Heat is the threat you don't plan for
Most operators spend hours choosing the right plate carrier, pouches, and armor. Few spend the same time thinking about what wearing all of it does to their core body temperature. Body armor blocks your body's primary cooling mechanism: evaporation. Sweat builds up under the plates with nowhere to go. In warm weather, core temperature can rise to dangerous levels in under an hour of moderate activity.
The Qore Performance ICEPLATE® Gen 3 was designed specifically for this problem. It is a wearable water bottle shaped like a Medium ESAPI plate, designed to conduct heat away from your body while also providing drinking water. This guide covers how the system works, how to carry it, and which configuration makes the most sense for your setup.
What is the ICEPLATE® Gen 3?
The ICEPLATE® Gen 3 is a hard-cell hydration bladder with the exact dimensions of a Medium ESAPI armor plate: 24.1 cm x 31.75 cm x 2.54 cm. It holds 1.55 litres of water, weighs 320 g empty, and is made in Iowa, USA from FDA-certified, BPA-free HDPE.
Because it matches a Medium ESAPI plate, it fits natively inside most plate carriers in the rear plate bag. Worn against the body with frozen water inside, it delivers 70 watts of conductive cooling per unit. Filled with hot water instead, it provides 52 watts of heating in cold conditions. A pair of ICEPLATE® Gen 3 units delivers a combined 140 watts, which according to DoD-funded research from Stanford, TRADOC, and the CDC is the output required to prevent heat injuries in CBRNE environments even in the most extreme climates on earth.
As the ice melts, the ICEPLATE® Gen 3 produces ice-cold drinking water, which reduces your external water carry requirement by up to 50% compared to carrying conventional water at ambient temperature.
Why water and not a phase-change material?
Most off-the-shelf cooling products use paraffin-based or plant-based phase-change materials (PCMs). Water stores 333 kJ/kg of latent heat energy, versus approximately 220 kJ/kg for PCM alternatives. That is a 44.8% increase in energy storage density. Water is simply more powerful than any commercially available PCM, and you can drink it when it melts.
The ICEPLATE® Gen 3 uses the Coca-Cola / Dasani 28-410 thread standard for both fill ports, which means it is compatible with hundreds of millions of bottles available worldwide. In the field or on deployment, you can improvise a replacement cap or drink tube from almost any country in the world.
Internal vs external carry: the key decision
There are two primary ways to run an ICEPLATE® Gen 3 in a plate carrier setup. Each serves a different purpose, and combining them gives you the highest possible performance.
IMS Pro Gen 3 – internal mounting for conductive thermoregulation
The IMS Pro Gen 3 is the purpose-built mounting sleeve that holds the ICEPLATE® Gen 3 inside the rear plate bag of your carrier, with the flat side of the ICEPLATE® sitting directly against your back. This direct skin contact is what enables conductive heat transfer. Without body contact, you get hydration but not meaningful cooling or heating.
The IMS Pro Gen 3 is compatible with the ICEPLATE EXO® Gen 3 natively, and fits any other plate carrier via the CATAMARAN Gen 3 universal mounting system. The profile is extremely low, with no bulk added behind the carrier. If you need both cooling and hydration, the IMS Pro Gen 3 is the right choice.
ICEPLATE® MOLLE Back Panel – external carry for hard-cell hydration
The ICEPLATE® MOLLE Back Panel is a collaboration between Qore Performance and Dynamic Principles. It mounts externally to the rear of any MOLLE-equipped plate carrier and replaces a soft hydration bladder with the hard-cell ICEPLATE® Gen 3.
Externally mounted, the ICEPLATE® Gen 3 does not make direct contact with your body, so conductive thermoregulation is not possible in this configuration. What you gain instead is indestructibility. Unlike a soft bladder, the ICEPLATE® Gen 3 will not rupture under a heavy pack, in a vehicle, or under impact. The back panel also includes a full laser-cut PALS field for attaching mission-essential pouches, and integrated Crye-pattern zippers for compatibility with zip-on back panels. For vehicle-borne operations, load-bearing tasks, or anyone who does not need active thermoregulation but wants a rugged, reliable hydration solution, the MOLLE Back Panel is the right fit.
Combine both for 3.1 litres of capacity
Running one IMS Pro Gen 3 internally and one ICEPLATE® MOLLE Back Panel externally gives you two ICEPLATE® Gen 3 units simultaneously. That is 3.1 litres total and 140 watts of cooling output. The internal unit handles thermoregulation and primary hydration. The external unit serves as reserve water. This is also how Qore Performance describes the "Booster Rocket" concept: the internal ICEPLATE® gets you to your operational ceiling, and the external unit extends your range.
Supplemental hydration: ICEFLASK®
The ICEFLASK® is a purpose-built canteen shaped like the AN/PRC-148 MBITR radio. It fits standard MOLLE radio pouches and is designed to run alongside the ICEPLATE® as supplemental hydration. Like the ICEPLATE® Gen 3, it uses the Coca-Cola 28-410 thread standard and is made from BPA-free HDPE in the USA. Qore Performance's principle with the ICEFLASK® follows the "two is one, one is none" rule: if the ICEPLATE® Gen 3 is your primary water source, the ICEFLASK® is your backup. Never run with a single point of hydration failure.
The all-in-one option: ICEPLATE EXO® Gen 3
If you want the complete system without sourcing compatible components separately, the ICEPLATE EXO® Gen 3 is the ultralight minimalist plate carrier designed around the ICEPLATE® Gen 3. It runs the ICEPLATE® Gen 3 internally as a native feature, supports Medium ESAPI armor plates, and weighs less than most full-featured carriers on the market. It is available in Ranger Green, Multicam, Coyote Brown, and Black.
Paired with ICEVENTS® ventilation on the shoulder pads or cummerbund, the ICEPLATE EXO® system addresses both conductive and convective heat: the ICEPLATE® pulls heat from your core, while the ICEVENTS® shoulder pads and ICEVENTS® pontoons channel airflow across the rest of the carrier.
Which setup is right for you?
If you wear a plate carrier and need active cooling, start with the IMS Pro Gen 3 paired with an ICEPLATE® Gen 3. If your carrier does not natively support the IMS Pro, add the CATAMARAN Gen 3 for universal compatibility. For external hard-cell hydration or vehicle ops, add the ICEPLATE® MOLLE Back Panel. For the cleanest integrated setup, the ICEPLATE EXO® Gen 3 carrier eliminates the compatibility question entirely.
Geartown is an authorised distributor of Qore Performance in Europe. Browse the full Qore Performance collection or contact us for any questions about building the right setup for your use case.
