# Maximum Sauna

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-sauna/18788>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 6, 2000, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-sauna/18788 "2000-05-06T22:42:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@Jorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorge)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2000, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-sauna/18788/1 "2000-05-06T22:42:20Z")

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Back from a jaunt to a friend’s place in Samoa with, of all things, a sauna. The thermometer within goes up to 240 which led me to wonder: just how hot can one stand it ? Water boils at 212… I reckon one could tolerate higher and higher temperatures with practice, but is there some absolute line not to be crossed ? I’d have thought it was 212. (And I’m sure, of course, that ultimately that thermometer bears as much relationship to the answer as the speedometer on a Kia).

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**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2000, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-sauna/18788/2 "2000-05-07T02:34:29Z")

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I remember reading in the Guinness Book about the hottest temperature ever withstood by a human. I forget the figures, but I remember that they mentioned that it was hotter than the temperature required to grill steaks. I also remember that clothed men could withstand higher temperatures than naked men.

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2000, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-sauna/18788/3 "2000-05-07T06:38:38Z")

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In USAF experiments in 1960, naked men withstood 400 degree temperatures. Clothed men 500 degrees. Ordinarily saunas are between 170 and 212, but they remain “bearable” up to 384.

Sources:  
Guiness Book of World Records 1999  
Encyclopedia Americana

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**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2000, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-sauna/18788/4 "2000-05-07T06:44:22Z")

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Naked at 400 F? That’s hot, even when you convert it to Celsius! Why didn’t they broil?

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Rigardu, kaj vi ekvidos.

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**Author:** ![Dusy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@Dusy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusy)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2000, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-sauna/18788/5 "2000-05-07T06:53:32Z")

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Any good gym has warnings of overheating in a sauna. If you fall asleep at something like 120º, you can go into a coma. It’s like a fever of 106º can kill you. It’s a question of how long the body can fight the heat. And if you throw water on the rocks for steam, there’s no skin evaporation to help.

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2000, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-sauna/18788/6 "2000-05-07T07:55:59Z")

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Typo. According to the Guiness Book, saunas remain ‘bearable’ up to 284, not 384 as I posted earlier.