Weather question

[Matt Williams]

I just took out the garbage 10 mins. ago without a jacket and it was cold out. It got me thinking.
What do you think the coldest the temp. outside can be before you actually develope hypothermia and freeze to death? Assume you are wearing shoes, pants and a shirt but no jacket and you need to be outside for 3 days. My guess would be about 60 degrees.

[Lestat]

I think a lot depends on your metabolism and what access you have to nourishment and water. Of course, wind and humidity would also play a roll.

Hypothermia has to do with the body's ability to regulate temperature, so a person taking alcohol and certain drugs will fare worse than others. Age also plays an important part. A young person I knew, who's snowmachine broke down, was out all night in about 20 Below zero and survived. The rescue people the next morning found him just as he was taking his clothes off ( so he barely made it ). He was however wearing protective clothing. I do believe you are correct. I think people can catch hypothermia even at the balmy temperature of 60 degrees if they are unprotected for a prolonged period of time.

[Lestat]

<font color="blue"> The rescue people the next morning found him just as he was taking his clothes off ( so he barely made it ). </font>

Why at any point would he take his clothes off?

[Mason Hellmuth]

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Why at any point would he take his clothes off?

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One of the final stages of hypothermia is feeling very hot.

Hi Lestat,
Most people who die of hypothermia are found nude. Apparently, right before you die, you get a sensation of being very hot.

[Matt Williams]

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<font color="blue"> The rescue people the next morning found him just as he was taking his clothes off ( so he barely made it ). </font>

Why at any point would he take his clothes off?

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I'm guessing you have never seen a person suffering from hypothermia. It f$^ks with the brain and makes you think it's warmer than it really is. Taking off your clothes is one of the last signs of hypothemia. At this point, it is usually past the critcal point and too late. In this case, he was lucky he was found in time.

[Lestat]

<font color="blue">I'm guessing you have never seen a person suffering from hypothermia. </font>

No I have never personally witnessed someone dying from hypothermia. I AM an avid skier who has taken courses in both rescue and avalanche survival and thought I would have heard about this though. Weird. Maybe I wasn't paying attention when this came up.

At any rate, I assume you're talking about SLOW hypothermia as in the an above freezing or a water scenario. I would think a below freezing scenario, frost bit etc., would set in diminishing the desire or ability to take one's clothes off.

[Matt Williams]

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<font color="blue">I'm guessing you have never seen a person suffering from hypothermia. </font>

No I have never personally witnessed someone dying from hypothermia. I AM an avid skier who has taken courses in both rescue and avalanche survival and thought I would have heard about this though. Weird. Maybe I wasn't paying attention when this came up.

At any rate, I assume you're talking about SLOW hypothermia as in the an above freezing or a water scenario. I would think a below freezing scenario, frost bit etc., would set in diminishing the desire or ability to take one's clothes off.

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It is odd isn't it? But I would imagine even in slow hypothermia, your brain would tell you the same thing. It probably has to do w/ your nerve endings. I would think the pain involved in severe cold would be the same as in severe burns. Maybe that's why they take off their clothes.

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Why at any point would he take his clothes off?

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I know, I know! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]