where does heat go

WHERE DOES BODY HEAT COME FROM AND WHERE DOES IT GO

The human body is for practical purposes a heating plant.

The food we consume is our fuel. Metabolism is the process of turning our fuel [food] into heat.

Everyone reading this article has experienced numerous times how warm they get after eating a meal. Just like adding coat to a furness, the more coal you put in it the hotter it gets. The more food you eat the hotter you get. You now understand that you are a heating factory.

The ideal skin surface temperature is 92 to 98 degrees F. With all this fuel burning you must get rid of the heat to reach the 92/98-degree skin surface temperature or keep your core temperature at 98.6 degrees F.

How do we do that?

The first way is via radiant heat loss. Your body is sending heat to your skin surface and if you are nude the heat is leaving your body from all over from your skin surface. The heat is rising.

If you are wearing clothing the fabrics surrounding your body absorb the heat. Remember radiant heat is absorbed by the first object it touches.

The second action of heat loss is via Evaporative heat loss. This means that the vapor that comes out of your pore is warm and as it moves away from you it evaporates and cools.

Now we have come to conductive heat loss. This means that the heat coming from your body while you are dressed is heated by your body and the heat goes from layer of clothing to layer of clothing and that action is conductive movement of the heat away from you.

The final movement of heat from your body is called convective heat loss. This means the heated air coming from your body is rising, because heat rises.

You now know how heat leaves our body. It is important to know that all 4 of these heat loss actions work together for one purpose to keep the core temperature of the human at 98.6 degrees F. These actions are constantly taking place they cannot be stopped. The harder you work the harder they work.

If you are in a cold environment let us, say 0 degrees F ambient temperature in a Wiggy 0-degree F sleeping bag on a ground pad in a tent [this is how Wiggy bags are temperature rated] you will find the bag performing well. The reason is because the Lamilite insulation is structured so the action of conduction is stifled. No other form of insulation is comparable. Lamilite insulation is also known to allow the vapor moving through the insulation to escape.

There are 3 companies that I know of who are their own worst enemy. They have incorporated gortex film backed fabric. Feathered Friends, Western Mountaineering and in England Rabb. These bags are over $1000.00 each, you would think they would know better than to block moisture from getting out of the bags, but they must have some deal with gore to make bags that become a haven for retaining moisture.

That said if you are wearing our Lamilite arctic parka you find that it seriously stifles the heat from your body getting out of the parka.

Lamilite performs in a manner that no other form of insulation can do.