# In a SHTF situation, in the heat of the summer, will you survive?



## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

I was up early today and put in a few hours in my home office starting at 5:30 am. The overnight temps were about 75 F. At around 11 am I was on the tractor and working, temps had climbed to near 90 F. By the time I finished we were close to 95 F with high 90% humidity. I was beat. 

I just walked outside to check the garage and lock everything down, it was still 85 F with the same 90+% humidity. I started to sweat just walking around my house and outbuildings. I got back inside where the temp was an airconditioned 76 and 50% humidity. My condensation line on my AC is pumping out 10 gallons a day easy. 

I don't know that most people would be able to adapt in a SHTF situation in hot humid climates. Just a thought...


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Oh, some of us would learn to adapt... and we can eat the ones that don't


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

I doubt they will Slippy. Isn't that why people used to get up with the sun? They could get the work done before the hottest part of the day. I spend most of my time out side in the shade. Sometimes I "accidentally" walk through the sprinklers a few times.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Hey Slippy, I send the 7% humidity we had today.. You can add it to yours and if someone will send a few more, you can make it rain. Was 114 F today with 7% humidity and 15-20 MPH breeze. Felt like standing in front of wife's hair dryer set on stun.


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## Spice (Dec 21, 2014)

They're not genetically different than the generation before, so sure, they'd adapt. It's the adaptation time that bites. There would be a lot of heat strokes among the unadapted and Whhoooo Buddy, So Much Crankiness!


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

I've spent enough time in dryer climates like Para Auntie and PaulS are in, and I envy it greatly. The humidity in the deep south is brutal.


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## Orang Pendek (Jun 19, 2015)

Air conditioning was not that common in the South until the late 70s. People considered it a waste of money. The schools were not air conditioned in the Orlando area until nearly 1980. But school was closed during the hottest months back then. The house my parents raised their family in was never air conditioned and there was only one fan in the house. Heat bothers me more than it did when I was young and thinner, but I can still do without air conditioning. Can most people who never lived without air conditioning in their life? Maybe not. After all, it was only after air conditioning became cheap that people wanted to move south when they retired, except for the snow birds.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I am a card carrying Wuss.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Yes, my schools in South Alabama were not fully AirConditioned in the 70's and into the early 1980's. There were some rooms that had window units but overall no AC. 
The biggest thing that me and Mrs Slippy remind ourselves is to slow down when working outdoors in the summer. Gone are the days that I speed work. Low gear, slow and that gets the job done. But I miss the days of high gear and fast! (Damn you old age, damn you!)


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Until I moved here three years ago I never had air conditioning.
On the other side you don't need high tech to get cooled off. All you need is a big radiator buried about ten feet under the surface and the air you get out of it will be between 50 and 60F - all year long. It's called a geo-sink and the American indians used it to stay cool in summer and warm up in winter. Not all of them but of few. You will need some way to move the air but it doesn't have to be a fan. You can use a sun tower that heats the air inside it and pulls the air (cool air) through your home. With a chimne below your home and one above it you can heat the air coming in to stay warm in the winter (as long as there is enough sun to move the air).


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## Orang Pendek (Jun 19, 2015)

I don't know. There are people who couldn't keep from freezing in Alaska in July. I remember an American soldier telling me about when he was in a South American jungle and having a hard time with the heat and humidity, huffing and puffing. The South American soldiers he was with were mocking him and having a jolly time. He asked them if they would like to spend the winter with him in Montana so he could teach them winter survival techniques. They didn't take him up on his offer and of course didn't get the point he was making either. They probably didn't even know how cold Montana can be.



paraquack said:


> I am a card carrying Wuss.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

High humidity sucks, trust me 

There are other methods of remaining confortable...
One of them is minimizing physical work between 10:00am and 4:00pm 
Make use of what nature has given you (only need to go a few feet underground to feel cooler effects, using basic ventilation, a poor mans air con

Look into wind currents and direction, this can make things slightly more bearable....

But my number 1 advice, get your roof painted in a light colour... (silver or white are the best) it will reduce the suna factor in slippy lodge...


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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

Despite my mass of hair covering my body I thrive in the heat. Although you do have to know your limits and take the precautions of getting sick from it. The humidity does put quite a zap into anyone working in it and so does the dry heat of the desert. My achilles heal, as it were, would be the cold. I hate the cold. I don't mind visiting the snow for a day or two but to have to live and work in it is not my cup of tea.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

pheniox17 said:


> High humidity sucks, trust me
> 
> There are other methods of remaining confortable...
> One of them is minimizing physical work between 10:00am and 4:00pm
> ...


Yes indeed my good friend pheniox17. You are in one of the hottest environments on the planet!... Your knowledge is heeded sir.

I designed Slippy Lodge (with the help of an architect) in the southern US vernacular architecture like they did generations ago...that if AC no longer existed we would have a chance. High ceilings, East West sides of the home with small or no windows, deep porches and screened areas that take advantage of the prevailing breezes. Our roof is a galvanized metal roof (light silverish in color). In the style that the old timers used to call "Dog Trot". The main room of the house can take a breeze and it will pass through the entire house.


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

As a northerner, I lived on the Outer Banks one summer. Roanoke Island. No ac, More mosquitoes and biting flies other than the mainland. The 4th of July was 104 F and close to a 100% humidity. No breeze because I am between the outer Islands and the main land. I adapted and got by. So would most anyone if you had too.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Many won't survive. It's a fact of life. However, quite a few will. Unless you're new to your area, you will probably be fine if you're in good health.

Just today, it was 96 degrees, with a 104 heat index. Yes, in the shade, it felt like 104 degrees. God Bless Texas.
You learn to avoid the heat of the day. You learn to stay hydrated.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Some people learn to move north in the summer! They also know to move south in the winter. A never ending migration, following the little snow birds oh! uhm, sh!t I meant following the herds of game. I get so easily sidetrac

Look a squirrel!


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

View attachment 11681

Did someone say "squirrel"? So many so few recipes...



PaulS said:


> I get so easily sidetrac
> 
> Look a squirrel!


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

I know I'd survive the heat but I sure wouldn't be very productive or happy. I'd see hot sweaty noon naps as part my routine,' kind of like my mutts who lay out on the cooler floor every summer afternoon.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

We were 111 today. That's in the shade. I've wondered the same thing. You gotta work/travel at night, rest during the day, keep skin protected with light weight loose clothing, and stay hydrated. Use evaporative cooling (if you have dry heat) with wet burlap bags hung in prevailing breeze, or use spray bottles of water, especially for babies and elderly. Although it would be best to stay in the house, if one HAD to leave, then dig a pit house like the native people did. 4 feet down and it is going to be a lot cooler. They would place poles in the pit and then build a shade structure over the top.

PS: I actually cracked an egg of the hot asphalt. the edges started to turn white (cooking!) but then ended up dehydrating before getting fully cooked.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Wonderful! you have a free dehydrator big enough to dry darn near anything. I have a sudden urge for elephant jerky.... I know there is one hiding in the fridge - I saw his tracks in the Jello...


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## Boss Dog (Feb 8, 2013)

There is a reason they call it "the slow life" in the south. :icon_smile:

Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.
William Shakespeare

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: ...


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

ice  ice ice ice  ice


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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

Medic33 said:


> ice  ice ice ice  ice


Baby?


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

I see the hot humid days being a very big issue for the elderly, the very young and those with breathing issues like asthma. Cool dry air is so much easier on the respiratory system. No relief from those symptoms certainly would result in medical emergencies and some easily avoided deaths had relief been available.


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## darsk20 (Jun 1, 2015)

Grew up in Chattanooga and lived, played and worked outside most of my life and I have found that so long as you are outside doing during the seasons your body will adapt. Yes it will affect the young and the elderly but they have a better chance of survival in the heat and humidity of summers than the dead cold of winter, which is why there are more weather related deaths in winter. 

I have only had an issue with the heat since I started working 99% indoors. I don't adapt as quick now but I still prefer it to cold.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

I feel your pain Slippy, I am in Corpus Christ and Victoria area for the week and what comes along? A tropical storm. Geez...nothing but rain and wind...Then the heat when the sun comes back out. It was in the mid 90's yesterday and the humidity is off the charts. You know how everything is just soaked and water everywhere after a storm. It's down right oppressive. The mosquitos will be insane.


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## Tennessee (Feb 1, 2014)

Have lived in the south and south west most of my live. I lived in Phoenix when it was so hot the planes could not take off at PHX. I've seen it 100 degrees and 100 percent humidity here in Tennessee. So I think I have experience heat. I think that most folks will survive but a lot will die. Folks have forgotten how easy it is to get heat stroke and how to take care of themselves when it’s hot. It’s real easy to get heat stroke if you not monitoring you condition and water intake. I have a few times pushed myself working in the yard and not realize it. So I can see someone in an emergency situation pushing themselves past their limits and get into a lift threating situation.


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

I work in it so I'm fine. It's generally 10 to 15 degrees hotter in the factory than the outside temps. So 100 outside can mean 115. We get used to over summer and the shifts run from 7 to 7 so you ease into it as the day goes by. As long as you stay hydrated and slow down a little you will be fine. By the middle of summer I'm so used to the heat that I have to wear a jacket in the house or I get cold. And that's with the ac turned up to 75. You will get used to the more exposure you get your body will adapt. I worry most about the old folks. Every year some die out here because they can't afford ac. The churches drive around to the poor folks houses and give them free box fans to help.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

Some side notes to others....

Consider researching Queenslander homes (absolutely useless in snow affected areas) 

Look out for signs of heat stroke and treatment.... Very important.... It will kill a healthy 18 year old just as easy as a 80 year old...

Other ways, as ark pointed out, get acclimatised to the conditions... But that takes years and a long process

Humidity.... Unfortunately anything over 60% your sweat doesn't evaporate.. So your body doesn't cool.. (on a plus fire danger drops dramatically) only way is to use fluid to cool yourself, low on fluids, a hat, or keep splashing the back of your neck... It tricks the body

Good luck, and good on my old mate slip for seeing this as a major hole in alot of preps, just also remember high humidity areas also have a mosquito issue, worth having something in place to help prevent those little bastards (most areas have mosquito control measures.... Ie. Poison... Those control measures are gone in any scale shtf event... From local to global... Worth keeping that firmly in mind....


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

We all must have forgotten how food was stored in the years before refrigeration. Most people had a root cellar or basement that was cooler for storage. I know my basement is much cooler then the outside air temp. Even on the hottest day it's like having the AC on. Wonder if this was how our grandparents somehow survived??


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## alexus (May 31, 2015)

Where I am it isn't the summer heat that's the issue, but winter's cold. I have no air-conditioning and we haven't put the window units in for two years. I couldn't imagine not having a way to heat the house in winter though. That said, I have been in the southern states and I vote for the cold winters over hot humid summers. The mosquitoes would eat me alive.


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## Ralph Rotten (Jun 25, 2014)

I'm good with the heat. In fact Tucson is only the 3rd hottest place I've ever lived. Yuma is waaay hot, but Hermosillo is even hotter...like hell hot, like my landlord's name was Luis Cipher, that kinda hot. Tucson is actually a garden spot by my standards.


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## triem (Jun 18, 2015)

you can move twice a year, too. In many areas, with mountains, you don't have to move further than is feasible with an inflatable raft one way and a moutainbike the other (ie, a very few hundred miles, at most). What works pretty well is a solar setup for powering a fan, wrap up in a wet sheet. the evaporation and moving air cool you. Do your work at night.


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## MisterMills357 (Apr 15, 2015)

No, I don't think that I would survive. Maybe I am being morbid, but I have real doubts about living through some things.
High heat and humidity are near-death experiences with me already. I mean it, I suffer in those conditions, a lot more than I used to.
I am almost 60, and on BP meds. I never did do well in 90 degree heat, and 90% humidity. Now, I just wilt, it is like an oven.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

American soldiers and Marines endured the tropical Philippines in the early 1900's. The hellish equatorial islands of the South Pacific in WWII. Vietnam. Iraq.

I did too, but the one BIG difference is I was 21 years old at the time, I am almost 67 now. Up until maybe 5 years ago I could still work outside at 100+.
NO MORE.
Right now, 4:10 PM on Saturday, June 20th, from my recliner I can see the read out for my remote temperature sensor out in the shade of the front porch, and it is 102.9 degrees with 16% humidity.
This time next month the temp will be at or above that, but the humidity will be 80% or more. 
I made it this far in life, I'm not going to let myself die from the heat now, not if I can get inside.
If caught outside, I will seek shade and any water beyond what is needed to drink will be devoted to keeping myself wet.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

short answer= yes 
long answer= I have a pond and not afraid to use it.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

people have asked me why I retired here .
I tell them because I like the seasons all I have to do is wait and the season will change.


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## SDF880 (Mar 28, 2013)

I'm bugging in and it's cool on the lowest floor of our house so I guess I'll stay there. I used to thrive in the heat and
hated cold but now I'm the other way around and can't figure that out? BP meds? Cold just no longer bothers me at all
and I drive my wife crazy in the winter as I turn off the heat on the bottom floor and aim it upstairs. The temp usually stays 62-65
downstairs in the winter and I like it! Answering the question - Yes, I'll survive!


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## CourtSwagger (Jan 3, 2013)

I know heat can kill you. I was born and raised in MS. Stupid hot with ridiculous humidity. The kind of heat/humidity that makes you feel like you are wrapped in a wet blanket that just came out of the dryer. If you can get to the shade and drink plenty of water, you should be fine. Avoid strenuous activity during the hottest part of the day. I can deal with heat. 

Cold is what worries me. I have always said that heat is uncomfortable, but the cold HURTS. Being in the cold with no heat, to me, is a much more dangerous situation. I can make a fire in most conditions, using various methods. Even with those skills, I still worry about surviving in a truly cold environment.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

more people die from heat than cold -with heat you get bugs and lots of them tics, mosquitos ect. 
in winter when it's 20 or -20 you only have 2 things to worry about staying warm and finding food.


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## CourtSwagger (Jan 3, 2013)

Medic33 said:


> more people die from heat than cold -with heat you get bugs and lots of them tics, mosquitos ect.
> in winter when it's 20 or -20 you only have 2 things to worry about staying warm and finding food.


Those 2 things are pretty major. Staying warm and finding food are two giant tasks that can't be completed together. You'll have to get cold when finding food, and then you can't find food if you are holed up somewhere next to a fire. It is certainly survivable, but if I had to choose, put me somewhere hot.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

you would be surprised just how sweaty you can get at -20 when looking for fod.
but the cold is not for everyone -just like heat is not for me can I survive yes ,but I f I have a choice I would take cold.


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

Do evaporative cooling vests work? I'd buy one but I think they make you look like you're wearing body armor.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Having spent time in Hot places and time in very cold places I have not figured out 100% witch is worst to roast to death or freeze. I lean towards roast.
When it get hot and you near the end you go to sleep and die. When it is cold you suffer as each extremity shuts down as blood flow is restricted to conserve body heat.
You shiver but never get to sleep and die you just suffer until you do.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Smitty,
Dying from extreme cold is not a bad way to go at all. After the blood recedes from your extremities you start to feel warm. Some people feel so warm they remove their clothes and lie down to go to sleep. All in all, a very peaceful way to go.

The worst way to go that I have ever thought about is being tied securely to a tree (in the woods) and then gut shot with a 22. I understand that after a short time it starts to ache like a broken bone and it just gets worse until you can smell the infection. So can the scavengers and they start showing up long before you are dead. The worst is a black bear because they don't wait for you to die. They let you watch while they dine on your insides. I think that is a bad way to go.


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## CourtSwagger (Jan 3, 2013)

Geez, Paul! Thanks for sharing. That has now become my definition of a bad day.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Yah! it could mess up your whole weekend!


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

Slippy, I dread the summer, each and every year.

Being a second-shifter, the airfield is already scorching by the time I get there. The asphalt isn't the only thing that is smoking. I disconnected an electrical connector the other day without taking the time to put on my gloves and got a nifty blister on my thumb for it. The connector was similar to the one I embedded there, but not corroded like that one.
I impatiently wait for the sun to go down so my lily-white butt isn't baking, anymore, but the humidity increases and the mosquitoes come out to feast on the weary people who are too drained to swat them away. 
Why, just the other day, I saw three of the Alabama state birds carrying off a mechanic who was just too tired to put up a fight. The poor mechanic was fired by the company, as they say he left without informing his supervisor or properly clocking out. You know how those HR people can be.

Light meals and plenty of water. That's how I survive. That and a good mental attitude. Complaining about the miserable conditions only makes me feel worse, and I met get carried off by a pack of marauding mosquitoes if I allow a crappy attitude drain my energy.


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## James m (Mar 11, 2014)

People existed before air conditioning. It's just an inconvenience. God didn't create AC on the 7th day.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Summer in Georgia in summer 90+ degrees and 90%+ humidity . And the dam road march is still on. Very drop of sweet stays right where it is nothing evaporates. Every bit of dust sticks to you every bug in the state seeks you out. Compared to Georgia 130 plus in Iraq is a good day. At least at 20% or less humidity you can get cooled down.
There are things you never forget.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

SDF880 said:


> I'm bugging in and it's cool on the lowest floor of our house so I guess I'll stay there. I used to thrive in the heat and
> hated cold but now I'm the other way around and can't figure that out? BP meds? Cold just no longer bothers me at all
> and I drive my wife crazy in the winter as I turn off the heat on the bottom floor and aim it upstairs. The temp usually stays 62-65
> downstairs in the winter and I like it! Answering the question - Yes, I'll survive!


Very interesting, me too. In the past few years, cold is not a problem. Heat used to be my best weather, I could and did work outside in the hottest of temps. I thought the older we got, the more we hated the cold. Its turning out the heat is my enemy.


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## James m (Mar 11, 2014)

Maybe circulation of blood. I hate cold and hot. I go without AC I only have fans. I'm roughing it out here.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

well slippy I think (and someone will correct me I'm sure of it) that we fryed ourselves when we were younger in the heat and deep down internally our brain is saying no man not again and starts the defensive I'm a retard operation.


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

paraquack said:


> Hey Slippy, I send the 7% humidity we had today.. You can add it to yours and if someone will send a few more, you can make it rain. Was 114 F today with 7% humidity and 15-20 MPH breeze. Felt like standing in front of wife's hair dryer set on stun.


^^^ THIS!!! ^^^

I'm good to tough out a lot of things but in 115° weather with full sun all frickin day, it will be hard. Not to mention that the assault starts at 5:00 AM and even though the sun drops at about 8:00 PM, we still have 100+ all the way up to 11:00 PM. If it cools down from there it only gets to about 95° before we kick this pig and start it all over again.

Can I stick that out? Yes. But will make the other tactical things associated with "prepping" like maintaining watch and being vigilant almost impossible.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

But at least we have dry heat! We only got to 108 today. You had it bad up there, GT.


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## Hawaii Volcano Squad (Sep 25, 2013)

I will defend my air conditioner to the last man!


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

we are warm blooded mammals
think on this


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## Jakthesoldier (Feb 1, 2015)

Now do all that double time with body armor.
But seriously, it's amazing what the body can adapt to when it is regularly deprived of it. Sleep, oxygen, water, food can all be restricted and the body can still function once it gets used to it.
Training the body is tedious and takes a long time, and can be dangerous, but knowing your limits is useful.


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

RNprepper said:


> But at least we have dry heat! We only got to 108 today. You had it bad up there, GT.


Hotter than a snakes ass in a wagon rut!


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

RNprepper said:


> But at least we have dry heat! We only got to 108 today. You had it bad up there, GT.


My first duty station was in the Sierra highlands. I drank a lot of fluids, alright, but water wasn't on the list. Diuretic was not a word that I knew. Took a couple trips to the infirmary with dehydration before I grasped the concept of dry heat. Water, water and more water.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Middle east it is true that at 1000 it would be 130 degrees. 140 not uncommon and they said it hit 150. Yes that was HOT but if you drank water you could function well. The 20% and below Humidity allowed sweat to evaporate and cool you down. Some may find this nuts but I could deal with that much easier than a summer day in Georgia


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## Orang Pendek (Jun 19, 2015)

I don't think soldiers could wear all that armor in a jungle war. It would kill them. I don't think soldiers could wear all that armor in the South in summer either. One reason I don't use vests for load bearing is they prevent ventilation and build up too much heat. I want my body to be as open to the air as possible. A load bearing harness allows more ventilation than a vest.



Smitty901 said:


> Middle east it is true that at 1000 it would be 130 degrees. 140 not uncommon and they said it hit 150. Yes that was HOT but if you drank water you could function well. The 20% and below Humidity allowed sweat to evaporate and cool you down. Some may find this nuts but I could deal with that much easier than a summer day in Georgia


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

We darn sure wore our gear. We dropped a lot of it in the FOB but when outside of it wore it. Hot beats dead every time.


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## Orang Pendek (Jun 19, 2015)

There were units in Vietnam that suffered more casualties from heat than from enemy action. I was referring to jungle warfare and the humid South, anyway. I think heat casualties would be much higher in humid regions. Small units like the Lurps didn't even wear helmets.



Smitty901 said:


> We darn sure wore our gear. We dropped a lot of it in the FOB but when outside of it wore it. Hot beats dead every time.


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## OctopusPrime (Dec 2, 2014)

I think id do ok in the heat. Lived in Texas most my life. in college I lived in run down apartments where the AC would break on the regular. one particularly awful day it broke and got to 97 degrees inside my apartment. I opened up all the windows turned on my ceiling fans and my ground fans...sat down on my beat up leather recliner and ate popsicles and watched the idiot box. at one point I got up for another popsicle and my back literally peeled off the leather...that was a sweaty day in Houston.


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## OctopusPrime (Dec 2, 2014)

I get a current going through my place with help from fans...in shtf I wont have fans most likely so maybe the answer is to go to one of the lakes near by and sit under a tree and every now and then jump into the freezing glacier water for a refresh.


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