Summer Heat: was part of "Ramblings"

[Doc Shapiro]

I'm kinda partial to air conditioning myself 

Doc

[Delmonico]

If'n ya don't run the air cond.  in yer stagecoach goin' ta the match  or ren-actment on a hot day, ya won't have as much problem with the heat when ya get there.  A FYI for those who cain't figger out how folks could were so much clothing back then. 

The heat on a hot summer day will not hurt anyone in good health, only yer lack of knowledge of how to handle yer self will do that.

If'n my pard Matt and I can slave in our hot outdoor kitchen fer 15-18 hours a day when it gets over 100 degrees a few hours shootin' won't kill ya.

[Silver Creek Slim]

I don't have AC in my BLACK truck.
Last summer at one of our monthly matches, it was hot and humid. I was wearing a yellow shirt and a dark blue suede vest. I ended up with a yellow and blue shirt. We were sweating like pigs. (I know pigs don't sweat.) The match had 5 stages. By the 5th stage, I felt like I was in a fog. But, it was my only clean stage of the day. We were drinking water like it was going out of style. I don't ever want to shoot in those conditions again. We had a safe match but it could have turned out differently.

Slim

[Delmonico]

As long as you are sweatin' you will most often do fine.  Natural fiber clothing gets damp and helps cool the body.  The leather vest was a bad idea on that day cause not only did the dye run, but unless it was brain tanned it did not breath. 

Plenty of liquid is also needed, water is fine, but those non-period correct sport drinks are better.  If you want to look more correct just take Thermo-Tabs, they should be avalible at yer druggest.  They do contain sodium chloride so if ya is one of them that has to watch such things ya might take ta yer Doc. (A real modern one not a period correct one!)

Never drink really cold drinks while out in the heat, athough they make you feel cool it is yer mind playing tricks on ya!  It cools yer body core and yer body has to work harder to warm it up to operating temp.  That produces more heat where ya don't want it.

[Silver Creek Slim]

Two strikes against the vest: dark color and not breathable. 

Slim

[Delmonico]

Most do not think about it but that banndana around yer neck can and is supposed to be dipped in water and wrapped around yer neck.  That cools them big blood vessels going to yer brain and back from it, a lot op plumbing there, nature made that part of yer radiator systems. give it a hand.

Open crowned hats have more air space, an open crowned had does more good than them itty bitty holes that are often in hats.

Also not only do unstiffened palm leaf hats breath better than felt hats, ya can take it over ta the horse trough or crick and soak it a few minutes, it will absorb water that will evaporate slowly and cool yer head also. 

A good straw hat will do the same, but most straw hats today are not really straw.  The palm leaf hats are just as much or more so period correct.  The most popular was the 4" brim  3-4"
flat crown, like the Amish still were. 

Research also says that most of Custer's troops were wearing that type of hat on the day of the battle along the Little Bighorn river.

[Silver Creek Slim]

I was wearing a bandana and a straw hat. I did not think of soaking them. The brain was a little fried so thinking was limited. 

Slim

[Delmonico]

One of the first signs of heat stroke, Incoohearant thinking. 

[Big Hext Finnigan]

I must have heat stroke a lot..

[Delmonico]

Incoherant thinking can also be caused by other things.  If you think it might be the heat do two other tests.  Take yer temp.  Never get the oral and rectal thermos. mixed up, they go in opposite ends. 

In all seriousness though some one suffering heat stroke will have an elevated temp.  This is caused by the body not being able to cool itself down.

Another way to tell if you are on the path for a heat stroke is to look at the color of yer urine.  Yes that is what I said,  if ya can't pee to check it you need to be putting in more fluid through the mouth so the EMT don't have to do it with an IV.

If yer urine is clear to light yellow you are properly hydrated, the darker it gets the worse off you are.  If it ever gets darker than medium yellow you should have been drinking more fluids, like an hour or two ago.

[Brazos Bucky Smith]

Thanks Delmonico, I will remember that next shoot that is in a heat wave.  Just was at a shoot this last weekend, sweating a ton.  I kept drinking cold water, but by what your sayin I was doin it wrong.

Several people had those Bandanas with a cool strip built in and they were geetin 'um wet.  I will have one myself by the next shoot!

good information, thanks

BB

[Delmonico]

The plain ol' silk ones work just as good or better than the newfangled ones, I have used both, I think the silk works better.

Not to critize anyone, but folks who have never had to work in extreme heat often don't take care of themselves properly.

Many think the period clothing with it's long sleeves and such make you hotter, that is yer body playing tricks on you again. 

Take two of my dutch ovens and place them in the sun on a hot day.  Cover one with a towel and leave the other one bare.  Come back in a hour and touch both, guess which one is the hottest.

Cool fluids are fine, just don't drink very cold like the pop that has been sitting in ice.  Don't drink any caffeen drinks, they will cause yer body to loose more water.  I drink a lot of coffee, have a pot all the time, but I drink plenty of extra water and watch the urine color closely.  It sounds terrible but watching what color ya pee can save your life. 

If you are taking any meds at all, be sure to read everything in that paper, some can make you more subseptible to heat stroke.  Some can also color your urine darker.  Course that would only make you drink more, not a bad thing, but some really darken it and this could scare you if you didn't know why it was so dark.

[Doc Shapiro]

And if you don't have to pee, you aren't drinking enough water.  I go through sometimes 16 oz or more a stage!

Doc

[Delmonico]

My pard the ex-navy corpman says at least every two hours.  Since I am bigger than him he ain't throwed my coffee pot away, but he will get mad at me if he notices I don't go every hour or so.  Keeping track of each other is very important.

Tommorow I will go into ways to replace yer lectorlites, both the modern way and ways to do it period correct.  So if ya want run to the all night grocery store and pick up a can of yer favorite sport drink, but ya must get the powdered kind, the method my pard learned a 29 Palms won't work with pre-mixed.  Till mornig just remember to drink plenty of fluids and pee often, noting the color.

Before I go, drinking a lot of water before going to bed works better than any alarm clock because yer bladder don't have a snooze button.  In hot weather it gives you a head start on hydration.

(Spend as much time as I have in the hospital and talkin' bout pee becomes second nature.  Just press the button and when the nurse comes in hold up 1 or 2 fingers.)

[Doc Shapiro]

Thanks for bringing up all the info about dehydration.  It's important for everyone.  Especially so for those of us that want to be competitive.  The first thing to go as you get dehydrated is your vision.  If that goes, you can't see your sights clearly.  Then you can't hit the targets.  It goes downhill from there.

Keep drinking water!

Doc

[Qball]

Man.... all this talkin' 'bout it....
Sorry got to go

[RRio]

Hext and Slim...   ... You guys crack me up!  LOL!!

All this talk of the heat, and drinkin' water and gatorade and such has made me thirsty! Gonna go drink a big glass of water now!

[Delmonico]

Q Ball, did ya remember to check on the color.

My pard Matt takes the powdered sport drink, most often original Gatorade flavor and uses my 3/4 gallon 'namelware cup.  (Read again no misprint) and he pours about 2 cups in the cup, he then adds just enough water to mostly disolve it.  (Sometimes it is a bit gritty.)

He then tells his victim that they need some Gatorade and pours out enough to about fill a shot glass.  The greenhorn to this treatment almost every time says "That didn't quench my thirst, I am more thirsty!"  Matt tells them they now have been slammed with lectrolites go drink water till you ain't thirsty.  They then have to drink more liquid than they would of if you let them drink the properly mixed Gatorade on it's own.

He says that's what they did training Marines at 29 Palms.

[Silver Creek Slim]

You guys should be ashamed of yourselves saying "pee".  Oops, I said it, now. 

Slim

[Qball]

Q Ball, did ya remember to check on the color.

Y.. black ofcours?
Im a Sootlord, did i forgot to tell you that