Heat

[C.f.M.]

Weird stuff. From

http://www.japantrends.com/cool-japan-p ... mmer-heat/

Also,

http://www.japantrends.com/kuchofuku-ai ... -clothing/

[TomServo]

One of the neatest things someone gave me at burning man is a little neck cooler. about a one inch fabric tube with houseplant soil gel pellets...(?probably a real name for this stuff). It absorbs a lot of liquid, and is nice and cooling. water and misters and sprayers and damp cloths... or wet shirts and hats... Ygmir has a nice spray of rubbing and alcohol and water he sprays on his socks when he puts his feet up, that's nice and cool. I have a bunch of portable sprayer things, pump pressurized, or pump to spray. After a while I just feel like there is too much to keep track of and I put the neck cooler in a baggie with some water and put it in the cooler.
Be a midday sloth, remember only mad dogs and Englishmen (Grai?) go out in the noonday sun.
here's my dish rinser and personal camp mister:


It's hot, but it's awful dirty too. cheers!

+100. Yes! Carry a spray bottle with you! Try to use it in the shade, if you can...water beads amplify the suns rays.

[MyDearFriend]

One of the neatest things someone gave me at burning man is a little neck cooler. about a one inch fabric tube with houseplant soil gel pellets...(?probably a real name for this stuff). It absorbs a lot of liquid, and is nice and cooling. water and misters and sprayers and damp cloths... or wet shirts and hats... Ygmir has a nice spray of rubbing and alcohol and water he sprays on his socks when he puts his feet up, that's nice and cool. I have a bunch of portable sprayer things, pump pressurized, or pump to spray. After a while I just feel like there is too much to keep track of and I put the neck cooler in a baggie with some water and put it in the cooler.
Be a midday sloth, remember only mad dogs and Englishmen (Grai?) go out in the noonday sun.
here's my dish rinser and personal camp mister:


It's hot, but it's awful dirty too. cheers!

+100. Yes! Carry a spray bottle with you! Try to use it in the shade, if you can...water beads amplify the suns rays.

Fantastic idea here, thank you! I have collected sprayers in every size including pocket sizes and, will mark one now for dilute alcohol rub. I love that stuff and have massaged it into many a sweaty back at the hospital but, it never occurred to me to carry it around the playa...

[Elderberry]

Misa, is that your leg? OUCH!

[MisaBlue]

Yes, it is my leg...it happened on the last day of BM while we were packing our camp...it was big ouch

[AntiM]

I've found our camp's days to get a sunburn are either the first day we arrive (haven't got out the hats and sunblock yet) or the day we pack (packed up the hats and sunblock too soon). I've begun prepacking the camelbaks and an arrival bag. It helps.

[mudpuppy000]

To be honest, I hate warm weather... I really dont like temperatures over 77 (and I should not be in high temperatures, but dont say anybody)

I love playa thou, and it just doesnt feel "bad" hot there. Remember how hard time I had in Houston (and it was September, October), but it is ok on playa!
Stay hydrate!!!
and watch for sun!!!!!!!!!!!

Ouuuch Misa! Yes, definitely wear lots of sunscreen if you burn easy! (like me)

[Trishntek]

Several things we make sure to provide to all visitors to our camp is good, hard shade, water misters, fresh water and gatorade. Yes, water is essential, but you will get muscle cramps if your electrolytes are not replaced.

Lytes can be acquired from BACON, sport drinks and proper intake of fruits and veggies. The latter is more challenging due to heat, but we always have dried fruits, nuts and jerky which also supply essential minerals and vitamins.

Yeah, what GH said,,,,, "PISS CLEAR"

[C.f.M.]

Lytes can be acquired from BACON, sport drinks and proper intake of fruits and veggies. The latter is more challenging due to heat, but we always have dried fruits, nuts and jerky which also suppy essential minerals and vitamins.

Yeah, what GH said,,,,, "PISS CLEAR"

Nein! Gatorage might be better than nothing but you should get proper electrolyte replacement - which she has done with her order of Vitalyte.

http://playabound.wordpress.com/2010/07 ... enishment/

Some other options I looked at:
http://playabound.wordpress.com/2010/04 ... round-rei/

I guess I'm lucky to be a water-drinker, I don't have to train myself to drink it in BRC. My day starts with a water bottle + Vitalyte while I wake up and such. I actually have a camp-only water bottle that stays there.

It's important to not wait until you're thirsty to drink. Thirst means you're already 30-40% dehydrated. A headache is also an initial sign of dehydration.

When I was in Africa, we had to empty our canteens by a certain time (that's also where I first learned that clear urine is hydeated urine - though some vitamins can add a yellow tint). It was to ensure we were hydrated properly. I start the day by drinking that full bottle of water and then, throughout the day, I drink. Standing around? Have some water. Waiting in a line? Have some water.

Drink a cup of water in between cocktails (drink, water, drink, water). Dehydration is one of the reasons hangovers hurt so bad.

More water + Vitalyte @ bed (getting up to pee sucks, but not as much as a hangover/feeling like shit because you're dehydrated).

[Foxfur]

To be honest, I hate warm weather... I really dont like temperatures over 77 (and I should not be in high temperatures, but dont say anybody)

I love playa thou, and it just doesnt feel "bad" hot there. Remember how hard time I had in Houston (and it was September, October), but it is ok on playa!
Stay hydrate!!!
and watch for sun!!!!!!!!!!!

Damn Miss Misa! I'd put lotion on them sexy legs for you if I was there
When I'm mining I get my knees sunburned as I squat for hours panning. They are the best tanned spot on my body besides my arms...

[Trishntek]

If I didn't know better, I would think you are a paid Vitalyte rep. ((((((((CfM)))))))

Like anything else, gatorade in a balanced diet does help prevent muscle cramps. Yes, it is mostly sugar water,,,, but there is a reason it is supplied in large quantities to professional athletes

All I know is if I drink only water while doing sweaty laborious activities, I WILL GET MUSCLE CRAMPS! If I drink a quart of "SPORT DRINK", I DO NOT GET MUSCLE CRAMPS! YMMV

[Elderberry]

Just a few cautionary notes on "Piss Clear", as it may not, in all cases, be a good thing.

Colorless urine indicates over-hydration, which is usually considered much healthier than dehydration (to some extent however over-hydration can remove essential salts from the body).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine

Any activity or situation that promotes heavy sweating can lead to water intoxication when water is consumed to replace lost fluids. Persons working in extreme heat and/or humidity for long periods must take care to drink and eat in ways that help to maintain electrolyte balance. People using drugs such as MDMA ("Ecstasy") may overexert themselves, perspire heavily, and then drink large amounts of water to rehydrate, leading to electrolyte imbalance and water intoxication- this is compounded by Ecstasy use increasing the levels of antidiuretic hormone (ADH), decreasing the amount of water lost through urination. Even people who are resting quietly in extreme heat or humidity may run the risk of water intoxication if they drink large amounts of water over short periods for rehydration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

[C.f.M.]

RE paid rep: I know, right? It was a super-veteran burner who recommended it to me, I've since had a couple of people take my suggestion and agree that it was good stuff and on their must-have list. It was formulated by a biochemist who got sick on Gatorade qualifying for the '68 Olympic marathon.

The Vitalyte formula has the CORRECT ratio of Sodium, Potassium, Calcium & Magnesium. Not only that, without all the extra junk that Gatorade has in the formula, Vitalyte hits your bloodstream in about 2 MINUTES, so you receive the benefits from this product almost instantly. Gatorade can take hours and the ratio of sodium and potassium are actually the OPPOSITE of what your body needs.

No unnecessary sugars, no empty calories, no artificial coloring, just an honest electrolyte replacement drink that literally mimics the blood’s concentration of sodium and potassium, the two electrolytes critical to metabolism and organ function. And because it’s a perfect match, Vitalyte is assimilated into the blood stream quickly and has since earned an insider reputation as an “oral IV.”

Another great thing about Vitalyte is that it is absorbed right away, it doesn't sit and slosh around in your belly. I tested it out back when I first got it. I used the rest of the tub over the past year for hangovers...and, I really don't like the fake, super sweet Gatorade flavors (or the amount of sugar and potential heartburn, it can be too acidic for some people - oh, and my monies go to an independent company, not CocaCola). But, you can also get the powdered Gatorade to reduce plastic bottle moopage.

I don't know about bacon keeping you cool...I have attempted to attach a picture. It's not really as funny that way.

ANYWAYS! I just want people to feel as good as they can (unlike I did my first year) so if something that made a huge difference for me can help, I'mma pimp it out.

[Dr Jet Sinister]

Just remember Tamarakay, most of the people complaining about the BRC heat are from the west coast. They have no idea what we live with down here on a regular basis. BRC is a wonderful break from living on the surface of the sun. I was sick the first 3 days my first year there and so was my teenage son his first year. I don't know if it was the altitude, exertion, a little dehydration, or a combination. I haven't had any problems since that first year. If you need a cool place in the afternoon, look into picking up a portable swamp cooler or use Figjam's how-to and make your own. It's super easy and SO effective in the desert.

Cfm is correct on the vitalyte. I have a very sensitive tummy nowadays and gatorade and other 'sports' drinks will make one nauseous in a hurry. And Trishntek, it's supplied to sports teams because they pay for the privilege. It certainly doesn't make them the best option.

DPW uses Cerasport and it's just as awesome as vitalyte and you can get juice boxes to keep in your cooler.

[C.f.M.]

Just remember Tamarakay, most of the people complaining about the BRC heat are from the west coast. They have no idea what we live with down here on a regular basis. BRC is a wonderful break from living on the surface of the sun. I was sick the first 3 days my first year there and so was my teenage son his first year. I don't know if it was the altitude, exertion, a little dehydration, or a combination.

Yeah, it still amuses me when people complain about the heat in BRC. Sissies.

I was also so sick my first night in 2009, I nearly went to EMS and thought I was going to have to leave. (oh, here's a tip, have a few bags available for vomit...)

My veteran friends made me eat some GORP and miso soup, and I felt quite a bit better, near instantly. I still don't know what it was, peoples' guess was the altitude and dehydration. This past year I felt fine (aside from sitting at gate for a million hours and being exhaused from being awake and travelingfor over 24 hours).

So yeah. Take it easy, stay hydrated, stick to the shade when you can and you should be OK.

[EspressoDude]

A wonderful option for cooling yourself or friends. Get some food grade aloe vera, not the greasy Hawaiian Tropic or similar. Keep it in the ice box or fridge if you have one. Overheated, pour some on and smear it around. Feels good, good for skin, great for making friends.....and it's edible

[Elderberry]

Just remember Tamarakay, most of the people complaining about the BRC heat are from the west coast. They have no idea what we live with down here on a regular basis. BRC is a wonderful break from living on the surface of the sun. I was sick the first 3 days my first year there and so was my teenage son his first year. I don't know if it was the altitude, exertion, a little dehydration, or a combination.

Yeah, it still amuses me when people complain about the heat in BRC. Sissies.

I was also so sick my first night in 2009, I nearly went to EMS and thought I was going to have to leave. (oh, here's a tip, have a few bags available for vomit...)

My veteran friends made me eat some GORP and miso soup, and I felt quite a bit better, near instantly. I still don't know what it was, peoples' guess was the altitude and dehydration. This past year I felt fine (aside from sitting at gate for a million hours and being exhaused from being awake and travelingfor over 24 hours).

So yeah. Take it easy, stay hydrated, stick to the shade when you can and you should be OK.

I just learned another new word!

GORP: This is a common term in the US for a type of high-energy snack, especially — as you imply — one containing raisins and nuts, plus chocolate. American hikers also know it as trail mix. The first example in the Oxford English Dictionary dates from 1972.

It’s said that it comes from the acronym you quote, but that’s certainly spurious. It’s just a well-meaning attempt to explain a word about whose origins the experts tend to shake their heads sadly.
Some dictionaries point rather uneasily to some appearances of the word as a verb from earlier in the twentieth century. In 1904, the publication Dialect Notes noted that to gorp was to eat greedily; this is backed up by other references recorded in the Dictionary of American Regional English. A possible link is obvious enough, though a direct connection isn’t recorded and etymologists have to be cautious.

In turn, that word may one form of an older English verb variously spelled as gaup, gawp, gorp, gowp, gawk, or gauk. One basic meaning is to stare in a stupid or rude manner. But an earlier sense was of staring open-mouthed in witless astonishment. This seems to have led to gawp up, meaning to devour (presumably from the open-mouthed bit of the meaning), which just might have led to the early twentieth-century American dialect sense from which our sense may have later derived. Sorry to hedge my language so heavily, but we really don’t know for sure.
Steven Milne told me after this item appeared in the newsletter that he knows another supposedly acronymic origin from the 1960s: “From my earlier Boy Scout days and canoe trips up the Gunflint trail on the Canadian border in Minnesota, gorp was understood to stand for Granola, Oatmeal, Raisins and Peanuts, and that’s what we mixed up to eat.

I’ve since found the word appears in the Appleton Post Crescent of Wisconsin in 1962 in an article that suggests yet another acronymic origin, but a completely different meaning: “‘Gorp’ is taken by all campers and canoers. (Named for the flavors grape, orange, raspberry and pineapple, ‘gorp’ becomes a tasty thirst-quencher when mixed with cool water.)” It sounds as though the writer confused the foodstuff with a fruit-flavoured powder such as Kool-Aid, and thereby created another version of the folk etymology, but who knows?

Incidentally, Australians and New Zealanders would prefer to call it scroggin, a word that was created in New Zealand, probably among mountaineers in South Island, but whose origin is even more mysterious than that of gorp, if that were possible. Amanda Cossham tells me that it’s said to be an acronym from Sultanas, Currants, Raisins, Orange (peel), Ginger and Nuts — a neat parallel to the story about the origin of gorp, but equally unlikely to be true.

[Ugly Dougly]

Is she schizophrenic?

Classic.

[gyre]

Gorp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorp_%28film%29

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080809/synopsis

[EspressoDude]

a few years ago I tweaked my back moving a casket in our camp during set-up. Second day on playa..not enough real food.

Basically got onto a bed, but absolutely could not get up again. Up about 20 degrees elevation was level 8 - 9 pain. Helga brought over EMS and they were preparing for evac to Reno. I was reluctant to do that...$$$$.. One of the EMT's asked about calcium intake..huh? I figured staying exactly where I was was best, and we would re-visit the evac the next day.

Helga made rootbeer floats. Next morning I was able to get up, still in pain. I did get quite a few back massages in our chill dome, but was sore for several months.

Do not forget vitamins and minerals. Real ice cream is health food!!

[Foxfur]

I was sick the first 3 days my first year there and so was my teenage son his first year.

Shut up. You're about 30 and Smashy is like 23.
Fucking liar. And cradle snatcher.
Disgusting...

[Sail Man]

The heat can get to you at times out there. Tell ya what, if it gets overwhelming, just drop by our camp and you can spend some time drinking lychee martinis in our air conditioned yurt.

As well as our camp in Kidsville, trailer and a/c, just look for Sail Mans Yacht Basin

[Dr Jet Sinister]

I was sick the first 3 days my first year there and so was my teenage son his first year.

Shut up. You're about 30 and Smashy is like 23.
Fucking liar. And cradle snatcher.
Disgusting...

He was a teenager at the time. He's past the teen years now. I had him when I was 11, so Smashy is the cradle snatcher.

[Sail Man]

This group just rocks.
We evidently have the stuff that the evaporative vests/head wraps are stuffed with so we will be experimenting with putting one together this weekend.

Elliott! Good to see you. Ken is very interested in seeing your bus. The pictures you posted of construction have him intrigued.

And just to make Ken happy, went by the drug store, don't know how accurate their machines are but 97 over 64 is hard to beat.

Well, your diastolic (2nd #, when the heart is between contractions) is within the normal range, low end, but your systolic is hypotensive (low, which is the pressure when your heart pumps). If that is your normal, then that is fine for you. Treat the patient, not the monitor, or in this case, the vitals. As long as your heart rate is normal, you be good. Just watch it and stay hydrated so you don't bottom out your BP and DFO (done fell out)

[C.f.M.]

Do not forget vitamins and minerals.

A packet of Emergen-C is included in my morning water bottle. And another one at night. I don't swear by it or anything, and I know you can overdo it on vitamins, it just works for me.

[Ugly Dougly]

I drank water the first day until my dentures were floating, but I didn't pee for that first day. Perhaps the body goes into shock in such a dry environment and doesn't let go of moisture easily.
Course, it was Gatorade that did the trick for me.

[Savannah]

Just a few cautionary notes on "Piss Clear", as it may not, in all cases, be a good thing.

Colorless urine indicates over-hydration, which is usually considered much healthier than dehydration (to some extent however over-hydration can remove essential salts from the body).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine

Any activity or situation that promotes heavy sweating can lead to water intoxication when water is consumed to replace lost fluids. Persons working in extreme heat and/or humidity for long periods must take care to drink and eat in ways that help to maintain electrolyte balance. People using drugs such as MDMA ("Ecstasy") may overexert themselves, perspire heavily, and then drink large amounts of water to rehydrate, leading to electrolyte imbalance and water intoxication- this is compounded by Ecstasy use increasing the levels of antidiuretic hormone (ADH), decreasing the amount of water lost through urination. Even people who are resting quietly in extreme heat or humidity may run the risk of water intoxication if they drink large amounts of water over short periods for rehydration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

Good to bring up.

My first couple years out there I was innocently knocking myself out trying to get a colorless result, when a better phrase than "piss clear" is "don't piss cloudy." It's okay for urine to be a normal (hopefully light) yellow . . . just not dark yellow, darker than usual, or cloudy. Heh. And if you have taken a bunch of vitamins, don't forget that you have and flip out an hour later.

I still use electrolyte substances, but find that salty snacks, juice and regular meals + copious water will generally get the job done.

I drank water the first day until my dentures were floating, but I didn't pee for that first day. Perhaps the body goes into shock in such a dry environment and doesn't let go of moisture easily.

I once went about 18 hours the same way . . . drank water & juice, ate food . . . but didn't have to go. I felt great, which was key--or I would have been at medical in an instant--but it was definitely spooky.

[Lassen Forge]

We spike all but one of the water coolers in the Kantina with Emergen-C - the one out front lightly, the one behind the bar almost full strength. I can't count the number of times I've forced folk to down a couple glasses of "hi-test" in front of me when they were showing signs of not taking care of themselves out there...

Basic rule of thumb - if it tastes really good, you're really depleted, if it tastes like citrus flavored shit you're OK. Likely it will be the former, not the latter.

[Foxfur]

I drank water the first day until my dentures were floating, but I didn't pee for that first day. Perhaps the body goes into shock in such a dry environment and doesn't let go of moisture easily.
Course, it was Gatorade that did the trick for me.

In basic training I didn't shit for three weeks.
Quite common.
Why isn't anyone talking about that?

Just thought I'd share...

Will my tits look like hers if I drink that stuff? New toys, yay!

[Dr Jet Sinister]

In basic training I didn't shit for three weeks.
Quite common.
Why isn't anyone talking about that?

Just thought I'd share...

I've seen this topic before somewhere. Staying regular is important to a lot of people. Then there's OED, who claims to take imodium every day.