Heat and Perriod Clothing

[Delmonico]

I posted this on TFS in The Look a week ago, we disscussed this here somewhere last year, but it's good just to do every year,since it is something folks don't always understand.


Heat should not be a problem with period clothing, in fact although you may not believe it, perriod clothing is cooler, yer mind just won't let you believe it.

Covering your body from the sun will make it cooler, the sun rays don't shine directly on it that way.

If you take two objects and lay them in the sun on a very hot day and cover one with a blanket and check in an hour, the one in direct sun light will be hotter to the touch.

Natural fabrics breath better and stay damp with perspiration, this evaporates and cools your body.

Add a third object and cover with a damp blanket, it will even be cooler when you check it.


Folks who are not used to being in the heat do many things wrong and even dangerous.

First ig it's gonna be hot that day, don't drive to the shoot with the air on. Getting out of a cold car and right into the heat will shock your system, save it till yer done.

Hydrate well, start the day before, drink lots of "WATER" the sport drinks are ok also, but coffee, tea and pop with caffine are not good. If one chooses to drink them increase the water intake.

Also when it is hot do not drink "Cold" beverages, cool is ok, but cold will chill your body core and the body will create more he to re-regulate it.

If you want to know if you are hydrated, enough it is simple. If you ann't peed in 1 1/2 to 2 doors you ain't hydrated enough. Also when you do, check the color, clear or pale yellow is good, dark yellow or darker is getting dangerous, drink more water or sport drinks.

Also you are losing electrolytes, sport drinks or the old fashioned heat tablets are often needed. You can still have a heat stroke if you get these unbalanced.

My pard Matt has a good trick he learned at 29 Palms training. Get the powdered mix and take a bunch and add just enough water to mostly dissolve it, gritty is ok. Force everyone you suspect needs electrolytes to drink some, they will complain it didn't help, it just made the more thirsty, now point them to the water, you forced them to drink more and you took care of the electrolytes.

Also if you take any medication, check with your doctor or druggest, some meds cause weird effects in the heat and in sun light. If Doc says no, then listen.

These basics could keep you from keeling over, and remember just cause you think yer cooler it ain't alway so.

[Aces and Eights]

Hey Del, where do you shoot? Next time I pee I would like your expert observation. Do you smell it too? Don't eat asparagus before the test.

By the way, there is a whole new take on hydration. The news reports keep coming up with studies that people hydrate too much and do harm. Over hydration – bad.

Like all our medical studies, you die if you don't but die if you do. Thanks for the help to all the medical studies. Olive Oil kills you. Nope, Olive Oil is great for the right kind of cholesterol. Use margarine. Opps, don't - it is worse than butter. Take Cox inhibitors for the good life. Opps, they might cause your heart attack. [Never understood why a male would use something named that.] Dr. Rx'd a heart drug – 3 years later it was studied and caused 300% more heart attacks – opps, don't take it.

Just watch Lawrence of Arabia for the clothing thing, and show up as a Bedouin. The Cowboy clothing police will pee – and you can check them also.

[Delmonico]

Pard, you gave me an idea, I'll bet someone makes a chart for color, will ask my Doc.

Shhhh quiet on the 'sparegus thing, might pull that sometime, ol' cookies a bit ornery.  Be funny to find out how many show up at the doctors with "Problems" if I fed them a bunch of it.

Any of these idiots doing these new studies ain't never worked it the real heat and seen a co-worker go down from heat stroke.  Hope it happens to them some day, tain't logical.   If they have such a stupid theroy I'd like to see them prove it with their body.

I shoot some pard but not CAS, the faster pace would cause problems and a gun would some day be on the ground.  Better this cripple stick to cookin' and the slower pace of long range rifle. 

But if ya ever make it to Newbrassky yer welcome ta grab a plate any time.

[jrdudas]

Good advice about covering up from the sun.  I lived in Arizona for many years and covering up definitely makes a difference there.  A lesson can be learned from the construction workers; most wear long sleeved shirts made of cotton or wool and button their collars and cuffs.  Shirt gets wet with sweat and cools the body.  I now live in Ohio, perhaps one of the most humid states outside of the South during the summer.  Staying cool outside here in the high humidity is an ongoing struggle.  I am also a boater and have several times overhydrated and caused electrolite imbalances.  As a result, I am far more careful about what I do in the heat of the day.  When it comes to CAS events I am a newbie and will have to learn as I go.  I suspect however that I will have to skip some events when the heat and humidity is just too high.

John
   

[Delmonico]

My understanding is that the problem is not enough electrolytes, not over hydration.  In an era that salt is considered a no no, many are reluctant to push the electrolytes because so many contain sodium.  My Dad has been on a low salt diet for 25 years, but before he retired the family doctor said to keet taking the comercial salt tablets at work when it was hot, with proper hydration they would sweat out.

Any one with a normal funtioning kidney can not over-hydrate as the coffee and beer drinkers around the world keep proving.  If kidney function is low that falls under the talk to the doctor first class.

[litl rooster]

 Delmonico  you ever see the cowboys down west Texas and the S.W. they wear long sleeved shirts all year  (so do I).  Working in the Mountains in Colorado several years ago we tried and tried to get guest to relize they needed more fluid intake. The humidity was so low there they could not feel the perspiration, many dehydrated till they were absoultley sick.

[Four-Eyed Buck]

BTT

[Four-Eyed Buck]

BTT

[Delmonico]

BTT it's been warm lately.

[Arcey]

Nuttin' ta do with how ya dress er whut ya drink, just a suggestion...........

Sumthin' thit'll make ya feel a bunch more comfortable is one ah them little battery powered hand held fans.  When ya find yerself a bit damp, turnin' one of them things on ya feels mighty good.

..

[Delmonico]

BTT up from last year, it's gettin' warm out.

[Rascal Ralph]

When you post these helpful hints, you need to be careful.  "Sport drinks" almost killed me. At 64 yrs, a weaker heart got to much fluid in the system. (conjestive heart failure) . Docs said too much salt retention  in the sport drink. Said "DRINK WATER"  nature lets you pee it off at a natural rate, where sport drinks make you retain it. Mind you , this is for older persons, and you don't have to have a weak heart. 4 days in the hospital made a believer out of me. RR

[Delmonico]

If one has medical problems of any sort one NEEDS to talk with your doctor about any special things that need done, this includes reading the sheet from top to bottom on any meds you take, perscription or over the counter.

[Pony Edwards]

Delmonico:  Do you find clothing, especially wool pants to be cooler than cotton in the summer months? 

[Delmonico]

I like wool esp. when working around a campfire with a dutch ovens or when out in direct sun light, it blocks the radiant heat from either source.  Did a spread for about 80 a week ago, involved all day and up to 15 ovens.  It was only to have been middle 70's, but got to the 90's, left the heavy wool pants at home along with a heavy gingham bib shirt.  I wished I would have broght them, had just a light pair of pants and a calico shirt.  But because I kept hydrated with cool, not cold water and went through about a 1/3 can of powdered Gatorad, I was fine. 

I am going to cook on Monday and Tuesday to do some pictures I need.  I have packed both heavier items, the temps are to be 100 or slightly above.  The hottest I ever cooked in for 3 days went over a 100, the one day the offical in Lincoln was 105, therms.  where we were read 110 to 112.  I know several blacksmiths that works all three days and a rotating crew of 3 worked a steam derrick in 1 hour shifts, this was an inclosed cab model with the window open, oil fired.  There was several crews threashing all three days. most wearing long sleeve flannel shirts and bibs.  The only heat problems that weekend was a man in his 90's that over did it on the threashing crew, it was minor and several tourists walking around in shorts, tank tops and not taking care of themselves.

Last summer I could not cook in the heat, had a internal infection that took massive IV antibiotics to cure, I was out for the summer, the sun and heat would have almost took my skin off because of the side affects. 

[Pony Edwards]

Thanks that really helps.  I agree with you that wearing wool, especially heavy wool in the summer is counter intuitive and hard to wrap your thoughts around.  But, I'll give it a try sometime soon.

[Marshal Tac]

One other comment to add to this discussion... If you have ever been a heat casualty in the past, (Heat prostration, Heat Stroke, Severer dehydration, etc.) keep in mind that you will always be more succeptable to heat injuries from then on. The pituitary gland is injured as a result of heat injuries, and this will forever effect the way it monitors you body temprature.

I was a heat stroke victim while serving in the Army in Panama, and have gone down from the heat about 2-3 time a year while working as a Cop in Arizona for the last 14 years. It has gotten to the point that my City's Firemen, most of who know me, pay particular attention to me when we are working calls together..... Most of them have given me an I.V. (or 2) at some point in time, as a result of my sensitivity to the heat. When I run firearms ranges for my department, our SWAT Medics ( Fire dept. Paramedics), bring a cooler filled with chilled I.V. bags to the range, no matter what time of the year, just in case I have a problem.... They have saved my bacon on more that a couple of occasions as a result.

[Camille Eonich]

I don't know why I didn't think of this before but Pedialyte is an excellent fluid + electrolyte replacement drink.

[Cyrille]

I don't know why I didn't think of this before but Pedialyte is an excellent fluid + electrolyte replacement drink.

I trhought that was suppose to be a secret I've been useing/preaching Pedialyte's qualities for years here in South Loosiana!
now you've gone and made it PUBLIC!!
Good goin Miz Cammie

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

The advice about staying covered up may work for hot dry climates, but it does not necessarily work for hot humid climates. The Arabs, more specifically the Bedouins, wear long flowing robes to keep the sun off and allow dry air to circulate under the robes and it works well for hot dry climates. They have done so for thousands of years.

But that strategy does not necessarily work well in a hot humid climate. When is the last time you saw natives of Hawaii, The Phillipines, or the Amazon basin wearing long sleeves and long pants? For that matter, the Woodland Indians of most of Eastern North America dressed the same way in the summer, with very little clothing. If you need to cool the body in a humid climate, you can transfer heat better and more efficiently by allowing sweat to evaporate directly into the atmosphere, rather than putting a layer of clothing between the skin and the air. That is simple Thermodynamics. Most Native people who live in hot humid climates learned this through experience without going to college and studying Thermodynamics. The difference is of course, too be blunt, most Native people who live in hot humid climates have relatively dark skin. Living in climates that require little clothing, for many, many generations, spanning thousands of years has given an evolutionary advantage to those with more pigment in their skins over those with lighter skins. The problem for transplanted Northern European types, like myself, with my pale skin, is that I cannot run around almost naked in the hot sun without suffering terrible skin burn, and my proclivity for skin cancer is much higher.

Not to mention we're not allowed to run around almost naked when shooting Cowboy.

I learned years ago that my best friend on a hot humid day is a cold wet bandana. The Army told us many years ago that we lose a huge percentage of our body heat through the top of our heads. Wear a hat to keep your head warm in winter, and you will keep the rest of the body warm too. The same thing works in reverse. Cool your head, and you will cool your body. My solution for shooting in hot HUMID weather, and I just finished the New England Regional, for three days of over 90 degrees and blistering humidity is to use plenty of cold, wet, bandanas. Most shoots these days know enough to put out big jugs of cold water for shooters in hot humid weather. I carry at least 3 bandanas at all times on a hot day. As soon as I feel too hot, I soak a bandana in cold water, fold it up, and put it on top of my head. Then I squash my hat right down on top of it. It really does not matter whether the hat is felt or straw, as long as you mash that cold compress down onto the top of the head. The cooling effect is dramatic and rapid. The cold wet bandana is a terrific heat sink, drawing heat right through the top of the head. And it really does cool down the rest of me. When I start feeling hot again, I apply another cold wet bandana. Yeah, I look a little dishevelled, but I my hat on, so no one can see how silly I look with the a wet bandana plastered to my scalp. And everybody else is drippng with sweat anyway. A second cold wet bandana goes around my neck. A third is in my back pocket, for wiping my troubled brow. As far as rolling up sleeves or not, perhaps unrolled sleeves works in hot dry weather, but I can tell you for a fact that I am much cooler on a hot humid day with rolled up sleeves than with sleeves buttoned. Absolutely, no question.

My other hot weather solution is to send my alter ego, Pancho Johnson to the match. Pancho wears a huge straw sombrero, white cotten pants, white cotten shirt, and SANDALS, without socks of course. Pancho has a cold wet bandana tied around his neck, and another one hidden under his sombrero. Pancho is always cooler on a hot day than I am. I sent Pancho to the New England Regional on Saturday, and he was much cooler than I had been the day before. And an awful lot of shooters commented how smart he was to dress that way.