Keeping Cool/Not Dying

>>9038127
Oh and by the way you should totally buy Cool Shirt(tm)! (only $420.69)

File: 81bPE+z+S8L._SY679SX437_SY679_CR,0,0,437,679_PIbundle-24,TopRight,0,0_SX437_SY679_CR,0,0,437,679_SH20_.jpg (66KB, 437x679px) Image search: [Google]

66KB, 437x679px

Here's some tips I've gathered from reading and talking to other cosplayers. Luckily America has been at war in the desert for years and a lot of research has gone into keeping cool in the heat.

Make sure to pay attention to the weather forecasts. Knowing ahead of time can help you adapt accordingly.

If you have a bulky hot costume then get a hotel room as close to the con as possible. Not only will this cut down on the time you spend outside in it but it also means you can get to a cold shower quickly if you need one. Cold showers are great ways to cool off if you feel yourself overheating.

Those instant ice packs are great in emergencies but you need to know how to use them. You radiate most of your heat from your hands and feet, even if your face and head may feel hotter. If you feel yourself getting too hot, ice packs can be applied to your hands and forearms but make sure not to just hold them in place. Cooling your palms with the ice back can serve to just constrict the blood flow to that area. It'll feel cold but won't do much to cool the blood reaching the parts of your body that need it. Rub them slowly along the palms and backs of your hands and the underside of your forearms.

>>9038134
Actually I was going to suggest making your own. They're just vinyl tubing sewn into a spandex t-shirt.

>>9038134
probably worth it for furries and the like desu

>>9038143
If you plan on going in a hot stuffy costume then keep your trips to the con floor short. I'm talking around 30-mins, an hour max. You can always make another trip back but as soon as you feel too hot head back to your hotel room to cool off.

The obvious advice is to bring lots of water but if you don't have a good place in your costume to store it you can cut down on that by following the previous tip and just not staying out for too long. Ice cold water can lower your core temperature significantly and quickly. While it's technically possible to cool down too fast this way honestly don't even bother worrying about that. Your body is plenty good at heating itself by itself but you have to take charge of cooling it down if you want to.

KNOW WHAT HEAT RELATED ILLNESS LOOKS LIKE:

Heat exhaustion is where you become very hot and start to lose water or salt from your body. Common symptoms include weakness, feeling faint, headache, muscle cramps, nausea, heavy sweating and intense thirst.

Heatstroke is where the body is no longer able to cool itself and a person's body temperature becomes dangerously high. Heatstroke is less common, but more serious. Untreated symptoms include confusion, seizures and loss of consciousness.

>>9038152
Nah, most make those themself these days because cool pack pockets don't take long to make.

Related:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Ice-Vest/?ALLSTEPS

>>9038168
Those work great but there's a few things to keep in mind. They last about an hour if you cool them in a freezer but if you're staying in a hotel you may only have access to a mini-fridge. Cooled in a refrigerator, you can only really rely on them for about 20-30 minutes.

>>9038167
or if you're not a 400 pound whale, do some conditioning in the months leading up to the con, so that way you aren't out of breath and streaming sweat after a single flight of stairs.

>>9038127
Does anyone have any experience using one of these shirts? I know the shirt itself is easy enough to make but what I'm wondering is do I need to carry a tank of ice water or would it be possible to get a compact peltier cooler to cool the water enough to get it to work with a closed loop and no tank?

I've heard of people going hypothermic in shirts like that because they can't adjust the temperature of the water and having an active refrigeration unit would solve that I just don't know if it could get cold enough.

>>9038143
Putting an icepack over your sternum will help you cool down faster, since that's basically your core and where your blood is pumped to/from. I like putting something cold in that area between the breast and underarm too because you can feel the cold going into your arm.

I live in South America and it gets pretty hot here. What I usually do is carry a frozen water bottle with me while walking around, it will melt as I drink and help a lot with the heat.

Nobody will think less of you or your costume if you carry around a bottle in a plastic bag, there's no excuses to leave yours at the hotel.

>>9038838
does having good endurance really make heat more tolerable?

I mean, I can play DDR all day. Sure that heats up my body, but I don't have problems cooling down since I keep my house at ~10 celsius, because fuck gas bills

>>9039238
an addendumb, I forgot to mention that I'm just asking out of pure curiousity, because I don't overheat from standing out in the sun where I live

File: 6429-Blue-300-dpi.jpg (89KB, 800x645px) Image search: [Google]

89KB, 800x645px

>>9038849
So this is a really interesting topic to me. Mostly you're right BUT like I've said luckily America has put a lot of money into finding the quickest way to expel heat from a body since we've had a lot of people in a desert in full military fatigues over the past few decades.

Cooling your torso is great for preventing overheating, that's why the cooling vests and things exist. The instant ice packs are for treatment after you are already overheating and should be applied to your extremities because that's where your body naturally vents the most heat. It's a little counterintuitive.

>>9039248
The bad advice I'm talking about is that people are going to be somehow immune to any of these problems if they're just in good enough shape.

I feel like this thread somehow has some kind of misunderstanding about what board we're on. I'm talking to and about cosplayers. Nobody is really in any particular danger of overheating just hanging out at a con. If you're covered in foam, plastic, and metal you are and that has basically zero to do with how fit you are under the costume.

okay so heat management tips
>git gud
>spend a lot of time in a sauna for conditioning
>sew a tube through a shirt and somehow get liquid going in it
>roll or rub ice on your wrists and feet to draw the heat out of your body

>>9039285
Oh, back of the neck is good, too, as long as it isn't something that'll drip

>>9039309
>parasol

Hey, great point! You think keeping the sun off of a darker suit would be an effective way to protect yourself and your costume between shoots?

>>9039321
You have a point, the blood won't stain on a darker suit and your temperature would lower very quickly. Thanks for contributing, anon!

>>9039313
It'd have to be for a fashion show -- probably fantasy themed. I'd love to see it myself lmao.

While staying hydrated, remember that water intoxication is a thing too. A deathly amount of water is roughly 0.08 L/kg without any salt intake, this can cause brain swelling and eventually death.

If you are drinking enough but begin to feel nauseous or dizzy it might be this, though it might also be exhausting or a number of other issues. The easiest way to avoid it is to consume more salt or saltier food than you normally do (it's actually the medical treatment too; if you are hospitalised with it they will give you NaCl infusions).

>>9039343
This is a thing. My friend is a park ranger and she carries a can of pringles around for hikers who have overhydrated. Water intoxication is on a whole other level but still people only know that you should stay hydrated and just assume there's no such thing as too much hydration. Just having some small salty snack can go a long way.

>>9039298
Nobody else is talking about Lolita, so it seems this whole thing is a misunderstanding. I agree that there is little reason for somebody to get great exhaustion in Lolita unless they're very overweight or wearing some lace monster that has 60 layers. But now the reasonable, adult thing to do would be to acknowledge that you are mistaken on interpreting the other anons posts, and concede the point.

You can continue to be defensive about it somehow being their fault that you are arguing about things off topic that nobody else was arguing about, but if somebody makes a thread about taking care of children and you argue how important it is to make sure they're neutered and spayed, shit talk people who disagree and name call them, then say "oh, I was talking about puppies, dumbass", there should be no expectation that you are somehow in the right.

Avoid eating too much protein the day/morning before wearing the big shit, it'll make your body temperature rise

oils and complex carbs will make you feel sick in the heat very quickly

>>9039259
Do you mind sharing the name? I feel sick when it gets hot all the time, but my doctor has never said anything about it.

>>9039320
It's not a be all end all but having some portable shade will help.

Also helps avoid sunburn which is a valuable topic in itself. Nothing can ruin your con like not being able to stand the touch of anything after a hot day

File: thiswhomps.gif (691KB, 500x375px) Image search: [Google]

691KB, 500x375px

Note to self: Shelve TJ Detweiler cosplay for AX until Anime Los Angeles.

>>9039227
I personally don't. I wear sweaters and pants and if Im super lazy, my Uggs in this summer heat in NorCal. So.... I don't know. I'm pretty fine walking about like that.

>>9039703
stop posting about your stupid TJ cosplay. nobody cares