Welcome to the Desert

[ickaimp]

With Yaoi Jamboree coming up this weekend and nightengale's visit so recent, figured it couldn't hurt to post some hints for people visiting the Sonoran Desert.

Hi. Welcome to the Desert.

Guess what? It's hot here.

That should be a no brainer, but for some people, it isn't. As I'm writing this, it's 108f/42c here in Tucson and 111f/43.8c in Phoenix, where the Con is at. Y'know that tingly feeling when you're baking something and you open up the oven to peer inside? It's like that when you're outside. Every minute.

What this means: DRINK WATER. Not just liquid, w-a-t-e-r. Caffinated beverages such as soda, coffee and tea are diuretics. They make you pee. Peeing is water that is leaving your body in a non-heat cooling manner. Alternate these drinks with non-diuretics. Juice, gatorade/powerade, water, what ever.

Carry a water bottle with you. Everywhere. It's not a fashion statement, it doesn't make you preppy in the So Cal way, it's a survival thing. Bottles don't have to be anything special. Buy a cheap bottled tea or juice or soda, save the bottle and refill it every time it gets low. Have an extra on hand in case you lose the first or someone needs it. Cool drinks are also better than cold, your body won't have to work as hard to absorb it.

Seriously, cannot stress this enough. Drink Water. It's not an exaggeration to say I drink over a gallon a day, just to stay hydrated.

Apparel:
Bring clothing that your skin can -breathe- through. Natural fibres, cotton, linen, etc, are good. Slightly loose is better than slightly tight. If you can, do not bring anything polyester. Em found out the hard way.
Hats, hats are your friend. Wide brim more so than baseball. Once again, not a dork thing, survival thing. Mr. Sun is not your friend.
Sunscreen. Religiously, if you're going outside. If you can't, cover up with light-weight clothing. Mr. Hat and Mr. Loose Cotton Long Sleeve shirt are your friend.
Don't even -think- about going barefoot outside. Seriously. Don't.

Moisturiser is also your friend, so you don't cross your legs and have a mini-blizzard of dead skin cells from the calves down. (You think I kid?) Chapstick can also be used on rough elbows and hands in a pinch.

'But Auntie Icka', you might whinge, 'I'm not planning on going outside, I'm going to be in the air conditioned hotel the entire time.'
Hahahaha, I scoff at you. Welcome to a little thing called 'Humidity'.

I can hear you Southerners laugh at that. You know Humidity, that's when it's over 90f/32c and 110% Humidity outside and still not raining.

Um. No. I'm talking the opposite. Think it's been as high as 17% humidity this past week and as low as 4%. The rest of the time it's hovered between 7-12% humidity. We're talking Mummy making weather.

Humidity doesn't care if you're inside or outside. You'll get dehydrated either way. See point number one: Drink Water.

Things to look for/Warning Signs:
If you get COLD and have the chills, your body has run out of water to cool itself with. Get inside ASAP and get something to drink. This is -not- a good thing.
Headaches, dizzy, cramps, tiredness, watch out for heat exhaustion. Once again, get cool, get something to drink. A bath might help, a nap usually will.
There's a few other symptoms, but it mainly boils down to pay attention to how you're feeling. As stated, we found this out the hard way with Em. If you feel weird and don't know why, ask someone. Either a native or a medical staff. Heat -kills-.

If you need more than water because your electrolytes are low and you don't have access to Gatorade or Pedalite, I've had decent luck with mixing a bit of salt and sugar with water to replenish missing minerals. Salted/pickled foods may also help, -in moderation.

Now, that being said, don't let the heat or the humidity scare you away. Despite the fact that a good number of the fauna are poisonous and most of the fauna are full of spines, I seriously believe the Sonoran desert to be one of the scenic and wonderful places in the world. If you get the chance or the inclination, go out and enjoy it. Go smell the Mesquite, see the Saguaro and the Ocotillo and the Cacti (but don't touch!).

Just be prepared.

-any other hints or tips from fellow desert rats?

Comments

[dqbunny.livejournal.com]

There are some other really good things to do to rehydrate yourself.

If you like the taste of barley, roasted barley tea is a wonderful thing. Drink it iced. I drank it during summer band camp and it is awesome.

Freeze grapes and suck on them. Cold, and very good. Fruits are a good thing because they have lots of water.

Don't forget to eat! If you find your hands shaking, stop and eat something that isn't candy or junk food.

That's my 2 cents as a fellow desert rat!

[snotblossom.livejournal.com]

A/C equals dry air, so no, it doesn't really matter whether you're outside or not, it's still going to be dry. Swamp cooling adds moisture to the air, which is why it loses effectiveness when the humidity goes up. Dry heat means the possibility of evaporative cooling, so if you need to, don't hesitate to pour a glass of water over your head or down your shirt. It'll dry quick enough, believe me. A bandana or hankie or something is a handy thing to have, both to wipe the copious amounts of sweat off yourself, and to wet down in the nearest drinking fountain and put on your head. Do not pick up any coin less than a quarter off the ground, it's not worth the second degree burn. You can and will burn yourself on any metal that's been in the sun, as well as a variety of other surfaces. I have found it uncomfortable to put my feet down on the pavement when riding a moped while wearing Keds, so barefoot outside while the sun is in the sky (and for good thirty to sixty minutes afterward) is a no-no. When you go swimming, leave your flip-flops right by the pool and splash them with water before stepping out and directly into them.

[yukitsukihana.livejournal.com]

Saltines and other salty crackers work wonders to keep you from getting dehydrated too quickly.
Also, if you start feeling like you're getting dehydrated, don't just go inside and have water; lay down and rest. Resting will cool your body temp down so you don't overheat. (the desert animals that sleep during the day, they KNOW what they're doing)

Water is allowed everywhere. It's actually illegal here to deny a person water. So you people from out-of-state don't have to worry about theatres or restaurants preventing you from bringing in your full water bottle.

And yes, soda is used only as a refreshment. Don't even attempt to rely on it for water intake unless you're amazingly awesome at osmosis.

And just because you're at a water park doesn't mean you won't get sunburned or dehydrated. Again, unless you're amazingly awesome at osmosis, drink water. Just being in water does not mean that you don't need to drink (but please, don't drink the pool water).

hope this addendum helps :3

[scribe-ari.livejournal.com]

Just about every plant in the desert has thorns or some other sort of defense mechanism to make your life hell if you touch it.
Use tape to remove small cactus thorns. Do not yank out larger cactus thorns. Twist them out.
It is better to be stung by a large scorpion than a small one.
If you venture out at sunrise/sunset and hear rattling. Don't move. ID where the snake is and either wait for it to go away or move very slowly the opposite direction. Don't sit on random rocks without checking around them first. see scorpions and snakes.
Don't pet the kitty
Wear bug spray. West nile has already appeared in the valley this season.

[ytak.livejournal.com]

That's an excellent list of advice, well thought out and explains why which some people don't ever seem to get.

I learned about heat exhaustion the hard way years ago. Just moved to Texas, lived here less than 2 weeks.... yeah, I wasn't used to the temperatures and played hard outside. Ended up feeling terrible. Drank a lot (I think), felt chilled and took a nice long nap. Felt better afterward.

[ickaimp.livejournal.com]

I figured I'd just touch on the lighter stuff for people who are visiting. What I listed was all stuff that we kinda ended up head slapping with Em. ^^;; It's funny the things you pick up and don't realise after living some place for years.

First year I was here, I got a heat rash that was so bad, you'd touch it and the skin would literally explode with clear liquid and slide down my back in sheets.
Finally mentioned it to someone and was told that all I had to do was apply like baby or gold bond powder to the area and poof, it was gone in under a week. >P
I keep an eye out for that one now (little red bumps! -which are the sweat pores being clogged), but I figured that most people wouldn't get that after only a few days.

But yeah, heat exhaustion can be nasty. I still get it once in a while, but not nearly as bad as that first year. Naps are so totally your friend. ^_______^

*eats ice cream*

[ytak.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, ice cream. Whoops, deviated from the topic there. It is amazing on what you pick up from living in a place. I've lived in Texas long enough now, that things I take for granted are new to my cousin (who has moved in with us to establish residency). And that heat rash sounds massivly unpleasant.

[niennahirilfea.livejournal.com]

...wow. *hugs her rainy, foggy, grey city*

[avilina.livejournal.com]

Don't lock your knees when you're standing outside or you end up fainting in front of a Duchess, Their Majesties, a Countess, a Baron and most of Sable Mildrind.

[ysabet.livejournal.com]

One more: if you're dehydrated and feeling sick (or going to be out in full sun for an extended time), don't drink Gatorade or any of that sort of thing full-strength; cut it half-and-half with water, because most of 'em have a LOT of salt in them. They taste shitty cut with water, but it's better than tossing your cookies due to a stomach full of too much salt, which WILL happen if you're overheated. Any SCA waterbearer knows that one.

And Oh Yeah-- if you get sunburned, go dump as many teabags as possible into a hot bath, let it cool down, and then submerge yourself as deep as you can in it. Tannin is really good on sunburns-- I learned that one growing up in Florida, and believe me: it works. Use black tea, nothing with citrus peel in it.

[snotblossom.livejournal.com]

Apparently the chirurgeonate has reversed itself on that one and the recommendation is now that you use full-strength Gatorade, to which I respond, "whatever". If you want full strength Gatorade, you're more than welcome to bring your own. However, if the half-strength Gatorade tastes good to you? You need it badly and you should drink some more.

[ysabet.livejournal.com]

Huh; really? I got sick as a freaking DOG at an event a few years back, overheated and drinking full-strength Gatorade; I figured they'd pegged it pretty good, and I think I'll stick with the half-strength idea.

[snotblossom.livejournal.com]

A lot fighters make it a point to do water AND gatorade at the same time and some have said that they intentionally drink at least as much as and up to twice as much water as gatorade. YMMV. Pickles and oranges work too.

[avilina.livejournal.com]

Keeping Aloe Vera on hand it nice too for when you start to turn a little pink and you can but it at the drug store now.

[basal-surge.livejournal.com]

When desert travelling, I always take four or five times the water I think I need. Also, extra oil, rope, radiator fluid, fan belts, spare tires, 'roo jack, shovel, sledge hammer, towing bungee, load strops, etc.

But I'm assuming your con travellers won't be doing 1300km across open desert tracks...

[avilina.livejournal.com]

I might make an addition to sunscreen that you can get the oil free kind (I can't wear the other stuff, it bugs me), and to put it on roughly 15 minutes before you go outside. You might want to add to not forget to get the ears and any part you may have in your hair.

[(Anonymous)]

Actually one of the best things IF you get dehydrated is pedalite. The grape flavore isnt that bad and its about the best thing you can get to rehydrate you in a hurry also works on hangovers.
Jerry AKA Samir

[silverdragon-17.livejournal.com]

Not a desert rat, but here's the summertime advice from up north:
If, for whatever reason, you've been out in the heat for a while, have not been drinking water, and are now even a little dehydrated, DO NOT CHUG IT. I don't care how thirsty you are. It's worse if the water is really cold. This can make you throw it right back up, and you really don't want that.
Rest. Exhausting yourself in the heat is a bad thing.
You really, really want to avoid heat sickness. I've watched my father wind up heat sick because he didn't drink or rest as much as he knows he should and it scares the shit out of me every time.

[nightengale.livejournal.com]

OH my god, yes, yes, yes, and more yes. As someone who wasn't ready for the heat and the lack of humidity and the sun, yes.