Water, Water, Water - Dehydration in 90 minutes!

I went to the rifle range yesterday with my son. It was 94 degrees, and there's no shade at the range. I left my water bottles at the truck - 300 yards from where we were shooting. No problem, right?

I put 75 rounds through the shotgun for some trap shooting (and wondered why I did so very poorly - I had the Cylinder choke in!) , and then we did some target shooting with rifles at the 50 and 100 yeard positions.

I was HOT hot hot. Sweating heavily and all. We'd been out in the sun for less than 2 hours when I realized that I had stopped sweating, I was a bit dizzy and my chest hurt. Dehydration had set in - and so quick! We high-tailed it back to the truck and we both downed a half a liter of water in a moment, and then sat sipping water for a while. I was glad I was able to re-fill my water bottles from a hose spigot at the fieldhouse, because I needed almost 2 liters of water to get my brain back in gear. Now this was just standing around in the sun shooting stuff - not like I was lifitng rocks or anything. Water, water water. It's the key, and I've displaced much of the so-called "essential" stuff I used to carry arround in my kit bag (like a flare gun) in exchange for a supply of water that's ready to drink and my sweetwater purification device. The survival kit is now, by weight, 75% water and 25% everything else.

Wow, fast. What had you been doing before? It sounds like you were out of balance.

But I like your water:stuff ratio. The human body is something like 70-80% water.

Interesting how different environments, physiologies and a lot of other factors all play a role. I spent my lunch hour jogging in 95 degree heat forabout 90 minutes with not a single sip of water and no signs of dehydration. I'm not exactly in tip top physical condition either but I do stay well hydrated in general so when I left the office to go jog I suspect I was already relatively well hydrated and I'm sure that played a part. I have also lived in extremely hot environments since I was 4 years old which probably also plays a role.

I'm glad things worked out well. It's great that you recognize the signs. That was your saving grace.

I hike a lot in 100+ degree weather and don't enjoy the thought of carrying a lot of water so I have gotten in the habit of drinking about a liter of water just previous to going on a hike. This of course wouldn't work when jogging but it works well for hikes as long as you dont mind making lots of stops along the trail to relive yourself in the first hour or two. I imagine this would not be as convenient for females either.

Keep an eye on yourself, Marty... heat stress to that extent isn't neccessarily a "replace the water and everything's O.K." proposition... I've worked with guys who've felt ill effects a couple a days later.

Troy

Well, earlier that day I was splitting (with a maul) some huge Walnut logs and I had also been doing some work in the yard. I may have arrived a bit "dry" and I've had heatstroke before during a live-burn fire training drill that was held in August, and I know this makes me more susecptible to it. All I can say is that I need more water than some other folks. Glad I always have some.

Was on a noon-to-4 dove hunt one opening day with temps in the 90s, humid, not much wind. A buddy and I each carried "dove buckets" that had about 3 quarts of water each, as well as shells, etc. End of the day, he said he nearly dropped while walking the couple hundred yards to the truck (empty handed), and I know I nearly passed out when I laid back and waited for him to bring the truck to me and the gear. And we'd drank all our water. Amazing what time, sun heat and humidity will do to you.