Taking Heat

I know that “taking heat” means something different to 2A people, but I’m talking about temperature heat today. I’ve heard a lot of people whining (and yes, I’m using that term on purpose) about the heat, of late, and I want to address it from a prepping perspective.

So, over the past several weekends, I’ve been at a variety of reenacting events. None of those events were “modern” or had A/C. Very few of those events had even an electric fan, never mind anything more cooling than that. During the events, temperatures have ranged from 86*F to 104*F, with humidity in the 75% or higher range. One particular day, on July 12th, it was 104*F and 95% humidity where I was. I had no modern means for dealing with that heat.

When talking about the heat, several people (not on here) have told me…

• I’m just better at dealing with the heat than most people (which is laughable considering I am sodium deficient at the BEST of times, which is a dangerous thing in high heat situations)
• the heat has killed people and I’m not taking it seriously enough
• some people require air conditioning just to live
• people in the past didn’t have heat like this

I do agree, the heat has killed some people. I am not the sympathetic ear most people expected when I was told that. I feel bad for the elderly or very young when intense heat happens, because they’re not cognitively able to do the things necessary to not suffer from it. Then again, we more able bodied folks can certainly do things to make their lives easier, and so I don’t consider it a big argument. It’s also a very small number of people. In a major disaster, those people are frankly going to die. I don’t like saying it, but it’s true. If you’re celiac, prone to medical issues, elderly or very young, the likelihood is that you’re going to die. While I work very hard to mitigate that fact in my own prepping, it’s still a fact, and I have dealt with it to the best of my ability. If I die, I die, and I’m not going to whine about it.

Those of us who are even partially capable should really be able to deal with the heat. No, there is no situation where I believe A/C is required to live, or is a “right” of the people. Yes, people in the past did have heat like this, though probably not in what we now call the USA. Down south, along the equator, people have been dealing with heat and humidity that rivals our current situations, and they did it for centuries with no electricity.

How do we, as people trying to prepare for emergencies, deal with the heat? Let’s explore that topic.

When it gets hot, it’s important to take care of ourselves. This means drinking more water, and possibly drinking things that help us process water better and balance electrolytes. I have a stash of electrolyte powder packets that are for just such emergencies. I use them sparingly, partly because they’re medicine, partly because they’re expensive as all shit, and partly because they really do taste like watered down fruit juice that’s been poured down someone’s sweaty ass crack. They’re horrid, flavor-wise. But they WORK. Those packets are expendables, though. Once you’ve used them all, they’re gone forever. They are a bad choice for long term preparations.

Instead, I studied what our ancestors did to beat the heat. The answer is, they did several things that we just don’t, today.

• they rested or slept in the heat of the day (think siestas)
• they created gatorade type drinks like switchel, sekanjabin, and shrubs
• their buildings had much higher ceilings, which made their living spaces naturally cooler
• they built windows into the walls that would catch breezes, for natural cooling
• they had outdoor kitchens for hot days
• they had sleeping porches, places to sleep when the bedroom was too hot
• they wore wet head coverings (which provide wonderful cooling as the water evaporates)
• cold soups were created for hot weather dinners
• fans could be made of very simple materials and waved back and forth to cool a person down
• swimming in cool lakes and rivers
• wearing light clothing made of natural fibers

There’s a lot more, but that unpacks a good chunk of information. Siestas are a widely known factoid. I spent my childhood watching Speedy Gonzales and every other South American character taking naps at noon. Why? Because it was too hot! Conserving energy during the day lets you achieve a lot more during dawn and dusk hours. The summer day is much longer anyhow, so leaving the work for a couple or three hours during the hottest part really doesn’t impact how much work you get done.

Drinks that wouldn’t cause internal cramping were vitally important for our ancestors. If you are haying and you drink cold water, you’ll end up with your guts squeezing you hard. Add ginger and a bit of vinegar or lemon, and that problem goes away. The ingredients stop you from having the cramps. Sugar and salt added to the drinks helped keep you from fainting, by helping your body to regulate heart rate and blood pressure.

Buildings made before modern times (pre 1920s) are truly comfortable during even the hottest of days. They’re built to funnel cross breezes through the house, are generally whitewashed outside to repel the heat a bit, had wide roofs that gave us covered porches that would be a great place to sleep when the temperature was up, and the heat would rise into the rafters and out of the living area. The materials used for building back then were also natural, stone and lathing and adobe, and they kept the heat out of the homes.

Wet head coverings are vitally important during hot times, especially if you need to walk around. As a person who does medieval reenacting, I often wear veils. They cover me from forehead to mid-back usually, and sometimes under my chin as well. There is nothing more pleasant on a hot day than soaking those veils in ice cold well water and putting them back on. As they dry, they sap the heat out of your body and cool you twice over. Evaporative cooling. AWA probably knows the science behind it. I just know it works a treat. It also keeps the sun off your skin, so you don’t burn.

Setting your feet or wrists into a bucket of ice water or very cold water also helps. Our ancestors might have dipped their feet in the creek, or in a bucket of chilly well water, but we can enjoy our ice. You have major arteries that pass through both ankles and wrists, and when you submerge them into cold water, that cooled blood circulates throughout your body, and cools all of you. That day it was 104*F, I kept my feet in a bucket of lovely cold water, which I replaced fairly regularly. It allowed me to continue to function, though I kept my activity level very low that day and sacrificed one of my precious packets of electrolytes.

Natural fibers is another one of the big things I’ve learned through reenacting. You can wear linen or wool all day, and not die of the heat. Obviously you want a light wool (it has a name: tropical weight), and you’ll want to pick light colors to help keep cool. Natural fibers allow air to pass through them very easily, and they also help you to evaporate your sweat, which also cools you. Linen and wool last a long time, much longer than the artificial fabrics we have today. They’re better for your skin, too!

In a SHTF scenario, you may need to adapt to some or all of the above. You certainly need to know about it, and add it to your skill set. Humans are intelligent enough to adapt to so many situations, so don’t sit around mourning the loss of your air conditioner. Go do the right things, and cool yourself down like your ancestors did. Do them honor!