Tulsa Man Markets Hard Hat He Says Cools While It Protects

Rick Wells, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Safety regulations require many workers to wear a hard hat, even on these 100 degree days.  Wouldn't it be great if there were a hard hat that cooled while it protected?

Jim Welsh has one.

"The air comes out there and then there's a fan in the back that blows air out of these two hole on the back of the neck."

About a year ago Jim Welsh bought the patent for this hat.  He reworked the design a bit to make it more wearable and has begun marketing them as the Cool Hard Hat.

"We have orders from as far away as New York, Virginia and Michigan," he says.

Visit the web site.

Welsh says the air cooled hat can reduce the inside the hat temperature by as much as 20 degrees.

You've heard the old saying about makin' hay while the sun shines.  Plenty of that.

"There was a report on the weather channel they expect the hot weather to continue through the end of September this year," according to Welsh.

I thought it would be uncomfortably heavy, but it isn't.

It operates on four rechargeable AA batteries.  You can plug it in and recharge every night just like your cell phone.

For now the chief assembler is Jim's brother David.  He says he can do about 60 in a day if he needs to.  They can come in different colors.  Most of the parts are locally produced, but how do they work outside?

Although we are not doing anything but standing around when I turned the hat on, I noticed a difference.

Not to mention the fact, I look cooler in this.