I built the first one for my apartment balcony.

Why I started

I tore my rotator cuff and it took almost two years to come right. Somewhere in that stretch I read that cold exposure helped people with shoulder injuries, so I tried it. I'm not a doctor and I won't tell you it fixed me, but I used it every morning and I don't think my shoulder would have come back as fast without it.

Why it's portable

I was in an apartment. Whatever I built had to fit on a balcony, go up in minutes and come apart again. That constraint is the reason this is an inflatable kit and not a rigid tub, and it turned out to be the right call for a lot of people. Renters. People who move. People who want their patio back on the weekend.

Why it became a business

My brothers train, Muay Thai and running, and after a few months of watching me use mine they asked if I'd build them one. So I did. Then I built a few more, went through a lot of prototypes, and landed on the setup we sell today. Somewhere in there it stopped being a favor and became a company.

What we build differently

The prototypes are the reason the kit looks the way it does.

The plumbing arrives finished. I cut the hose to length, assemble the manifold, fit the quick-connects and pressure test every kit by hand before it ships. No glue, no sawing, no Saturday at the hardware store.

The chiller is oversized on purpose. Early versions ran flat out to hold temperature, and running a compressor at its limit is what wears it out. So we sized up.

The tub is drop-stitch, not pool vinyl. The same construction used in rigid inflatable boats. It goes hard enough to sit on the rim.

What we are not

We are not a large company. No showroom, no call center, no influencer budget. When you email support you get me, or someone sitting near me.

We are also not the cheapest thing you can buy, and I would rather be straight about why. A 1/3 HP chiller can hold a cold plunge. It just has to run flat out to do it. That means slower pulldowns, far more hours on the compressor, and a higher power bill to reach the same temperature. Ours has headroom. It gets there faster, cycles less, and is not working at its limit every single session.

If you only want to plunge now and then and do not mind buying ice, you may not need a chiller at all. The insulated tub on its own is $400, and it takes a chiller later if you change your mind.

Where we are today

We are early. We have shipped enough units to know the design holds up, and not enough to have a wall of reviews yet. Every system gets checked by hand before it leaves, partly because that is how it should be done and partly because at this size one bad unit matters.

If that sounds like the kind of company you would rather buy from, the complete kit is $999 and the chiller on its own is $500.

Stay Cold,
Nico Covarrubias
Founder, Temp Drop Labs
San Diego, California