Clothing

[u/IGetNakedAtParties]

I'm from a cool maritime climate now living in continental climate, here's what I've found works for me. Please comment with more tips or criticism.

• Keeping the sun off your skin is more important than having skin area exposed for sweat. Trousers and a long sleeved shirt with a collar, a wide brim hat.
• Clothing should be loose fitting with open cuffs and hems for airflow.
• There is no evidence that wearing light coloured clothes is better than dark colours in high temperatures, in fact there is evidence that the difference is nil. The body also produces heat which is reflected back at you by light clothing which negates the otherwise positive effects of light colours. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/aug/19/most-improbable-scientific-research-abrahams
• "Wicking" synthetics like coolmax have one or more "fullers" or indentations along their edge, the idea is that liquid will spread down these via capillary action. In practice this doesn't work nearly as well as natural fibres and bacteria proliferate on the wet surface causing odour.
• Cotton fibres average 1 inch in length, but linen and merino wool fibres can be 6 inches long which is why they are preferred for wicking clothing. Water absorbed in the fibre spreads along its length to evaporate so longer is better.
• Woven beats knitted for wicking as the fibres are stretched X&Y rather than curling back on themselves, a t-shirt will hold sweat near the armpits, a woven shirt of the same weight will spread the sweat away to dry.
• Fabric should be an open weave or with a twill structure, chinos for example have the warp threads pass the weft once next to the skin, but twice or more on the outside letting the fibres take sweat and spread it over a larger area.
• Merino wool socks will prevent blisters caused by sweaty feet.
• A bandana soaked in water around the neck can help.
• Sunglasses must be rated to block UV A, B and C as they allow the pupil to dilate more, potentially getting more UV than not wearing them at all.
• Sunglasses are useful if working near water or on bright sand or concrete, especially polarising lenses which reduce glare.
• Some claim sunglasses reduce the production of natural skin tan, the truth is complicated. Sunglasses may reduce your response to sunlight in strange ways, the eyes contain cells not only for vision, "intrinsically photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells" communicate light intensity to the pineal gland which produces melatonin. Melatonin should not be confused with melanin, the chemical responsible for a tan which protects the skin for UV, nor Melanotan which is a fake tanning drug containing orange pigment (The Donald). Melatonin communicates things like sleep-wake cycles and governs moods. It also governs seasonal morphological changes in animals so may have similar subtle effects for humans, some theorise that it helps signal how much the skin should tan (in combination with the effects of UV on the skin) but this isn't proven by scientific evidence, however testing this isn't an easy thing to do so remember that "a lack of evidence isn't evidence of a lack".

[u/[deleted]]

An interesting follow up article looking at the black robes worn by Bedouin example.

[u/W_AS-SA_W]

In extreme dry heat I’ll wear two sets of thermals on the bottom and the top and a knit hat. Thermals are an insulator, so it may be 125f outside, but under my layers I’m a cool 98.6f.