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Old 10-01-2014, 19:11   #1
Longstreet
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Dealing With The Rain.

This question may need to be added to the knuckle dragging section. Please move there if it is deemed necessary.

A couple of years ago I went on an overnight camping trip. During the trek it started to rain. Since it was more of a misty light rain, I decided to not wear my rain coat and instead wore a thermal long sleeve shirt. My reasoning was that because I would be moving at a fast pace wearing a 30lbs. pack on a well marked trail, I would end up more wet from my sweat than the rain as the temperature was in the mid 60's. When I took short breaks I would put on my coat to keep warm and then repacked it when I started to move again. I did this throughout the whole day and had no problems. Then around 5pm I broke down into the chills. My teeth were moving a mile a minute and my body was shaking in an uncontrollable manner. Luckily I found a cave and changed into dry clothes. I then wore my raincoat and found a suitable spot to make camp. I crawled into my sleeping bag and by the morning, my chills were gone.

Fast forward to last June. I did a back to back GORUCK Challenge and Light where we spent a considerable amount of time in a river and lake. I was fine throughout both events and did not change my clothes as the temperature was in the 70's. When the Light was finally over I took off my damp clothing and hopped into my car. Suddenly the chills hit again and I had to put on my car heater to stop them. At my hotel they returned and I was again shaking uncontrollably until I took a 20 minute shower.

This weekend I am planning on doing another GORUCK Challenge and Light. The forecast is calling for rain - lots of it. What steps can I take to help minimize getting the chills? While I am certain changing my clothes will help, I will only be able to do so once the Challenge is over. And while I would like to thank that in the event of a huge downpour the Cadre will allow us to at least wring our socks out, I am not holding my breath. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Last edited by Longstreet; 04-16-2021 at 23:49.
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Old 10-01-2014, 20:03   #2
The Reaper
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Concur with Doc's comments. You have a tendency to be hypothermic.

Make sure you are wearing polypro or another insulating fabric. No cotton.

If windy, wet, and cold, wear a windstopping article of clothing.

Keep your head covered and warm whenever possible

Eat high energy food frequently. Hot food (and / or beverage) is even better.

Take advantage of shelter when and where you can, even if it is just getting out of the wind.

If you are in a cold or wet environment, do not wait too late to notify others of your problem. You won't like the results.

TR
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Old 10-01-2014, 20:40   #3
Longstreet
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Quote:
You were in the very beginning of hypothermia
I was afraid of that. During the hiking I remember having little to no appetite as I was surprised how much extra food I had after the trek. For the GORUCK I was eating gummy gels and protein Power Bars. I know in between the Challenge and Light I went to Target and had a large chocolate bar. It was considerably warmer as I remember getting into my car and it was hot. I do not recall being very hungry.

Okay so from the advice given I will wear my thermal shirt and a touque. For my last event I wore a tac shirt which worked very well as it was rugged and allowed me insert padding over my elbows - mine are really boney. I will wear my thermal shirt under it. For pants I have been pleased with my 5.11s and will wear my cold weather boxer briefs and merino socks. I will pack an extra pair just incase I am permitted a short break. I have a light shell type jacket which I will also wear throughout the event. I just hope I do not shred it. I will also see if I can fit a small thermos of hot tea in my pack. It will be a tight fit, but I think I can do it. I have already decided not to bring a 3L bladder, but will use a 1.5L bladder so there should be some extra space. My pack is not very large.

Quote:
You have a tendency to be hypothermic.
That may explain one of my runs last winter. I was training for the Bataan Memorial March (which I still need to present a report on) and went for a 35km run in -10C weather. It was sunny with a slight wind. For the first part everything went perfectly. Then around the 28km mark I felt really cold. I was puzzled as I was well dressed and was constantly running. By the 33km mark I was starting to shiver. I pressed on and finally made it home. When I go in the door I broke into an uncontrollable shivering mess. I unzipped my vest only to realize that all of my water vapour had frozen on its inside - it was completely white as was the outside of my running touque. I figured that explained the twenty minute hot shower followed by wrapping myself in a blanket for the rest of the afternoon as I could not stop shivering. What was funny was when the Bataan finally arrived, I remember people talking about having problems with the heat. Somehow it never bothered me the entire run . . .

Thanks TR and Doc for your input. Hopefully it will help allow me to complete my GORUCK events.
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I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.
--Haim Ginott--

Last edited by Longstreet; 04-16-2021 at 23:51.
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Old 10-01-2014, 21:16   #4
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You don't have enough fat.

So you need to insulate better and supplement energy better.

As stated above, use poly pro to insulate.
Radiation - keep the heat in by covering up overall, especially the head, wrist, hands.
Conduction - insulate what you sit/lie on.
Evaporation - retain heat by wind proofing.

Eat, drink, and be merry.
Always eat little often.
Drink, drink, drink.
Be merry - attitude is key. Smile hard and drive on.
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Old 10-01-2014, 21:49   #5
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Try drinking a shot of olive oil every 60-90 mins. Make sure your gut doesn't object before you use it on the trail.
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Old 10-02-2014, 10:54   #6
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Cold and wet is one of the most difficult environments for humans to operate in. 37 degrees and rain is a much different situation than 30 degrees and snow.

Water on your skin leads to heat loss. This is good if you're sweating during an athletic event in warm weather, and you can stop and feel comfortable. The problem with cold-and-wet, vis a vis workout stuff, is now you're wet, hot, but cooling rapidly in a climate that will continue to diminish your body heat to a level that is too low.

You must also consider that, when you're sweating, you are dehydrating yourself, necessitating the intake of more fluids. Unfortunately, most of the time the fluids we take in are ambient temperature, like water from a canteen. The result is that we had to have the water, but drinking the water caused us to further decrease our body temperature. Moreover, when you dehydrate, your body by necessity has to increase your pulse to keep everything going.

I'm not sure how long a GoRuck event lasts, and not real sure what you do, but expect that you will be moving at a high rate of speed with a heavy rucksack for approximately 8 hours. As such, to echo what the guys said above, I would consider:
1. Socks-quite a few pair of good, wicking, anti-blister socks. One pair on, others in the ruck, in a Ziploc bag. With foot powder as well.
2. Shoes-This is a tough one. Going through a little wet stuff, Gore-Tex/waterproof works pretty well. If the water gets deep enough to go over the top, or the undergrowth is wet enough to soak your footgear continuously, it's a bad day. I screwed up in April, wore a pair of hightop Gore-Tex trail shoes on a long trail race. If I would have known how deep the water was, I would have worn shoes that were well ventilated (think jungle boots) and just changed socks a bunch.
3. clothing-It is tough to dress for this weather. Definitely a thin layer of polypropylene/other material that insulates when wet next to the skin. Other thin layers in the ruck to change into as the wetness level dictates. You will also want a heavier layer in your ruck for if you get chilled, or if you stop. You might also want to consider a thin waterproof layer, with vents, for a downpour or extreme wind condition. Plan on putting on and taking off layers as you go, as rain, wind, and body heat ebb and flow through the day. I also wear some thin wicking gloves, and carry a pair of wool glove liners in a dry place. My hands get cold easy, especially when I'm moving at a rate where my blood is going to my lower body and seems to ignore my hands and arms.
4. Chow-I would carbo load before. During the event, consider eating lots of your jelly beans, goo, granola, etcetera as you are going. If that event is what I'm imagining, you will burn a minimum of 600 calories per hour, so you will be out of sugar within the first hour. Which, will put you into a much less efficient fat burn for the rest of the event unless you're taking in calories. You will need the calories both to perform and to stay warm.
5. Hydration-I would prehydrate to the point you're urinating often at the start. Consider access to at least some Gatorade type drink, in addition to water, at intervals throughout the event. I would definitely check out event support with regard to food and fluids.
6. Headgear-I would have a heavy and a light. An old wool watch cap does well even when its wet.
7.Exertion level-this will be tough to determine. If you're going hard, you're going to sweat. If you back off too much, people will blow your doors off in the event. You will probably have to judge the atmosphere to determine exactly how hard to go. Just remember that if you waterlog your clothes, from sweat or rain, you will greatly decrease your body heat at some point.
8. Planning for the end-You will need to have a dry towel at the stop, maybe one during the route. A small alpine stove with the ability to heat some food and liquid (tea?) can be heaven-sent at the end. Ensure that there will be some type of shelter as well. Poncho liner if you're able is pretty nice. Dry clothes head to toe at the end.

Wet, cold events sucks. IIRC, It seems like the Brits had some real problems with wet cold in the Falklands.

Hope this helps. Have fun.
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Old 10-11-2014, 22:00   #7
Longstreet
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Again I would like to thank everyone for offering suggestions on how to help my situation. For an update, I completed the GORUCK Challenge and with the exception of a few bruises and sore muscles, I was pleased with my performance. For the first time I volunteered to be a team leader and after speaking with the Cadre at the end of the event, my performance was satisfactory. I was told that I may want to be less 'bossy' in the future as I tended to order people around rather than asking them to participate for various roles. Still he had no ill words to say about my overall performance.

Luckily it did not rain as much as the weatherman called for which I think helped. In the end I wore my thermal running underwear, mechanix gloves, fleece toque, Propper tac pants (I used neoprene knee pads which helped a ton), moreno Wright socks, Propper tac-shirt (again I used the neoprene elbow pads and shoulder pads), GORUCK ballcap and Garmont T8 jungle boots. I used a SO-Tech pack with homemade sand weights (I used heavy sand called Zircon which is twice as heavy as beach sand) and a homemade bladder sleeve. For energy I brought several protein bars and Cliff power gels. My bladder leaked early in the event so I had to rely on other people for water. The temperature was low so consuming water was not as pivotal as dealing with water consumption in a hot environment.

When it did rain I made use of a North Face shell. At first it kept the rain out, but after several hours I became wet from the rain. Still the shell locked in my body heat and allowed me to continue throughout the night will no issues. I found that when I was starting to overheat, I would switch to my ballcap and remove my hood. When I started to get cold I would put on my toque and use my hood. My mechanix gloves also quickly got wet which resulted in me getting cold hands. So for most of the event I did not wear them unless necessary.

Luckily we did not do any water activities as GORUCK is notorious for performing PT in a lake or river. This concerned me greatly as I was positive that if we had, I would have been in big trouble. There was considerable wind and given the low temperature (mid to high 40's) this may explain why the Cadre avoided any direct contact with water.

So all-in-all the event was great. It was not nearly as demanding as the Challenge I completed in June (that Challenge pushed me to my absolute limits where I actually broke down and quit when carrying heavy logs 6 miles in 6 hours. Luckily the Cadre did not hear me and after a few seconds I realized my mistake and continued the event). After I finished I realized how much I want to complete a HCL, but I first need to commit more time to developing my upper body strength/endurance.

Thanks once again to all of the suggestions that was given!
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I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.
--Haim Ginott--

Last edited by Longstreet; 04-16-2021 at 23:54.
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