Tech Maven

Sleep researchers at the Loughborough University in Britain did several tests on fatigued drivers to compare the effects of different methods for a driver can use to stay awake. They put the volunteers in driving simulators while they were sleepy and let them drive. Some of the tests included rolling down windows for cold exposure, blasting the radio and slapping oneself in the face to try to stay awake. But what researchers found worked the best was a Caffeine Nap.

The Caffeine Nap is simple. You drink a cup of coffee and immediately take a 15 minute nap. Researchers found coffee helps clear your system of adenosine, a chemical which makes you sleepy. So in testing, the combination of a cup of coffee with an immediate nap chaser provided the most alertness for the longest period of time. The recommendation was to nap only 15 minutes, no more or less and you must sleep immediately after the coffee. http://goalsuccess.typepad.com/goalt..._take_a_c.html

Considering this is something cheap and accessible to virtually anyone it's probably a good tip to keep in your toolbag for long trips.

deafsound

Works like a charm. I've been doing this for 10 years. Doctors do this a lot when they're doing their residencies.

dojetdriver

My dad told me that when he was in Vietnam they had a similar thing. Before going out into the jungle, the Corpman gives them Benzidrine and they take a nap for 30 minutes. Then they are up for days. On the downside, when they got back, they could end up sleeping for days.

Delta102

And the hangover was one for the books

dojetdriver

Yeah, that's what he said as well.

mordi

Read that it can take as little as 12 min for caf. to give you that eye opening boost. If you are gona do this methode, you need to down that coffie quick, then catch the sleep wave and ride it in. Take too long sipping that star bucks, and screw the hole thing up! You'll be sleepy, but unable to sleep.

calcapt

Thanks Tech Maven for the awesome tip. This will become part of my bag of tricks.