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How do you stay cool ?


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With the summer heat upon us, how can you tell when you are getting too much heat and into trouble ? How do you stay cool ?

Wearing sunglasses and hanging out with the dog, cause he knows all the "cool spots", is not the advice I am looking for here. :wink:

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I posted this on Forgemagic about the effects...

<> Heat stroke really can leave long-lasting effects. A long time buddy of mine was always able to take hot temps - just like most of the rest of us who grew up in Central Texas. One summer about 4 years ago, he did a general contracting job at an airport and was on the tarmac every day for a couple of months during the hottest time of the year. Even though he was drinking fluids, the heat cooked him to the point that he was sick for a month after the job completed. Now, he cannot take much heat and has trouble sweating. We and the docs think his perspiration capabilities were damaged so he overheats easier. He is still a general contractor but has to keep near A/C and lots of fluids. My grandfather worked hard his whole life and developed the same symptoms in his old age but I think his were accumulated from years of living in the heat rather than a single event.

I bale hay all the time for myself and my neighbors. I usually wear a big floppy hat and keep it wet. Last year, I got very hot one afternoon in similar circumstances to you, Chuck. I was dizzy and barely made it home on the tractor. I jumped in the shower to cool off but I was a weak puppy for the rest of the day. There are days where I drink a gallon or more of tea or water and don't pee until late at night - it's all going out the pores. This week, it's been 95 and 70% humidity here but it's worse in Laredo and down south.

You HAVE to stay hydrated - if you stop sweating, it's too late and you are not far from a fatal or debilitating heat stroke. You will start to feel light headed and giddy and then - THUD. Don't take chances... <>

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I primarily drink ice tea and have done so my entire life. Gatorade will allow me to work a couple more hours but the difference is neglible and I don't like the taste. Plain water is perfectly fine but I'm conditioned to a little sugar. Real limeade made fresh over ice is outstanding - it's like the Lord knew that wherever limes grew, people would need a refreshing drink. Buy a sack of key limes and mash about 10 in a pitcher of ice water with a tablespoon of sugar - it's a real pick-me-up.

I like a cold beer after hauling hay or tractor work but I absolutely do not drink alcohol while I work - it will dehydrate your body. I also think the most important things in the heat are some shade and a little breeze. I have big windows on my shop, which are set low so I have to squat a little to see out but they let air flow thru.

Some of the worst shops I've been in were in wooded areas where no air circulation was possible. I went to a competition in Woodville one August when I was in my 20's. Was a timed event to make something out of railroad spikes and I dang near killed myself over a fire. No breeze, under a tent, high 90's, high humidity - bad combination.

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I got too hot 3 times 2 years ago to the point of quitting sweating twice. I still sweat freely all the time like I have all my life, but I am unable to take a lot of heat now. When in the shop I use a fan at my back unless Mig welding to keep me cool and also to blow the fumes away from me. I grew up amongst the older generation and have followed their recipe for getting too hot. Never drink anything real cold after getting too hot, it is to much of a shock to your system, just tap water or preferably something hot, like a cup of coffee or Hot tea, then something cooler after a bit. This has a tendency to normalize your body without the initial shock of something real cold.

When working at the forge a hand towel or a large handkerchief rolled up, soaked in water and wrung mostly out and placed around your neck will amazingly keep your head cool by evaporation and normally if your head is cool the rest of you will be to a certain extent. Also dipping your arms in cool water past the elbows and letting it evaporate off will do a good job too.


My 2 cents worth and I am sticking to it.

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Good comment about the older generation. My family was made up of farmers and ranchers - one thing I remember them saying was to pour cool water on your wrists and neck before drinking anything. They also thought that cold shock was bad and the blood was best cooled by putting water on the areas where the veins were closest to the surface. Always made sense to me and I still do it.

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I sometimes put a small electric fan in the shop and point it at me. Here in Saskatchewan, it does get quite hot - high 30's to the mid 40's (Celcius). Another idea is to have a kercheff soaked in water to wrap around your neck; use two and one can cool off in a small pail of water while you cycle them from time to time.
That works for me.

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We pretty well all agree that it is critical to drink plenty of liquids (preferably water). The key to this is to remember to keep the body hydrated more or less evenly. To do this, you must drink fluids regularly, not just when your body heat/thirst tell you to drink. The rule is, if you get "dry and thirsty" you may have waited too late and your body has already started to dehydrate.

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I live in a rather warm part of the country, In my past life I fought fires for aliving, Including one fine June day that the temp outside was 123f, and we were inside a burning house with full protective gear on. So with that back ground let me give my survival tips. First,,read all the above posts as each of them work for those the shared them. Think in terms of avoiding problems and -prevention. I always downed a couple of glasses of a sports drink before I put my gear on the truck for start of shift. Prehydrate, If you start off short it will not get any better. Sports drinks mostly have alot of sugar in them ,,try mixing one third sports drink and two thirds water. Cool but not icey drinks go down better for me. Clothing. Cotton works well for a couple of reasons,,I will smolder and not melt to you if you get a spark or scale on it. and it holds moisture to help cool you. Early post mentioned a wet hat.. a vital key to cooling is your head, Like a radiator. Keep it wet and you will reduce your core temp. I will post agin for more.

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Your core temp,,,the temperature inside the large part of your body is what you are trying to maintain. Your body will give you clues as to what is going on inside. Irn mentioned that he stopped sweating. And he recognized that as a big red flag and dealt with it. Other symptoms that you may feel are a little weakness, that may lead to stomach ache. These are also big red flags and must be dealt with. They are your bodies way of telling you that you are indeed heading for trouble. . To maintain that temp and keep hydrated, fluids and slowing your pace, limiting your exposure and Cutting your work load may all help. Keeping your head wet, and as mentioned a fan to keep the water that is on your outside evaporating and aiding the cooling are keys. Humidity is not your friend when trying to keep cool,, If you feel week you should stop immediately if you feel it is from heat and rest, even a water hose over your head helps.
More to come

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Let someone else know you are getting too hot. The downward spiral of heat troubles can be faster than you expected. In spite of how bad you want to finish what you were working on you may have to rest a bit. If light headed shade a fan water inside and out and your feet up while you lie down will feel good. Later signs like lack of urine or darker than normal urine is your bodies way of saying stop and recover.. It will not take any more until your recover, A rapid pulse is a sure sign that your body is trying to help . Learn to take your own pulse and see what it runs. most folks run 80 or less when at rest or light work, depending on your own, Stressed it gets higher and in trouble may even go higher. take your when you have stopped working on a normal day. then you can recognize what is too high for you. Some folks do not tolerate lots of fluids,,,speak with your Doc ahead of time. Hope I have not bored you. But I did drink some water while I wrote this.....

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Rich Hale has some pretty good comments in his post and I agree wholeheartedly with him. Like Rich I was a firefighter for 23 years, Rich was a Full Time Fireman I believe, while I was a Volunteer.

Fire fighting places you in one of the most Hostile Environments there is, next to working in a Steel Plant. The Protective Gear you wear protects you from the heat, but also contains your own body heat and doesn't let your body cool itself. Firefighting can really get your adrenaline flowing and get you on a high to the point that you really don't pay attention to what your body is telling you and this can get you into trouble.

Blacksmithing can affect you in the same way in that you get engrossed in what you are doing and don't pay attention to the WARNING SIGNS your body is sending out.

I was a chief for 11 of my 23 years as a firefighter and I had to not only watch my own bodies warning signs, but I had to be aware of the men under my command. Most of them were young and vigourous fellas and had not yet learned the effects of heat on them. I initiated a safety man on our dept that kept track of how many bottles (air tanks) each man used at a major fire. and limited them to 2 30 minute bottles which only actually last a little over 10 minutes in an interior attack. They were required to strip off their bunker gear and rest for at least 30 minutes and consume at least 1 bottle of Gatorade and 1 cup of water in that time besides setting in front of a fan set up at the edge of the fire ground to help them cool down. I am proud of the fact that I never lost a man or had one overcome by heat exhaustion on my watch.

Remember the younger you are the more vitality you have and are thus have more of a chance of putting yourself at risk of getting too hot.

For those of you who are uninformed, temperatures inside a burning structure can reach the 2000 degree range at the ceiling. There are telltale signs of the inside temp that can be observed from the outside to the trained eye. Glass Windows crack at 675

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I appreciated the previous posts on this subject and the experience represented in them.

I have never been a firefighter but I have worked in nuclear power plants where in the reactor bldg you are going in many times without the normal cooling systems. Plus you will have protective clothing and possibly raingear and supplied air masks. Added to that most of it is claustrophobic in the lack of space. The best protection is a healthy body. Next you have to pace yourself so that you can avoid the overheating. Of course firefighters have much more urgency in their situations, but in non-emergency work you can have more time to pay attention to you body signals of overheating.

I don't know if this is medically sound but if I feel that I'm approaching the danger point I will run cold water on my hands and wrists, then on my cheeks and forehead for a quick cool-down that has never given me any complications. If you are in bad health this may not be appropriate.

Anvillain

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cotton clothing is great
I think you are a lot better off if you go ahead and sweat as wet cotton clothing will help keep you cool / a lot of people try everything that they can think of to keep from sweating when they would be cooler if they sweated untill they were soaking wet.
Loggers around here wear long sleeve denim shirts and when you see one they are wringing wet in temps like 97 degrees with 95 % humitity and dont seem to show any ill effects.
personally I drink a whole lot of water / it just happens to have caffein , cream and sugar in it. Since I was about 20 years old I have consumed approx 20 to 30 cups of coffee a day and very rarely drink anything cold.
I seem to take the heat better than most, whether this has anything to do with it I dont know.
I have box fans in my shop that are thermally protected at 110 degrees and some days they just cut off unless I have another fan to blow on them to keep them under 110.
I think Ill have a cup of coffee and think about this some more

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Good info here folks, thanks. I learned at a young age the meaning of hydration. Just waddn't spelled that way or called by that name. One of the old idiots tales goes like this " The sorriest one in the bunch is the first one to the water jug. " I know myself pretty well now. As a young man I didn't. These things take time to learn. The movies will do bad things by showing proper ways of re-hydration. Most of us are close to water source. Water shouldn't be treated like it is a precious commodity and when you run out, that's it. No more. This may sound a bit resentful. My Dad never treated me in this fashion but some others did. Like you're a whiner if you want more water. The human race is a strange lot sometimes, in that some will think that their way is the only way. Does this mean that I ignore sound advice from informed people ? Of course not. Even health care professionals will ridicule you if you don't take their utmost absolute advice. Re-hydration is an extremely important thing. I personally drink a lot of coffee and keep a few things to snack on (cheese crackers and/or jerkey work well). Sports drinks were initially designed for the purpose of re-hydration. they (for the most part) make me feel bad, have a nasty taste in my mouth and sometimes sick. Tepid water to rinse my mouth is normally the thing that works for me. Salt intake (with some carbs) helps me. Cold juice (Cran raspberry/Cran grape) works well for me (in moderation). Sticking my complete arm in the slack tub will cool that extremity followed by the other arm. Cold wet rags on my neck cool me. The pump distributes the contents through the reservoir. The reservoir in turn returns contents to the pump. System temp is important and should be regulated. Your body is an incredibly well designed machine and as mentioned it will talk to you. Rich mentioned pulse rate. You should know yours on a normal startup of a day. Then you have a baseline to use. Some people can get to the point that their upper body will be hot and moist to the touch and their lower extremities are cool. I observed this in a patient on one occasion. The lady was unaware that she was really in trouble. She was however aware that she felt bad and needed attention of some kind. Your mind can and will play tricks on you when it comes to environmental things (heat/cold distress for the sake of this arguement). I am rambling somewhat. Firefighters deserve our utmost respect and thanks. As a former EMT, I have observed a fair amount of their professions needs and requirements.

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Sweat is my friend. Cotton clothing is good...linen and hemp are even better, though pricier. After blacksmithing for a third of my life, mostly in the South, my body's conditioned itself to pump out a LOT of sweat whenever I start doing most any manual labor, thereby saturating my clothes, turning them into basically an air conditioner. Which isn't that great during the winter...but makes summer a lot more bearable.

I find that a cotton or linen do-rag or bandana does a good job of keeping the sweat out of my eyes without trapping too much heat in (they don't tend to get as sweat soaked on the top of my head...maybe after I lose a little more hair that'll change).

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Folks...I stumbled upon a refreshing idea about a year ago for staying a touch cooler while forging. An athlete friend suggested that I wear compression pants (spandex athletic clothes) under the cotton clothes that I wear forging. I got a pair of compression shorts and shirt and wear them under my regular clothes.

The sweat goes through the shorts and is absorbed by the cotton clothing. It leaves a dry material on the skin. As the moisture evaporates from the outer wear, the dry material feels much cooler next to your skin. I have even become chilled on a 95 degree day just stepping out of the smithy and into a nice breeze outside.

You may think me silly wearing this type of clothes, but the athletes wear it for a good reason and I know why. It is not expensive and is mostly carried by the local walmart or other department stores in the exercise section of the store.

Spandex is not just for fashion any more...besides...who is going to make fun of a blacksmith with a hammer in his hand? :mrgreen:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I feel really weak after reading all of your post but never the less here is what I do, I turn the Crabtree Forge into the Crabtree Wind Tunnel. Our shop has two ceiling fans and both of them are always running and then a strong eletric fan is mounted on the wall next to the forge. I wear a bandana like a head band and that helps alot with sweat in the eyes. I dont take heat very well although most year I end up having to help with the bailing and I must say that is one of the hardest jobs under then sun < pun intended. But I guess since I cant take the heat very well I make up for it with loving the cold. It can be 20 degrees outside and Ill be as comfortable as could be. I live in IL, right now its about 90-100 degrees with high humidity. But if you get some fans around ya and plenty of fluids I can manage.

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Set up a big fan to act as a wind shear. Aim it so it does not interfeer with the forge or chill the hot metal on the anvil. That why when you are at the forge, you can step back into the wind shear and get some relief.

I have found that although it is sexy to take the shirt off and show the 6 pack abs, it is cooler to leave a cotton t-shirt on and let it soak up the sweat. As the sweat evaporates from the shirt it cools the body. Otherwise the sweat just runs down and into your belt loops and you loose any cooling effect.

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SIX PACK ABS! - AH-HA-HA-HA...at least where I'm concerned. I haven't seen my toes in ten years. :D

It's been close to 100 here every day this week with humidity hovering around 60% (and in addition to shop work, I have also been baling hay for two weeks - can you say "crazy"?). Any sort of breeze is welcome. It's getting to where I only want to work from dawn until 11 or so in the morning and stay in the house until sundown then work to midnight.

Cotton T-shirts, shorts, lots of ice tea and a big floor fan.

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Glenn said (As the sweat evaporates from the shirt it cools the body. Otherwise the sweat just runs down and into your belt loops and you loose any cooling effect.) He forgot sometimes you loose your pants when they slide off LOL, Hooray for biboverals for those of us who have lost our hips to old age and good food.

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I second the cotton shirt. From years of hiking, I found that the button-up, thin-weave, cotton shirts work the best. T-shirts seemed to get too heavy and were uncomfortable. That reminds me, got to head to Goodwill and get me a few more.

I also use a fan aimed roughly chest-high at the anvil and that lets me work in the summer fairly comfortably. My apron is cotton duck and is full length, split-leg. That lets me wear shorts. I don't think my legs sweat enough for the cotton-shirt concept to work.

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