Heat and the Buddy System

It's always a good idea to have a helper. They often go by different names (teammate, co-worker, significant other, partner, crew member, or friend), but they're there to watch out for you and share the work. The first part, watching out for you, is the most important one.

I work alone most of the time. Having a shortage of employees is not unique to my job, but for a year now we've had a couple of open positions. Corporate has restructured and consolidated operations to try to keep things moving, but the reality is that we have fewer people to get the same amount of work done, and this can lead to problems, especially in extreme weather.

Last week was a good example of why it's important to have someone keeping an eye on you:

• Air temperatures were in the high 90s, with humidity that started the day at 100% and never dropped below 60%. 
• Heat index, the opposite of wind chill, was well over 100° for most of the afternoon, most days. 
• No wind or clouds made it even more miserable outside, which is where I was working. 
• To make things just perfectly wrong, the location I was working at didn't have a working air conditioner. The building doesn't have central air conditioning, just a window unit that decided to stop cooling this year. Management doesn't want to put any money into that building because we no longer have staff there full-time.
• The work I was doing involved hazardous chemicals, so on top of my standard boots and jeans I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and heavy neoprene gloves that go almost to my elbow. 
• The chemicals I was dealing with have an affinity for water, so the common tricks to cool off that involve wetted cloth around the neck aren't an option.
• Add in the unvented, splash-proof goggles that cover a third of my face and trap the sweat and it was not a fun week.

I've been doing this for several years so staying hydrated is not a worry; I have plenty of sport drinks and cool water on hand and I force myself to drink enough that I have to urinate. Electrolytes in the sport drinks keep my salt levels safe, but I supplement them with extra table salt on my food and Potassium tablets if I start to have cramping. This is not new to me; I know how to minimize the effects of the heat. 

It wasn't enough. As the week progressed, my normal schedule of come home, shower to cool off and get clean, eat dinner, and take care of normal chores before going to bed slowly morphed into come home and go to bed. The chores were the first to be dropped, then dinner, and finally the cooling shower. I just didn't have the energy to do it all. I try to write these articles on Tuesday and Wednesday and have them ready for editing before Thursday, but that was one of the normal “chores” that got dropped. By the time I cooled off after getting home Thursday, I finally got a chance to put the clues together:

• Headache
• Nausea
• Mild confusion
• Periods of short, shallow breathing
• Hot, sweaty skin
• Lack of energy

Yes, I was dealing with heat exhaustion every day. 

We've covered heat injury before, and heat exhaustion is the middle ground between heat stress and heat stroke. The combination of high temps, high humidity (which prevents sweat from evaporating to cool you), no wind, and full sun were just too much for my aging body. When your body can no longer cool itself, is starts to take damage which can be lethal. 

I took a few days off work to recover, with lots of water and rest, and only went outside during daylight once in four days. As much as I hate to admit it, there are things I can no longer do as well as I could when I was in my 30s and 40s, and handling the heat just got added to that list. 

Working alone is not the best option, but it's not much worse than working with someone who doesn't know what to watch out for. Part of the week I had a helper, a 21 year-old kid who hasn't been trained very well (or he wasn't paying attention during training) and he just doesn't know what to watch for. He's scared of working around the chemicals, but I'm trying to train him on how to do it safely. 

I've since modified my work schedule: things are moving a lot slower, and I'm taking more breaks. The air conditioner at that location is still dead, but I've switched trucks to one that has a good AC and I will be taking my breaks in it. The boss isn't happy about the slower pace, but I really don't care about his happiness as much as I do about my health. I'm also keeping an eye on the other two guys who are close to my age for signs of heat injury when I see them, but most of their work is out of the sun and doesn't require the heat-trapping protective gear. They work together and keep an eye on each other pretty well.

Take care of yourselves, and watch out for those around you.

Prudent Prepping: Baby, It's Hot Outside (and Everywhere Else)

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

My job has temporarily changed in both the location where I work and the type of work I do. For the next 6-8 weeks I will be working in a gigantic warehouse, loading trucks. Not only is the warehouse hot, inside the trailers it is 20 degrees hotter. 

How hot is that, you ask? 

Very Hot
In my part of California it barely gets over 100° maybe 5 days a year. This year, not only has it been over 100° longer that that, it's also been as hot as 107°; in S. California, Death Valley reached 128°!  

I need to change what I do at work, how I stay safe, and also what I wear, starting with underwear. I'm tired of damp shorts, and as it's over 90° at 5 AM and I'm sweaty 30 minutes after starting work, I need something that will not bind or feel soggy for 8 hours, so I ordered a pair of Minus33 Merino Wool 1114 Men’s Woolverino Micro Boxer Shorts for $39.99.

https://amzn.to/3iXim1o

Now before anyone gets gets anything bunched up (heh!), I want to point out that I wear wool socks all year for their moisture wicking and lack of wadding up in my work boots. If you are like me, you've seen a bazillion Facebook ads for wool T-shirts that won't smell and feel great, even if you wear them for a week. I don't know anyone who purchased from those ads, but I do know several people who have these wool blend shorts. Based on their recommendations, I ordered some.

From the Amazon ad:

• wool
• Imported
• QUALITY LIGHTWEIGHT BASELAYER: Woolverino designed for "First-On-Last-Off" extreme comfort quality active wear. The best in easy care technology means your merino wool is machine washable and dryable. Minus33 briefs naturally wick moisture and control odor.
• CRAFTED TO FIT: Sizes S to 2XL Regular Fit. Outfitting anyone from the active athlete to the comfortable couch-potato.
• EXPERIENCED BRAND: Although there are many copy-cats on the market today, Minus33 has been a trusted brand since 2004.
• IMPORTED: As the legacy of a 100+ year old USA based woolen company, Minus33 knows quality and comfort in Merino Wool. We are committed to bringing you the best Merino Wool products at a reasonable price.
• TECHNICAL DETAILS: 84% 17.5 Micron Merino Wool, 12% Nylon, 4% Spandex 150 g/m2 Jersey knit construction with flatlock seam. UPF Rating 40

If you read the description carefully, there is one bit of information that seems very odd to me and I wonder if anyone else finds it peculiar too.*

Now for the other part that has me feeling a bit light-headed (and I'm sitting down): the price! Yes, double WOW from me, too! When compared to the DriFit T-shirts that I wear these boxers are more expensive (but not by much) and I believe they will be worth the price in the long run. 

Since boxer shorts are not a priority product, Prime Shipping will have them to my front door on Saturday and I will do a review as soon as I possible. 

* UPF stands for Ultraviolet Protection Factor and is a rating system to indicate the UV (Ultraviolet) protection provided by fabrics. Why does underwear need to block UV light?

Recap And Takeaway

• Being comfortable at work means not only do I feel better, but I should also be able to do more work with less stress.
• I ordered two of the Minus33 Merino Wool Boxers from Amazon for $39.99 with the new slower Prime shipping.

* * *

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Weather Apps

Because I am an adult in America, I have a cell phone. It's an older Samsung, but it's a smart phone which means I carry around a computer that can make phone calls. I use the computer functions much more than I do the phone functions, which means I have several apps installed on my phone. 

The ones that get the most use in the spring and summer are the weather apps. I live in the upper Midwest, so I have to deal with tornadoes and thunderstorms every year. Having a convenient way to track the weather in real time helps me make decisions that will minimize the risks I have to take. 

Here are some that I've used in the past and a few that I still use. (For the record, I don't have any financial stake in any of these apps. These are my opinions of apps that you can find in the common app stores available on Android and Apple phones. Links will take you to the official Android site, but you can find them on Apple with a simple search.)

MyRadar
Like most apps, there is a free version that will have ads covering part of the screen as well as a “pro” version (this one is $2.99) that runs ad-free. I tried the free version for a year or so and ended up spending the money for the pro version to support the developers.

MyRadar is a simple, clean radar app with plenty of optional settings for map styles, overlays, and information displayed. The map is interactive, which means you can drag the map around on your screen to see radar for any area as well as zoom in or out using two fingers. This is my go-to weather radar, since it loads much faster than the local news channels or other weather apps.

AccuWeather
This is good for local weather forecasts, with hourly and daily forecasts. It has radar, but it isn't as clear or easy to use as MyRadar. I don't mind the small ads on the bottom of the screen, so I haven't made the jump to the paid version. The forecasts are fairly accurate, about average for most weather forecasters. This is also the default source of weather information on my Samsung phone.

WTForecast
Sometimes we all need a laugh, and WTForecast gives a simple daily forecast for the next 10 days with a witty saying. The witty comment changes every time you open the app, and it takes a while to cycle through all of the random comments pertaining to the current weather at your location. For example, it's currently 93°F outside with 60% humidity and the comment is, “It's like a terrarium outside”. The background picture changes with the season and I believe it also changes by location. The ads are small enough that I don't notice them.

Be advised, there is a profanity option in the settings that will make most of the comments NSFW.

WeatherBug
I used to have this one installed on my desktop. It was nice having the outside temperature displayed on the task bar next to the clock. Then it was detected as spyware/adware by several PC security scans, so it got deleted (not a simple process back then) and I've not tried it since. The owners have since changed and claim that they've cleared out anything that may be harmful. I may give it another chance in the future.

Intellicast
I used this app for years, then the Weather Channel “upgraded” it to StormTracker (and now StormRadar) and got rid of most of the features that I liked. When it became a copy of other apps I have, it was deleted. I do have the web version bookmarked on my browser so I can still look at a ten-day graph of various weather conditions (wind, temperature, air pressure, humidity, etc.), but when they took that off of the app, it got deleted. The math geek in me likes to see graphs; I can gather information like how fast the temps are going to rise or fall or how long it's supposed to rain over which hours.



Weather has a big impact on my life and is one of the main things I prep for. That makes having good information a vital part of my preps. Multiple sources of information will give you the opportunity to compare and contrast their accuracy and reliability, so grab several and keep the ones that give you the most usable information.

Gun Blog Variety Podcast #158 - Nashville is Nice, So I'll Say It Twice

Sean continues his love affair with the City of Nashville.

• What does a #1 New York Times bestseller have to do with range etiquette? Beth talks to us about Range Rules & Expectations.
• When is a dispute not a dispute? When it's an armed robbery. Sean finds out about our deceased suspect.
• Barron is on assignment and will return soon.
• This week, Miguel discusses that oft-repeated maxim of the Tactical Shooter: Competitions will get you killed in the streets!
• Our Main Topic is the Eclipse. Sean spent the weekend with Co-host Emeritus Adam in Nashville and watched the Eclipse in Gallatin, Tennessee.
• Tiffany is headed up north for the very first NRA Carry Guard Expo. She tells us what NRA Carry Guard is, and what is she hoping to learn at the Expo.
• It's hot and you've got to walk to safety. What things should you bring? Erin explains hot weather survival gear.
• Weer’d sends us a message from a dark future. It's like "12 Monkeys" up in here.
• And our Plug of the Week is the City of Nashville.

Thank you for downloading, listening, and subscribing. You are subscribed, right? We are available on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and Google Play Music!

Listen to the podcast here.

Read the show notes here.

Thanks to LuckyGunner and Remington for their sponsorship, and a special thanks to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support.

Blue Collar Prepping Transcript -

Hot Weather Survival Gear

For the past two weeks I’ve talked about what to wear in hot weather and what gear to have if your car is stranded. But what if you need to self-rescue, or otherwise need to walk long distances in that hot weather? That’s the topic of this third and final installment. 

First of all, you’re going to need the right clothing, so be sure to check last week’s segment on hot weather clothing. Pay special attention to your feet, especially if you’re wearing impermeable boots or you’re walking through a lot of water. The very last thing you want is something that makes it painful or uncomfortable to walk, so make sure you listen to my segment on preventing fungal infections from episode 143. 

Check your feet regularly to prevent blistering. If you find yourself developing hot spots, then either cushion them with moleskin from Dr. Scholls or use something called HikeGoo,which is a cream that both moisturizes your skin and lubricates the hot spot to prevent more friction. 

Change your socks as often as possible, even if you have only two pairs. Get a mesh stuff bag, put a carabiner clip on the drawstring, and hang the used pair from your belt loop or backpack strap to dry in the sunlight and fresh air. (This will take longer in humid climates, unfortunately.)

Regardless of whether it’s during the day or at night, walking in hot weather is thirsty business because you’re going to be sweating our water to keep cool. This means you absolutely need a way to keep water with you at all times. I recommend a hydration bladder in the largest size possible; most brands like CamelBak top out at 3 liters, but the MSR DromLite comes in 2, 4, and 6 Liter versions.

You’re also going to need a way to carry that bladder, because water is heavy. Most backpacks these days are hydration bladder compatible - but check, because they may only go up to 2 liters - although a lot of bladder manufacturers also sell carriers for their products. Whichever way you go, make sure you get the lightest color possible. Your all-black MOLLE-festooned CamelBak carrier may look tactical, but the dark color will absorb the sunlight and heat up your water. About the only thing worse than drinking hot water when you’re thirsty is drinking no water at all. 

And you’re going to be drinking a lot of that water. A LOT. We’re supposed to drink 2 liters, or half a gallon, of water a day just as part of our regular activities, so if you’re having to do hard work in the blazing sun and humidity, you’re going to be sweating a lot more and becoming dehydrated that much faster. This means you need a way to refill your water reservoir. 

There are various types of pumps and filters out there, but I swear by the Sawyer Mini. It’s inexpensive without being cheap, it’s lightweight, it’s good for 100 thousand gallons, and - best of all - you can put it right on the tubing of your hydration bladder between the bite valve and the reservoir itself. This means you won’t have to take the time to pump clean water in before you can drink it.
Instead, just take a bit of cloth, like a bandana or a t-shirt, and put it over the reservoir’s opening to filter out any large contaminants like dirt, bugs, leaves, etc. Then fill up and drink through the filter. 

If you do this, keep two things in mind:

1. You must remember that the water in the reservoir is unsafe until it passes through the filter, so don’t use that water for bathing or cooking by just pouring it back out. Send it through the filter first. 
2. Second, understand that filters aren’t perfect and there’s still a chance you might get a parasite from drinking unboiled water. This is a risk you’ll need to take, because you will die from dehydration and overheating long before the parasites can even make you sick. Get to safety, and then you can worry about what you drank. 

Finally, here’s a hot-weather ProTip for you: Keep your mouth closed and breathe through your nose as much as possible. In fact, if you can find something clean, smooth, and inedible - such as a guitar pick, or a metal washer, or even a clean pebble - put in your mouth. Not only will it remind you to keep your mouth closed, but the presence of it in your mouth will cause you to salivate. This will keep your mouth moist and help you feel less parched and thirsty.

• Dr. Scholl's Moleskin Plus 24" x 4 5/8" Padding Roll - http://amzn.to/2vtot4F
• HikeGoo Blister Prevention Cream - http://amzn.to/2g9agYp
• Mesh Stuff Sack - http://amzn.to/2ivk0x2
• MSR DromLite - http://amzn.to/2xwITLy
• Sawyer Mini Water Filter - http://amzn.to/2w2zD3W

Gun Blog Variety Podcast #157 - Protests, Pepin & Plasma

"Pepin & Plasma" sounds like a roleplaying game involving podcasting in the grim future.

• Beth is on assignment and will return soon.
• A Charlotte man who led police on chase is charged in Valentine’s Day homicide. Why did he run? Sean looks a little closer.
• Barron is on assignment and will return soon.
• Miguel puts together a grab bag of thoughts from his Flea Market of Ideas. He talks a little about cops getting denied service because they are armed, about Moms Demand blaming the NRA for car deaths, and about a liberal mugged by the reality of gun control.
• Our Special Guest this week is competitive shooter and Pro-Arms Podcast hostess Gail Pepin.
• Tiffany brings her unique perspective to the controversy surrounding the events in Charlottesville, VA.
• It's just like a woman for Erin to be focused on what people should and shouldn't be wearing in the summer. Her position on white clothing after Labor Day is unclear, but she has some definite thoughts on cotton.
• NPR held a Round-Table on gun control. Weer’d is here to take on the lies.
• And our Plug of the Week is the Sparkr Mini by Power Practical.

Thank you for downloading, listening, and subscribing. You are subscribed, right? We are available on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and Google Play Music!

Listen to the podcast here.

Read the show notes here.

Thanks to LuckyGunner and Remington for their sponsorship, and a special thanks to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support.

Blue Collar Prepping Transcript -

Clothing for Hot Weather Survival

There’s a saying among campers, hikers and other survival buffs: “Cotton Kills”. This is because cotton loves to absorb moisture but hates to let go of it. In cold weather, if you get your cotton clothes sweaty, or you fall into water, you will likely become hypothermic if you keep them on because they will stay wet and cold -- but if you take them off to dry them out, you will also likely become hypothermic because you won’t have the insulation of clothes on your skin. 

This is why, if you watch a lot of survival TV, you’ll see people like Bear Grylls stripping naked before swimming through cold water. Yes, it’s uncomfortable, but it’s not like having wet clothing on while swimming would make it any more comfortable. And once on the other side, Bear will dry off with a towel and then put his still dry clothes back on. 

In fact, this is good advice regardless of whether or not you’re wearing cotton, so remember that trick. 

But if cotton kills in cold weather because it absorbs moisture and doesn’t let go of it easily, what about in hot weather? Specifically, what clothing should someone wear in a hot environment if they have to walk to safety?

As I mentioned last week when I answered Amy’s letter, hot weather survival is based on variables. In this case, the biggest factors are humidity and terrain.  If you’re in a dry environment, your biggest danger is from direct sunlight. Keep as much as your skin covered as you can, and cover the rest in sunscreen. Cotton is actually an acceptable choice of fabric for this situation during the daytime, because it will absorb your sweat and the low humidity and high heat will help it dry out. But that’s during the day. At night, it’s a different story. 

You see, hot-but-dry environments are usually deserts, and deserts have a distressing habit of becoming cold at night because there isn’t much in the environment to retain that heat. So the sweaty cotton clothing that’s fine to wear during the day can still result in you becoming hypothermic at night. Your options, then, are either to carry spare clothes that you change into at night, or to wear clothing made from synthetic materials such as Gore-Tex or microfiber. 

These materials are great because they wick moisture away from the skin and dry much faster than cotton does. Not only does this prevent chafing rash, which is why so many exercise fabrics (like Under Armor, are synthetic), but it also makes them excellent choices for hot and humid environments as well. 

Here are the materials you should avoid for hot weather survival:

• All forms of cotton, including denim. 
• Rayon, Lyocell, Tencel, and Viscose. 
• While they are synthetic, these fabrics actually absorb moisture as fast or faster than cotton, and lose all insulation when they become wet. 

These are materials which are good to wear for hot weather survival:

• Pertex
• Supplex
• Gore-Tex
• Under Armor Heatgear
• Cool Max

You will unfortunately pay more for these fabrics than you will with cotton. On the other hand, they will protect your skin from the heat of the sun and absorb your sweat without chafing or sticking. 

Regardless of whether your shirt and pants are cotton or synthetic, here are the four pieces of clothing you MUST have for comfortable hot weather survival:

1. A wide-brimmed hat to keep your face and neck in the shade. Check last week’s show notes for a boonie hat I recommended. 
2. Shoes which breathe but still protect your feet. There’s no perfect answer here; good protection (like boots) will make your feet hot, and feet which breathe aren’t going to be well-protected (think sandals). Take the terrain into account along with your personal preferences and find what’s right for you. 
3. Spare socks. Unless you’re wearing sandals, your feet are going to get hot and sweaty. Take it from someone who has suffered Athlete’s Foot: the last thing you want for your feet in hot weather is for them to be wet as well. Change your socks often. 
4. Spare underwear. This is for exactly the same reason as the socks, only moreso. Trust me, you really don’t want heat rash anywhere near your sensitive bits.

To answer the question on everyone’s mind: yes, companies do indeed make socks and undies in synthetic materials. I suggest everyone who is concerned about hot weather survival buy at least one pair of each.

• Boonie hat with detachable neck and face flap - http://amzn.to/2vThbM9
• Under Armour Unisex Socks - http://amzn.to/2x8NvHn
• Under Armour Sports Bra - http://amzn.to/2x8Omrv
• Under Armour Men’s Underwear - http://amzn.to/2wUelUq

Gun Blog Variety Podcast #156 - Will Shooting Gun Games Lead Sean to be Slain Upon the Public Thoroughfare?

"Despise not the racketeer. Instead, despise his sport."

• USCCA held its first ever PolymerPalooza, a unique and fun shooting event! Beth talks about some of their sponsors and products, and what she did there.
• A man bit and partially severed another man’s nipple. How does that happen? Sean digs in to discover what sort of person would act like this.
• Barron is on assignment and will return soon.
• We’ve all had that neighbor who’s not quite there. In fact, we’ve seen whole movies that revolve around the 'crazy neighbor' dynamic. But how do you deal with them? Miguel gives us some practical tips borne from 20 years experience with the crazy lady next door.
• Our Special Guest this week is author and firearms instructor Grant Cunningham. Grant answers the important question: Will competition shooting get you killed on the streets?
• Tiffany is on assignment and will return soon.
• Friend of the show Amy asks, "I drive long distances in hot weather in an older car. What preps should I include for hot weather vehicle survival?" Erin's answer involves cold packs. 
• NPR interviews the President of the Women’s March to talk about the NRA and its Dana Loesch video, and their bias is showing.  Weer’d takes them on.
• And our Plug of the Week is for the MAG-20  Armed Citizen's Rules of Engagement class in Matthews, NC.

Thank you for downloading, listening, and subscribing. You are subscribed, right? We are available on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and Google Play Music!

Listen to the podcast here.

Read the show notes here.

Thanks to LuckyGunner and Remington for their sponsorship, and a special thanks to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support.

Blue Collar Prepping Transcript -

Hot Weather Car Survival

Listener Amy writes in with these timely questions: How should I modify my car prep kit for hot weather? What's the best/safest way to store water in that scenario? I drive 45 miles each way to work, in a fairly unreliable car, so getting stuck is more of a "when" and not an "if."

This is a great topic, because while I’ve addressed cold weather survival in a car back way in episode 15, I haven’t done anything specific on car-based heat survival - which is odd, considering that I live in Florida.

The problem with giving advice on heat survival is that in my experience, it has a lot more “Well, it depends” factors than cold weather. For example, regardless of if it’s 30 degrees or 30 below, snowing or not, blowing or not, you know that you need to have an outer waterproof shell, an inner insulating layer, avoid sweating, and stay out of the wind; everything else is just a matter of degree.

But hot weather forces you to ask questions like:

• Is it a humid heat or a dry heat? 
• How hot does it get?
• Do you get a lot of reflected light due to terrain (like glare off a desert or water), or is it absorbed by vegetation or dark soil?
• Are you going to be surviving in the shade, or out in the sunlight?

Plus there are the general questions of “Are you planning on waiting for rescue, or is this an "Ah crap, I gotta hike out of here" kind of situation?” and “Have you any health problems?” that I ask of anyone who comes to me for advice.

Here are Amy’s answers:

• Humid. Gawd-awful humid. My poor curly hair...well, I just HATE summer.
• Highs in the upper 80s/low 90s usually, late July we can see higher with sickening heat indexes. 
• Not much reflected light...most is absorbed by the crops. Which is pretty much all the terrain in my area. 
• It depends on where in my route I'm stuck. I probably wouldn't even call it stuck if my car died in town at either end, so we'll go with wait.
• I'm that person who brings a separate list of medications to doctor appts and writes, "see attached." Soooo....asthma, insulin resistance, some random but serious allergies, chronic migraines, ADHD, social anxiety, OCD...blah, blah, blah. So, a mixture of some physical illnesses that could go downhill quickly in the heat with some mental illnesses that, while controlled well with medication, could make an emergency situation feel or appear (and, therefore, become) more desperate or crippling than necessary. I wear a medical ID bracelet, carry necessary meds with me, and keep extra epi-pens in my car.

So, first off: Good job on being prepared with medication and epi-pens! Now my advice is going to come with a few assumptions:

• I assume you already have things like a first aid kit, battery backup for your cell phone, tools for basic car repair, etc.
• I assume you have a reliable way to call for help and you don’t travel through dead zones. 

With those in mind, here’s what I would suggest you add to your car:

A wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun off your face and neck. The one I’ve linked in the show notes is a khaki boonie hat with detachable flaps for your face and neck to prevent sunburn.

Speaking of sunburn, carry the highest SPF sunblock you have.

At least one gallon of water, preferably more. The human body needs half a gallon of water a day, but that doesn’t take strenuous activity or dehydration into account. I’d buy plastic gallon jugs at the store and remove them at the beginning of winter (you don’t want them to freeze, burst the plastic, then thaw and leak everywhere). Make sure you keep them covered, or in the trunk, because water exposed to sunlight can start to grow algae. 

If the water does start to go bad, you can still use it for things like wiping your body down or pouring on an overheated engine. A thick washcloth will help with all of that.

Wiping sweat off your body with a wet washcloth is a good way to feel cool for a little bit, but it doesn’t last. For a longer-term solution, get some chemical cold-packs and keep them with your first-aid supplies. Not only can you use them to prevent swelling, but a cold pack on your neck, between your thighs or under your armpits can make you feel a lot better. You can get a 24-pack of them from Amazon with Prime shipping for $14.50.

Just in case you don’t have a space blanket in your preps, get one. Yes, most people use them to stay warm, but a reflective surface can help keep you cool by reflecting the heat away from you.

If you have to stay in the car for shelter -- and if you do, I assume you’ve rolled down the windows -- the windshield can be covered with a commercial sunshade, which usually costs between 8 and 15 dollars.

I also suggest the longest shovel you can fit in the car and can comfortably use. Don’t use a folding shovel unless you have no other choice; you can get plenty of nice 27-inch shovels at the hardware store if space is an issue, but get a longer one if you can. You can use this shovel for a variety of tasks, but the two that I’m thinking of are “digging your tires out if they get stuck” and “Digging a trench to lie down in because that will be cooler than inside your car.”

A waterproof tarp with a reflective side will also be useful; not only can you use it as a sun shade, if you do decide to dig a shelter it can be used (reflective side down) to keep the dirt and bugs and yuck off you.

And, of course, ways to tie all this down. A 100-foot hank of paracord and a roll or two of duct tape will help immensely!

Finally, have a map of the area, the more detailed the better. If you know how far it is to the nearest aid station, that will do a lot for your peace of mind, and it will help you give navigation assistance to whomever is coming to help you.

• Boonie hat with detachable neck and face flap - http://amzn.to/2vThbM9
• Dynarex Instant Cold Pack, 5 Inches x 9 Inches, 24-Count - http://amzn.to/2vqIISc
• Space Blanket - http://amzn.to/2vqrdkN
• Reflective Car Sunshade - http://amzn.to/2vnLTLR

Everyday Preps

I was sitting down to eat dinner tonight and the power goes out. This wasn't completely unexpected, since the temperature has been well over 90° F for days and the humidity doesn't drop below 50%. We had a storm roll through early Monday morning that took out the power for about six hours, but tonight's outage was likely caused by too many air conditioners running for too long. How does this prepper react?

1. I reach into my pocket and get out my  EDC flashlight. It provides more than enough light to keep from tripping over things.
2. I grab the battery-operated lantern from the stairway and get some area lighting. Since it has a wide base, I can set it down and have both hands free to go to the next step.
3. I light two oil lamps to provide light on the main floor and upstairs. One has a reflector built in, the other is placed on the hutch near a large mirror. There's no use wasting the light output on a wall, so I use reflectors to get it out into the room. I turn off the battery-operated lantern to save the batteries; Lamp oil is a lot cheaper than D-cell batteries. There's still time to finish eating dinner before it gets cold. 
4. It's been 20 minutes and the power is still out. This indicates that it will likely be out for several hours. Minor outages around here are resolved through automated resets, but this is lasting longer than normal for a minor outage. I open the windows upstairs to get airflow through the house; I hate to let the humidity in, but there is a breeze and the house is warming up anyway. I also open a couple on the main floor to get the hot air to rise and exit through the upstairs windows.
5. Our power company has a smart phone app, so I check for updates on the outage. Of course they're not updating the information in anything close to real-time. I pull up the webpage and see that the whole town is out, as is the next town north of here; looks like a transformer blew. My phone battery is getting low from a full day's use, so I get the USB battery supply out of the computer bag and charge the cell phone. I may have to take it our to the pickup to get a full charge.
6. I check on the neighbors that I care about. Everybody is doing OK; a few have left for anywhere that has lights (many people can't handle being in the dark, yet make no preparations for it). I let a few neighbors know that I have extra candles and such if they need them, but those are folks I have known  for many years. The newer neighbors are the ones I don't trust for a variety of reasons -- they can sit in the dark.
7. I have a blog post due tomorrow, and since there are fewer distractions with the power out,  I get started writing. My laptop battery is good for at least 4 hours, so I shouldn't have any problem getting this post together. If I have to, I can save it to a thumb drive and switch to the other laptop, which also has a 4 hour battery. I always write in a word processor program and upload the finished post to the blog, so the loss of the Internet isn't going to slow me down. I use the same word processor (Open Office) on both machines, so there will be no issue of compatibility. If the power is not back on by the time I'm done, I'll use my phone as an Internet hotspot to upload the article.  This sucks up my limited data plan, but it works. I would normally have hyperlinks to a few things, but don't want to kill my data plan. I may update this post when the power comes back.
8. I leave the fridge and freezer alone. As long as the doors stay closed, they will stay cold for at least 24 hours. I'm sweating just sitting here and a cool drink will help with that. I have instant tea and a couple of different sugary drink mixes in the kitchen and down in the pantry, so I make myself a tea. There's no ice for it, but the water from the tap is cool enough. I check the weather app -- it's still 84°F outside, at a quarter to eleven at night.
9. If the power stays out overnight, it will be a challenge to sleep. It's hard to sleep when you're sweating profusely, so I clear a few things off the couch in the basement in case I need to sleep down there tonight. It's cooler and quieter, but darker with not much natural light; I have a habit of oversleeping in the basement because it's hard for me to wake up without daylight.There's enough of a breeze that I should be able to sleep upstairs tonight, but I have options.
10. I dig out the wind-up alarm clock, wind it up, and set it to the correct time. My normal alarm clock will come back when the power does, but it will need to be reset. My phone has an alarm app for a backup. I'll make it to work tomorrow, but if the power is out there I'll probably end up coming back home.

All of this is normal life to me. There's no use getting upset about losing power for a while, as that won't make it come back on any sooner. I had things in place to replace the essentials. Dinner could have been eaten cold if the power had gone out earlier, or I could have gotten into the camping gear and got out the pack stove. Candles are still an option for lighting, but I don't mind the odor of oil lamps so I use them when I need to.

P.S.: No, I will not make it easy for our editrix by adding a Step 10. No “10 Step Program” jokes will be made that easily. (Editrix's note: You gave me a second paragraph in Step 9. Nice try, but you need to be craftier than that.)

Another Way to Beat the Heat

If it seems that I am writing a lot about surviving summer weather, it's because I started a new job about a year ago that has me working outside a lot more than I'm used to. Between the sun, humidity, and working in areas with no airflow, this year has made me dig out all of the tricks and tools that I've used over the years in order to stay cool. Today's trick is a high-tech bandanna.

Several years ago, I was given a funny looking piece of cloth to wrap around my neck in the summer. It looks like a bandanna, but it's actually a closed cotton tube filled with beads of methylcellulose, which is a hyrdrophillic (water-loving) powder made from plant fibers, commonly found in the drugstore as a cure for constipation. It absorbs water and swells, forming a gel that feels slightly slimy to the touch. One specific type that I worked with (we used it as a gelling agent in cosmetics) would absorb 16 times its own weight in water, so it can trap quite a bit.  It's also used as a food additive, so it's safe to have in contact with your skin. 

The one I have now is a MiraCoolbrand cooling bandanna, and I've used it off and on for about three years; the first one I had lasted for five years before the filling finally got washed out by repeated use. It's very simple to use: you just soak it in cool water for about 10 minutes and then wrap it around your neck. The water evaporating from the cotton outer shell keeps it cool, and placing it on the back of your neck helps cool your head. The methylcellulose stays (mostly) inside the tube once it swells up to a size larger than the weave of the cotton, but the water can wick out and evaporate to provide the same effect as a swamp cooler.

Also like swamp coolers, they work best in areas with low humidity but can provide some relief in moderate humidity. In high humidity they do tend to get warm since the water isn't evaporating very quickly, but they still absorb some heat from your neck.

I have used mine for a full 12 hour shift and not had it dry out. I soak it every morning that I'm going to use it, so I don't know for sure how many days it would last on a single soaking, but I've hung it up to dry when I'm not using it and it takes at least four days to be dry to the touch.

They are cheap, effective, simple, and require no batteries; they also take up very little space when completely dry, about as much as a normal bandanna would. 

If a cooling bandanna isn't enough, there are vests that use the same material and work the same way. I have tried the MiraCoolEvaporative Cooling Vest, but I don't care for it because of the weight: I started off with a vest that weighed about four pounds, and then it absorbed another five or six pounds of water. It did keep my torso cool, but the added weight over a 12 hour shift was more than I wanted to deal with. My Camelbak water carrier weighs less and doesn't cut off the air to my skin. The slimy feeling over my entire torso was another downside, but it washed off easily. Being a lot larger than a bandanna, it also takes at least a half-hour of soaking to get a vest ready. 

In digging for links, I've found that the same company is now making ranger/booniehats with built-in tubes of methylcellulose in the crown. If I hadn't just purchased a good straw hat for this summer, I might be interested in trying one out. There's always next year, I hope.

Saturday Shout: Caliente!

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

This is PROBABLY a typo.

But I'm too scared to go outside and find out.

Rehydration

The human body runs on a mix of chemistry and electricity, and electrolytes are a major component of both systems. They are kept in balance by our kidneys, and too little water in the body (hypernatremia) or too much (hyponatemria) will skew the balance of sodium and potassium and cause problems.

Hyponatremia

Hyponatremia is a lower than normal amount of sodium (also known as Natrium, the source of the chemical symbol Na for sodium) causing the cells in the body to swell due to osmotic pressure. Sodium is also needed for the proper function of muscles and nerves, which is why headaches, muscle cramps, and fatigue is associated with heat injuries.

A modern form of college hazing involves forcing a pledge to drink several gallons of water in a short period of time leading to hyponatremia, which has symptoms similar to being drunk. The excess water dilutes the normal concentration of electrolytes and the constant urination removes them, causing further imbalance in the body. This is a life-threatening condition that needs medical treatment just as much as the alcohol poisoning that it replaced.

Drinking plain water while working in the heat can cause the same imbalance because the salt lost through sweating is not being replaced. Sodium, and to a lesser extent potassium, need to be replaced in order to treat or prevent the symptoms of heat exhaustion.

Hypernatremia

Consuming too much salt, or not enough water, leads to an increase in electrolytes, which causes the cells of the body to shrink and leads to brain damage and irregular heart rate.*  Losing water through sweating can reach the point where blood volume is lowered and blood pressure will drop, leading to the symptoms of heat stroke. This is known as hypernatremia. 

http://tinyurl.com/hz5fomu

Replacing water lost through sweating is fairly easy: drink until you have to urinate, and keep drinking water until your urine is light yellow in color.See the chart to the right for examples.

Fruits and vegetables are also a good way to replace water and electrolytes, since most of them are 75%+ water by weight, and the fructose (fruit sugar) helps by giving a little energy boost along with the water content. Watermelon is a favorite around here, but plums and apples work well; citrus fruits are more common further south and provide a Vitamin C boost as well. Canned vegetable juices like V8 are a also good choice, if you like the taste.

Replacing lost salt is almost as easy. Salt is a (too-)common preservative used in preparing food, and the normal American diet contains plenty. There are various sport drinks like Gatorade that will provide the electrolytes you need in a variety of forms. I buy mine when they go on sale, and keep a few cases (usually quart bottles) in the basement for use through the summer, but the powder form is handy for storage and comes in sizes from individual packets for mixing up a pint to industrial-sized bags that will make gallons. Working in a group, in the heat, I prefer a 3-gallon cooler full of iced Gatorade with a supply of paper cups.

For those of you who like to DIY, there are lots of recipes out there:

• The military used to suggest a mix of ¼ teaspoon salt + ¼ teaspoon baking soda added to a quart of water, but has switched to prepackaged drink mixes. 
• WebMD and several international websites suggests ½ teaspoon of table salt + 6 teaspoons sugar in a quart (or liter) of water for ages 12 and up, but don't have a specific recipe for children. Children need a more dilute mixture because their bodies are still developing the mechanisms for dealing with heat. Oneof the sites recommended adding ¼ teaspoon of salt substitute (potassium chloride) as a source of potassium, which makes sense.

Prevention is Part of Preparation

This summer seems to be start a bit early around here and I've seen some record high temperatures in other parts of the country as well. Stay hydrated and keep your salts in balance; you're not going to be doing anything useful if you are lying on the ground with cramps and nausea, or are being transported to the hospital. 

* This is acute (short-term) salt intake, not the commonly derided high sodium diet common in America that has ties to high blood pressure and heart disease.

Heat Injuries

With a little over a week until the official beginning of summer, the temperatures are rising for most of us. Here in the upper Midwest we're looking at highs near 100° F for the next week; the poor souls in AZ are at 105° F and above. Humans are adaptable, though, and given a couple of weeks in a hot climate we become acclimated to the heat. That's the only excuse I can think of, other than insanity, for living in areas where temps spike over 120° F. 

If you're like me and work outside most of the time, you already know the tricks to staying out of the hospital, but many folks don't experience summer heat for much longer than it takes for the AC in the car to start working. In the event that TSHTF, that AC isn't likely to be available, so you should know the basics of heat injuries and how to prevent them.

Causation
Heat injuries are mainly caused by a combination of high ambient temperature and high relative humidity. Up to a certain temperature, low humidity will let your body's natural cooling mechanisms keep your core temperature in a normal range, but once humidity prevents sweat from evaporating, or the temperature climbs to a point where you can't produce enough sweat to keep up, your body temperature will start to go up from the (roughly) 98.6° F that is normal. Once your body temperature gets above 104°F, brain cells start to cook and other organs are damaged. Alcohol use, as well as several drugs and diseases that cause fluid loss, can make a person more susceptible to heat injury. 

Types of Heat Injury and their Treatment

Heat Cramps

Also known as dehydration, its main symptoms are;

• Painful muscle cramps and spasms from loss of salts through sweating
• Profuse sweating
• Hot, red, damp skin

Treatment for heat cramps involve replacing lost electrolytes (salts), cooling the body by removing tight clothes and applying wet cloths to the skin. Get into shade and rest, stretching out the cramped muscles slowly.

Heat Exhaustion

Heat exhaustion is more serious and needs to be treated as soon as possible. Symptoms include:

• Headache
• Confusion
• Pale, damp skin
• Cramps
• Body temperature over 100°F
• Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea

Treatment is the same as for heat cramps with the addition of intravenous (IV) fluids if unable to take water by mouth. A trip to the ER may be in order if symptoms don't go away in a few hours.

Heat Stroke

Heat stroke can kill. It is a result of the body's cooling mechanisms being completely overwhelmed and shutting down. Once you stop sweating, you only have minutes to get things back under control before permanent damage starts. It is usually identified by:

• Hot, dry, skin. The body can no longer produce sweat.
• Loss of appetite
• Rapid heart rate
• Seizure or coma possible
• Mental confusion
• Body temperature over 104° F

Treatment:

• Get the victim into shade.
• Remove all clothing, place the victim in cool (not cold) water or pour cool water over them if available.
• Place ice packs in armpits and groin (high concentrations of blood vessels close to the skin), and seek medical aid if available.
• Don't try to get an unconscious person to drink, they'll just choke on it. If they're awake and alert, get water and replacement salts into them at a slow rate.

Prevention

It is easier to avoid heat injury than it is to treat it.

• Take it easy the first two weeks of hot weather. Adults take about that long to get acclimated; children and teens take a bit longer. Older folks and infants may not acclimate at all, since their heat regulating systems are not working properly.
• Take frequent breaks. Drink small quantities of water or your favorite uncaffeinated sport drink  often, rather than chugging large quantities and hoping it will last (it will just fill your bladder instead).
• Plan activities for the cooler parts of the day. Evenings and mornings are the best time to get things done that require physical activity, while the afternoons are a good time to find shade and rest. The “siesta” is not a sign of laziness; it is a viable way to work around oppressive heat when air conditioning isn't available.
• Wear light-colored clothes, preferably made of a fabric that will wick away sweat. Poly-anything is a poor choice during the summer, since it doesn't absorb much sweat and doesn't “breathe” very well. Looser knits, natural fibers, light colors will make you more comfortable.
• Use a water mister or place damp cloths around your neck and wrists (both good places to remove excess body heat). Getting wet will cool you off.
• The average American diet has more than enough salt in it to replenish what you'll lose through sweating, but changes in diet can remove some of that excess salt and make you more prone to heat injury. Watch for cramps; they are normally the first sign that your body is lacking sodium and/or potassium.

After-effects

Having both treated and been treated for heat exhaustion, I can tell you that it is not fun. It tends to wipe out all of your energy for at least a few days, leaving you unable to do much more than get to the bathroom and the dinner table. 

I've seen heat stroke a couple of times, but we were able to send them to a hospital where they got proper treatment. Once or twice I've caught myself working in the heat and noticed that I'd stopped sweating, and that's my cue to tell the boss I'm going to go sit down for a while. No job is worth my life, and heat stroke isn't something to toy with; it's one injury is high on my list to avoid suffering in a SHTF situation.

Swamp Coolers

A few years ago, a young friend of mine moved to Southern California with her husband and new baby. The housing they were living in was fair, but when the air conditioner died in July, the landlord struggled to find someone to fix or replace it. Having been around babies in the Summer, I know how uncomfortable they are in the heat and how miserable that makes parents; she needed a way to cool at least one small room so her daughter could have a place to sleep comfortably.

I did some research and found several sets of plans for a home-made swamp cooler that she could afford to put together for less than $50 and were enough to cool a small room. It worked well enough and long enough to get them through until the AC got fixed, and her husband ended up making a few for neighbors with the same problem. While this wasn't a true “emergency”, it's still an example of how a bit of knowledge and some simple skills can make rough times easier to get through.

What is a Swamp Cooler? 

It's a way to cool air using the evaporation of water and a fan. They're simple, easy to make, and quite energy efficient, but they don't work everywhere, especially in areas of high humidity.

Swamp coolers work by passing air through a mesh or media that is kept wet. Using the same principle that your body uses to cool itself by sweating, the water evaporates and carries excess heat with it. In the time of the Pharaohs they used slaves with fans to move air past containers of water or wetted blankets hung over doorways, so it's not new technology. 

Water is an odd chemical from a lot of standpoints, but the one aspect that makes swamp coolers work is its high latent heat of  evaporation (enthalpy of vaporization). Put into layman's terms, water requires a lot more energy to convert from liquid to vapor than most other common chemicals -- on the order of three times more energy than ethyl (grain) alcohol and six times more than a lot of hydrocarbons. This means that if we can get water to evaporate, it will carry away a lot of heat.

The sticky point is getting that water to evaporate, which brings us to another term: Dew Point. If you get your weather forecast from the radio or TV you probably don't see the dew point listed, but it will be in all aviation forecasts and most of the internet weather sites. Dew point is the temperature at which the humidity already in the air will start to condense (100% relative humidity), creating fog and dew. Aviators need this information to avoid flying into fog, which is why it is part of a METAR (Meteorological Aerodrome Report).

Swamp coolers can cool air down to almost the dew point, but never below it. That means that if you live in an area like mine where the relative humidity runs 50-80% in the Summer, causing dew points of 75-80° F, the best output from a swamp cooler (or cooling tower) is going to be 80-85° F. That's not much help for staying comfortable, but usable in industrial settings. Those of you who live in more arid climates, where relative humidity tends to stay under 20% will see more cooling since the dew point will be under 50 ° F. Sorry Florida, swamp coolers don't work well in actual swamps. Don't I know it! -- Erin)

Here's a chart of dew points at various temperatures and humidity levels:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dewpoint-RH.svg 

How Do You Make One?

The simple DIY version I found for my friend was a 5 gallon bucket with a foam pad for the wetted media, a 12V DC fan from a dead computer case, and a small solar water fountain pump from Harbor freight. Full instructions are found here, but the concept is simple:

1. Mount a fan or two in the lid of the bucket, blowing air into the bucket. 
2. Cut vent holes in the sides of the bucket, as many as you want. 
3. Line the bucket with a fibrous mesh (humidifier filters work best).
4. Place a pump in the bottom of the bucket and connect a hose to the top of the mesh 
5. Add water, usually 2 but no more than 3 gallons. 
6. Turn on the power.

The pump moves water over the fiber mesh while the fan is blowing air through it. As the water evaporates, it cools the air coming out of the vent holes. Expect to go through a few gallons of water every day. so make sure you've got the extra water available. It doesn't have to be potable water, but the cleaner it is, the longer your filter mesh will last and the fewer problems you'll have with impurities getting volatilized and spread around your living areas.

Use your imagination to replace parts you may not have. 

• Wood chips or shavings (think pet bedding) or loose straw will hold water while allowing air flow, so long as you don't pack them too tight. 
• A towel or piece of blanket held up with bent coat hangers will hold water. 
• 12V DC fans are easy to find; if you don't have a computer cooling fan around, look for an automobile blower fan in a junkyard or check out one of the larger truck stops for a 12V DC fan. 
• Plastic trash cans can replace the bucket, 
• Solar power is a good option because you'll need the cooler most when the sun is shining.

Knowing how something works is the first step to making it work.

Heads, you win.

With summer in full swing and the sun beating down on us, we all need to keep a simple and common item close at hand: A hat.

Exposure to the sun's UV radiation is one of the main causes of skin cancer. It's pointless to be 50+ years old and have a dermatologist tell you that you should have worn a hat more often when you were younger while he's cutting the tumors off of your nose or ears. Wrinkles and yellowing of the skin are also caused by excessive exposure to UV light. Keeping the sun off of your head, especially the ears and nose, can help minimize the risk of skin cancer and prevent painful, itchy sunburns. For those of us with little to no hair on our heads (see picture to the right), a sun burnt scalp is not a laughing matter.

Hats with brims also provide shade for the eyes, making bright sunlight easier to handle. If you're expecting to be in areas with extreme heat and sun, look for a hat with a neck drape or fashion one out of a bandanna or other piece of cloth. (See also: shemagh)

Hats come in a variety of forms, with pros and cons for each type.

Ball Caps

• Ball caps are cheap and easy to find. 
• When worn properly (with the bill facing forward), ball caps do a good job of shading the eyes and nose but offer no protection for the ears or neck.
• Many ball caps made for summer wear have the back portion made of an open mesh to allow air flow for cooling, but the open mesh will allow the sunlight in as well.
• I prefer the ones made of cotton, since it absorbs more sweat than the cheap man-made fibers and can be soaked in water to help cool your head. 
• Colors and logos will vary according to your situation, from blaze orange while hunting to a sports team logo for urban camouflage.

Cowboy Hats

• The good ones are expensive, but will generally last longer than a cheap one. 
• The wide brim that goes all the way around the hat shades the eyes, ears, nose, and part of the neck.
• A proper cowboy hat will shed rain off the back, behind your collar, and keep moderate rain off of your face. 
• Usually made of felt, they absorb a lot of sweat and do a good job of keeping it out of your eyes. 
• For summer wear I've used straw cowboy hats to keep the sun off of me, and they usually lasted about a year. Felt hats will last a lot longer -- I think I got five years of everyday use out of my last one but it was pretty ratty by the time I retired it.

"Boonie" Hats

• Soft brimmed with a flat top, boonie hats are useful when working in brush and trees because they don't get snagged on things very easily. 
• They are easy to store and wash. 
• Since they don't have any stiffeners in the brim they tend to be floppy and don't do a good job of shading the eyes.

Dress Hats

• Bowlers, Panamas, Fedoras, and Berets are all more fashion than function.
• Panama straw hats will offer good protection from the sun, but the rest are better suited to formal dress rather than work.

If you don't like wearing a hat or don't have one, a bandana or "do-rag" will keep the sweat out of your eyes and help keep your head cool. They also work well under motorcycle helmets and hard hats, neither of which are comfortable to wear in the summer.

Give me six months and I'll have my recommendations for winter hats.