HEAT: Extreme Weather Preparation

[Scott Brady]

I am starting some research on extreme heat and extreme cold vehicle preparation, and thought it would be helpful for all of us.

HEAT

Some basic thoughts:

1. Cooling system preventative maintenance
2. Transmission cooling
3. Fluid performance and stability (oils)
4. Fan types
5. Water storage: Bulk and sufficient water for occupants in the event of a roll-over, etc.
6. Occupant cooling
7. Travel times
8. Clothing and fabrics
9. Footwear
10. Rendering and receiving aid
11. Power requirements, solar and refrigeration
:sunny:

Some of you have considerable experience in the desert. Any thoughts?

[asteffes]

12. Planning sufficient time to rest during and between each day on the trail.
13. Shelter from the elements. Awning, tent, umbrella, etc.

[91xlt]

that may be just normal caming right now! almost nationwide heatwave!!:beer:

[articulate]

My knowledge on desert survival tactics might be dated, and what I have to say is an "arm" on the branch of coping with heat since it's desert-related.

In extreme heat, I understand you ought to breathe through your nose to reduce your rate of dehydration.

And, once upon a time, they said to wear long sleeves and long pants - believe it or not. It's protection from the blazes of the sun, and also reduces the rate your body dehydrates. I wonder if the Hansons know more.

...and drink your water. It does you no good when your dead.

Mark

[pskhaat]

A couple guys I used to go wheeling with at Uni (UofA) over the summer would drape old crochet blankets stuffed into the hood and hanging down in front of the grill. Anytime they saw water in hole or wash or wherever they'd soak the crochet blankets and put 'em back on.

Heat of evaporation to help cooling I guess.

[Life_in_4Lo]

A couple guys I used to go wheeling with at Uni (UofA) over the summer would drape old crochet blankets stuffed into the hood and hanging down in front of the grill. Anytime they saw water in hole or wash or wherever they'd soak the crochet blankets and put 'em back on.

Heat of evaporation to help cooling I guess.

Scott,
Several have told me while in AUS that they tie these porus water bags in front of the radiator on the ARB bar. It makes the water ice cold.

Also, coincidentally, I am setting up a evaporative cooling system on my 80. I'll tell you how it goes.

note that evap cooling works best in low humidity areas- I live in socal so most of my offroading is the desert climate- perfect for this type of thing.

[pskhaat]

I'm curious to hear more, like a pressurized mister type system or something?

[perterra]

Scott,
Several have told me while in AUS that they tie these porus water bags in front of the radiator on the ARB bar. It makes the water ice cold.
.


Water bags work through evaporation. I wouldnt call it icy cool, but its probably 20º to 30º than ambient temps. I havent seen those water bags in awhile. There used to be some importers from south africa that had some, and there was an outdoors shop in Vegas that sold them.

[Life_in_4Lo]

scott, yeah check my blog for details- don't want to hijack the thread on this single issue
paintlab.blogspot.com

perterra,
yeah I have no firsthand knowledge of it, just some people told me about it that traveled in the outback. I had never heard of it before that.

[Willman]

This should be a great thread!!! Can't wait to hear from all the AZ boyes!! This should be good!

I'm not one for heat....as you can tell i live in Seattle!!! 40 degrees and raining is heaven for me!

:lurk:

[Jonathan Hanson]

Jeez - I just searched for Desert Water Bag and came up with zip. It would be a tragedy if they weren't made anymore. We have one around somewhere. They were made of flax, just porous enough so water could seep slowly to the outside of the bag and evaporate, cooling the contents very effectively. Perterra is probably right on about the 20 to 30 degree figure.

Mark, I think the breathe-through-your-nose technique has been proven pointless. But long sleeves and pants (and hat) are still recommended for both moisture management and sun protection.

One thing physiologists have learned for sure over the last 50 years is that trying to conserve your drinking water is futile, as is "conditioning" yourself to need less. If your body needs cooling by perspiration, you're going to sweat, period. You need to replenish that liquid to maintain your ability to function and to ward off hyperthermia.

However, it's true that you can acclimate to a desert environment after several months. Ed might know the changes that occur in the blood. I believe the vascular system becomes more efficient at radiant cooling somehow.

Unfortunately about 99 percent of the stuff regarding desert survival in even modern manuals is pure garbage. "Dig at a bend in a wash," for example. Go ahead and dig all you want; in the dry season here you won't hit water. My survival strategy regarding water is simple: I carry enough to be able to walk out of wherever it is I'm going.

The very first article I ever sold was a test of solar stills. Roseann and I dug a dozen of them and tried different combinations of black versus clear plastic (the latter was better), chopped up cactus (prickly pear - renewable!) versus nothing, etc. (Yes, we even tried urinating in the hole. Or at least I did.) We found that they can, indeed, produce water, but not very much. You'd need several of them to produce enough water for one person to survive on. and if you're prepared enough to bring a bunch of solar still equipment, uh, why not just bring more water?

[YJ Dave]

Personal issues:
Hydration, drink lots of plain clear water every day, if you are not urinating clear at least once a day you need to drink more water. In extremely hot conditions you can sweat out 2-3 liters of water an hour, the down side is your body can only absorb around half of that in an hour. So try to find shade to rest, and avoid working in the hottest parts of the day. It maybe helpful to add ORS (oral rehydration salts) to your some of your water, this can serve to prevent hyponatremia in severely hot conditions. ORS is also very helpful as part of your aid kit to treat general dehydration from all causes.

Hand cleaning gels, use them before every meal. This will help prevent so many bad things. Just do it.

Light weight, loose fitting pants and long sleeve shirts are good for both sun protection and to provide more area for perspiration to evaporate. They do help IMHO. A good hat with a large brim sun glasses, and sunscreen are also very important.

Bring more water than you think you need. Want not, need not. 8 to 10 liters a day is not unreasonable in hot conditions. You will need even more water for sanitation and cooking. If it is extremely hot again you will need more water.

Eat 3 good meals a day. If you do less than this you increase the chances that you could benefit from using ORS.

Get a physical before venturing into severely hot conditions, living in the heat places many different stresses on your body, you will want to make sure that you are in good health before you spend a lot of time living in abnormal heat.

Learn the signs and symptoms of heat related injury and illness, and learn basic ways to treat them. Learn how heat effects other preexisting illnesses that you and your friends have. Learn how medicines that you take effect your ability to deal with heat and extreme heat.

Cooling off:
Misting systems are nice, if you are in a dry area. But you need to add even more water to what you bring in. Extra fans inside can also help.

Edit/added:
I always have a Camelback strapped to the back of my seat to keep water handy and out of the way.

[Steve Curren]

I just checked Ebay for canvas water bags and there were a goodly number of them.

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Found this interesting site...........



Preventing Heat Illness.............. (http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/arnet77.html)



.

[YJ Dave]

If you are using Kool Aid, Gatorade, lemonade, or most of the over the counter sports drinks you NEED to cut them 50/50 with plain water, as they all have to much sugar in them and this can lead to loose stools and increasing dehydration.

[michaelgroves]

In South Africa, where I grew up, canvas water-bags were standard equipment for long trips - they do make for nice cold water! They also always seem to have a characteristic taste, probably the dust accumulating on the damp outside? Not unpleasant, though.

One thing, though, don't use them if you need to conserve water. They lose a LOT of water to evaporation. As you can imagine, given that they are designed to facilitate continuous evaporation.

[perterra]

[QUOTE=Jonathan Hanson]Jeez -
I carry enough to be able to walk out of wherever it is I'm going.
QUOTE]

Jonathon, that is the key to survival. Food is of little importance, you can go weeks without it, water on the other hand is vital. One day of 105º temps with no shade and water and your toast. I keep lots of water close by, and a few packs of salted peanuts, smoked almonds and I'm good to go.

[perterra]

These guys make them.

http://www.can-spec.com/canspec/products/products.php?ID=14

There used to be a recreational mining/expidition supply in Vegas that carried them, but I havent seen the link since my old PC crashed.

They werent very expensive, anybody puts a group buy together count me in.

[HongerVenture]

On Topic:

Bring something you can soak in water and wrap around your neck. The evaporative cooling of this wrap can help a lot with body cooling.

In addition, bring sunscreen. As someone with lots of Melanoma in the family, I can't stress this enough. Not only is cancer a risk, but sun damaged skin doesn't function as well at radiant cooling.


A little Off Topic:


However, it's true that you can acclimate to a desert environment after several months. Ed might know the changes that occur in the blood. I believe the vascular system becomes more efficient at radiant cooling somehow.

You can build up heat endurance for sure. I spent several summers working as an apartment groundskeeper. Kansas (where I grew up) gets hot and humid with heat advisories regularly issued. The key to acclimating and/or building up heat endurance is repetition.

Heat endurance didn't mean I needed less water, it just meant that I could outwork/outplay my buddies on the weekend when we were out in the heat. At work at the apartments I would drink 3 (11+ liters) gallons of water in a 9-hour work day... usually only urinating once. I wore long pants every day out in the heat, it really does help.

I'd really be curious to hear Ed's feedback on the medical aspects of heat endurance.

[michaelgroves]

My survival strategy regarding water is simple: I carry enough to be able to walk out of wherever it is I'm going.


Your only chance of surviving a remote desert breakdown is if you have sufficient water to last until you have fixed it, or until you're found. No matter how much or little water you have, though, the second rule of desert travel is NEVER to try to walk out of a desert unless you know FOR CERTAIN that safety is within staggering distance, and EXACTLY in what direction. A rescue party (or a fortuitous passer-by) has a hugely greater chance of spotting a vehicle compared to seeing a person (especially as you would be hiding from the sun during the day).

Most desert tragedy reports contain phrases like "tried to walk back to the main track", "rescuers discovered the traveller's abandoned truck", and "died of heat exposure just a few miles from their vehicle".

There are exceptions either way, of course (people do die after sticking with their vehicles, and people do successfully stumble out to safety), but ALL the expert advice is in line with what I've outlined above.

I suppose it bears pointing out that staying with your vehicle doesn't mean staying in it - under it, or in some shelter nearby is often cooler.

M...

[michaelgroves]

However, it's true that you can acclimate to a desert environment after several months.

This is quite right, in fact you can start to notice your body's ability to cope better within days of being in the hot environment. One of the reasons is possibly that you start to sweat a little less. Ideally your body should sweat at the same rate as it evaporates off your skin - any water than runs off you is wasted. This happens more readily in a humid environment. If you are desperately short of water, you can ration your water intake to the point where you are not sweating rivers, as this is entirely wasted liquid. But, as others have said before on this thread, don't allow yourself to become dehydrated if you have water available.

M...