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My dad and his army unit would sleep under wet bath towels in the sweltering El Paso summer nights, in the late 1960s. He would wake up in the middle of the nig
by stephengillie 9y ago
My dad and his army unit would sleep under wet bath towels in the sweltering El Paso summer nights, in the late 1960s. He would wake up in the middle of the night, when the towel dried up and stopped cooling with evaporation, and have to go get it wet again.
It seems like an evolved reaction - make sure we are under cover, out of sight while sleeping and helpless. But given how much we move around, snore, talk, and make commotion while sleeping, having a simple cover may not help much. Maybe it was evolved for a smaller frame?
- jamiegreen 9y agoWet bath towel sounds...horrible! Wouldn't you develop something like 'trench foot' after a while from being constantly wet?
- germinalphrase 9y agoI have definitely used a damp sheet and a small fan to keep cool on very hot nights. Idk about a towel - but the damp sheet felt great. When it's that hot you're already laying there soaked in sweat.
- Retric 9y agoNo, "can occur in temperatures up to 16° Celsius (about 60° Fahrenheit) and within as little as 13 hours" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_foot https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_foot It's caused in large part by reduced blood flow to the extremities due to the cold. If you are useing damp cloth to keep cool then you will have plenty of blood flow. Unsanitary conditions do make increase the risks.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoI don't think they meant trench foot per se. If you lie in a bath, your wet skin goes soft and is relatively easily rubbed/peeled away around the extremities (toes, fingers). I've noticed similar softening when walking with sweat/rain-soaked socks. Also assumed it was the condition people talk of which makes keeping feet dry on jungle expeditions so important.
- Retric 9y agoGot it, however tap water is far more sanitary than jungle water, also walking around is going put a lot more stress on your skin than sleeping. Also, there is a difference from having a damp cloth on you and having water sloshing though your boots. Historically the only option was to be constantly setting though a heat wave for days at a time. Though drying sweat leaves behind a lot of salt which does help simply being a little damp is not a huge deal.
- euroclydon 9y agoWhen it’s hot, life is always better if it’s not also humid!
- mannykannot 9y agoThat's because evaporative cooling works when it is not too humid.