Cooling Vest for Heat Stress

[PennHavenTW]

Hi, we are coming into the hot summer weather
and I was wondering if some of you tree climbers out there have any
experience with cooling vests to help with the hot weather.

It looks like there are several different modes of action for them.

Evaporative and phase changing seem to be the most common.

I live in the humid northeast state of Pennsylvania so evaporative probably wouldn't work so great.

But hey, write up and let us know what your experience is too mitigate heat stress on those tree jobs.

Here is a link of one that I thought would be good. . . .
https://www.ezcooldown.com/collecti...oducts/complete-boodycool-hybrid-cooling-vest

Thanks

 

[Paul Bunions]

I'll give you a tip no one seems to know, which should be known all over the world by now.

Put crushed ice in a cup you can take with you. When you get hot, swallow some. It takes 40 times as much energy to melt ice without raising its temperature than it does to heat the same amount of water 1 degree C. Not only will it help you cool off; it will help keep you hydrated, and you won't feel as tired. When your body overheats, it makes you feel tired so you will stop exerting yourself. Cool down, and your energy comes back.

Don't know if it's possible to carry a cup in a tree, but it works on the ground. Also great for hot workouts.

 

[PennHavenTW]

Wow!!!

Never heard of that one!

I'll need to give that one a try.

Thanks!

 

[ZinTrees]

when its super hot I will take a blower and slide the tube up my pant leg and let it idle till my leg feels warm again, then switch legs, we take turns going around and hitting eachother with the blowers to cool off on hot days

drink lots of water
eat ice (chick fil a soft ice is da bomb)
what I do sometimes is freeze water bottles and leave them in the cooler, that way when I need a drink of cold water I can pull it out and let it melt throughout the day and take small sips here and there, works well, plus you can break it up into ice chunks and eat those


no advice on a cooling vest from me, never used one, but having had heat stroke before I can say for certain, take it easy, if you feel like you need a break, take one and don't let anyone tell you not to, it can kill you before you even know whats happening, I was throwing up all over the job, the truck, and the house, what saved me was "borrowing" the customers garden hose and spraying my self down head to toe, and downing a few drinks called "Bodyarmor" water and eating a family sized bag of pretzels, I had no clue what was going on other than "man I have a killer headache"

was working with my brother helping on his mowing route in Florida, mid summer, about 100 degrees and first time working in real heat, he knew that to do from years of safety meetings at big landscape companies, he started freaking out the second I said I had a headache, thats when I knew it was really bad


theres my PSA on heatstroke, don't get it

 

[iowa_jim]

Zin is right, heat stress is a problem. I can't speak to dealing with it in the context of arborist activity directly, but I can offer some warning signs.

If you stop sweating, it's time to get into AC, and consider medical attention. A person in this condition might not be thinking clearly, so it's important to watch over each other.
Drink before you get thirsty, and keep drinking.
Have you been so thirsty that you can fill up on water and still feel thirsty? Try sports drinks with electrolytes. And avoid that condition in the future by drinking early and often.
Heat stress and heat stroke have overlapping symptoms, but the one difference I've noticed when comparing the list is 'altered mental state'.
Heat stroke is an emergency and should be handled accordingly.

Cooling vests are troublesome in my experience. As soon as the cooling wears off they get hot, and balancing the amount of cooling needed is difficult. The ice pack variety doesn't last long. The evaporative style of headbands/sweatbands/neckbands helps a little even if it's humid, but in my case, I need to turn them frequently to get the cool outer area against my skin. Then they get nasty, filled with sweat and water - I prefer a wet rag.

$0.02

 

[ZinTrees]

on hot days I like to wear a very light long sleeve shirt, the long sleeves actually keep you cooler than a T shirt if the fabric is thin/light enough, typical high vis green or orange here

I don't wear a helmet if its super hot out unless we have work going on overhead, soon as the climber comes down or im out of the dropzone the helmet comes off, its amazing how much heat those trap

as a rule, we avoid being shirtless at my company, especially infront of customers or at the jobsite, however theres another more important rule, in the event of an emergency, or to avoid an emergency, any rule is allowed to be broken, so, getting too hot? take the shirt off if you need

we avoid using the customers stuff unless they say we can (power, water, tools, etc) but once again, if you absolutely have to cool down theres not a single problem grabbing their garden hose and spraying yourself down



Trucks/equipment with A/C are nice to have, I paid about $10,000 to get an air conditioned cab on my excavator and it was worth every penny

 

[Mad Professor]

re-hydration fluid:

1.5 tsp salt NaCl
1 tsp lite salt KCl
2 tsp baking soda NaHCO3
Tang or sugar to taste

Mix in 1-gal spring water

 

[diver64]

A loose short sleeve button up wrangler or Dickies shirt works great in the heat. I also have a cooling neck scarf. Dunk in water, snap and put it around your neck on the jugular. Do not drink all sports drink. Alternate one then a cool bottle of water, not ice cold. If you're not peeing, sweating or your urine is dark you are not drinking enough. You should be going through 1-2 bottles an hour thirsty or not and don't wait till your thirsty, it's too late. Also, take a multivitamin or total green mix in your water or juice in the morning. Make sure to stop for breaks in the shade, too and if you feel "off" stop immediately and get in the shade. There is no such thing as toughing out heat stroke/exhaustion.
I have much experience in desert environments both in the military and hiking out west.

 

[PennHavenTW]

Thanks fellows for all the great info!
We certainly will put it to use!

 

[PennHavenTW]

re-hydration fluid:

1.5 tsp salt NaCl
1 tsp lite salt KCl
2 tsp baking soda NaHCO3
Tang or sugar to taste

Mix in 1-gal spring water

Do any supermarket or grocery store have these ingredients?

 

[Mad Professor]

Do any supermarket or grocery store have these ingredienyup and cheap, You should have them in them pantry, i do.

Do any supermarket or grocery store have these ingredients?

in my panty, basic stuff you need
.

Salt. lite salt. baking soda , and sugar..... Tang gives the mix flavor and has vit C and potassium

 

[diver64]

re-hydration fluid:

1.5 tsp salt NaCl
1 tsp lite salt KCl
2 tsp baking soda NaHCO3
Tang or sugar to taste

Mix in 1-gal spring water

Good stuff but be careful with the baking soda. You can upset your blood balance enough to die from too much hence my water/sports drink alternating. In fact, unless your running the Ironman in Death Valley 1-2 bottles a day is probably enough.

 

[Mad Professor]

:Iin in my panty, basic stuff you need
.

Salt. lite salt. bkking soda soda, and a eugar.....

Good stuff but be careful with the baking soda. You can upset your blood balance enough to die from too much hence my water/sports drink alternating. In fact, unless your running the Ironman in Death Valley 1-2 bottles a day is probably enough.

Baking soda is to make stnomach, adjust ph, sugar help aid electolytes.

 

[Groundman One]

I get sugar free Gatorade and split it 50/50 with water and freeze it. Stays partially frozen right into the afternoon in my lunchbox. Also bring a hand towel and water it down and wipe my bald head with it. Feels great.

 

[OM617YOTA]

I've tried a vest with icepacks, the one I tried was garbage. Worse than nothing. Like wearing a loose trash bag with occasional spots of coolness.

Bought one of these water circulating cooling shirts and backpacks late last year, didn't have a chance to use it beyond testing it in the back yard, but it worked well for that. Will give it a proper test later this year. Link is a vest, not the shirt like I have, but same company.

https://www.amazon.com/CCOMPCOOLER-Backpack-Self-Contained-Circulation-Detachable/dp/B07CXG1F11

My particular issue is a health condition that doesn't let me absorb electrolytes correctly. I sweat out what I have in a hurry, can't replace it fast enough, and will stroke out even in mild temperatures. The only thing I've found that helps is wetting myself with water, so it can evaporate off like sweat, but without taking any of my electrolytes to do so.

Drink wise, I try really hard to avoid sugar. I know it helps osmotic absorption of electrolytes, but it has other adverse effects for me that I try to avoid. If sugar works for you, by all means go with Gatorade or whatever works. If I was in dire straits and needed electrolytes in a hurry, I would too, and deal with the after effects later. What I do instead is eat pickles and drink water, drink diluted pickle juice, V8 juice, coconut water (watch the ingredients, lots contain sugar), and Farmer's Switchel.



Will be watching this thread for more ideas.

 

[lone wolf]

Get a hose and spray yourself every time you feel the heat bothering you. Or carry water in a big cooler if no garden hose available. Make sure you drink enough water and or Gatorade when it gets stupid hot.

 

[diver64]

I've tried a vest with icepacks, the one I tried was garbage. Worse than nothing. Like wearing a trash bag with the occasional coolness.

Bought one of these water circulating cooling shirts and backpacks late last year, didn't have a chance to use it beyond testing it in the back yard, but it worked well for that. Will give it a proper test later this year. Link is a vest, not the shirt like I have, but same company.

https://www.amazon.com/CCOMPCOOLER-Backpack-Self-Contained-Circulation-Detachable/dp/B07CXG1F11

My particular issue is a health condition that doesn't let me absorb electrolytes correctly. I sweat out what I have in a hurry, can't replace it fast enough, and will stroke out even in mild temperatures. The only thing I've found that helps is wetting myself with water, so it can evaporate off like sweat, but without taking any of my electrolytes to do so.

Drink wise, I try really hard to avoid sugar. I know it helps osmotic absorption of electrolytes, but it has other adverse effects for me that I try to avoid. If sugar works for you, by all means go with Gatorade or whatever works. If I was in dire straits and needed electrolytes in a hurry, I would too, and deal with the after effects later. What I do instead is eat pickles and drink water, drink diluted pickle juice, V8 juice, coconut water (watch the ingredients, lots contain sugar), and Farmer's Switchel.



Will be watching this thread for more ideas.

Pickle Juice? Well, that's one way to get salt I guess. Can't say I've ever heard of someone doing that. Being from New England I've actually both the fruit thing and a form of Switchel but ours had maple syrup not molasses. Ginger seems to be the key to it for some reason and cider not white vinegar.

 

[lone wolf]

Pickle Juice? Well, that's one way to get salt I guess. Can't say I've ever heard of someone doing that.

I have in emergency!

 

[diver64]

I have in emergency!

Some people down this way mix it with whiskey and Mt Olive Pickle got so many request that they started selling the juice.

 

[kenmbz]

have been in 114 degree , high humidity weather enough times that having a cold bottle of water to dump over your head can get you out of trouble quickly.