Hi
After watching LeMans Classic on YouTube it looked like it would before yo go to except that it was 90F and humid ,
So what do you do to make it bearable ?
I normally wear a loose fitting cotton buttoned shirt and light cotton work pants , plus a big hat ,
But I see all these high tech materials used in the cloth for shirts made for runners , golfers etc
Am I missing something ......
And years ago there were hats with a small solar powered fan , maybe they are still around but I have not seen one for years.....
It was over 110F in Los Angeles are yesterday and not much lower today !
I usually wear loose fitting vented fishing shirts, shorts and a large hat. I also carry a sweat rag. If it's really miserable, I'll carry a umbrella.
If I'm staying in one place and close to my vehicle, I built a misting fan that I will run under my popup tent. It makes things much more bearable.
Moisture wicking clothing can help a lot by allowing your sweat to evaporate more efficiently. These work best when they fit close to your skin, but they don't need to be spandex tight either. It goes without saying that you will need to be extra vigilant about staying hydrated. A wide brimmed (autox style) hat will help keep the sun off your ears and neck, and these can be found in lightweight moisture wicking fabrics as well.
Evaporative cooling works for me. I poured water on my shirt during the last autocross.
Vented fishing shirt, big hat, shorts, don't forget the sunscreen (I have skin cancer surgery in three days).
I've always just worn 100% cotton T-shirts on hot days, preferably in white or other light colors. I pair those with my usual cargo shorts and a wide-brimmed hat. If I know I'm going to be out and about and away from water, I fill my Camelbak and wear that. That's how I survived 4 hours in 90-degree heat in the aluminum grandstands at Indy a couple of years ago.
If there's a higher-tech solution than the cotton shirts, I'm willing to try it, though.
In Palm Springs and really hot and dry cities they have "misters" on the main streets in downtown tourist areas ,
Home Depot has them to string around your porch ,
There probably is a simple way to pressurize a water tank to power them and keep at least one Ez-Up cooler
Cooling towels....and a nice vat of ice water. Next week while working Rally Cross, I'll have the whole cooling baklava in effect to keep the head cold and dust out of the lungs.
I just did a 3 day ground fighting course in 105 degree heat index last weekend. No shade but some EZ ups. The most important thing is to stay hydrated so you can sweat and stay safe. After that light colors, breathable synthetics really help. I wore wicking sleeveless T under shirt and T shirt cover garment as I normally wear when carrying concealed. I unfortunately wore jeans to match my regular clothing for realism but suffered because of it. Looser lightweight pants or shorts would have been much nicer. Several guys got sunburned even with sunscreen mainly due to sweating it off and hand to wrist or arm grabs rubbing it off. In those cases pants and long sleeve shirts can work better than sunscreen. I always wear a full brim "boonie" style hat when in the sun. Frogg Toggs brand IIRC.
If you have the ability to plan for it using a large water bladder and almost freezing the water before the day begins helps keep a cool surface against your core for awhile and provides a cool drink while it lasts. Cool drinks and cool compresses around the neck and under the arm pits help. A cooler with dry ice or regular ice work but are not light or fun to carry. Emergency ice packs are fairly light and compact and not that expensive if you want a way to cool off on a real scorcher or in case of heat injury.
My wife got me a cooling towel which does work decently but I prefer a regular hand sized terrycloth towel for wiping sweat away and soaking with water ( or cooler melted ice water) and draping around my neck or under my hat and down the back of my neck. This cools and keeps the sun off.
I forgot to add that the Duluth Trading coolmax shirts work really well. The waffle style knit seems to allow for better airflow instead of sticking to your sweaty skin. I haven't tried their crystal embeded version yet.
Skip the underwear. Light weight cargo shorts. As opposed as some of you may be to going commando, I think wearing double layers in the warmest area of the body is crazy.
If you're bringing a cooler, freeze bottled water and use them instead of ice packs. Once they melt you can drink them, unlike ice packs
Stay out of the air conditioning. Revel in the heat. Sweat. Drink all the water that you don't pour on yourself. Shady hat.
Heat, up to a certain point, is a state of mind. As long as you stay hydrated and don't turn bright red, it is all good.
Drive a car with the windows up in those same conditions. Then when you get out you feel cool as a cucumber.
In addition to the wide brimmed hat I also take a few washcloths and keep them in the bottom of my cooler, then put them on top of my head under my hat. Swap them when they get warm. You can wrap some ice up in them for additional cooling.
had a 95 or 98* autocross the other weekend.
- HYDRATE
- Shade
- Big Hat
- HYDRATE
- Small cooler filled with Ice, then water, and put (new and clean commercially available) white shop towels/rags in there. When you get hot, pull one out and wipe down with it. Then just drape on the back of your neck. Put used back in, take a fresh out and just keep rotating. This was a lifesaver.
- We ran fans off of our generators at timing and grill to help keep cool.
- HYDRATE - seriously, if you are drinking anything other than water, put it down and go get water.
- Did you know that the leading cause of KIDNEY STONES is dehydration?
- Kidney stones SUCK, my mother in law says worse than childbirth
- If your pee isnt clear, HYDRATE MORE
- Beer is not the solution to this problem
- Have been enjoying running my mustang more than my miata lately because it has air conditioning.
- Did you know that SN95 Mustangs have an air conditioning vent perfectly positioned to blow right up your shorts?
- TMI, but that its really freekin AWESOME on a hot day
- Might almost be too much for Mr Commando up there
- yay lists
(this string brought to you by sleep deprivation)
Toyman01 said:
I usually wear loose fitting vented fishing shirts, shorts and a large hat. I also carry a sweat rag. If it's really miserable, I'll carry a umbrella.
If I'm staying in one place and close to my vehicle, I built a misting fan that I will run under my popup tent. It makes things much more bearable.
Really curious about your misting fan under your canopy. Post some pics and details
Ovid_and_Flem said:
Toyman01 said:
I usually wear loose fitting vented fishing shirts, shorts and a large hat. I also carry a sweat rag. If it's really miserable, I'll carry a umbrella.
If I'm staying in one place and close to my vehicle, I built a misting fan that I will run under my popup tent. It makes things much more bearable.
Really curious about your misting fan under your canopy. Post some pics and details
I'm curious about that too. In addition, is that a pop up tent like a backpacking tent, or a canopy/open shade type?
I'm thinking of getting the former to keep my stuff out of the sun and rain.
In reply to Floating Doc :
Over the years in Motorsport participation I've used the old 10 x 20 canopies with a silver tarp, the 10 x 10 EZ Up when they finally fell below $200, and now I find since I'm not as active in Motorsports just the inexpensive, lightweight 10 by 10 $40 knock-offs are fine for just personal shade. And if they fall apart after a year of use so be it.
I really want to hear about the misting fan and canopies. And out of curiosity how large a solar panel would you need to generate enough electricity to power a small fan?
In reply to Floating Doc :
The canopy is a EZ up. The misting fan is a standard fan with a Lowes misting hose zip tied to it. The pump is a RV pump run off of a 6 gallon jug. It will run about 8 hours on 6 gallons. The pump has an accumulator made out of 2" PVC to keep it from short cycling and it is all mounted in a tool box. I'll try to remember to shoot some pictures when I get home today.
You can buy a misting kit for a fan from amazon for about $15. Use a small enough fan and you can run it off of an inverter. I usually carry a inverter generator if it's going to be super hot. It makes autocrosses and rallycrosses bearable.
Thanks for the reply. I've seen a few of the type of pop up 10 by 10s that you're talking about. I was actually thinking more along the lines of a little backpacking tent, the ones that you would want to sleep in.
It wouldn't be for shade, obviously. Instead, I was thinking of it as a place to keep my tools and the contents of my trunk, etc. out of the sun and rain.
We get powerful thunderstorms on just about a daily basis here in the summertime. I've used a tarp, but I haven't been very successful at keeping my stuff dry.
If you're a driver on a 110 degree day, a cool shirt system is a life saver. In the pits, before or after a stint, I use an A/C powered "cold therapy" device that has the same dry-break fittings as my F.A.S.T. shirt so I can stay chilled with my gear on. I think it was like $20 on eBay.
Something like this.
In reply to Floating Doc :
Stick your stuff in a garbage bag and tie it shut. It can sit in a parking lot for hours in a downpour and stay surprisingly dry. Get the HD contractor bags.
Grab 4-6 small hand towels, toss them in cooler with the ice, water, food, etc.
Pull out as the day warms up and some of the ice has melted, pull out the towel and wrap around your neck.
Rinse and repeat as the towel dries out.
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