Beating the heat!

[trains]

In Australia, we are used to this type of heat, but people still die from heat exhaustion.
Either start work extra early, then stop in the later part of the day when the heat has reached its peak, then go again later when it cools off if at all possible.

If you have to work out in the heat of the day.
Stay hydrated, and keep your electrolytes up, ie sports drinks bought or home mixed, have loose fitting long sleeved shirts and long pants, and a good hat, keeping the radiant heat off you is important, loose fitting helps with air flow and cooling.

As others have already mentioned, heat stroke is not to be taken lightly, and you can die from it.

Ive been hit with it when working in roof spaces, up trees, cutting wood on the ground etc, know the early signs and take them seriously.

it takes a good week to start getting used to the heat, so if you have just been hit with a heat wave, it will take a while to get used to the heat.

By the end of summer here, when the days are around 38c, you think its cool compared to the mid 40s.

 

[PEK]

Many moons ago I worked in a knackers yard using steam boilers to render down bones etc there were always salt tablets available it used to get damn hot in there. As mentioned before Himalayan pink salt is good 250 million years old one of the purest you can get!

 

[lohan808]

Once you get heat stroke it seems real easy to get it again from what I have been told ..

I have had 2 while doing electrical maintenance on solar fields in the southeastern summers a few years ago. Definitely more prone to the risks of heat related fatigue exhaustion, I do take extra care now.

 

[benjo75]

Does anyone besides me constantly pour sweat worse than you used to after getting too hot? I never did really sweat that much before now i just pour sweat even if it isn't all that hot.

 

[Bill G]

It is amazing the huge variations in regional temperatures this year. I know it always varies greatly but this year seems excessive.

I am on the Illinois/Iowa border 2 hrs north of Missouri and 2 hrs south of Wisconsin. We had one of the coldest springs of my lifetime. We are now at the end of July and it has definitely been the coldest one that I know of. I am not sure if we hit 90 more than 3 days. Now we may pay for that in August but right now I'm my specific area no one can complain about the heat. I know that is far from true outside my little area but here it had been as cool as could be. I wonder what the GDDU's will be for July. I am betting very low

 

[GeeVee]

Carpet guy I know, will never be the same, Heat Stroke so bad he has brain damage......

I personally- barely able to drive home with one eye open after a hard day- maybe seven hours worth of working in and out of the Bobcat Skidder, landscaping in 100* heat, and that was 45 minutes at a time, with 15 minutes in the river ever hour for the entire crew.

I'm wearing long sleeve dri fit shirts now to keep the sun off the skin, (skin cancer is already a problem for me) and a straw hat as much as possible. Even using my golf umbrella on my cart between throws or waiting on the other players.

SInce I wear contacts, if I am using chainsaws or pruning/trimming, when i get sweat AND sawdust or pollen, I'm having to wash my face down alot. lowering my body temp by soaking my head helps. The cooling towels I can put under a hat helps.

For me, a hat holds heat in, makes my head real hot, so I get under the umbrella as much as possible and take the hat off.

 

[MFV]

90's at 9! tv weatherman said this morning ~

i built shade for mine, too! made all the difference. still in place and doing its job well after many hot Texas summers! water is still hard to beat to stay hydrated. on hot days out on pasture... when i get back, i even drink the community water! lol

yesterday. i like pickled onions, too. from home garden
View attachment 1005433

Hopefully I will make some more in the fall spicy pickles with some green tomatoes mixed in

 

[MFV]

Does anyone besides me constantly pour sweat worse than you used to after getting too hot? I never did really sweat that much before now i just pour sweat even if it isn't all that hot.

Yes but my wife says that’s a good sign

 

[Captain Bruce]

Good Lord, Thundering Jesus! I suppose the work must be done, the food on the table, and all that.......but if its non-essential arbor work, My God Man, get in the A/C, or the pool! The Thames, is Right Out.....

 

[trains]

I see our heat that we get here in Aus, which other parts of the world seem to be experiencing lately, and they are not used to it, the same as the cold I see in other parts of the world.

When its really cold, people just dont go out or do things unless absolutely necessary, and even then under extreme care with the required things needed.
Its the same with the heat, on very hot days, you just dont go out, travel, the roads melt, and tyres can fail when its over 45c, and if you do go out, its with extreme care etc.
I guess its what you get used to, its happened before, dosent always happen, but it has got cold, and gotten hot before, and it will do so again.

take care in the heat, its not to be taken lightly, just like going out in the cold.

 

[user 185711]

Lots of water and electrolytes. If I start feeling bad it's almost always too late to reverse that feeling so I try my best to stay ahead of it. Sometimes I get busy and forget to drink water. If I haven't peed in a while I take that as a sign that I need to drink something.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Can’t be looking like a tennis geek. I put a big rag under my hardhat keeps flies and sun off my neck too lol

nope! next thing mite be ivy league pants and penny loafers!!! lol

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

You Guys have a lot of good and experience advice on this Heat topic. I want to say about 20 years ago while helping build a new Church from an existing old lumber building I received a heat stroke. I didn’t know what was going on I didn’t ask for help I just told them I didn’t feel good and went home. First thing I did (probably not the best to do) was go and take a cold shower until I felt better. Then drank a lot of water. Well, I found out later that wasn’t good but I guess it worked for me. I have to say I almost forgot about that until today. As for Gatorade, (just a tip) I found that it cost you less if you get the 51 oz. canister powder mix instead of the bottles. I like to squirt some lemon in it for a finer taste, hey that just me.

i will keep a water bottle in shop refer half full. cold. then when time to hydrate fill it with fresh filtered warm water. then i can drink a lot! too cold and i cannot... well, other than a cold one!!!! lol

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I've been through 8 litres of water in a 5 hour day on the forestry. Soaking wet with sweat dripping off me.
I get real bad cramps in my hands and arms so Ive started using rehydration tablets in the water and it seems to help.
Also keeping the sun off my neck with a cape attached to my helmet helps too.

with the DIY shade i made for my tractor i was able to reduce water consumption in half when shredding on pasture on a hot August afternoon... and felt better all the time out working, too

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

In Australia, we are used to this type of heat, but people still die from heat exhaustion.
Either start work extra early, then stop in the later part of the day when the heat has reached its peak, then go again later when it cools off if at all possible.
it takes a good week to start getting used to the heat, so if you have just been hit with a heat wave, it will take a while to get used to the heat.

By the end of summer here, when the days are around 38c, you think its cool compared to the mid 40s.

ha! i have been down here in South Texas for decades... still not used to some of this mid-summer heat!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I have had 2 while doing electrical maintenance on solar fields in the southeastern summers a few years ago. Definitely more prone to the risks of heat related fatigue exhaustion, I do take extra care now.

its no joke! heat can hit u and sap you very fast. sometimes quite unexpectedly. fatigue and early onset confusion is characteristic... i am a US Marine Veteran and in early training and add'l training dealing with outdoors and survival... the issue of heat stroke is a major subject!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Many moons ago I worked in a knackers yard using steam boilers to render down bones etc there were always salt tablets available it used to get damn hot in there. As mentioned before Himalayan pink salt is good 250 million years old one of the purest you can get!

hi PEK - i bet it was hotter than... around those big boilers....

'nope! no a/c down here. your job is to be right here, next to this unit. careful, it gets hot!'

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Does anyone besides me constantly pour sweat worse than you used to after getting too hot? I never did really sweat that much before now i just pour sweat even if it isn't all that hot.

not here, bj - mite be time to talk to a dermatologist skin specialist

 

[ValleyForge]

ha! i have been down here in South Texas for decades... still not used to some of this mid-summer heat!

Texas heat is insane…when you have misters that line the streets, and stay running at night, you know you’re in trouble…lol

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

It is amazing the huge variations in regional temperatures this year. I know it always varies greatly but this year seems excessive.

I am on the Illinois/Iowa border 2 hrs north of Missouri and 2 hrs south of Wisconsin. We had one of the coldest springs of my lifetime. We are now at the end of July and it has definitely been the coldest one that I know of. I am not sure if we hit 90 more than 3 days. Now we may pay for that in August but right now I'm my specific area no one can complain about the heat. I know that is far from true outside my little area but here it had been as cool as could be. I wonder what the GDDU's will be for July. I am betting very low

last nite on tv weather news they put up the month of July.... and only one day early in month had some rains. all other days of July here, no rains and temps at or over 100f!!