The heat

[Vlad]

Today I shot our local monthly match, and while the turn out was great and the stages darn good, I had a terrible time. The temperature hit 90 degrees and the humidity I can only guess about but right now (7:30 pm) it is at %51 and it feels lower. I drank somewhere between 2 and 3 gallons of water and munched on salty foods. Yet by the 5th stage (of 7) my head began to hurt, and my eyes to blur. A total of 8 hours on the range have sapped the life from me. My head still hurts like hell and my eyes are slow to focus. I'm beginging to come out of it, and I continued to drink since I got home.

Lessons learned for next match are many. First I need to remeber to bring a hat to keep the sweat from my eyes. Second, I need to bring gatorade or propel or whatever, instead of water. It just doesn't cut it. Third, I need a new pair of shooting glasses, as my yellow tinted ones are just not dark enough. Lastly, I need to switch to ear plugs, as wearing muffs in this kind a weather is a drag, both because they only make it hotter and because they make it harder to clean my glasses.

I hate this. It is only May, for the love of Pete. If the east coast gets much hotter this year, I would really have to think twice about shooting long outdoor matches.

Vlad

[rhino]

Sounds like your blood sugar dropped pretty low. You might want to consider eating a snack or two during the match. That plus plain water will do the trick. A piece of fruit will have all the electrolytes you need too.

[texasag93]

I no the feeling. I am not looking forward to the July, August, and Sept. matches. One hundred degree heat and 90% humidity. We try to keep the stages short with plenty of shade and hydration on hand. I can say I prefer the heat to cold though. In Texas we seem to have summer and winter, not much in between. Gatorade or simular does better than water at keeping you hydrated.

TXAG

[BritinUSA]

If you take on fluid when you are thirsty then it's too late... Basically it's better to stay hydrated rather than respond to your bodies request for liquid.

Try drinking a couple of glasses of water, say about .5 to 1 litre before heading off to the range, and no coffee.

A hat is essential as it will help to stop the sun from boiling your head. Try taking some dried fruit with you to the range, they are really high in sugar and are not messy, they usually come in a resealable bag.

During the day, use Gatorade or something similar. Stay away from Red-Bull and other energy drinks that contain caffeine. It's a diuretic, it soaks up moisture from your body... Not a good thing when it's hot.

"Like many diuretics, caffeine interferes with the body’s water conservation systems. For endurance athletes, this could pose a danger as it increases the chances of becoming dehydrated."

[shred]

I find that Caffiene is ok in small quantities (especially since I'll get a headache if I don't get my fix-- recently some research showed it wasn't totally bad, btw), but the total-wipeout you got seems to be lack-of-snack-during-the-match related for me, so long as I got enough water. Also sit down as much as possible-- many people wear themselves out and don't even know it just standing around.

[BigDave]

As others have stated, here and elsewhere, if you drink when you're thirsty, it is too late. Drink, and continue to do so before you are thirsty. Every 15 minutes is a good rule of thumb.

My reccomendation is to look ahead a few days to what the weather will be on the day(s) you are shooting. If it is going to be warm, start hydrating yourself days in advance. Only recently have I discovered that keeping oneself properly hydrated not only helps during those times of heat and hard work, but in general day to day living as well. Anymore, I try to start my day with about three 12 oz glasses of water, and then try to consume about 4-6 more during the day.

On big match days (not that I've had that many, but on long days on the range) with moderate activity I am a big fan of (1) Gatorade diluted 1:4 with water (2) Cliff Bars or Luna Bars and (3) energy gels (Gu is my favorite, caffinated if I really need an extra boost). I use a Camelbak M.U.L.E. and I think it is great. Always having the water there via the Camelbak is great. As far as food on hot, heavy days I like to keep it light. Enough to keep me going and my blood sugar even.

[3quartertime]

[recent non shooting experience mode on]

Working outside I didn't think I needed to worry too much about the effects of the weather at the beach. I'm used to drinking lots of water and snacking a little. What surprised me was after I took a nap on the beach I got a sun burn on my face. ( read PAINFULL!!!) Only on my face thou. Strange but it taught me that even someone that is acclimated needs to use some sunblock on the more sensitive areas...

[recent non shooting experience mode off/]

[JD45]

From my experience, it also pays to slowly get yourself used to the heat ahead of time. If a match lasts 4 hours on Saturday, start Monday after work or whenever, spending about 45min. doing something outdoors in the heat. Increase your time every day throughout the week. If I spend most of my week indoors or in airconditioned cars, and then try to spend a day in 90 degree heat, it totally wipes me out.

[Nik Habicht]

Vlad,

You're not alone. I actually screwed up enough, that I wound up getting the chills whenever the breeze kicked up ---- and at one point I pretty much stopped sweating. That's too friggin close to heat stroke for my comfort. I totally misread the weather forecast. During set-up I downed a liter of water --- but once we started shooting, I barely drank for three stages, and I didn't eat either. Norman was so worried about me by the last stage, that he actually fetched me some water. Thanks Jim! My camelback is still hanging from the coatrack in the hall --- you better believe it'll be coming out to play by next weekend. T-shirts might be done for the summer too --- I might have to dig out some lightweight cotton button up shorts, as they seem to allow for better ventilation. It's tough to remember that in this kind of weather, we can't perform ;like we can in spring and fall....

Oh yeah, something else --- after I started feeling it I drank 3.5 liters of gatorade and water over the next hour or so ---- but that really just filled my stomach. You just can't process the fluid efficiently enough, once you've started to dehydrate....

[rhino]

Keep track of how much you're drinking too ...

I had some classes in the August heat last summer and they had an EMT on site the whole time. One of the things he did was monitor how fast the drinking water was going, and if the class as a whole was not drinking enough, they'd stop more often and put the hard sell on us to drink more.

[MoNsTeR]

The heat makes me ^$#@! stupid. One summer, I was rebuilding my computer, and I was so out of it I formatted the hard drive I wrote my system backup on

[kimel]

There were some really good discussions about hydration and blood sugar last summer/fall. A search should turn them up.

I am currently shopping for backpack hydration units and trying to figure out which one to get before it gets hot. I spent some time thos winter analyzing my match performance last year and I quickly realized that at the warm/hot matches I shot like crap after the 3rd stage. I had too much trouble staying hydrated last summer during matches because the fluid was "over there" with the range bag. The last hot match of the year I really forced fluid and was munching Odwalla protein bars and I shot well.

Also keep an eye on your squadmates like Jim Norman did. Especially newbies. It is often easier to tell when someone else is having a problem than it is for them to realize the problem. When the mental capacity diminishes due to low blood sugar and/or dehydration it is asking for trouble to let that person play with a loaded firearm.

Those of us that pilot desks for a living in air conditioned buildings really need to take JD45's advice and get outside and work in the heat. Same goes for cold too...but we probably don't have to worry about that for a few months.

[SiG Lady]

[Techhie Thread Drift Initiated]

"The heat makes me ^$#@! stupid. One summer, I was rebuilding my computer, and I was so out of it I formatted the hard drive I wrote my system backup on..."

Gah! Now THAT must've HURT!!

[Techhie Thread Drift Terminated]

[dajarrel]

I have tried to listen to my body during hot weather events and have found that that if I don't have to use the bathroom, I'm not drinking enough. Not in all cases, but usually, if your body is having to eliminate excess water, it is because it has enough.

FWIW

dj

[JFlowers]

Man, I forgot my water at the match last weekend and definately paid the price. By the last stage, my mouth was dry and I knew I was headed for trouble. Luckily, I was finished and could stop at the store on my way home.

The advice given here is great and something I think we all need to remember, especially as we are having consistent 90+ days in the South and its only MAY!

A quick note on how this was handled at one match ......

One of our other shooting sports holds its NC State Championship in late August at the Rowan County Wildlife Club. When the ROs and Staff shot through on Thursday, they drank all the water that had been purchased to SELL during the match due to the (surprisingly hot) 100+ degree heat. The Match Committee quickly decided to acquire more (LOTS MORE!) and to give it away rather than sell it, as a gesture of concern for the shooters. During the match 85 cases of bottled water were distributed to the shooters. The Match Staff would pull up to a berm on a golf cart with coolers on the back and walk around presenting people with water.

Out of the three days, one person was driven to a local hospital where they were re-hydrated and one person sat out several stages in the A/C club house, then caught up later. All in all, an amazing result due in large part to the Match Committees decision to almost force water out to the shooters.

[aussieboy]

I was never able to wear yellow tinted glasses on bright days. It felt like I had eye strain. I latter read that they are not recommended for bright light, but to be used on cloudy days.