At What Point Do You Call It Quits?

[Cypress Sun]

1 hour ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Years ago Coto Cowboys matches were 10 stages. In July, August and September we would have some pretty warm 100+ days. I shot a couple of those and man, after 7 stages in the heat it really takes it out of you. 
Finally decided to just go home when it got to be too much. When you can feel your pulse throbbing in your neck it’s time to go cool off somewhere. 

 

Nope....it's past time to go cool off somewhere.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Yep, part of the issue with shooting in 115 heat is not just making it through the match.  It is some of the consequences that happen to your body the rest of the day.

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

YES, WOULD GO, right to the refrigerator, withdraw another cold brewski,

kick back, turn up the air conditioner and read about reloading. 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

But it’s a dry heat!  ))))

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

1 hour ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

If you lived in the Deep South and went by heat index, you'd stay indoors from late May to October (not September- high school football games still have heat timeouts in September and they usually don't start until 6:30-7:00pm).

 

Any high over the low to mid 90's will generate a heat index in the triple digits under normal circumstances.  Let one of those 'heat effect' thunderstorms roll through too early in the afternoon (2 or 3 instead of 4 or 5) and the humidity for the rest of the day goes through the roof.  A heat index over 110 after 5 pm (on a day with a actual high of only 93 or so) ain't unheard of on those days.

 

We're actually pretty dry feeling outside today.  The current humidity is only 52%.  The heat index right now is only about 92 with an actual high in the mid to upper 80's.

[Patagonia Pete]

Aw heck ...

 

 

The Twilight Zone episode only got to 120!!

 

[Chantry]

4 hours ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

 

Yup, it's means they'll find your desiccated body instead of a rotting one 

[Subdeacon Joe]

[Warden Callaway]

I try to keep active.  We have a farm and although we rent out the pasture we still have a lot of general maintenance chores like keeping the roads and trails open.  We burn firewood so cut up dead and down trees.  On and on.  If I don't have a chore to do,  I try to get in a good walk.  But this winter and spring was miserable to get out most of the time.  Once it started to green up, oak pollen made my life miserable.   I lost a lot of ground since last fall.  I've been trying to toughen up by getting back outside a few hours each day. 

 

It may sound like I'm a wimp but shooting a match takes about all the endurance I can muster. I take it easy the next day just cleaning guns, brass, etc. 

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

50 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said:

I try to keep active.  We have a farm and although we rent out the pasture we still have a lot of general maintenance chores like keeping the roads and trails open.  We burn firewood so cut up dead and down trees.  On and on.  If I don't have a chore to do,  I try to get in a good walk.  But this winter and spring was miserable to get out most of the time.  Once it started to green up, oak pollen made my life miserable.   I lost a lot of ground since last fall.  I've been trying to toughen up by getting back outside a few hours each day. 

 

It may sound like I'm a wimp but shooting a match takes about all the endurance I can muster. I take it easy the next day just cleaning guns, brass, etc. 

 

 

More and more of us are facing the same reality.

[Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663]

10 hours ago, Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 said:

Up here in our part of Canada, our posses try to be shut down and gone before 2:00 in June and July and we often don't have a match in August.

And it's no way as hot you pards are discussing.

We do hold well attended winter matches in the cold and snow however.

Shooting sheds, load and unload tables with a propane heaters so you don't get your fingers frost bitten and we used to use warming tents.

Now we have a heated cabin to wait your turn in.

I guess we're just acclimatized differently. 

I hate snow.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Known health issues makes heat less tolerable like CHF

Even more so with high RH levels like we are now seeing in SPF.

OLG 

 

[Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663]

Folks, yes it gets hot in Arizona during the summer.  It does--no doubt.  But even in the summer it is enjoyable outside in the early mornings and late evenings.  In the winter, there are few days I can't enjoy being outside during some part of the day.   Can you say that about the days in your area?

 

Now back to the subject. STAY SAFE!! 

By golly!

[Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663]

9 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Known health issues makes heat less tolerable like CHF

Even more so with high RH levels like we are now seeing in SPF.

OLG 

 

You're speaking again in those unknown tongues.  

You lumpy old gritz.   

Are you Pentecostal?

 

[Bad Bascomb, SASS # 47,494]

  Used to really enjoy dry summer heat.  Not so much with advancing age......  We'll shoot this Saturday, Sign ups at 7, meeting @ 7:45, and with 6 stages we'll finish by 10:30.  Last 2 are abreviated to save time and ammo.  

Start early, drink a lot, and use proper electrolyte supplementation.  Don't eat heavy, hard- to- digest foods.  Know your limitations.

[Chickamauga Slim]

So the key to having a good time in triple digit heat is adequate hydration. When expecting these temperatures and planning to participate in any outdoor activity, one should begin a hydration regiment at least 24 hours in advance of said scheduled event. This regiment should include, but is not limited to, drinking copious amounts of pristine, (extra virgin), H2O. The intake of this fluid should continue for the next 48 hours. Should one be unable to obtain certified EVH2O, one may consider any fermented adult beverage as an adequate substitute provided that a. said beverage is as cold as possible up to the point of freezing solid, and b. said beverage is consumed in a temperature controlled environment not to exceed 76 degrees (F). Medical research has also shown that for either recommended hydration regiment to be effective it is imperative that you remain in said  temperature controlled environment until the temperature outside has returned to a bearable range.

 

Full disclosure, I am not a medical doctor, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express, but I do accept most insurance plans.

[Cholla]

Working in the heat takes it out of me. Playing in the heat does the same. I wish we had the mock town with roofs to stay under like other ranges have.

[watab kid]

weather has always played a part in my choices - dont like it cold at all , dont want that kind of heat - do not need the rain , i want to enjoy what im doing first and foremost every day i have left 

[DeaconKC]

I spent decades working corrections, first in a 100+ year old prison where the cell house temps often hit 110 on the upper galleries. The I became a Field Parole Agent, working outside checking parolees in a bulletproof vest. Often would drink 3-4 Gatorades a day. Nope, not gonna wipe myself out voluntarily shooting.

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

7 hours ago, Chickamauga Slim said:

So the key to having a good time in triple digit heat is adequate hydration. When expecting these temperatures and planning to participate in any outdoor activity, one should begin a hydration regiment at least 24 hours in advance of said scheduled event. This regiment should include, but is not limited to, drinking copious amounts of pristine, (extra virgin), H2O. The intake of this fluid should continue for the next 48 hours. Should one be unable to obtain certified EVH2O, one may consider any fermented adult beverage as an adequate substitute provided that a. said beverage is as cold as possible up to the point of freezing solid, and b. said beverage is consumed in a temperature controlled environment not to exceed 76 degrees (F). Medical research has also shown that for either recommended hydration regiment to be effective it is imperative that you remain in said  temperature controlled environment until the temperature outside has returned to a bearable range.

 

Full disclosure, I am not a medical doctor, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express, but I do accept most insurance plans.

The Israelis- who also know a thing or two about living in a desert- did some testing and found that troops marching under desert conditions fared better when they stopped for at least 10 minutes every hour and drank a liter (a little more than a quart) of water an hour.

 

That's one good thing about the South in the summer is that you know you're sweating- because you feel like you just jumped in a pool fully clothed- so you drink.  In low humidity locales, your sweat evaporates so fast that you scarcely are aware that you're sweating and the need for constant hydration isn't as apparent.

[Ace_of_Hearts]

When the guns get so hot on the loading table you can't carry them to the line without gloves....... Time to quit!

 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

43 minutes ago, Smuteye John SASS#24774 said:

The Israelis- who also know a thing or two about living in a desert- did some testing and found that troops marching under desert conditions fared better when they stopped for at least 10 minutes every hour and drank a liter (a little more than a quart) of water an hour. 

 

That's one good thing about the South in the summer is that you know you're sweating- because you feel like you just jumped in a pool fully clothed- so you drink.  In low humidity locales, your sweat evaporates so fast that you scarcely are aware that you're sweating and the need for constant hydration isn't as apparent.

I lived in the Mojave Desert for 28yrs before moving to SPF/MO.

The fast drying sweat of the desert is a good way of cooling. In high RH levels you need a fan or such to do such.

OLG 

[Tequila Shooter]

Living and shooting in southern MS/LA you get used to heat and humidity.  I’ve told people that’ve come to visit that we can get 100% humidity and it not be raining, they usually don’t believe it until they see it for themselves.  I’m surprised you AZ pards don’t have swamp coolers on the stages.  They don’t work here but in dry heat they feel good.  

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

13 hours ago, Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663 said:

I hate snow.

We/I don't mind it. 

I can always put on more winter clothing better parka etc, but the heat just does me in, as it seems to do for most Canucks outside the GTA/Golden Triangle.

[Choctaw Jack]

Shot a five stage  match yesterday.The temperature was in the low to mid 90's by the time we finished.

I was so hot that I didn't  stay for lunch following the match.

Missed visiting with the posse,but it was time to go.

Choctaw

[Joke 'um]

The Weather R.O.

If you know you can't handle the weather, stay home.

If you think you can't handle the weather, stay home.

If you think you can handle the weather, stay home.

If you know you can handle the weather, have a ball.

 

Somewhere, our society has gotten the idea that the weakest and least able get to run the show.  "I can't take the heat.  Cancel the match."  "I'm afraid of guns.  Ban guns."  "Bicyclists could get hurt.  Mandate helmets."

Truely, nobody wants to have to jump over your dead carcass when transitioning between shooting points.  Manage your own life as necessary.

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

10 hours ago, Tequila Shooter said:

Living and shooting in southern MS/LA you get used to heat and humidity.  I’ve told people that’ve come to visit that we can get 100% humidity and it not be raining, they usually don’t believe it until they see it for themselves.  I’m surprised you AZ pards don’t have swamp coolers on the stages.  They don’t work here but in dry heat they feel good.  

On days like those, all a fan would do is blow the heat on you and make you feel hotter.  If it's higher than about 96-97 degrees, air moving just feels like somebody propped the oven door open.

 

That was the odd thing I discovered when I was in Phoenix years ago.  They were under a heat advisory because it was supposed to be 116 that day.  I know what 104-105 in the South is like and it's miserable.  The sun hits you like just touched a hot pan on the stove and the first breath after you step outdoors is actually physically uncomfortable.  When it's that hot, nothing happens in nature.  Even the birds don't chirp during the heat of the day.  So, around 2 or 3, I went outside to see what 116 was actually like.

 

It weren't bad at all- or, at least, it wasn't as bad as I expected.  The sun was strong but the low humidity made it quite bearable.  Overall, it reminded me of a mid to upper 90's during a dry spell sort of day more than anything else.

[watab kid]

13 hours ago, Joke 'um said:

The Weather R.O.

If you know you can't handle the weather, stay home.

If you think you can't handle the weather, stay home.

If you think you can handle the weather, stay home.

If you know you can handle the weather, have a ball.

 

Somewhere, our society has gotten the idea that the weakest and least able get to run the show.  "I can't take the heat.  Cancel the match."  "I'm afraid of guns.  Ban guns."  "Bicyclists could get hurt.  Mandate helmets."

Truely, nobody wants to have to jump over your dead carcass when transitioning between shooting points.  Manage your own life as necessary.

i cant argue with that , its how i feel as well - i just make my own calls and wish everyone well if i choose not to , but i agree never cancel - let those that can do their thing 

[DeaconKC]

The Missus and I were just laughing, remembering the squeals of sitting down on a black vinyl car seat in the summer with shorts on!

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217]

I can remember two instances where I had too much heat. Both took time (hours) to recover from.

[Warden Callaway]

Another consideration for me is how much sleep I got the night before. 

 

I don't sleep well. I'll sleep solid for three or four hours at best.   Then I'll toss and turn. If I can't sleep,  I get up and work on a video or reload or something for a couple of hours.  I'll go back to bed. About half the time I can't get to sleep.  If I don't get sleep, I'm pretty much exhausted before the match starts. 

 

We did our shopping trip this morning.   I bought a rechargeable battery powered fan this morning for $8.88 at Wally-World.   It's not big. Maybe 6".  Says it'll run 6 hours.  I've not tried it yet. 

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

On 6/14/2021 at 5:33 AM, Ace_of_Hearts said:

When the guns get so hot on the loading table you can't carry them to the line without gloves....... Time to quit!

 

If you're shooting BP, that happens no matter what the temp. Especially if your rifle is '60 Henry!

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

1 hour ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

If you're shooting BP, that happens no matter what the temp. Especially if your rifle is '60 Henry!

 

The big difference is in the winter when it is in the 70s the gun cools down between stages.  In the summer they stay hot all the time.  Setting steel is impossible without good leather gloves.  In the winter set-up stars at 1:00 pm the day before the match.  In summer it starts at 7:00 am.

 

P.S.  The hat I put in the photo above I wore to EOT ten or twelve years ago.  It was supposed to help blow the BP smoke out of the way.  Got a lot of laughs but I only used it for two stages.  The whirring noice and vibration from the motor was driving me nuts.  Now Allie I know you are going to say how can anyone tell the difference,