Working In Hell

JoshR said:
Have any of you tried wearing the long sleeve fishing t-shirts? I got one from gander mt and have tried it out the last 2 days. I like it. It stays damp and seems to keeps me cool without getting oversaturated. Probably not as cooling as the coolvest but, I figured if it works for fishermen in the hot sun then, it may be worth a try.
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I sometimes will wear motocross jerseys
 
Their is a pill called thermotabs. I have had very good results taking one of those twice durring the day. Its sodium and potassium. Usually one first thing with a pint of water and one half way thru the day. I then drink lots of air temp water. Cold water has to be heated by the body before it can be absorbed and I notice it sits in my stomach too long and I can't drink enough without getting bloated stomach. I used to get bad headaches almost everyday when it was real hot and without the added electrolytes, I would just pee out all the extra water. This strategy has made me the most heat resistant guy on my crew. No more headaches either. Pittsburgh isn't near as hot as the south, but it can get pretty humid at times and I have seen our weather take a few people off the job.
 
Lots to learn here from the backpacking community. Use water to keep wrists and shoulders wet. Here's why ...
1. Evaporating water is fastest way to get cool.
2. Regular water cools far better than sweat. (Sweat is salty, reducing its cooling capacity significantly.)
3. If you make your shirt wet before you get hot, you won't sweat, preserving much-needed hydration. (When skin senses 100% humidity, it doesn't sweat.)
When backpacking the Appalachian Trail, staying ultralight, I carry a quart ziplok bag with 1/4 cup of water and 1/4 of a washcloth inside. Use the washcloth to get arms or sleeves wet and shoulders wet - anything that will catch the slightest air movement. One good treatment will usually keep me pleasantly cool for 30 minutes.
For climbing, I have attached a small pouch to my suspenders. I keep the ziplok bag there. Apply the water early and often - never feel overheated again.
 
Great information. I didn't know the body held up on perspiration under normal healthy conditions.

If some of the original posters don't chime in Dan they may be off to other things. Previous post to yours was 2019.
 
Yes, when the skin is wet (100% humidity) it won't sweat. It's one of the secrets to surviving extreme arctic cold. This and more details about staying cool in hot conditions is found in the great book, The Secrets of Warmth, by Hal Weiss.
 
Essentially there are four ways we lose heat. Evaporation is one of them.
Preventing evaporation is important in cold weather to prevent hypothermia.
Producing evaporation is important in hot weather to prevent overheating.
Virtually all air-conditioning systems use evaporation as the mechanism to cool the air. From the old swamp coolers, to kids running in the sprinklers, to heat pumps, it's all about controlling evaporation.
For cold weather survival (I lived in Alaska 26 years) it is essential not to sweat. Sweat makes insulation damp, and when it evaporates much heat is lost. The application to backpacking is to constantly take off layers when going uphill (exertion) to stay cool and prevent sweating, then adding layers at the top to prevent getting cold. I've been snowshoeing steep slopes in zero degrees in shorts and t-shirt and fully comfortable, but more importantly, when I get to the top I put dry layers back on which keep me warm.
For extreme arctic cold, to prevent any dampness to get into insulation, adventurers use vapor barrier layers (VBL - waterproof layer between skin and clothing) to keep insulation dry. It can be uncomfortable at first during times of exertion when the body gets hot and starts to sweat, but if you live with the dampness for a little bit, sweating stops as soon as the air around the skin hits 100% humidity.
For hot weather, we induce evaporation to stay cool. Water it turns out is much more effective coolant than sweat.
 
Start pre-hydrating the evening before. Once you start perspiring, you can't get out from behind that curve. You won't be able to replace fluids fast enough. In addition wear 100% polyester fabrics, as they'll wick away moisture. Sometimes dry is as close to cool as you can get.
 
Performance fabrics transport sweat which cools. They also function to keep sweat and water as a vapor which helps cool.

The phase-change cycle from solid-liquid-vapor is so amazing. Each phase takes energy.
 
I think it was 107 today but its Texas so what's new .I always try and get hydrated the evening before and just try my best not to think about it to much or even talk about it on the job if possible. Its what we signed for and sometimes I think if I just except it , it really makes things better . I been in the industry for a long time and I seen a lot of people who just do not do well in the heat no matter what they do. But then I have seen some folks that it doesn't seem to phase and they can do everything wrong , partying drinking the night before and eating bad and still crush in the heat
 
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TE Lawrence [of Arabia] as well as the explorer, not the actor, Richard Burton wrote about the Bedouin in their autobiographies. They detailed how their clothing, food and shelter functioned for their existence in the Arabian desert. Sorry, I can't site chapter and verse. There's little chance of their robes working very well while tree climbing.
 
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