Heat Index - When Do You Bail?

[chuck baader]

At age 67 I can identify with the heat, now. I worked in a dry cleaners for 28 years and the first two years after retirement I had no problems in the car. Seems this year I have become acclimated to the air conditioning and really suffered at Road Atlanta in May. Hence, a new cool shirt with a leftover medical cooler. Much less sweating, comfortable in the car for the complete 45 minute ProIt, and no leg cramps after the race. 100% endorsement for the cool shirt. Chuck

[Jeremy Billiel]

This is an interesting thread.

As my dad calls me... I am a corporate cup cake that gets little to no *real*cardio or physical exercise. No doubt this weekend is going to be brutal and I am running Pro-IT and the regional. If it gets that bad, then I may choose to hold out a session or start from the back. I will be hydrating starting tomorrow and taking it easy. If I feel dizzy and/or bad be smart and pull out of the way, pits, etc...

No need to be a hero. Its suppose to be fun!

Greg - When are we adding weight back to the car for a cool suit?

[Greg Amy]

Greg - When are we adding weight back to the car for a cool suit?

When you buy all the nifty bits we need to be 25 pounds below minimum weight...only 125 pounds left to go! Get motivated!

[mossaidis]

Why not use cold packs for those that don't have the $1K for the cool shirt setup?

[lateapex911]

Jeremy you better get in shape! What are you, 30?? Gregs not putting extra weight in that car for your comfort thats for sure!!

[Jeremy Billiel]

Jeremy you better get in shape! What are you, 30?? Gregs not putting extra weight in that car for your comfort thats for sure!!

LOL... Thats what makes it soo funny. He is taking off like 5 gram bolts to save weight. I should pack some lead in the rear somewhere to piss him off

[ulfelder]

Cool shirt, cool shirt, cool shirt. Changes your life. Puts spring in your step. Makes you look forward to climbing in the car - indeed, to strapping in, because when the harness compresses everything, that's when the ice-cold bennies truly kick in. Of all the dumb-ass things we spend money on, the cool shirt is my fave.

[JLawton]

I used a 1 gallon zip lock with ice and put it on my chest. The belts hold it in place. Then a sandwhich bag with ice on the back of the neck.

[gsbaker]

From the objective side, Dr. Terry Trammel presented a paper on the subject ("Heat Stress in Motorsports - Lessening the Effect on the Wearer by Selection of Fire Suit Materials and Construction", see http://papers.sae.org/2006-01-3658) testing volunteers exercising in a 140 degree environment while wearing driving suits. While the study was designed to test suits, it is clear that ugly things happen under extreme conditions -- and 140 is not unusual for tin tops in warm weather.

From the subjective side, I was at Daytona when the temp was 97 with a heat index of 107. I will not do that again.

[rsx858]

+1 for cool suit. Im 25, in great shape, run a lot, but heat is just a killer for me.. especially with that 13b turning my car into an oven. I came off of thunderbolt a year or two back dizzy and disoriented and realized just how serious of a safety issue this can be.. Picked up the cool suit and could not be happier.

Next step for me is to rig up some kind of drink system.. i have tried camel backs but have trouble with getting the mouth piece in the helmet. Ideally i think a smaller diameter tube through the front of the helmet would be ideal.. i picked up a mini bilge pump to see if i could rig up some kind of push button drink system that integrates with my helmet. My other option would be to have a water bottle with a long straw but i dont like the idea of trying to fiddle with a straw at speed.. any suggestions?

[billf]

Having not seen anything offered from the medical community members, I thought I'd chime in here.

As mentioned in the abstract of "Heat Stress in Motorsports...", the sentence is: "The Body's primary thermoregulatory pathway is sudation (the process of sweating and evaporative heat loss)." We tend to forget that saturated clothing (driver's suits) will not evaporate fluid from the skin surface, since the skin is not exposed to air. Only the wet suit is. Point being that we forget to get out of the suit when coming off the track, and put it out to dry...don't wear it. Better still, find a dry suit to wear the next time on track.

Cool suits will help to remove heat, no argument here. Staying out of the sun, AC, fountains, swiming pools, etc, will also. These periods at the track are when a crew (person) is valuable to your health...doing the work between sessions to enable the driver to cool off.

Hydration should begin at least two days before the event, and continue thru the event, with at least two days after the event to help replenish the body. Don't forget glucose, sodium and chloride with the water replacement. That salty taste to your skin means you are losing them also when you sweat.

Sorry to have to mention this, but, try to eliminate alcohol and caffine from the diet during the hydration schedule, as they are diuretics...they will help the body to eliminate water (going in the wrong direction here).

Combinations of methods will work also...cool suit, prolonged hydration schedules, cooling devices directly to the body, proper evaporation and cooling after the event. Above all, be alert to the symptoms of Heat Stroke (life threatening), and Heat exhaustion (performance degradation), and be ready to act accordingly when the symptoms occur.

Guys, it's just like racing in the rain (a different type of racing), where you have to have different equipment, and follow a few different rules. It's surviveable.

[G-Man]

Thank you for all the wisdom being shared here. This is a great example of how this forum is so valuable.

[mustanghammer]

Why not use cold packs for those that don't have the $1K for the cool shirt setup?

A cool shirt doesn't have to be expensive. Buy the shirt and the hose fittings from a dealer. Everything else can be purchased at a Walmart and a hardware store. I think I have a little over $200 in my setup and that includes the shirt, fittings, two different size coolers and spare fittings.

[rhygin]

Great thread...

1) Search on Miata.net as there is a thread from abotu 5 years ago that i used to build my own cool suit cooler/pump set up. I bought the shirt... but the pump set ended up at about $40 total, not including a few odds and ends around the garage. I know of at least 4 people that have loosely copied what I made and I am totally cool taking pics or showing at a race. Piece of cake and a testament to low budget racing and 20 min of thinking at the local hardware store. Definitely helps to keep sharp at the end of a race. If you have not used one... you cannot image the joy of feelign the cold water come through the shirt. Awesome... there are analogies... but not for this setting.

2) Strangely... I am kinda into the heat and while it makes me super frustrated on grid, i have taken some strong measures to make sure that the driver (me) is getting at least the prep of the car. I have been working out a lot more this year and am muuuuuch more comfortable with the heat and the stress that comes with it. For me, given a chosen lack of tire budget, I want it hot, humid, sunny, and hotter... my only advantage.

Regarding my second point... I do spend a lot of time taking care of myself... lots of water and electorlytes followed by lots of water. Very key if double dipping!

Come check out the cool suit set up at NHMS in a few weeks

BB

[lateapex911]

........ i have taken some strong measures to make sure that the driver (me) is getting at least the prep of the car. I have been working out a lot more this year and am muuuuuch more comfortable with the heat and the stress that comes with it...

BB

This. Typically, were racers and we bolt shit to the car to solve our problems. Ultimately it's US that needs more performance.

[gran racing]

BUT he also has a cool suit. Both are idea.

[JohnW8]

The first time using a cool shirt distracted me so much from my driving I shut it off. The race was a sprint and was over in 20-30 minutes. At my last race in Nashville I opted to not have the cool shirt in the car and I had no ill effects. Now if it was more than 30 minutes I definitely would have it hooked up. I'm not trying to be an arse but if our bodies cannot handle 30 minutes in a racecar without a cool shirt we all had better rethink racing as a hobby. Over 30 minutes is a different thing altogether.

Just my .02¢

[Streetwise guy]

I figure hot weather is an advantage for me, when I watch all the A/C type people dribbling onto the ground after a race as I pedal my bile around with my fire suit zipped up.

But I sleep in A/C that my wife controls (so its not that cold) and the rest of the summer is spent sweating outdoors or in the shop.

A/C is for the weak!

[tdw6974]

I was cleaning out my back office(ok the junk room) and I have an extra medical cooler just add the cool shirt tie power into car plug cool shirt in and your good to go. I'll bring to Watkins Glen (Garage 2 $75.00 ?

[Greg Amy]

I was cleaning out my back office(ok the junk room) and I have an extra medical cooler just add the cool shirt tie power into car plug cool shirt in and your good to go. I'll bring to Watkins Glen (Garage 2 $75.00 ?

I'll call dibs if no one else has. I'll come by and check it out (and introduce myself...)