Beating the Heat and Humidity in the Deep South

[Alex Nieuwland]

Life is pretty good, here in Columbia, SC, but during the summer the heat and humidity combine to form conditions that can be dangerous to the ill-prepared. When the summer sun starts beating down, and the humidity makes the air feel like you could cut it with a knife, it’s easy to exceed the body’s capacity to cool itself. When this happens, dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke can be the result. None of those are conducive to a good training experience, to put it mildly, so it is important to take good care of yourself.

Dr. Meade already touched on this in his article on what to bring to a gun class, which is recommended reading for anyone attending SI training. However, I thought I’d share some refinements that I’ve made to my heat survival system this summer here.

The night before I go to the range, I will fill my 100-oz hydration pack half full with sports drink and freeze it. I place it into the freezer so the cap is up, and blow into the valve to clear it, and the hose, of liquid. I’m careful not to blow too much air into the bladder, because the expanding water can pop the bladder if the bladder is already completely full.

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On the morning I go to the range, I just take the pack out of the freezer and take it with me, along with plenty of drinking water and sports drink. By the time I get to the range, it has thawed out enough for me to unscrew the cap and fill the bladder the rest of the way with water. This gives me the dilute sports drink that I like to drink all day during these conditions. I use dilute sports drink, because, as Dr. Brzowski pointed out in his article on preparing for a TMCO class, drinking too much sports drink can actually cause diarrhea. Worn on my back, the ice actively cools me as it melts. Every time it runs out of liquid, I fill it back up again. I’ve considered taking a bag of ice to the range, and adding ice to the bladder once the original clump of ice is gone, but I haven’t done that yet.

The other thing I do, is to wear a hat and a sniper veil around my neck, and to soak both in water whenever they dry out. The sniper veil is VERY effective at lowering the apparent temperature. I fold it into a triangle, then fold that over into a 3” wide package, and wear it around my neck. To soak them, I put the hat into a plastic bowl and the middle of the folded sniper veil into the hat, and then pour water into the bowl. This preserves water, and keeps water from dripping into my eyes and onto whatever I’m working with by putting the water only in the skull portion of the hat and the part of the sniper veil that goes on the back of my neck.

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Once installed on my neck, the (cold) water from the sniper veil immediately cools me down, and starts soaking into my (cotton) shirt. This gives me the appearance of having sweated a LOT, and has the same effect as sweat would: the evaporating water cools me down. However, my body did not have to produce this “sweat”, thus keeping more water and electrolytes inside my body, which is a good thing. I also tried a shemagh for this purpose, but found the sniper veil a lot more comfortable. This probably has to do with the more open structure of the sniper veil.

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This past weekend, I worked for two days as a safety officer at a match at my local range. We always have this match on the fourth weekend of August, so I have a good point of reference. My new system helped me stay more comfortable than ever before.

Feel free to share your heat-beating habits below.

[Texasproud]

Great information and it follows the KISS principle.

[Dr John Meade]

Excellent information, and well presented.

[bpatterson]

I've noticed that, beyond hydration and electrolytes and proper feeding intervals, physical conditioning and fitness level have the biggest impact on ability to perform in heat and humidity. Also, try to make your training sessions(runs, sprints, calystinics) take place in the heat of the day. Rip that shirt off,sweat it out, and get a tan! Winning. Texas gulf coast aint no place for softies. We got 'skeeters the size of most birds!

[taurus_dude]

+1 on the power of COLD hydration during the hot summer classes. As a long distance cyclist, having cold water/sports drink after the 2 hour mark really helps you perform better. On cycling centuries (100 miles), I've always done better when they have ice at the rest stops to add to my water bottles than when they have just moderately cool water. The cold water cools your core from within!!

How does this translate to an SI class in the heat? Simple, take a small "six pack" cooler to the firing line and keep your drink COLD and grab a drink at every break, lecture, or reload. Keep a bigger cooler full of ice and drink in your car to reload your small cooler at lunch. Don't expect one 16 oz bottle of water in your cargo pocket to keep you hydrated in the morning and afternoon sessions.

All of this of course in addition to the advice given above.

[blackballed]

I've noticed that, beyond hydration and electrolytes and proper feeding intervals, physical conditioning and fitness level have the biggest impact on ability to perform in heat and humidity. Also, try to make your training sessions(runs, sprints, calystinics) take place in the heat of the day. Rip that shirt off,sweat it out, and get a tan! Winning. Texas gulf coast aint no place for softies. We got 'skeeters the size of most birds!

Amen to that!!!

Never did like the cold bit though. When I am hot from working or being out in the sun, I don't like cold stuff to eat or drink, I prefer room temperature. The cold sort of sets off a "shock" kind of thing in me.

[William Carter]

That is really good stuff, and a serious topic that does not get much air time.

I read books or magazine articles by "survival experts" who say if they were picking a place to retreat to it would be in the deep south, because the winters are so brutal up north. I know winters are tough up north, but I wonder if those "experts" have ever spent a few days/nights in a Georgia swamp? I doubt it. It's not just the heat, but the humidity, and the damn bugs. Either extream, hot or cold can kill more easily than most people understand. Especially if you are not in your 20's and in great shape.

[Crossroad Mysterio]

I am always amazed by those who underestimate the humidity and heat of the south during the summer. There was a reason that Ft. Polk, LA was a required stop for a lot of soldiers before they went to Vietnam. I have lived in Louisiana most of my life. One thing that always helps me is to resist the urge of turning the A.C. up during the summer. I keep it around 80 as a standard. You get used to it and it really helps when you're out in the heat of the day. I always have to make a note to turn the air on when I have guests. They usually aren't acclimated to the heat.

[ZMB HNTR]

It's been our "monsoon season" here in Vegas and the humidity really does make a difference; people can sometimes snicker at the dry heat comments that we make but there is a world of difference between 110 and 110 and humid!

Props to those living in the south!

[WVShooter]

It doesn't have to be deep south either. Here in WV we have been having 90+ with high humidity and it will wear you out.
The LGR is on the north side of a fairly high hill so after about 3PM it is mostly in the shade, which helps.