I remember reading about this in the 1980s. I’m finding very little info on it though. Is it real? Who did it? How did they raise the temperature to this value? Or did the person just get in like a very hot sauna? I imagine if someone touched metal that was this hot they would burn themselves. So what material were they able to stand on in the room? How long did they spend in this room?
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/76449-highest-dry-air-temperature-endured-clothed
Nowhere does it say for how long. I can almost guarantee you that that record was exceeded many times during the early 1940s in studies that no one can ethically publish.
He was in an “oven” with a large reflective foil helmet that prevented his face from getting burnt and wearing only shorts. I recall seeing a photo of the experiment but searched myself in vain to find it again. Another experiment from the same time was immersing a hand in hot water and the temperature was much lower, around 120 F steady state as I recall. A couple of us thought that was too low and we could beat it. None of us could. I made it to about 116 F.
I had a boss that worked with Nazi data at Edwards Air Force base back in the 50’s when working on rocket sleds and ejection seat trainers for aircraft pilot training. The nazi data on how much G-Force and stress on a human back was invaluable becasue they could not perform similar testing. It’s not so much ethics that keeps this data out of the public view, its that it is owned by the government and kept as a state secert.
Six minutes in a sauna at 110C (230F). One guy survived, the other didn’t:
Ladyzhenskiy and Kaukonen had made it through to the final ahead of more than 130 other participants, but six minutes into the contest, judges noticed something was wrong with the Russian, and dragged both competitors from the sauna.
Both middle-aged men were seen to have severe burns on their bodies and were given first aid after they collapsed.
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Rules in the competition require the sauna to be heated to 110 C (230 F). Water is added to the stove every 30 seconds and the last person to remain in the sauna wins.
When the absolute moisture content of the hot air is enough to exceed 100% relative humidity at your body temperature, then it condenses on your skin. The effect is the opposite of sweating: it heats you up much faster than dry air.
Firefox and Chrome (Win10) both failed to correctly render the degree symbol (°) on that page, making me confused as to what the record was. Copying and pasting the text here made it clear. (Just in case anyone else had the same problem.)
The highest dry-air temperature endured by heavily clothed men was measured during US Air Force experiments held in 1960 at 260°C (500°F). Temperatures of 140°C (284°F) have been found quite bearable in saunas.
It’s all still pretty pointless without a duration. I can easily thrust my hand into a 500F oven for a second or two without suffering pain or injury. In the experimental case, I suspect a lot comes down to how long you can hold your breath.
Or stick your hand in molten lead for a second.
