Creative Ideas to avoid/stand heat?

[william]

Hi,
between battles/tourneys, try to unbuckle as many armour pieces as you can. The ventilation bonus is significant, even if it's only vambraces or such.

Also avoid dark colours in your stuff. Black fabric CoPs are fancy, but you'll get boiled. Maybe go for an off-white tabbard instead - the Crusaders knew what they were doing.

I've also experiemented with the heat training (turning my car heater to max. in June ...) before fighter practices. The least effect was that I din't feel the heat during the fights as much as a nuissance as before.


Cheers,
William

[audax]

Hooray for natural fibers.

Someone here is bound to mention UnderArmorâ„¢ soon.

That stuff's great, if you want to look like an electro-disco-sausage who just escaped from Circ de Soleil.

Dude if wearing a shirt would make my abs and chest look like one of those guys in Circ de Soleil, I'd but a dozen of them.

[audax]

Caffeine *sigh* if I hear 'caffeine is a diuretic, don't have any before/during exercise" once more I might scream. The worst thing about caffeine and exercise is that it's energy not derived from food intake, so the crash after it wears off isn't ideal; same with refined sugar products. It's almost impossible from everything I've read to take in enough caffeine via liquid to have the diuretic effect offset the liquid intake.

Jon

Sorry man, don't mean to make you scream.

I know it's unscientific, but every time I have even a little caffiene, I pee forever. Plus it makes me feel pretty sick. YMMV.

audax

[robyn]

Oh WOW, thanks for all the answers!

OK, what I´ll do:
-Go inline skating regularly to get used to heat. It´s about 23 degrees celsius around here right now, and heat will level up, so I´ll start right now.
-´Get in a bit better shape. My shape is OK, I don´t have a beer belly or so. But it could be better. I have weights at home I train with regularly. Perhaps I´ll try heavier ones.
- get a linen undertunic (or better three of them). I don´t know ecactly what underarmour is, but I was told by Maestro Aethstan that it was very smart what they did 700 years ago and that I shouldn´t try to improve a system that worked for hundreds of years, because mostly it has a negative effect...
- Make a gambeson of natural fabric that allows the heat to get out of the armour.
- get a tabbard in a light colour
- Buy a ape-sized amount of bananas and plant a banana tree at the pennsic site for the next years
- stick to water and apple juice mixed with water. I don´t like that chemical paste stuff...
- Try to wander behind a bigger fighter than me (haha) to profit from the shade... (And use him as life shield... )

*lol*
sounds like a plan, doesn´t it?
hihi
Robyn

[Oswyn_de_Wulferton]

I had always heard that carbonation was a diuretic, not caffiene. Well, not specifically a diuretic, but would cause dehydration and heat stroke/exhaustion faster. I didnt drink anything carbonated working at a camp in the middle of a Georgia summer (3 years running), and I was fine being outdoors from 8:30am to 10pm. Once I had a soda or two because of forgetting, and I was wiped. Train your body out of carbonated soft drinks before going to war. Aside from going thru caffiene withdrawls (yes, I believe that 80% of the adult population is addicted to caffiene), your body will be more used to water being in your system and being able to flush it out more efficiently. Get to the point where you are drinking lots of water before you go to Pennsic. When I was working outdoors, I would regularly go through 2-3 liters of water in my Camelbak in a day. The joke was to refill it every night, becuase you would empty it the next day. The biggest thing I can emphasise is to keep your helm off your head as much as possible and store it in a cool place (under your shield works great). Giving your head air to ventilate with is the best way to cool down. At Gulf Wars, there were little shield pods all over the edges of the fighting field where households and groups stacked several helms underneath their shields. Looked like the Aliens moive met SCA.

[Murdock]

Dude if wearing a shirt would make my abs and chest look like one of those guys in Circ de Soleil, I'd but a dozen of them

Yeah i know what ya mean.


You seen ths adds for UA?

Makes me wanna send em a letter.


"Dear Under armour.

I have purchased shirt.....

please send muscles."

[Winterfell]

I am a tall fat out of shape guy who dislikes the heat. On top of Sir Mord's fruit recommendation I can say having an tight fitting arming cote and helmet liner made of 4 layers of linen with raw cotton as the stuffing keeps me cool in the worst heat and humidity. I never add water to it, sweat is all it needs. My armor is all metal, leather, and linen, no artificial materials and no plastic. Metal is a conductor and will only get as warm or cool as its environment. Plastic on the other hand is an insulator and will trap heat and cause it to build.

Most guys I know are sweltering on the field while I remain cool.

Ahem. Remember your overheating incident at Assessment a few years ago?

[Christophe de Frisselle]

I don´t know ecactly what underarmour is, but I was told by Maestro Aethstan that it was very smart what they did 700 years ago and that I shouldn´t try to improve a system that worked for hundreds of years, because mostly it has a negative effect...

The UK Under Armour site:
http://www.underarmour.co.uk

Yep, It if ain't broke don't fix it.

[Winterfell]

Aside from the wicking capability of Underarmour, it also doe not bind up like a tshirt or hospital scrub does.
Fits like a second skin. Just don't get the white ones.

[critter]

I fight bare chested a lot but that might not work for you.....

might work for us.....

[Murdock]

after ya wear a UA for bout 8 hours it's glued to ya

Ya gotta peel em off and gawd do they stink in their own special way.

They work for what their designed for, medieval combat ain't it

[James B.]

I am a tall fat out of shape guy who dislikes the heat. On top of Sir Mord's fruit recommendation I can say having an tight fitting arming cote and helmet liner made of 4 layers of linen with raw cotton as the stuffing keeps me cool in the worst heat and humidity. I never add water to it, sweat is all it needs. My armor is all metal, leather, and linen, no artificial materials and no plastic. Metal is a conductor and will only get as warm or cool as its environment. Plastic on the other hand is an insulator and will trap heat and cause it to build.

Most guys I know are sweltering on the field while I remain cool.

Ahem. Remember your overheating incident at Assessment a few years ago?

Jesus that was just putting on the armor, I never even fought, I was a bit sick to start and it was a nasty day, started to get the shakes and had to dump the gear.

OTOH I did well at Highland River which was hot and mega humid, I stayed in my arming cote because it was cooler than my garb. I was fine at Pennsic last year even on the hot days though I had not been in my armor since I twisted my ankle in late April.

[MalcolmdeMoffat]

King's Assessment two years ago I was running late (missed my knight's knighting) got armoured and swung three blows before the rise of the bile.....run runrun too late!!! [yack] [/yack] through the bargrill...i was done for the day!!

[Murdock]

Try yackin in a closed faced bascinet

it spatters back into your mouth and up your nose

[Nissan Maxima]

Oh. Thanks for sharing guys.

[James B.]

King's Assessment two years ago I was running late (missed my knight's knighting) got armoured and swung three blows before the rise of the bile.....run runrun too late!!! [yack] [/yack] through the bargrill...i was done for the day!!

Yeah that was the event, oi.

[Stonekeep]

A friend of mine who fishes professionally has set him up a little relaxation area in his attic where it prob reaches 150 degrees or more. He spends as much time up there on off days as he can.

[Shamey]

rhum would kill me instantly... especially in hot sun. After a good glass of rhum in the sun my only way to prevent heating would be taking all clothes off and run over the place shouting "yeeeehawww".
I guess it would be fun for you, but I don´t want pictures of that in the internet...



Robyn

Oh I don't know, I sure wouldn't mind if you did that


Leah

[Hrogn]

rhum would kill me instantly... especially in hot sun. After a good glass of rhum in the sun my only way to prevent heating would be taking all clothes off and run over the place shouting "yeeeehawww".
I guess it would be fun for you, but I don´t want pictures of that in the internet...



Robyn

Oh I don't know, I sure wouldn't mind if you did that


Leah

I am absolutely amazed that it took that long for somebody to bite on that comment. You guys must be getting old to not comment when girls start talking about taking their clothes off.

[Jon Barber]

Anyone else notice a number of posts have disappeared out of this thread?

Jon

[Corby]

I'm a transplant from NY/East to Texas/Ansteorra, with two years in germany in between. I hate sweating. I am much more at home in a snowbank. What has worked best for me is drinking lots of fluids beforehand, staying away from caffeine and alcohol, and working in the heat to acclimatize to the fact that sweating is miserable and I have to do it.
Can't wait until I can go back north and leave the upper layers of hell here. Beats baghdad any day tho

[Leo Medii]

Kill your opponents fast.
Use minimal energy to do so.

[olaf haraldson]

And we can't wait to have you back Corby. Still got that bottle waiting...

[Jon Barber]

Anyone else notice a number of posts have disappeared out of this thread?

Jon

[robyn]

Anyone else notice a number of posts have disappeared out of this thread?

Jon

what posts?
I had a look at the underarmour site. still dindn´t find a dealer. and-ahem- do they sell the stuff in kiddie-size??
I´m out in the sun a few hours a day if I can. Yesterday I did half marathon training with my girlfriend (me on skates, carrying the backpack full of water, the GPS and the watch).
Whoa, couldnd move anymore. The way to bed in the evening was just awful...

Robyn

[Gwydion Caithnes]

I started using an Underarmour shirt under my 100% cotton gambeson last year, and find that it works well for me. But Murdock is right - you gotta change them out every four hours or so...they can get soaked to the point that they don't work as designed. Remember, they were designed for sports, where folks aren't likely to be exerting themselves for as long as we often do.

But I have to believe that linen would work just as well, and it's certainly cheaper.

I'm gonna try Mord's "bananas for breakfast" trick this year.

[Jon Barber]

Anyone else notice a number of posts have disappeared out of this thread?

Jon

what posts?

Everything from Thursday from what I can tell. IIRC:

Murdock posted again about how Underarmour isn't that great for the SCA, Broadway asked why he was so vehement about it, Murdock went off a bit about how people are just into it now because of the cool name, I talked a little about how I'd been using different wicking fabric garments for years, Alfred of Carlyle said something similar, I asked Murdock about a brand he'd mentioned named 5.11, so did Carlyle, Murdock gave us some more info on it and somebody else asked for the URL to where it could be purchased, a few other assorted posts.

All those seem to be gone. Odd.

Jon

[VladsKremlin]

Just don't put UA on under synthetic fibers. My old fighting tunic is some kind of blend, and both times I've worn it + the UA I've had heat problems. Like I gotta get outta this freakin armor problems.

[freiman the minstrel]

Just don't put UA on under synthetic fibers. My old fighting tunic is some kind of blend, and both times I've worn it + the UA I've had heat problems. Like I gotta get outta this freakin armor problems.

Thanks, Vlad. That was somethingI didn't know. We will make sure of Robyn's cloth. I am not sure that she uses any synthetic fibres of any kind in her LH/SCA gear, though there is still some concealed plastic . I am pretty sure that she doesn't have any Under Armor at this point, but I had planned on a wal-mart trip on the 3rd of August. UA was on the list. Maybe it shouldn't be.

We got her from a living history group when she came to work at the Theatre she worked at when we found her. Thier requirements were kind of stingent.

If we run into you at Pennsic, ask me about the "Crazy Coed Summer" at fighter practice.

f

[Sextus Maximus]

Down here in old Texas, I always see people who have closed face helms have issues with over heating. I am so happy in having an open face helm. A great majority of the heat the is being released is from your head. When your head over heats, that is very bad. I always drink one cup of coffee before a big fight. One cup.. Also another thing I see fighters do is drink all night and get up and try to fight being hung over and dehydrated which can make you sick very quick. I always kept an ice chest filled with ice, Gatorade, Water Bottles and bandanas. When there is a hold, I will drink some water and ever other hold drink some Gatorade. I also use those nice cold bandanas to wipe my face and head to reduce the heat to my brain. Conditioning is also key and will help you get used to the heat. Still, I suggest some a way to cool off the head. As long as my head is cool, I am good. I have also seen people have a linen hood and they put in thier ice chest overnight. They take it out of the cooler about two hours before, let it warm up and the have a great cool hood to put over thier head. I think the most important thing is listen to your body. If its telling its hot and your mouth is getting dry, get off the field, find some shade and rehydrate slowly.