Suggestions for an automatic personal misting system?

[samhandwich22]

Hi! I burn on a budget and with limited space for cargo. While I marvel at others' elaborate cooling systems, I myself need to keep things very simple.
In 2014 I found that a simple hammock under a tarp was a great way to sleep during the day. I mounted a $4 battery-powered fan from walmart so that I constantly had a light breeze on me. Very effective for how minimalist it was.
This year I wanted to replicate the same setup but with some kind of cooling mist added.
I am looking for an idea on how to provide mist while I am sleeping during the day:
-Must be automatic, I will be asleep and thus wont be able to continuously press buttons or operate pumps.
-Simple and personal. I am not trying to cool an entire camp space or tent. I am looking for something that will deliver a mist burst to just myself (over my face or body) as I slumber
-Must be battery-operated. I do not have any generators or large output batteries.
-Timed mist. As I said automatic, meaning a burst of mist could be delivered by timed intervals (ie. every one minute).

You know those de-odorizing timed misters people keep in there bathrooms that intermittently spray perfume? Thats essentially the type of product or idea I am looking for, but using water instead of perfume. Amazingly, I have not yet found such a product. The perfume ones use propriety cans of scent so I dont think it would be easy to simply attach a water bottle in lieu.
Does anyone here know of such a product or have other ideas for making a simple (and cheap) automatic timed mister?

[ygmir]

lmgtfy

[rideincircles]

This works well for portability.

[Token]

How about a small bedsheets you get damp and cover yourself or lay on top of.

You have a fan already, now evaporate something.

Drinking lots of water and sweating a bit also works fully automated when you sleep.

[digital]

Instead of looking for a product to buy why not build something? A misting system would be extremely easy to build from inexpensive parts. Heck, you could even write a simple program for BeagleBone or Arduino to automatically mist at given intervals during certain times of the day or when the ambient temperature crosses a set threshold. Some parts needed, all easy to find or very little cost:

*12-volt pump attached to a water supply
*Rechargeable battery pack hooked to a solar cell
*Tubing
*Misting nozzles

Sounds like a fun project and you have plenty of time! Good luck.

[Molotov]

This might be overkill....

[samhandwich22]

How about a small bedsheets you get damp and cover yourself or lay on top of.

You have a fan already, now evaporate something.

The bedsheet idea would work, but probably not for long enough ~20 minutes?
I would need something that continuously feeds water to my body while I sleep (even if only in small quantities) in order to maintain long sleep.

[samhandwich22]

This works well for portability.

Thanks. It does not appear to be automated though

[samhandwich22]

Instead of looking for a product to buy why not build something? A misting system would be extremely easy to build from inexpensive parts. Heck, you could even write a simple program for BeagleBone or Arduino to automatically mist at given intervals during certain times of the day or when the ambient temperature crosses a set threshold. Some parts needed, all easy to find or very little cost:

*12-volt pump attached to a water supply
*Rechargeable battery pack hooked to a solar cell
*Tubing
*Misting nozzles

Sounds like a fun project and you have plenty of time! Good luck.

This would work, though I am not yet familiar with the programing aspect. I was hoping to find a product that already exists for $30 or so. I am surprised to be having this kind of difficulty though, but I am now trying to think of ways I can take one of those bathroom fragrance misters and put a water resevoir into it. That might be simple.

[digital]

This would work, though I am not yet familiar with the programing aspect. I was hoping to find a product that already exists for $30 or so. I am surprised to be having this kind of difficulty though, but I am now trying to think of ways I can take one of those bathroom fragrance misters and put a water resevoir into it. That might be simple.

So learn! This is Burning Man after all. We try to build things instead of buy things.

And FWIW, I don't think what you describe exists for $30. Those little fragrance things you mention only squirt out a tiny mist every half hour to hour. That will do nothing to keep you cool. So, again, I ask why not BUILD something that does exactly what you want! It would be super easy and inexpensive.

[Ratty]

Ask Figjam. He has a head start on the water source, pump and power.

[trilobyte]

+1000 to what digital said. I don't really see there being a very big market for personal automatic misting systems (only so many human sloths out there), and if it did I imagine it would cost a hell of a lot more than $30. To quote Figjam, don't buy ur burn - build ur burn!

[Captain Goddammit]

This is an easy question. They are readily available, at the same store you buy giant flame throwing art pieces and mutant vehicles shaped like birthday cakes from.

[Ratty]

This is an easy question. They are readily available, at the same store you buy giant flame throwing art pieces and mutant vehicles shaped like birthday cakes from.

Ha ha ha ha ha

Samhandwich, It may seem we are having too much fun at your expense. We are. Sorry. If you Google 'battery operated misting' you will find a plethora of choices. I've spent WAY more time researching it than you have. Get out there and look. There are instructables, pinterest how-to-make, and companies that mass produce. This ain't wikipedia and I ain't your Mother. Now clean your room and start being self reliant. (You'll thank us later.)

[digital]

If you Google 'battery operated misting' you will find a plethora of choices. I've spent WAY more time researching it than you have. Get out there and look. There are instructables, pinterest how-to-make, and companies that mass produce.

I just entered your search phrase and couldn't find anything along the lines of what the OP is looking for. That is, an *automated* misting system. Maybe you can link to some of your instructables? That would be more helpful than scolding the OP. If you have them why not share or provide us your resources?

[Captain Goddammit]

I'd recommend building one of FIGJAM's bucket coolers and having it blow cool moist air at you.
By the way I just googled what Ratty said and saw a zillion battery operated misters.
Automating one on a timer would still be up to the users own wits but I doubt that exactly the specified automated battery operated personal mister exists commercially.

[DoctorIknow]

Automating one on a timer would still be up to the users own wits but I doubt that exactly the specified automated battery operated personal mister exists commercially.

I've wanted a timer on a Misty Mate spritzer every year I sleep at BM at the hottest part of the day and am awakened every 5 minutes by heat and sweat. I mist myself, feel cooled, fall asleep only to waken again hot and sweaty, mist again, repeat, repeat until I give up with a fukit attitude. Not nice.

And now with battery powered misters, you would think manufactures would have a clue that not all spritzing has to be active, and could be passive, ie; using while SLEEPING. Duh....

A short 5 second on/3 minutes off cycle (in front of a battery operated fan) aimed perfectly to face and chest of prone sleeper would cool the sleeper without awakening them and not wet the bedding.

So, now to find a electronics wiz to make a timer...I'll send them one pronto if they're up for it.

[DoctorIknow]

Automating one on a timer would still be up to the users own wits but I doubt that exactly the specified automated battery operated personal mister exists commercially.

I just found an O2 version of battery operated misters with an INTERMITTENT setting!

Two adjustable 5" fans could be great, but the cycle for intermittent is 10 seconds on/10 seconds off, which is way too short a duration for sleeping. One would get too wet, too cold, and the bedding would get wet. Ideally, mist would need time to evaporate from body and bedding before the next blast.

http://goo.gl/xA3NiA

fan mister.JPG

[mooserider]

A short 5 second on/3 minutes off cycle (in front of a battery operated fan) aimed perfectly to face and chest of prone sleeper would cool the sleeper without awakening them and not wet the bedding.

So, now to find a electronics wiz to make a timer...I'll send them one pronto if they're up for it.

Sounds like a perfect job for the venerable 555 timer chip. They've been around since the 1970's (at least, I was buying them at Radio Shack in the 1970's). Or, if you want to go overkill in a modern maker variant of Rube Goldberg, you could do it with an Arduino (with lots of blinky lights, and a warning buzzer when the mister runs out of water).

[samhandwich22]

This is an easy question. They are readily available, at the same store you buy giant flame throwing art pieces and mutant vehicles shaped like birthday cakes from.

Ha ha ha ha ha

Samhandwich, It may seem we are having too much fun at your expense. We are. Sorry. If you Google 'battery operated misting' you will find a plethora of choices. I've spent WAY more time researching it than you have. Get out there and look. There are instructables, pinterest how-to-make, and companies that mass produce. This ain't wikipedia and I ain't your Mother. Now clean your room and start being self reliant. (You'll thank us later.)

So to everyone who is being presumptuous and making snarky comments about my supposed lack of research, I will address this now: I have been researching this for days, yes, starting with a ton of googling (and no you have NOT spent WAY more time research this than I have, I promise). Clearly I have not found such a product that has met my specifications and hence, I am now asking for input from the community. Besides, when it comes to burning man, oftentimes asking other burners is the first place to go. Why spend hours more browsing through google when perhaps one very experienced person here has already done something similar and has the solution?

Okay thats out of the way- no more repetitive and boringly snarky comments suggesting me to use google ok? Just follow basic forum etiquette and only post if you have something meaningful to contribute please.

[trilobyte]

Relax, and get over it. You posted a public plea on a message board, and are bound to get a wide range of responses. That includes questioning your need for such a thing, or suggesting a lack of radical self reliance. It probably didn't help that in your responses you were dismissive of people's excellent DIY advice and said or implied that you were looking for some kind of cheap off-the-shelf solution. There are a number of different threads in Keeping Cool or the Q&A board on the subject of keeping cool, rather than days of fruitless googling you could focus your energy there. Good luck getting something sorted out that fits your needs and budget.

[samhandwich22]

Relax, and get over it. You posted a public plea on a message board, and are bound to get a wide range of responses. That includes questioning your need for such a thing, or suggesting a lack of radical self reliance. It probably didn't help that in your responses you were dismissive of people's excellent DIY advice and said or implied that you were looking for some kind of cheap off-the-shelf solution. There are a number of different threads in Keeping Cool or the Q&A board on the subject of keeping cool, rather than days of fruitless googling you could focus your energy there. Good luck getting something sorted out that fits your needs and budget.

Its more about not having a thread full of "why dont you just google it" comments. The problem is not the possibility that I may not be doing all that I can, but the assumption that I am not (ie. the comment from Ratty suggesting that they had spent WAY more time research it than I have). I am not dismissing anyone's ideas, just not resting on a solution yet. In fact, it looks like at this point that building something may be my only recourse.

With that being said, my reluctance to building is that it may become quite time consuming whereas I am already undergoing too many construction projects for the burn (as I am sure many others are). I may put a lot of effort into it but it would be new to me and I would hate to put in the effort only to have it fail on the playa. I am exploring all avenues here

[Captain Goddammit]

You could spend the time you're wasting arguing building a bucket swamp cooler.

[digital]

You could spend the time you're wasting arguing building a bucket swamp cooler.

He could have written the Arduino code by now. Seriously, this is the perfect solution as outlined above.
*Arduino
*12-volt pump
*Tubing
*Mister nozzles

Why the hesitation to go this route? It's exactly what you need.

[TT120]

A 555 timer circuit is easy to build and you could use it to control a pump that delivers water to a misting system at adjustable intervals.

Super easy and fun to build.

[samhandwich22]

You could spend the time you're wasting arguing building a bucket swamp cooler.

My impression was that bucket swamp coolers were ideal for cooling a room or tent? My hammock setup is under a shade tarp but is not contained by walls... it lets me take advantage of the playas naturally cooling wind.

[samhandwich22]

You could spend the time you're wasting arguing building a bucket swamp cooler.

He could have written the Arduino code by now. Seriously, this is the perfect solution as outlined above.
*Arduino
*12-volt pump
*Tubing
*Mister nozzles

Why the hesitation to go this route? It's exactly what you need.

Mainly just that I have never heard of it. Writing code? Completely foreign to me! But if its as easy as everyone keeps suggesting then yes I will put it on my list. Right now I am in my idea collection phase so I am not set on anything one way or the other.

[samhandwich22]

This is interesting. It was not really what I had in mind but if I suspend it from the room and have it blowing humidity right into my face, it could work. I already have many portable usb battery packs to power it, I would just need a simple timer between the humidifier and the battery to regulate its output. As a traveler I may use this again and again.

[digital]

Mainly just that I have never heard of it. Writing code? Completely foreign to me! But if its as easy as everyone keeps suggesting then yes I will put it on my list. Right now I am in my idea collection phase so I am not set on anything one way or the other.

Most of the code is written for you. There are plenty of similar projects that you could tweak and make work for your needs. Find the nearest geek to help and it should be a breeze (pun intended).

http://playground.arduino.cc/Main/Sketc ... iming_code

[digital]

This is interesting. It was not really what I had in mind but if I suspend it from the room and have it blowing humidity right into my face, it could work. I already have many portable usb battery packs to power it, I would just need a simple timer between the humidifier and the battery to regulate its output. As a traveler I may use this again and again.

That's a humidifier. It will do nothing to help with cooling.

(But you seem dead set against taking suggestions / building. I'll leave it at my above post.)