A Must Read: The Truth About Cold Water

[stingray]

Short article. Timely and written by a US Navy / Coast Guard marine safety specialist.

/>http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/cold_water/?11198#more-11198

[Yoodles82]

Great read stingray! Bit scary...

[Scope]

Yeah pretty full on there mate. Worth the 5 mins

[kriso]

wow very interesting read as well as the other link under it about the symptoms of drowning

[dhess]

Interesting read.

Luckily the water here doesn't get down 40 degrees F (about 4.5 degrees C).

I think the coldest it gets around here is about 18 degrees so you won't go in to shock but after a few hours will go hypothermic. I guess it all depends how fat you are.

[stingray]

It may not get that cold here but it's info that is good to have in your head for in case some time your out in a lake or river where the water temp can get colder then that of the sea or what the bay is like in winter.

[dhess]

You are right. Important info thats aids our understanding of human physiology and survival in cold water. Just thinking about myself. I only fish in the salt.

[katfish]

thanks for posting. women have a better chance than men because they generally have more body fat.

[fishingnut]

katfish wrote:

thanks for posting. women have a better chance than men because they generally have more body fat.

lmao

[HookedOnTackle]

katfish wrote:

thanks for posting. women have a better chance than men because they generally have more body fat.

they also have a higher surface area to volume ratio

i think what should really be taken away from it (i watched the vid too) is to always wear your flotation aids, especially when cold. some day you could be fishing down in SA or Melb and it may save you or a loved ones life *knock on wood*

[mick fillet]

Thats a good read,interesting stuff.

even the article at the end "drowning doesnt look like drowning"

[tugger]

if you are interested in this there is a helpfull technique when you find yourself in the cold water which i'm surprised they didn't mention. with you life jacket on hold onto neck piece of the jacket and have your elbows down beside your ribs in tight then bring your legs up towards your chest and try to keep your self in this ball shape as long as you can it will prevent heat escaping and is taught in sea survival coarses. the sea will knock you off balance from this from time to time but just pull down on the neck line of the jacket and do your best this is called HELP postion, heat escape loss prevention.

mark

[crazywalrus]

awesome info - thanks for posting it. End of the day where a PFD.

[Davo_Dinkum]

interesting stuff .

it is handy info cause some of the creeks and dams get bloody cold .

i have had to rescue a kid out of the water in the upper Logan river ,near rathdowney in winter and its bloody cold .

i was only in the water for a few minutes ,swam over and back and i felt this stage 1.

The first is phase of cold water immersion is called the cold shock response: It is a stage of increased heart rate and blood pressure, uncontrolled gasping.

i had the increased heart rate ,tight chest and gasping ,lucky i'm fairly level headed and i did the just keep breathing thing , slow and steady .