Here are 10 ways to stay cool when it’s hot at the Renaissance Faire. My friends and I suffered so you don’t have to. (you can thank us by joining our free House of Cale’s Weekly Acts.)
We’ve all been there. All our trinkets and accessories are attached to our ring belts and we’ve made the trek to the renaissance fair. Maybe you even arrived on time (like that’s ever gonna happen, lol.) But we Texans know one problem all too well.
It’s hot,
Very hot.
Humid too.
Especially once midday rolls around and we’re fully garbed. So how do we make it more bearable?
Summary
1. Bring Skirt hikes
2. Bring Collapsible Water Bags
3. Mini Cooler boxes
4. Gel Ice Packs
5. Boob Chillers
6. Neck Fans
7.- Literally the best fans for Ren Faire Ever
1. Bring Skirt Hikes
If you’ve ever worn a dress, skirt or kilt, you know it gets hot down there. Skirt hikes hold up your garbs fabric so you can air out your legs. It’s great during rain too since it can hold longer garments above puddles.
Skirt hikes hold fabric with either clips or rings. My recommendation:
Don’t Get Clips!
NEVER GET CLIPS!
It causes the worst creases that you couldn’t iron out in 100 years. There’s a reason I only sell skirt hikes with rings, even though selling both would probably be more lucrative. (looking out for ya 😉
Here are a few different options. If you’re looking for some on a budget, amazon is probably your best bet. For most use cases and beginner costumes they will work. Despite being cheap material (pleather usually), probably last a few seasons too.
However when your ready to take you’re costume game to the next level, get a set of real vegetable-tanned leather skirt hikes. I’ll of course recommend ours since I can guarantee they are premium quality; handmade here in Texas. I did shop around and found a few other designs you might want to check out.
Editing Note: I thought this would be funny to put here. While editing the amazon affiliate links in, I shit you not, I got screenshot for you.
Your legs are now taken care of, but you’ll still get thirsty. So here’s how you’ll store your drinks from now on.
2. Bring Collapsible Water Bags
I’m sure it’s on some subreddit somewhere, but I haven’t this trick yet online. So I’m giving away trade secrets for free lol.
Collapsible water bags are a great addition to your inventory even if you are bringing [other cups or bottles] to the Renaissance Faire. You can easily hide them by putting them inside your pouches so they aren’t taking away from your amazing look. We often pack a few on our [ever so versatile ring belts]. We just unscrew the lid and pour it into our cups. Often we don’t even need to take it out of the bag. Just be sure to get ones with a big opening for ice.
Bam! Cold drinks to go! (Don’t even think about diluting your alcohol though. Alcohol abuse, it’s a crime.)
Also a crime: Warm drinks.
You’ll need to be able to transport them chilled. So if you want to be able to share a cold drink around the campsite or just want cold refills, then you
3. Mini Cooler boxes
Seems easy enough, right? Bring a cooler you have laying around the house.
Wrong.
The worst part is, you have your ice and your drinks already in there. you’ve finished your last minute projects. you’ve grabbed all your necklaces and pendants. But then it hits you.
You’re car is full.
Overflowing even.
The trunk is arguing with you, saying “I didn’t want to close before, now you want a cooler in here!?”
Yeah… I know the feeling. Damn trunks.
There is an added benefit to using these coolers. If you bring them you can bring the next very versatile item on this list.
4. Gel Ice Packs
When you think about uses for ice packs what comes to mind. Some kind of injury maybe? Regardless, it’s usually nothing good, right? That changes today (unless you get hurt at fair, of course). Ice packs can be used by itself to keep your drinks cold, but more importantly to keep yourself cool.
Now that you’ve got that covered, you should probably know how best to cool down. Science hippies (to use Ze Franks term) tell us that you’ll want to place your ice packs on places with the most exposed blood vessels to cool you down fast. Here’s a chart that lists it out for you.
Bring a cloth to wrap up your bags unless you want condensation to soak everything you love and care for. You could also use it for cooling too. Well really only for the first 30 minutes or so until the gel ice packs thaw out.
This is unless, of course, you use some of natures best insulation to prevent this, one of our many real vegetable tanned leather bags to best fit your costume. Leather’s densely packed fibers make them great for slowing down heating.
Realistically, you can use any insulating bag. So long as fits your vibe AND collapsible water bags too!
Now let’s continue this list with probably my personal favorite item on it.
5. Boob Chillers
(Affectionately named. I’m not joking, it’s a thing.)
If you or a loved one has ever worn a corset in the Texas heat, they may be in need of support. Overheating kills 11 out of every 10 fair goers. You can get help by calling 1-800… (lol). Seriously though, there are these [little copper rods] that you fill with ice. Then you slide it snuggly between your boulder holders to keep your whole chest cool for at least a few hours. These can easily be swapped and stored in your mini cooler boxes too. If they get to cold against the skin you can get sleeves for them.
6. Neck Fans
I have seen some people with these last season at Scarborough Renaissance Festival. They blow on your neck so they can be worn without much thought and adjusted to your liking. If your okay with intruding on your costume its easy to wear with most costumes including dresses and armor. It might intrude on some jewelry though, keep that in mind.
They just sit on your neck and have two fans blowing inwards. I’ve heard the charge and power can very, but here are some options:
7. Literally the best Portable Fans for Ren Faire
I’ve saved the best for last for you. Get one of these Doublepow portable waist fan from amazon. Not only do they double as a battery pack too. they are amazing, I’m not affiliated with these guys or anything, but boy do these fans really work.
They are come with different settings, are strong and hold good charge too.
They come with either 1 or 2 fans built in. I have the one that has 2, but if the single fan is anything like the double fan, it’ll work great.
they also come with little clips that you can attach to your belt if your costume permits. They may not have been built with Ren Faire in mind, but if Bob Ross were still around he’d probably call it one of those “happy little accidents.”
I’m telling you that you need one of these portable fans. they completely change the game.
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