Survivalist Forum banner

staying cool in summer during SHTF

6K views 18 replies 15 participants last post by  Exarmyguy 
#1 ·
Living in phoenix where temps can reach 120 in summer. what is the plan for staying cool? I'm looking northside for property in Cave Creek where I can have some acreage, a well, garden/greenhouse/ edible landscaping, and privacy but have been wondering how people will prepare for no A/C? is it just something you deal with? Heatstroke is real. LOL.

If there was no electricity (EMP) - fans and cooling units are out. Even if we did have access to electricity - solar/wind powered, you wouldn't be able to run A/C the same as with city power I imagine. what do you all recommend for staying cool in summer besides jumping into the pool every half hour to cool off? lol
 
#2 ·
The same way people who work outside all year long do it. You get used to it. If you can't you will be useless and probably won't last long. The most valuable thing you can do if you believe in being prepared is to get into good physical and mental condition. Before air conditioning and in many cases electricity were available people did fine, and since humans haven't evolved since then, they can still do well if they keep their weight down and stay active. Remember that pain and discomfort are just examples of weakness leaving your body. Even if no existential threat occurs, you'll still live longer and have a better life if you turn off the AC and get active.
 
#5 ·
A good resource would be to look at what the native tribes/people used to do. Anywhere from the primitive construction styles to the habits they used to beat the heat. Even pre electricity homesteading and western expansion. So much information can be gleaned from the past. That's where I would start. I know modern construction of homes, no longer takes breezes and natural circulation into consideration. Look at the old construction homes in the deep south. Different climate, and resources but still some ideas available.
 
#7 ·
Look at how many people lived in Arizona before the advent of air conditioning. I saw a map one time that showed the difference coming along in the 50's and 60's. The population boomed but they said it was because of air conditioning. Would not be the first place I'd choose for TEOTWAWKI.
 
#8 ·
If you have access to water you can cover an open window with something like a muslin cloth that water is constantly dripped on. The breeze through the wet cloth will help cool things down. Primitive swamp cooler.

Of course the real situation is going to see a mass die off and migration out of the area if the power is down and stays down.
 
#11 ·
It only gets to 120 for a few days in June, usually, and then it's also pre-monsoon and very dry.

The swamp-cooler trick is one way, but you need a decent amount of water.

Natural shade, sleep/nap/rest in the hottest time of day with plenty of water (oral rehydrations salts are good). Work outside only in the morning and slightly cooler evenings.

The hottest days it's still hot after midnight, over 100 deg. Still, that's cooler than 115.

Wear long sleeved white cotton tshirts, loose cotton or linen light colored pants. Protect your scalp and back of your neck with fabric, either a hat made like that or a bandana under a cap. Look at what the outside workers are wearing, particularly road construction crews, and dress like that.

You can wipe yourself down with water and keep yourself fairly cool that way, too, as long as you do it in the shade and not the sun.

Even on the hottest days, we're outside much of the day, we just stay out of the direct sun.

A better option is to have a place to run to, though, that isn't quite so hot and has a bit more rain.
 
#12 ·
It only gets to 120 for a few days in June, usually, and then it's also pre-monsoon and very dry.

The swamp-cooler trick is one way, but you need a decent amount of water.

Natural shade, sleep/nap/rest in the hottest time of day with plenty of water (oral rehydrations salts are good). Work outside only in the morning and slightly cooler evenings.

The hottest days it's still hot after midnight, over 100 deg. Still, that's cooler than 115.

Wear long sleeved white cotton tshirts, loose cotton or linen light colored pants. Protect your scalp and back of your neck with fabric, either a hat made like that or a bandana under a cap. Look at what the outside workers are wearing, particularly road construction crews, and dress like that.

You can wipe yourself down with water and keep yourself fairly cool that way, too, as long as you do it in the shade and not the sun.

Even on the hottest days, we're outside much of the day, we just stay out of the direct sun.

A better option is to have a place to run to, though, that isn't quite so hot and has a bit more rain.
The best choice is to NOT live in the Phoenix Metro Area at all. But then you are putting up with the commute times, though such would admittedly be moot once shtf and you would already be living in a better place.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SSGNasty
#13 ·
Not totally clear on how things would work with solar flare. Know I read govt is supposed to be doing something to try to mitigate effects on power plants.

If there was a solar flare, could we hook up plug-in, standing fans to car batteries, or is that totally out? Seems like if you could do that, you could use home solar or a generator, though.

If there's nothing electrical, one answer is landscaping to shade your house.

What about painting the house white- or even walks, driveways or patios around it- to reflect light and heat as much as possible?

Thinking there must be consultants in your area- maybe home energy consultants- who work on these kinds of methods for keeping places cool. Or maybe even online resources.

Maybe building underground a lot, too. I'm thinking of what the Skywalkers had on Tatooine. Above ground, it looks like almost nothing but an entrance, but below ground, it's this neat complex with a cool atrium.
 
#15 ·
The issue with some of the suggestions is the OP is talking about what can people living in an existing neighborhood, in a crowded City do to combat the heat. Not what can be done living out in the middle of no where for a new, no building codes construction.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SSGNasty
#16 ·
Big Help Cooling when power's out

I live north of Tucson, in a little spot that has frequent power outages for 2-6 hours. Power in Mexico was more reliable than this! 8 outages so far this monsoon season.
In thinking about EMP and other long term power outages, with a limited budget I see see the minimal priorities as sources of light, battery for a radio, maybe cell phone, and, in summer in Tucson, Fans! I'll have to do without refrigeration, but I can manage fans. I can live without refrigeration, but the heat here can kill you on a hot day.

I have, for each of us, an O2Cool (from Walmart or internet) or other 12v fan (and some smaller spares). The 10" takes about 300mA low speed, so that's about 3 hours run time for each amp hour used. For batteries, I have an assortment: old retired 12v gel cells that have some life left in them, a similar car battery or two, some sets of rechargable AAs, a 12v (lithium) jumpstarter, also a 12v lead acid jumpstarter. (And I bought a new 9AH gell cell just for this.) I could "borrow" a car battery in an extended outage. Although it normally stays in a box, I have a solar panel and small solar charge regulator I can use to charge these in a long-term situation. Normally, power is back on in 2-6 hrs, and I just recharge from AC.

In extreme conditions, I can Multiply! the effectiveness of these small fans with a mister spray bottle to get through the worst hours. With temp 100 degrees, and a small fan blowing on you, a shot of mist in front of yourself, with the fan blowing it back on you, drops skin temp to 65-70 deg (I haven't measured, but it's chilly!) Drape yourself in a thin damp cloth (see below), while sitting in front of the fan, and multiply the cooling.
At night with a power outage, a 10" battery fan as above, properly positioned, can cool you enough to sleep. Without sleep you can't go. It makes a huge difference.

I also have some 7"? computer fans. They're little thin $6 12v and 5v and made for use inside desktop computers. They're about 100ma, dont move nearly as much air as the O2Cool, but blowing right on your face as you sit or work at a desk, they help a lot!

...And you need to solder up all your battery connectors, cords, clips, and adapters ahead of time! And test them.

Another source of 12v I haven't tried is to use the 10,000 mAH (fake value?) "power bank" and connect a 5v-to-12v adapter to the USB port. These little boards are available from china for about ?$2 or less. I think Banggood.com (maybe AliExpress.com?) has them. I can't check on internet at the moment.

Fans can save your life here!

Another thing I tried once in the peak of summer heat (110 degrees or more outdoors; being in-the-sun is worth maybe another 20 degrees...) - as an experiment, I draped myself in a piece of cloth like a thin blanket or a small tablecloth. The cloth had been soaked, then wrung out. Wearing that, part of it draped over my head, like you'd do for warmth in cold weather, ... I found I could chop cactus and bushes in 110 degrees, in the sun, and be comfortably cool! The drips were annoying...
Which also means if you had the water, you could wear long sleeves and long pants and a headdress and spray yourself a lot and go right on through the heat if you had to.

I've read that, in the cavalry days (1860s) the only cooling available in troop barracks was by hanging a wet blanket over the door and window. Evaporation cooled it some. In those days houses were built with thick 12-16" adobe walls, which stop and capture heat during the day, release it during the night. The modern equivalent is thick concrete or block walls, which do some of the same thing.

The heat is a challenge!

..And keep yourself hydrated too.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top