Booze... not what u think.

ok I bring this to the table...

booze consumption a sensible action to combat hyperthermia?

now allow me to explain my logic. It is a widly known fact in the survival comunity that in cold weather situations booze is discouraged , because it speeds the cooling of the core body temperature. This is because booze expands the capillaries int the extremities allowing for more surface area to cool the blood. I believe the same concept can be applied to the hyperthermia (the over heating of the body, the opposite of hypothermia). the same cooling principal can be used to return the body back to a safe temperature.

in regards to to hyperthermia military medics have been known to use the rotor wash from helicopters to cool soldiers suffering from hyperthermia.

obviously Ice water effectively cures hyperthermia but I think some tall drinks would be much more enjoyable.

anyway I challenge you guys to come up with some other unorthydox uses for booze.
__________________

Anesthesia.
Enjoyment.
Bacteria Killer.
Disinfectant.

Depends what you have and how you want to use it.

I defy a survialist to survive without booze and smokes.

What say ye?

I think you're right.

However, alcohol (afaik) dehydrates the body. That could be a big problem for somebody who's overheated, because typically you sweat bullets when you're too hot.

Water is also better at holding heat (or lack there of) than alcohol. So cold water would absorb more of the bodies heat, thus cooling it, then alcohol would.

I think what would probably be ideal is very cold water, and an Asprin.

Aphrodisiac. After post-SHTF and people are living in scarce communities up in the hills they would need to make more babies fast to keep the human race alive. When a person drinks they like getting it on which makes babies.

it may not cool you down when your hot.

But if multiple people are involved of various genders.

it will sure make you look hot

reply to post by wiredamerican


I like the way you think.

Seriously, if booze isn't being traded of the same value as food if SHTF I would be very surprised.

reply to post by The_Smokeing_Gun


Ask the police and the paramedics in the Southern States how many drinker are taken daily to the local ER during the summer months.

I think of a SitX as a potentially long-term, life-changing event. Booze as booze is going to matter. It can be traded, for one thing, and the best booze for that situation, IMO is that which a person can make themselves from native fruits, using ambient yeasts and sugars from fruit pulp/juices.

If one needs spirits, then a simple fractionating column and accurate thermometer gets you "medicinal" spirits, as well as some other non-edible, but potentially useful compounds. Note: This is currently illegal pretty much everywhere -- to distill spirits -- however learning how to do it is usually NOT illegal.

* small amounts of [alcohol and soap] in water as an insecticide (for plants)
* tinctures dissolved in alcohol as a personal bug deterrant
* defensive weapons as an accelerant
* fuel
* astringent


Good thread.

all i know is that when it's minus 10 up here in canada framin', the hungover guys always got their jackets off. Maybe you're not taking into account the heat retention that alcohol brings?

obviously Ice water effectively cures hyperthermia but I think some tall drinks would be much more enjoyable.

Indeed it could. Apparently alchohol can slow down the effects of hyperthermia.


[edit on 19-7-2009 by Scooby Doo]

Well think of it this way, how is it possible that those Russians in Siberia can drink vodka all day?

Obviously it is beneficial to survival in cold weather conditions.

Trust me if you went to live in Siberia for a few years, you would be drinking a lot of vodka too!

Originally posted by Scooby Doo

obviously Ice water effectively cures hyperthermia but I think some tall drinks would be much more enjoyable.

Indeed it could. Apparently alchohol can slow down the effects of hyperthermia.


[edit on 19-7-2009 by Scooby Doo]

I don't know about slow but I would say there is deffinetly potential to aid in the efficiency of cooling your body


[edit on 19/7/09 by The_Smokeing_Gun]

reply to post by heyo


there is no heat retention involved with booze. the booze in thier system thins the blood and opens the compillaries to the extremities. this keeps the blood from being forced to thier core. it makes them feel warmer but thier core body temperature is falling much faster then it would normally.

Well, now about if a person is experiencing extreme cold, let't not waste the alcohol on that person. Let's all stand around and drink beer, and then when we have to pee from all the beer intake, we all just pee hot urine on the suffering person. That will warm them up.

Seriously, though, if a person is experiencing symptoms from being really, really cold, other persons could urinate on that suffering person's body and it would warm them up.

I was talking with a medic when I was in the army in the 1980's to 1990's and he said this really was an example that medics were told about during his training as to how to help a cold person get warmer.

I said, oh, kinky. lol

He said, yeah, and you might get to piss on someone you don't like.

reply to post by The_Smokeing_Gun


That's all well and good, and i'm sure your explanation is scientifically sound. However, in practice, when i'm hungover, i wear a tshirt at 0 to about minus5 celsius. That's how it is. I don't know how to explain it, nor do i care to. Fact is, it's common knowledge amongst the old timers, and i see it in practice regularly.
for those reasons, i'm gonna believe in MY outlook on it, cause it's what works in real life.

I have a great use for alcohol. Give to your enemy then go take his s*** while he's laid out.

As far as I'm concerned if the SHTF then the party is over. Booze will have no place in my survival bag.I don't want to fall and break a bone when I'm out in the field or pass out and wake up to discover my supplies gone along with the people I drank with. If you want to stay warm buy a good cold weather sleeping bag or take some extra blankets, at least you can use them everyday instead of drinking for a night.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
I have a great use for alcohol. Give to your enemy then go take his s*** while he's laid out.

You can bet that this is going to happen quite frequently. It happens now. Everybody has heard the story of the guy that tied one on, took the pretty girl to a hotel room and woke up to what he wants the police and the wife to believe was a a robbery and he has no clue to who or how it happened.

Booze may have it uses but it brings with it more problems then you want to deal with during an emergency. It will be hard enough to deal with fear, angry, hunger and greed. Throw a drunk into the mix and your problems just became exponentiated.

Originally posted by heyo
i'm gonna believe in MY outlook on it...

Well thats all fine and dandy but it is close minded opinions like that, that get people killed.

[edit on 20/7/09 by The_Smokeing_Gun]

Good things to remember about booze in good times or bad:

“Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” Ernest Hemingway

Drink, sir, is a great provoker of three things . . . nose-painting, sleep, and urine. Lechery, sir, it provokes, and unprovokes; it provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance. William Shakespeare
Macbeth 2. 3

Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
Benjamin Franklin

Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.
Frank Sinatra

Lady Astor: Sir, if you were my husband, I would poison your drink.
Winston Churchill: Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it.

Draft beer, not people. Author Unknown

Wine is sunlight, held together by water. Galileo

How come if alcohol kills millions of brain cells, it never killed the ones that made me want to drink? Author Unknown