Extreme Heat Survival: Learn and Thrive

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and as always....
Stay in the Woods,

Dan

[northwind]

Don't forget the electrolytes. When I worked in construction, I'd go through over a gallon of ice water in a day. A couple of times, I started feeling really lousy - salt depletion heat exhaustion. I was taking in enough water, but not replacing the salt and other minerals. Trust me, I don't want to feel like that ever again.

[glorybound]

Long sleeve, light weight shirts, pants and a hat. Protection from the sun is very important and as the clothes get wet by sweating it will also create a cooling effect in a light breeze. The clothes should also be loose and ventilated. Slow down and work smart to save energy, minimize stress, exhaustion and body heat.

[CC-mbfi]

Dan
I am in my mid 60's and worked in tropical jungles but live in semi desert arid area and temperatures vary in summer between 45 and 53° C.
What i have found is :
-In the tropical jungles you are in the shade but theres no airflow. The air bakes you that you literally cannot perspire anymore because of the humidity the perspiration is not evaporating so its trapping heat against your skin. Its not for nothing you see the dwellers of these regions in a loin cloth with bare upper bodies. Move into a less dense area, Get as thin clothing as you can and wet it so that as u move it creates a wicking effect to cool u down. It may be cooler in a small clearing where there is airflow than in the thick bush.
- in the desert/semi desert arid regions a wide brimed hat and a thin long sleeved shirt does wonders. Be careful of wetting your clothes in the direct sunlight as it heats up the wet material and raises the body temperature. If you wet your clothes you must be in the shade. Also that dry heat dries your lips and the sheer heat of the air being breathed in burns your throat. Here its good to wet a bandana and tie it over your nose and mouth so you are breathing thru a wet cloth that helps keep nose and throat moist but also cools the air you breathe in slightly. If you have a wide brim hat ( baseball caps dont cut it in this weather) you can wet a cloth and drape it around your neck. A lip balm goes far in this case. Also a pair of wrap around sunglasses to keep the heat and glare off your eyeballs. Its hectic.
-in both circumstances, slow deliberate movements are better than fast frantic covering ground, and, try to slow your breathing. It helps. Fast movements creates internal heat.
And like you said, monitor your peeing. If you not peeing you are busy dehydrating. Oh yes, dont make the mistake of drinking cold water, your body cannot assimilate it and u will stay dehydrated. As much as you want cold water, a glass of tepid room temp water will go further in rehydrating you than 2 litres of cold water. Strange but true.
Thanks for the tips.
Keep on keeping on
Heads up
Eyes open
No fear

[cdevidal]

Native Floridian here. I live without an air conditioner. Sitting next to a big loud metal-bladed fan, drinking lots of water, always sitting in the shade, and taking frequent showers saves the day. It also helps to get acclimated to it. Remember that more people die from cold than heat. Stay cool 😎

[theShamrockShepherdWagon]

As someone who can't take the heat for medical reasons, I've learned to buy those summer SPF neck gators and soak them under a tap, or creek, whatever. I wrap them on my head and my wrists or ankles. Multiplies my max time exposed to heat. They feel like mini freezers on my body for good while, and probably belong in emergency med kits. Very important to me. I keep 3. Oh, and I just spent a week without the a/c in lower middle TN 100 degree weather because my a/c broke! Just now cooling the house off, so this is a very recent concern!

[Peelerusa]

Another good tip is to keep a cotton terry hand towel with you. Wet it down, lightly wring it out and drape it around your neck.

If you want to periodically cool it down again, twirl the towel around in the air for a minute or two (like a lasso) and it will chill the towel down through forced evaporation.

[darylsarbaugh]

Very true. Us Texans are seeing 107+ everyday since June 16th.
About 20yrs ago I did security at a constuction site. In August here in TX it was still over 100 at 0300. My 12 hour over night shift required me to walk the perimeter of the 10 acre lot once per hour. Plus with a sexy polyester uniform it was pure Hades. I drank 5 gallons of water everyday during my shift and never once had to pee. That just shows how fast you lose water. You really have to force hydrate. If you become a heat casualty, only you are to blame.

[ostekuste]

Picking a location for your breaks is as important in summer as in the winter. Yesterday it was 96 degrees and a bazillion percent humidity. I was doing some land navy practice and was deep into the woods by noon. Found a huge waterfall in a grotto, tall rock walls on three sides. There was a good spot right on the edge of the water. With all that stone, water, and the cool mist coming from the waterfall it felt like it was maybe 70 degrees there. I stayed there for a good two hour rest till the sun wasn’t straight overhead.

[David_Rafuse]

To build upon some of his points:

Utilizing shade...whenever possible, use terrain/topography in your favour. If traveling in
mountainous/hilly terrain, if possible, travel along the southern (north facing) slope of valleys/
watercourses. South facing slopes get far more sunlight and often have less shade-providing
vegetation cover. This is more applicable in higher latitudes such as Canada/Northern USA.

Taking breaks...due to the heating lag of the sun warming the ground and heat being re-radiated, the hottest part of the day is usually between 2PM-5PM. So never forget the good old siesta; if you don't need to be active between those hours, then don't.

[campsiteministries]

Leaves are not only a great insulator from the cold but also from the heat. In 2002 I built and lived in a debris shelter for 9 months. We had a terrible drought and blazing hot summer that year. During the colder months I kept a foot of compressed leaves on the floor, but when it started warming up I kept a dirt floor. During the summer months the leaves covering the shelter and the dirt floor would help keep the inside of the shelter 15 - 20 degrees cooler than the outside air temperature. For just a short term stay this is probably not worth the time or effort, but if you know that you're going to be out there for awhile, or want a place that you can come back to regularly then I highly recommend this option.

[nullsnaggle]

Seeing that its currently 102° in my house with 2 air-conditioners on full blast... I need this

[ronaldfeagle]

Since it hot, maybe we need a Cocktail with Coalcracker video?? Just saying

[GrasslandsG]

Also, to people who don't live in extremely hot places, this may seem antithetical, but... Have a light long sleeved shirt.

I spent last weekend backcountry camping in Charon's Garden Wilderness in southern Oklahoma. Water and shade were hard to come by. Luckily I'm from Texas and I'm no stranger to outings in extreme heat, but it was still a BRUTAL 3 days. Setting up shade was #1 priority, followed immediately by finding the nearest water source. Packing enough water to get me to that point made the trek to the backcountry area more difficult (lots of open, rocky fields and boulder scrambling) but it assured that I got there...

[super]

Water is great.. I also use NUUN electrolyte tablets. My friend that runs marathons recommended them. Lightweight and effective. Also the Sawyer filter is awesome

[coydog]

Take a 4’-5’ piece of old sheet, soak it in water and hang it so the breeze has to go through it and in to your shelter. This give temporary relief as it acts like a swamp cooler to cool you off.

[erichjalmarson]

Glad you brought this up. I did 3 tours of duty in Afghanistan and in August it got up to 62 degs Celsius at times. So yes a very important subject

[musicteacher]

I'm a native Floridian, my ancestors moved here about 200 years ago.
I learned to drink 2 cups of water BEFORE I start yard work when it's 95°.
And I "listen" to my body: when I start craving potato chips, I know I need salt, or an electrolyte beverage. For some reason my brain equates salt with potato chips. BTW, potatoes have potassium.
You may crave another salty food when your body needs it.

[rocketman]

Great tips as always. I like to use one of those cooling towels. Hard until you hydrate it and then it cools as the water evaporates. Easy to refill from my forehead and neck. Thanks Dan

[BrawndoTheThirstMutilator]

When it’s hot as balls out and I have to work outside I like to take a thin cloth like the flour sack towels you can get at Walmart (a shemagh will work but the lighter the color the better it works so I always use white), get it damp and shake it a few time in the air like you’re trying to shake out stuck on dog hair or something. After that just place it over your head, around your neck, or across your back. Instant relief. You’ll be extremely surprised at how cool it got from those few shakes.
Once it warms back up (it only stays cool a few moments) just give it a few more light shakes in the air and bam, super cool again. Once it dries out just rewet it. They key is to keep it damp but not soaked. If it’s dripping water it’s too wet.
This trick saved me for many years in the lumberyard.

[lanecountybigfooters]

Every time you cross a creek with good looking water, drink everything in your bottle and then purify more (and more if needed). If you're camping, go swim or sit in a creek before bed time to cool down, you'll sleep better.