Staying cool

[The Stig]

As we go into the warm season in most parts of the world, what are some techniques you use to stay cool?

Inside versus outside
With power versus without
Clothing techniques
When sleeping

In other words, there's a number of aspects to staying cool.

[mitunnelrat]

When the huge, Northeast blackout of August, 2003 I pitched a tent in an area of my yard that stayed shaded through most of the day, then I kicked back and used a battery operated radio to listen to reports and updates on the situation. I managed to get some ice and kept my refrigerated food good for the duration.

I otherwise just drink plenty of water when I'm outside. People cringe when they see me dressed in layers during the summer months. I tend to wear boots, cargo pants, and a loose l/s shirt over a t-shirt when I'm outside city limits. This year I'm trying something a bit different and will be sticking to shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt/ vest combo. The caveat is I'll keep more robust footwear and the vest nearby, but not on while I'm in the city. I also want a vest/ shorts that convert to a jacket and shorts. The idea is I'll be able to stay as cool and as comfortable as possible while also wearing clothing more appropriate to the terrain without having to change entire outfits as I go. I stuck out like a sore thumb dressed as I have been in town.

[bacpacker]

I sweat a lot! I mean a lot.

I usually wear as little as possible when out, shorts, loose fitting lightweight shirts, & rebboks. The shirts I found are made by different co's, but are what I call fishing shirts, they are vented and thin but fairly tough. Also wear Teva sandals when I can.
When working around the house, usually just a pair of cut off BDU's and old rebboks.

[izzyscout21]

I sweat a lot! I mean a lot.

I usually wear as little as possible when out, shorts, loose fitting lightweight shirts, & rebboks. The shirts I found are made by different co's, but are what I call fishing shirts, they are vented and thin but fairly tough. Also wear Teva sandals when I can.
When working around the house, usually just a pair of cut off BDU's and old rebboks.

Bro, the thought of you wearing as little as possible is a very frightening mental image............

[bacpacker]

You shouldn;t go there. I think i may need to rewrite that one? Sorry for the mental image.

[cwconnertx]

It I don't have air conditioning I have fans for sleeping. Otherwise I am miserable. The only alternative is a lot of alcohol which presents its own problems.

I am prepared to use as much of my solar electric system and batteries to run the fans as necessary to sleep well.

[bacpacker]

I worked with a guy from india several years ago and he said it was very common to hang damp to wet sheets in all the open windows. It would catch a breeze and the evaporative cooling would dvrop the temps some what. I've never tried it but he swore it worked well. Something to try if the power went out.

[alaska]

if its summer and i find my self getting to warm i rebook the plane ride back to Alaska

[beginner]

When the huge, Northeast blackout of August, 2003 I pitched a tent

TMI man......TMI....... :p

You guys wanna stay cool? Move to Canada, lol... It's plenty cool here...

[RedJohn]

TMI man......TMI....... :p

You guys wanna stay cool? Move to Canada, lol... It's plenty cool here...

The south parts of Canada can be warm during summer, don't they?

[beginner]

The south parts of Canada can be warm during summer, don't they?

It really can anywhere. I'm in one of the northernmost cities in the country and it was 75 yesterday and 70 today. It will get warmer as we get more into summer.....

[alpmco]

I'm in central Florida ... I'm screwed!
There are three main contributing factors to the development and homesteading of Florida.
1. Henry Flagler and his railroad
2. DEET
3. Air conditioning.
In August of 2004 Hurricane Charley roared right over us. We were out of power for six days. I ran my generator in the day to keep the fridge cold and run fans and the microwave. At night I ran off battery power and an inverter.
I had an above ground pool at the time and would jump in often. Being above ground and without circulation it got nasty quickly despite the chlorine.
I still had running water and sewage. I put PVC and sprinkler heads on the roof (Semi Flat Florida Roof) and ran water to take some of the solar heating away.
In hind sight I learned that running the refrigerator in the kitchen was the main source of the heat in the house. I now have a refrigerator in the garage where I store all my drinks and some frozen foods. Net extended power outage I'll use that one and not the one in the house.
Another way to keep cool was to go to the mall and eat out.

We had two more hurricanes in the following month. By that time I have my motor home out of the shop. I pulled it out, dropped the awning, rolled out the fake grass carpeting, Set up the chairs and pulled the charcoal grill around to the front. Tiki torches to help keep the mosquitoes at bay ... The generator in the RV is much quieter than the portable one I used for Charley. I slept in the AC at night and on the weekday my son went to school and the wife and I were in the AC at work.

[alpmco]

Next time the big hurricane is on the way I'm going to go to Disney World and check into a resort. I heard this guy talking about his stay during Charley. He said they never lost power. Disney has it's own underground utilities. The hotel had a late evening buffet after the storm passed and activities for the kids. He said he never heard chainsaws or equipment but the next morning everything was cleaned up except for stumps.

[TOOTHPICK]

Cabbage leaves... Soak cabbage leafs in ice water and put one under your hat, its already formed to fit a head because of the rounded shape of the leafs... get 3 or 4 and rotate them out as you need! did this during baseball season in high school a long time ago... I've done it since, when doing yard work, if we have cabbage layin around.

[RedJohn]

Cabbage leaves... Soak cabbage leafs in ice water and put one under your hat, its already formed to fit a head because of the rounded shape of the leafs... get 3 or 4 and rotate them out as you need! did this during baseball season in high school a long time ago... I've done it since, when doing yard work, if we have cabbage layin around.

A few people doing that :)

The World's Best Photos of cabbagehead - Flickr Hive Mind (http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/cabbagehead/Interesting)

[pitbullnga]

whether cool temps or heat i wear pretty much the same clothing .. blue jeans and a T- shirt. Its easier to stay cool here in Ga..( no where near the coast) due to the fact even when it is hot the humidity is alot lower than other areas. I stay away from the city( concrete jungle) to avoid the masses and the added heat of pavement.

[izzyscout21]

i commandeer the kiddie pool.......http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n234/izzyscout21/DSCF3419.jpg

[RedJohn]

The kids are supposed to get in the pool, not you. LOL;

[bacpacker]

Rj looks like Izzy just took the pool over. :)

[izzyscout21]

now i have a great story about how i saved my twin daughters from the giant mouth of a salivating hippo by using just my butt....

[JustAPrepper]

Going without A/C in Florida is one of my worst nightmares. Then I discovered Redneck Air Conditioners on YouTube.

I wasn't convinced they'd work so I made a prototype of my own and made a video of it...Redneck Air Conditioner - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9F1eOt9u4A)

After testing it that night, with no A/C running, it didn't really work well but there are video's and testimonials from some who swear by them so I'm not giving up. This is just a project I haven't gotten back to yet.

I know that I can hang wet sheets and run a fan through them and get cooler air, I did that once when my A/C blew out but I think one of the problems with my protoype was the wet towel. I don't think the fan was powerful enough to actually blow air through the towel, down to the ice, then back up again through the vent. I think the air was "skipping" across the wet towel. I'll keep trying different methods until I find something that works since there are some out there who swear this method works.

One thing we did invest in this summer was a countertop ice maker. Depending on the situation, if it's a short term event and we're running the generator, we can keep making ice to keep certain foods cold, make cold drinks and keep our Redneck Air Conditioner full of icy goodness if we need a cold blast. If it's a longer term event but a situation where we have rolling blackouts, we can get ice as long as the power is rolling on. It takes about an hour to get the ice maker running full tilt but once it's going, it makes lots of ice quickly and I could fill a small cooler like this one pretty fast and use the battery operated fan to generate cool air...those are the plans anyway.

[eagle326]

We live in an old thick red brick house that used to be a school. All the outside walls on the inside are 4'' thick mortar with channels for wiring to 2nd. floor.
We keep the windows closed during summer months with the blinds pulled down on the sunny side of the house. The basement is a Michigan foundation the man told me with the brick on top of it and some parts of basement is sand stone walls where the Michigan foundation ends.
This makes the basement very cool in the summer. You could drive down into the basement in the old days.

The house stays nice in the summer and if it starts to get warm we open the garage door leading to the basement and open the door to the basement and get a nice cool breeze. The garage door is on the north side of the house in the back covered over from the sun. So far it's worked good.