above a certain measure temperature. This is actually why we recommend our customers place the body warmers in the pouches during EVERY use even when when they will not be getting wet. I actually also question the cooling claims as well given the fact that in order to use the Reon Pocket you must wear the undershirt. Wearing a shirt under a shirt automatically makes you warmer because it both limits airflow around the skin as well as providing another layer in which to trap air thereby making the environment inside your shirt warmer. The Reon Pocket now has to overcome this in order to make you cooler. One might argue that simply wearing a lighter shirt and no undershirt might be a better choice. Bottom line, I believe thermoregulatory clothing is here to stay. Heck you can even go further than base layer clothing if you are looking for a heating or cooling effect. There are even cooling bras for women as well as underwear for men . Consumers really need to look into some of these options when they are shopping for solutions. That being said, potential customers do need to beware of ridiculous claims (see the Eddie Bauer claim in the pic below where it's impossible for there to be less heat loss in arms than that of the core in the non Evertherm jacket). Just know there are options out there. If you have questions about these products feel free to contact me. I am happy to help in any way I can. Godspeed and happy trails!