Originally Posted by
Murdy
"10) Take an aspirin 1 hr before you go out and every hr you're in the stand. Aspirin thins the blood and helps it flow to your capillaries in your fingers and toes. More blood flow= heat."
I question this one. Isn't this basically the same theory that taking a swig of alcohol keeps you warmer. After your thinned blood gets out to your capillaries, you feel warmer temporarily, but while there, it dissipates that heat, and returns to your core cooler, leading to being cold in the long run? I don't know this for a fact, but that's the criticism of the alcohol-keeps-you-warm theory that I always heard. Seems like aspirin would have a similar effect.
Nope. Aspirin and alcohol are not the same in the way they work. When you get cold, your body begins to restrict the blood vessels in the extremities (hand, feet, finger, toes) to keep the blood in the core. Since aspirin acts as a blood thinner, it helps overcome this. This is also why they give heart attack victims aspirin, it helps make it a little easier for the heart to pump blood. Alcohol does not thin the blood it merely gives a warming sensation but by the time it goes through the digestive system it is chemically broken down and has no effect on the blood. That is why alcohol is bad because it gives the sensation without actually giving the benefit.
As to the blood being colder when it returns to the core, that would only be true if you weren't wearing gloves or boots in the first place or if you allowed everything to get cold before taking the aspirin. That is why it is recommended to begin the aspirin an hr before getting in the stand. Remember, blood is flowing so it isn't going to stay in the fingers and toes for more than a second or 2. Aspirin is so effective at this that it is even listed as one of the items recommended for people attempting to climb Mt Everest. Not the following:
Aspirin based medicines help thin blood and are very effective for a high-altitude headache.
http://www.traveladvisortips.com/top...est-gear-list/
Bottom line, the aspirin trick is something the military has used for decades for cold weather operations and training. Every cold weather mission or training evolution I've been on, aspirin has been dispensed. But I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you have never been in the service have you?