simplequietude

[simplequietude]

Florida native here, adding my own experiences. This is a bit of a long post, but I promise it’s all important.

Firstly, and most importantly, DO NOT substitute electrolyte drinks for water. Your body needs water to process those electrolytes and sugars that keep you running. A good rule of thumb is for every one bottle of electrolytes, drink 2-4 bottles of water. I know of people who collapsed because they drank too many electrolytes and not enough water. ELECTROLYTES ≠ HYDRATION

Secondly, and equally importantly, NEVER LEAVE ANYTHING LIVING IN A VEHICLE THAT IS NOT RUNNING. If it’s 80°F outside, it will be at least 100°F inside the vehicle. Children have died because of this. Take your child with you or, if that’s not possible (i.e. a pet), leave the car running. I don’t care if it uses up gas. Spending more money on gas is infinitely less costly than spending money on your child’s funeral. (For cold numbers, it’s ~$60 for a full tank of gas. It’s ~$2,500 on average for a single grave plot — not including the casket, vault, funeral arrangements, headstone, and lawyer fees for going on trial after killing your child. You do the math.) (And if it was a pet you killed, you can still get tried for animal abuse. You’ll need a lawyer for that, too.)

Now, depending on your AC type — and if you’re living in a hot area, this should be one of your biggest investments — do some basic maintenance before the heat starts. Call a technician if you don’t know how. Check your air filters and vents to make sure they are clean and clear. If there are blockages on the inflow or outflow areas, it will make the AC work harder and increase the risk of it breaking. You do not want your AC to break in hot weather.

However, if your AC does break, or the power goes out for whatever reason (hurricane, thunderstorm, brownout, etc.), your second best investment is to have a good supply of fans and frozen/cool water bottles. Put a frozen/cool water bottle in front of or behind a fan and it will cool the fan’s air down. Use a water-filled spray bottle and spray it in front of the fan to imitate those cooling misters you see at theme parks. Even dump water on yourself and stand in front of a fan to let the evaporation cool you off. In the heat, fans and water are your friends.

If you can, get a personal fan and bring it everywhere. (I like ~8-inch ones with USB plugs, makes it easier to use battery packs and carry around.) There is nothing worse than still air in a hot room. Even moving hot air is better than nothing, because it helps your sweat evaporate faster.

If you’re in a subtropical area like me, where rain is semi-regular in the afternoons and early evenings, make sure to time your activities to this. Summer rainstorms rarely last longer than two hours, and can cool down the temperature by as much as twenty degrees. This is the peak time to do anything outside, even better than before noonish when the world is still heating up. Ignore the muck and mud. It’s better to be damp and muddy than to risk heatstroke or heat exhaustion.

As for humidity, OP is right: humidity is not your friend. For the same reason soaking a long time in a bathtub will dehydrate you, being in high humidity for a long time will also dehydrate you. Drink water and electrolytes. If you are in a building with little-to-no AC and it’s humid, you still have to stay hydrated. It’s not the sun here that’s the cause of humidity, it’s the hot, wet air itself — especially air without movement. High humidity inside a hot building can be worse than high humidity outside in the heat.

Avoid going into the attic. This should be a no-brainer, but sometimes it’s gotta be done for whatever reason. Attics are humid hellscapes in the summer. Drink water. Take regular breaks. Move slowly. Do not spend more than half an hour up there at a time. If your skin is slick with sweat, it’s past time to get out of the attic and somewhere cooler. Rehydrate.

Also, cloudy skies does not necessarily mean it’s safer outside. UV doesn’t care about clouds, you will get sunburned if you aren’t careful. Cover up, stay in the shade, and if you have to be in the sun, wear the highest SPF sunscreen you can find. (In a pinch, mud works as a rudimentary sunscreen.) And remember, sunscreen must be reapplied every two to three hours, no matter what kind it is. I forgot that once at the beach and my sunburn was so red it was almost purple.

Look into getting an umbrella with a SPF rating of at least 60+ if you don’t like sunscreen. That way, you’ll be covered, rain or shine.

If you’re out and about for a while, especially if you’re with kids, bring a cooler full of water bottles, juice/electrolytes, snacks, and ice packs. You burn a lot of energy in the heat, eat to replenish that. Use the ice packs and water bottles to cool yourself off; wrists, thighs, upper chest, upper back, neck/throat, insides of elbows and knees, and armpits are good spots to put something cold when you need to cool off fast. Same rules for icing a bruise: twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off. Be very careful you don’t induce shock from the rapid temperature change. Start cooling your extremities (thighs, wrists, elbows/knees) first before cooling your core, especially your neck/throat and upper chest.

Wear light, pale colors. Dark, vibrant colors trap heat. If you wouldn’t wear it walking on the street at night because a driver might not see you there in the dark, don’t wear it on a hot day.

Finally, when it’s hot out, move slowly. Do not rush if you don’t have to. Faster movement equals more heat. If you’re a jogger, a cyclist or something similar, consider finding a gym membership for at least a few months. If you can’t/won’t, then go slower. You will burn just as much energy as before simply battling the heat.

Be smart, people.

Water your outdoor plants in the evening or at night if you don’t get rain.

Carry collapsible pet bowls and extra bottles of water if you have a furry/scaled/feathered friend.

Consider getting your furry friends shaved/trimmed or buying them heat-blocking booties.

Furry friends with little fur can still get sunburn, prepare accordingly. This includes birds and reptiles.

Make sure any outdoor ponds with fishy friends have optimal clean water levels; evaporation can cause toxins to become concentrated.

Avoid wearing layers, as this will trap air, and thus heat.

Unless you need to, try not to wear socks; socks are just gloves for feet, and trap heat accordingly.

If you are outside for more than twenty minutes, you need to wear sunscreen.

Don’t forget to put sunscreen on your ears, your hands, your legs, and on top of your feet if you’re wearing open-toed shoes.

Being in the ocean/pool/water will not protect you from sunburn.

Your scalp can get sunburned, too: wear hats.

⭐️ If you do get sunburned, one of the best things you can put on it is pure aloe straight from the plant — just grab a bit of leaf, slice it in half, and rub the gel-like substance inside into your skin. Aloe plants are easy to keep, and everybody should have one to treat burns of any type.

Sand can get very hot; wear flip-flops or water shoes if you’re at the beach.

Avoid walking barefoot on concrete or asphalt.

Be wary of hot concrete around pools.

Grass is cool in the morning and hot in the afternoon.

Avoid anything metal or leather/pleather; boat-friendly/marine metal is usually ok.

If you’re getting ice cream to cool off, drink lots of water to go with it.

Keep your blinds closed when you can.

Don’t open doors and windows longer than you have to; your AC can’t cool both your house and the outdoors.

Avoid going upstairs; heat rises, and upstairs will always be hotter than downstairs.

Check the freon levels in your car’s AC regularly and refill them if necessary.

Cooling off in your car is best done when the car is moving. Cars can overheat too, especially because most engines are at least partially air-cooled.

If your car is overheating, press the gas to race the engine if you are parked, as well as turn the AC temperature up until it’s hot. This will allow things to circulate and cool off. If this isn’t working, something is probably wrong with your car’s cooling system.

Getting chills when it’s hot out is a sign you are close to becoming dangerously overheated. Stop whatever you’re doing, get somewhere cooler, and rehydrate. Eat something.

And for the love of whatever god you hold dear, consider getting one of those big refillable thermoses you can carry around so you’re never stuck without water.

Hopefully this helps. A lot of it may seem common sense, but better to say it than to assume somebody already knows it.

For all of the northerners that stood up for Texas during our freeze and said, "Don't make fun of them, they've never dealt with this before. Their infrastructure isn't made for snow and freezing."

This one is for you.

Where I live 108°F with 80% humidity with no wind is normal.

Pacific North West is dealing historic best waves 35-40°C or 95-105°F.

First of all. Don't make fun of them for bitching about the heat. Just like Texas isn't built for a freeze and our pipes burst, Pacific North West isn't built for heat and a lot of their homes don't have AC.

If you live somewhere with a high humidity like 80+ HUMIDITY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. The "humidity makes it feel cooler" is a lie once it gets beyond a point.

If you live somewhere with a lower humidity, misters are nice to cool off outside.

Once you get over 90°F (32°C) a fan will not help you. It's just pushing around hot air. (I mean if you can't afford a small AC unit because they're expensive as hell, by all means a fan is better than nothing).

If you have pets, those portable AC units aren't safe. If your pets destroy the outtake thing, it'll leak CO2. Window units are safer.

Window AC units will let mosquitoes or other small bugs in. Sucks, but that's life.

Now is not the time to me modest. If you have to cover for religious reasons, by all means. If you don't, I've seen people wear short shorts and a swim top. It's not trashy if it keeps you from getting heat stroke.

If you do have to cover up for religious reasons, look for elephant pants or something similar. They're made with a breathable material.

Shade is better than no shade, but that shit it just diet sun after some point. Don't think shade will save you from heat stroke.

I know the "drink your water" is a fun meme now, but if you're sweating excessively you need electrolytes. Drink Gatorade, Powerade, or Pedialite PLEASE. I don't care if you're fucking sitting in one spot all day. That shit WILL save you from heat stroke.

Most importantly. RESEARCH THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEAT STROKE AND HEAT EXHAUSTION PLEASE!

If you're diabetic and can't drink Gatorade, mix water, fruit juice, and either lite salt or pink salt

If you can afford it, cover windows with thick curtains to insulate the house

If you have tile floors, lay on them with skin to tile contact. If you don't, laying your head on cool counters works too.

If the temperature where you're at is hotter than your body temperature, don't wear heat wicking clothing. Moisture wicking is safe though.

Check your medication labels. Many make you more susceptible to sun and heat

-Room temperature water will get into your body faster. This is something I learned doing marching band in high summer in Georgia, and it saved all of our asses. Sip it, don't gulp it, especially if you're getting into the red; same goes for whatever fluid you're drinking. And just in general drink during the day.

-If you are moving from an air conditioned space to an un-air conditioned space, if at all possible try to make the shift gradual. When my dad and I were working outside and in un-ac houses a few years ago, he'd turn the air down to low in the truck about ten-fifteen minutes before we got where we were going. This way your body doesn't go from low low temps to high temps. S'bad for you.

-If you can, keep your lights off during the day. Light bulbs may not generate a lot of heat, but the difference is noticeable when it gets hot enough. I literally only turn my bedroom light on in the evening when it gets too dark.

Don't be afraid to just like... pour water on yourself if you need to. The evaporation will cool you off.

Put your hand to the cement for 15 seconds. If you can't handle the heat, it'll burn your dog's paws. Don't let them walk on it.

Dogs with flat faces are more prone to heat stroke. Don't leave them out unsupervised.

Frozen fruit is delicious in water.

Wet/Cold hat/handkerchief on your head/neck will help you stay cool.

Pickle juice is great for electrolytes! You can even make pickle juice Popsicles!

Heat exhaustion is more, "drink water and get you cooled off." Heat stroke is more "Oh my god call 911."

Image Description provided by @loveize

[Image description: an infographic showing the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The graphic is labeled "Heat Dangers: First Warning." Signs of heat exhaustion: faint or dizzy, excessive sweating, cool, pale, clammy skin, rapid, weak pulse, muscle cramps. If you think you or someone else may be experiencing heat exhaustion, get to a cool, air-conditioned place, drink water if conscious, and take a cool shower or use cold compress. Signs of heat stroke: throbbing headache, no sweating, red, hot, dry skin, rapid, strong pulse, may lose consciousness. If you think you or someone else may be experiencing heat stroke, call 911. End description]

Be safe.

-fae