This video provides advice on how to stay cool when hiking or camping in extreme heat. It is based on my lifetime experience growing up near the Mojave Desert in Southern California, and years later living next to a bayou in East Texas.
The video is divided into two parts:
PART ONE: Lists all tips, and explains only the first two in detail
PART TWO: Lists all tips, and explains the remaining four in detail
1. ACCLIMATE TO EXTREME HEAT. Allow your body’s physiology several days to slowly adjust to extreme heat. The physiological changes during the adjustment period are critical for survival. Learn from sports medicine.
2. USE MICROCLIMATES TO STAY COOL. Weather Channels only report conditions in a standard way, 5 feet off the ground in the shade. Reality is much, much different. Learn from wildlife how use microclimates to full advantage.
3. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER BEFORE YOU ARE THIRSTY. According to the National Institute for Safety and Health, in extreme heat people should drink 8 ounces of water every 15 to 20 minutes.
4. LIMIT ACTIVITY DURING THE HEAT OF THE DAY. Like wildlife, seek shelter when it is too hot. Day-active wildlife become much more active at dawn and dusk. Some some wildlife become entirely night active. We will talk about this with links to night hiking videos.
5. WEAR CLOTHING THAT PROTECTS YOUR BODY FROM HEAT. Light-colored, loose clothing, with air spaces between you and the cloth, allows sweat evaporation and cooling. But this is more to the story you You will learn why desert nomads in Middle East and North Africa often wear long black robes.
6. PROTECT AGAINS SUNBURN AND BUG BITES. Chemicals in sunscreen and bug repellents interact. Use sunscreens only on exposed skin and bug repellents only on clothing. I will also demonstrate tips from the 1800s
7. And finally, I will demonstrate several YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES that will help you RELAX, LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE, AND COOL your body.
References:
From Lab to Real World: Heat Acclimation considerations for Elite Athletes, Julia R Cassadio, Et.al Sports Med. 2017 Aug, 47(8):1467-1476. link.springer.com
Heat Stress Acclimatization. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2017-124, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Heat Acclimation to Improve Athletic Performance in Warm-hot Environments, Michael N. et.al, Jan 2016, Gatorade Sports Science Institute. SSE #153 gssiweb.org
Death by Water Intoxication, John W. Gardner, May 2002, Military Medicine
academic.oup.com
7 Ways Animals Beat the Heat, Roger Di Dilvestro // Jul 07, 2010// The National Wildlife Federation
Temperature regulation strategies, Google Classroom AP/College Biology, Lesson 2: Energy flow through ecosystems, Khanacademy.org
What Hiking in One of the World’s Harshest Deserts Taught Me About Surviving Heat, Mark Jenkins, September 6, 2022. backpacker.com
How birds handle hot weather, Bob Lewis, September 2, 2017, goldengateaudubon.org
Strange but true: science’s most improbable research, The Observer, Science, Marc Abrahams, The Guardian, Aug 18, 2012
Why do Bedouins wear black robes in hot Deserts, Amiram Sholink, Et al., Nature, 203, 373-375 (1980)
Bedouin wear: traditional clothes in modern times, Bianca Abma, Nov 14, 2014 wardirmnomads.com
The Bedouin lesson” A scientific study proves robes and the best garment to wear in the desert heat." Juanjo Villalba, Aug 12, 2022, EL PAIS
How to use 4-7-8 breathing for anxiety. medical news today
Summer Heat: The Silent Killer Produced as a cooperative effort of the National Weather Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross
3 Calming, Cooling Breathing Exercises to Try When It’s Too Hot to Function. Stacey Leasca, July 14, 2023 real simple.com
Videography by Ken Kramm, August 24, 2023