One day in my youth I was at an outside gathering mainly to get ferociously drunk with a large group of like minded youth. We sat around a large fire for the better part of a day before sperately setting off to go home in the dark. It was around 35 degrees out during the day and oncve the sun went down it got colder. Funny how that happens. There was like 2 feet of wet snow on the ground. Well I was pretty much not able to sit up to good by the time I left the warmth of the fire and wouldn't you know walking turned out to be far more difficult. Snot dripping drunk, I began the solo 3 mile walk home in the dark, like I had done for every other bon fire party we had. I was dressed in jeans with a cotton sweatshirt and denim jacket. No hat or gloves. I think I had on sneakers.
I remeber getting completely soaked in like the first fifteen minutes as a result of falling down far too many times along the twisted uneven trail. My wet clothes froze and I knew I was in trouble. By the time I made it to the road I was in and out of consciousness. The cold had crept in unbelievably fast and I struggled to the point of panic. Talk about being confused. I would fall and struggle to my feet unable to remember which direction I was walking. I remember sitting down in the snowbank once I reached the road and knowing I was in very deep trouble and in need of emergency medical assistance. I still had a couple of miles to walk via the road. Apparently and fortunatley for me I managed to fall down in front of a car on the road. The person stopped, saw that I was unable to help myself any further, and gave me a ride home. When I got dropped of at my house, even after being in a heated car for a few minutes, I was still unable to walk but by that time I was unable to talk or to use my hands to open the car door. I was in a crippling state of hypothermia and not to mention obvious signs of alcohol poisoning.
My dad was impressed with that one! He had to come out and help me in. The good samaritan that gave me a ride couldn't carry me to the door, so he went and rang the doorbell. Doh!
Anyways cotton kills. And alcohol does not help at all.
Diving At Arvonia Va My brothers and I went for a dive in the Arvonia Va slate quary. It is very clear and about 125 feet deep. We went on January 1, 68. I dont remember the temps of the water or air, but it was cold, (air was colder by far than the water). We made our dive and when we got out ice formed on our wet suits and the fingers were so cold had a difficult time getting all our equipment off. My younger brother got the shakes for about a half hour in his hands and feet.
Old Story by Now Got caught on the Pemi in a record flood, 17.5’ in a matter of hours. Soaked to the skin and spent the night in a tree, a nice red maple. Being it was the end of Oct it was mighty chilly out and the wind kept creeping up on us. Part way through the night I started shaking so damned hard my buddy could feel the tree shaking. Those shakes would start at the bottom of my feet and make their way up my entire body. It was most, almost painful, when it got to my spine.
I started seeing things around 2 a.m. and kept telling my buddy that I could see a house being washed down the river. Truly sucked as we had no where else to go but up!! To this day I have no idea how I made it through that dreadful night, why I didn’t just fall outta my perch. My jaws hurt for a week from my teeth chattering so hard and long.
Hypothermia gives you some time I’ve been in early or mid-stages twice, and dumb luck was all that got me out of the first one. Got caught in a downpour at a big concert in my younger days (Watkins Glen) with no shelter, was shivering uncontrollably and unable to think. Definately not early stage. For lack of any functional idea crawled into the ancient sleeping bag I had lugged up the hillside. It was so old it was wool, and heavy wool at that. It literally saved my life because wool is still warm when wet. Slept for a few hours. I was still in not great shape when I woke up, but we found a fireplace halfway down the hill that I butted into a seat near. I was in shaky condition for the next half day, not thinking well but not uncontrollably shivering either.
If that sleeping bag had been synthetic they’d have likely found a corpse.
The second time I knew - got out of a practice session on a local lake and was shivering within a minute of being up in the air, temps in the 60’s but windy and raining. (wetsuit at that time) I went to the car and immediately changed into my backup neoprene stuff, cursing at the very heavy duty latx gaskets in the Stohquist top that my fingers were having a hard time managing.
Point is, that you get some time with hypothermia. If you are lucky and/or do the right thing, you can get it before it goes over the top. If you are in the water and can’t get out, you lack that kind of control over the situation.
This all sounds familiar… Lack of coordination, slurred speech, irrational behavior, incoherent babbling. I think I’ve experienced this “hypothermia thing” from drinking beer that’s WAY too cold. I’ll have to jack-up the fridge thermostat.
As far as paddling goes… I have recognized the beginnings of hypothermia (usually after stopping paddling for a lunch break.) One tip I can offer: When you feel the cold creeping in, clench EVERY muscle in your body for 15 sec. intervals. After a few minutes, your natural furnace will be burning hot. Just be sure you have eaten enough food, and either get some more layers on or get out of the cold.
Because the first thing to go with hypothermia is one's personality (nervous system) changes one becomes irritible, and loses judgment, may become ornery and aggressive and actually put oneself in more danger at the very moment that one could take preventive measures.
Thus solo travel is extremely dangerous in this regard. Lack of judgment means one literally does not know it is happening. I hae had this happen and until one experiences it, WOW, impossible to believe how freaky it is.
By the time one is shivering, core temps have already dropped 2 degrees or more and now in moderate danger.
Two best early warning signs, are change in one's own personality, moddiness, irritation, lowered frustration tolerance, and Two, your fellow paddlers noticing these changes.
Golden rule: for self and others, DO NOT ATTRIBUTE THESE CHANGES TO ANYTHING ELSE or you will all miss the early signs. Dare to be wrong and apologize if it is not happening.
As Celia says, it can come on slowing giving one time, but with enough cold challenge, wind, cold temps, conduction, wet clothing, current, not much food or hydration to stoke, it can be sudden and deadly.
Also without proper medical training the remedies of food, water, making the person move rapidly, getting on dry clothing, out of wind, heat packs, etc. moderate and sever hypothermia require drastically different protocol, the standard things, even standing the person up or rubbing them can kill them by moving cold and warm blood around and put heart into fibrillation.
What you don't know can and sometimes does harm.
Evan
Simple Tip for Drysuit Wearers I have gotten very cold after landing, and have found that the simple act of letting some air into your drysuit can help a great deal. After all, you’re sort of vacuum-packed in that thing, and after removing the PFD you can definitely feel the cold coming through. Letting some air in to add an insulative layer is a very small, simple act that can help keep you warm after you stop paddling. And keep ragg wool gloves to put on immediately after landing so keep those hands warm so you can handle your gear . . . my best tips.
I agree, it is amazing how much help that is, and the corollary is also true, get in the water and get all all all the air out and you can be cooler on a warmer day warmer water.
Same holds true for Nordic Blue dry gloves, saved me from a frozen hand day.
another bicycle ride tale about 6 of us, all experienced riders, doing a Sunday afternoon ride. Nice weather turned into a cool rain as we rode through our myriad of backcountry roads. After an extra hour, we realized that our leader had become lost with sense of direction. All of us had to put what rationality we had left together to find our way back to the starting point. Scary, to think about it later. We were having a typical lethargical good time, and not aware of our predicament with regard to hypothermia.
I have solo paddled in spring and fall often, wearing a pfd and typical outdoor clothing. Always wondered why most kayakers were wearing wetsuits. I now realize I have been very fortunate in not capsizing, and I am ordering some paddling clothing for cool water and weather for the spring. Thank you for the post.
Yeah With a drysuit, I have usually found that I get warmer faster once out of the water by immediately removing the PFD and moving around. The PFD close to the skin, particularly if wet, just seems to make me feel colder than if I let whatever air built up in the suit from heating up paddling get some good circulation around my torso.
The Ragg gloves are an interesting idea - faster to get on than the plastic gloves and should be quite effective. Also cheap and very replaceable.
to the wetsuit. Wetsuit, neoprene, whatever is not going to help at all against wind once it is wet, unless it is one of the very expensive neo type tops or bottoms with some kind of wind-block layer. I am not aware of any paddling wetsuit that has this, since they are basically designed to work when wet by allowing water to enter and be trapped between the suit and your body.
The layer over the wetsuit doesn't have to be real fancy or featured if you are not going to paddle in water/air temps below 55. It just has to block the wind on the exposed parts of your bod. Below those temps, I have to get more diligent (expensive) about the parts I wear - you may need to as well. The usual recommendation is that if you can't swim in the water without gasping, you aren't wearing the right clothing to paddle in.
For a wetsuit, I used to carry a pair of basic coated nylon pants for when stopped. So my torso was protected from wind by the drytop and my lower body by the shell. (The time mentioned above that I had a problem after paddling was once when I hadn't brought the pants, figuring that I wouldn't need them because it was just an after-work practice session without planned breaks.)
By the way - this year just wasn't about biking because of the work we were putting into our paddling. But I won't ride on a day with the slightest risk of rain or a sudden drop in temps without a slightly oversized, very non-breathable plastic rain shell rolled up into my second water bottle cage. It's one of the reasons I insist on a handlebar bag, even though I have a nice Waterford bike rigged to be ridden in the no-stuff mode that has become common. With that bag and a camel back, I can use the bag for stuff like the reapir kit and tube, leave my frame free for the backup water and the shell. It's gotten me home safe more than once when the rains came.
wind shell for neoprene YES,I participated in an ACA IDW where most folks had neoprene and a few had dry suits. The wind was averaging 15mph and highter, 48 degree air and 46 degree water. A lot of time standing around talking.
We started huddling around hip to hip because it was obvious some skinny folks were beginning to shiver.
Wind pants or fuzzy rubber style pants OVER the farmer johns help a lot.
Being in the water felt warmer. Windy conditions like that with exposed neoprene make fuzzy rubber hoods (not neoprene) a valuable item,or balaklavas with coated exterior.
additional ‘shell’ garments it’s a funny thing, how in our pursuit of light and fast; and simplified gear, (a good thing) we are often told of how one garment can do it all, be it high tech neoprene laminates or the best dry suits.
the last few posts are great advice overall, because when you slow down or stop and the weather is wet/cold, you will need an additional layer over top of your gear to slow down the heat loss.
i carry an old large poncho now which i pull over my drysuit during breaks to keep the evaporative and convective chilling to a minimum, after some very cold experiences on Lake Superior relying on my drysuit alone to keep me warm.
Agree oversize nylon pull over (check to see if it fits over your PFD) or poncho are great to stow in the back of the boat. Second thing I do on a shore break during colder weather paddling is to pull the windbreaker over everything.
Clarifications about neoprene "I am not aware of any paddling wetsuit that has this, since they are basically designed to work when wet by allowing water to enter and be trapped between the suit and your body."
Neoprene is closed-cell foam. It is an excellent wind blocker. Neoprene does not work by allowing water to enter. The way neoprene works is to fit snuggly against the skin, allowing a very MINIMAL amount of water in. The closed cells (which contain nitrogen) do not absorb water, so they stay dry and insulate with the trapped nitrogen.
That being said…
Most neoprene will let water under the suit around the seams and edges. The outer layer of nylon on the neoprene will absorb water which will contribute to evaporative cooling in the wind. If your neoprene stays dry, it will work VERY WELL in the wind. If it gets wet, it will not work as well.
the same can be said of a drysuit, well at least mine where after a season's usage has gotten rid of the watershedding outer coating.
There is also smooth skin neo that absorbs no water. My surfing hood is made of that stuff. Parts of my surfing wetsuits have that smooth surface generally around the chest and back areas. The problem with the smooth surface is that it is not as durable as nylone coated areas and can be more prone to gouges and tears, usually from the PFD. BTW, I checked the interior of my 4 year old Kokatat drysuit and I have wear spots on the seams and areas that seem to correspond with the PFD straps/pressure points.
OK So I had the neo part wrong - I didn’t realize all that water I got around my body was coming in just from the seams in the drysuit. And a wetsuit is quite warm in the wind until it gets wet… but increasingly it’s an exception for me to be dry by a while into a paddle. And it’d be wet after that unintended capsize.
The fuzzy ribber outer coating does seem to work nicely up to a point. The downside I found to that (I have two pieces of that) is that the outer rubber layer gets torn and scratched up awafully easily. My fuzzy rubber pieces show their age more than anything else I have - I am not wildly impressed with their durability.
I am not sure if you're responding to me or someone else.
In terms of fuzzy rubber hood, sure it's great to have on an emergency and will warm up the noggin after you get dunked. But there is practically no insulative value to it. I rather have a wet 5 mm on my head than a dry fuzzy rubber hood.
In terms of evaporative cooling of neo, you have to figure in the thickness (R factor). You'll likely feel evaporative cooling with 2 mm but not with 4 mm in the same conditions because of the greater R factor. What's happening on the outer layer is not getting through to what is happening next to the skin.
I'll emphasize again that the good surfing wetsuits are not your average neo FJ's that paddlers put on. They are stretchier, better fitting and minimize flushthrough which is the culprit for robbing body heat (not wind chill with the right thickness). I surf winter breaks with surfers who are out there 4-5 hours at a time. They seem to do fine despite half their body in water and half exposed to the wind chill. These folks are dealing with cold conditions far worse than most paddlers deal with. The evaporative cooling certainly have an effect but can be overcomed by selecting the right thickness wetsuit.
It's hard to explain to explain to folks who haven't try to the surfers wetsuits as being significantly different from what most paddlers are used to. Again, without any direct experiemce, I hear folks knock these suits as being restrictive when, in fact, they're not. Surfing wetsuits are used by waveskiers all over SA, OZ, New Zealand and other places. These folks paddled harder and longer in a surfing session than most of the average tour paddlers who knock how "restrictive" these suits are. If the wetsuits are that restrictive, I have no doubt most of the paddle surfers would have switched to drysuits. But it just that significant to paddler surfers to see a major shift over, even with the dropping cost of breathable drysuits.
Reed Chillcheater fabrics, better??? I know what you mean about fuzzy rubber but so far I have found it pretty durable and I quite like it. Mind you I don’t find neoprene all that uncomfortable anyways so I have a bit of both garments.
Reed uses a proprietary fuzzy rubber that they claim is more durable than neoprene and is very popular in Britain and maybe some places over here. the NDK set uses it extensively (some partnership I think) and swears it’s the best, but I wonder if it is as tough as a quality neo suit.