IcePlate® plate carrier hydration: how has IcePlate® evolved since launch in 2016?

We came up with the original idea for the IcePlate® in January 2016. A lot has happened since then. Today, we wanted to share some of the background story behind IcePlate®, most of which has never been shared publicly before… 

1. We 3D print the first IcePlate. You can't drink out of it, it's not really curved, and it leaks. We spray paint it an off shade of Ranger Green. One bout of turbulence on the flight down to Huntsville, AL (where we were presenting) and the nozzle will break off. The paint still isn’t dry as our plane lifts off.
2. In showing prototype #1 to a bunch of our friends in the SOF community, they told us the fill port should be recessed in the event of a blast to prevent the protruding fill port from causing a throat injury, especially if wearing an IcePlate® on the front (think EOD wearing two IcePlates® front and back under a bomb suit). With prototype #2, we recessed the fill port.
3. This is what eventually became the production IcePlate® Classic with the Universal Female QD and Anti-Kink Spring. Note: the Recessed Fill Port is refined more and the Strap Loops have been fully developed.
4. After we started selling IcePlates® into the occupational safety sector, we got lots of requests for Closed IcePlate® Classics with no drink tube. Our Safety customers wanted this because they were sharing IcePlate® Classics in a single shift and only needed them for cooling/heating. We improvised and figured out how to cap the TotalDrain.
5. We build an Insert Tool to block off the TotalDrain, creating the first single-opening IcePlate® built specifically for cooling/heating only in the Safety market.
6. The first IcePlate® Classic to go through Back Face Deformation testing shows that IcePlate® Classic nearly eliminates Back Face Deformation, when worn behind soft body armor, in all three states: water, ice and empty. Full videos up on our IceAge Insights blog and our YouTube Channel.
7. The Level IV Armored IcePlate® Curve: ballistic armor, Back Face Deformation protection, cooling, heating and hydration. The Armored IcePlate® Curve truly does it all.
8. IcePlate® Curve with Magnetic Freezer Cap in Safety configuration.
9. Production IcePlate® Curve with IceCap, Source 90 and Armor Straps as sold today.

#StayFrosty®