skydive in hot summer - prevent dehydration

[David Wang 48]

Hey all! 

It's been a long time since last time I posted here. Hope everyone is doing well. 

Good news! I'm on AFF level 7 now, going to finish it this Sunday and will graduate from school. 

Bad news! Dehydration hit me hard when I was under canopy last time. (sudden Intensive muscle soreness, nausea and blurred vision. After landing I drank tons of water and ate lunch and I was totally fine )

 I can think about a few ideas to prevent this from happening again: 

1.Drink plenty of water before and after the skydive

2.healthy breakfast before the day and eat snacks between the jumps.

3.Have a good night sleep. 

4. Wear something light, (But I don't think this applies to me because I wear that student jumpsuit, and gear is heavy)

5. Proper gear fit: adjust leg strap ( maybe my leg straps were too tight)

.....

any more ideas? 

 

Odd enough, dehydration is quite sneaky, freefall was incredibly awesome and it hit me right after canopy opening. 

 

Blue skies! 

[timski 80]

PRE gaming is essential... Days prior is when the concerted effort to hydrate needs to take place... Banana/kiwi anything berries or fresh fruit is your friend.  Pedialite is better than "sports drinks" to add electrolites into the body... There are other things on the market that target trace elements as well. 

Stay safe my friend.     

[danornan 64]

I am not a doctor, but from what I know about dehydration, I need to stay ahead of it and not wait for the symptoms.  I do a lot of biking (because of the virus) and might ride for 2-3 hours in the Florida heat. I take lots of fluids with me that I try to remember to sip every mile or so.  Light snacks and fruit too help to keep up my blood sugar.  I'm open to new and other ideas so please fire away... Same at the DZ when I start back. 

[wmw999 2,120]

Water is your best friend, followed by water. If you drink alcohol the night before, even more water. If you drink Gatorade etc, just dilute it a whole lot — you don’t need either that many electrolytes or that much sugar. And yup, bananas or other sources of potassium are also good. And then some more water. You should be going to the bathroom fairly regularly, and it should NOT be brown  or dark yellow  

And air conditioned packing. I started jumping in Texas before the advent of air-conditioned packing. Man that was a great invention  

Wendy P.

[tabouare 25]

17 minutes ago, wmw999 said:

And air conditioned packing. I started jumping in Texas before the advent of air-conditioned packing. Man that was a great invention  

Ah sweet AC, it must be nice to pack in the cool air

My DZ doesn't have it, humid and hot it is but we have a roof. The other DZs around me are preventing us from packing inside due to Covid-19 so in the grass, under the sun it is...

[David Wang 48]

thanks for all the ideas! Yesterday Perris was like 105 F I drank tons of water, (like go to the restroom every hour) and ate snacks (energy bars,bananas and eggs) and I felt super energetic throughout the skydive. Canopy flight was super awesome, nice flare and stand-up landing! :) didn't pass Level 7 tho because I have some issues with my leg position and tracking. I'm ready to repeat and conquer! 

[wmw999 2,120]

Now that sounds like a happy ending!

Wendy P. 

[David Wang 48]

5 hours ago, wmw999 said:

Now that sounds like a happy ending!

Wendy P. 

haha yeah! dehydration is a sneaky beast. It's worth paying attention to

[billvon 2,396]

On 7/10/2020 at 3:26 PM, David Wang said:

dd enough, dehydration is quite sneaky, freefall was incredibly awesome and it hit me right after canopy opening. 

Yep.  In freefall you are horizontal.  Once you open you pull a lot of G's for a second and are then vertical - often with a bit of loss of circulation in your legs.  If you're hypovolemic that's where you will notice it.

[David Wang 48]

On 7/18/2020 at 12:44 PM, billvon said:

Yep.  In freefall you are horizontal.  Once you open you pull a lot of G's for a second and are then vertical - often with a bit of loss of circulation in your legs.  If you're hypovolemic that's where you will notice it.

Ok! Thanks. It never happened to me again after I took precautions. Just graduated yesterday!!  Blue skies.