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Guðlaugur was dressed in jeans, shirt and sweater, with nothing on his feet. He did not know that wet clothes draw heat from the body 20 times faster than dry o

Guðlaugur was dressed in jeans, shirt and sweater, with nothing on his feet. He did not know that wet clothes draw heat from the body 20 times faster than dry ones. [1] I'm curious what should I do if I fall into cold water: should I really take my clothes off or not? The first option sounds a bit counter intuitive to me. By the way, how can people swim in jeans or other clothes? I find it very hard, it's like dragging some weights. [1] http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/03/true-viking-grit/ http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/03/true-viking-grit/

avar 16y ago
Yes you should take your clothes off. They impede your movements and provide you with no insulation.
- deadmansshoes 16y ago
  Are you sure about this? Surely they keep a layer of warmer water nearer your skin - the same way wet suits work. Once someone is out the water wet clothing should be removed.
  - avar 16y ago
    Wetsuits are made of neophrene, they only work because neophrene is completely waterproof. That's not the case with a pair of jeans and a sweater. New cold water will seep through much faster than your body can warm it. Even if you gained a fraction of a degree from tightly fitting clothes you'd lose much more than that through lack of mobility.
    - adolph 16y ago
      Wetsuits are named wet because their operational concept depends the water they absorb. Maybe you intended to refer to a drysuit? See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetsuit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetsuit ". . .a thin layer of trapped water could be tolerated between the suit fabric and the skin, so long as insulation was present in the fabric in the form of trapped bubbles. In this case, the water would quickly reach skin temperature and the air in the fabric would continue to act as the thermal insulation to keep it that way. The suit did not need to be dry to be insulative."
      - avar 16y ago
        No I meant a wetsuit. Wetsuits are completely waterproof aside from a select few entry points where water is allowed to seep through as you first get in the water. The idea behind their operation is that you have a thin film of warm water around your body, isolated by a waterproof neophrene layer. So there's: The Sea -> neophrene -> Warm water that doesn't freely mix with the sea -> You. That doesn't work (as deadmansshoes thought) if you're wearing normal clothes instead of a neophrene layer. In that case the water next to your body is constantly being replaced by new & cold water, faster than you can heat it up to provide you with insulation. Both wetsuit and drysuits depend on there being a layer next to your body that you heat up. With wetsuits this is a layer of water that doesn't get swapped out, with drysuits it's a layer of air + rubber.
    - deadmansshoes 16y ago
      Do you have any links? The article suggests you won't be able to swim so struggling to take your clothes off seems like very bad advice. Several layers of clothes, and even a semi-waterproof jacket or anorak will trap water - and air which would help with bouyancy. A fraction of a degree could be all important - there is a tipping point where a fraction means living or dying.
- SkyMarshal 16y ago
  What about after you're out of the cold water and on land? Take off the wet clothes and dry off naked, or leave them on for protection against wind chill? Or does it just depend on the wind chill and other circumstantial factors?
  - avar 16y ago
    It depends entirely on what sort of clothes they are. Wool will insulate you even when soaked, but wearing a pair of wet jeans is worse than wearing nothing at all. They don't provide insulation, and only serve to make you wet and extract heat from you. Just like a wet towel wrapped around a champaign bottle.

avar 16y ago

Yes you should take your clothes off. They impede your movements and provide you with no insulation.

deadmansshoes 16y ago
Are you sure about this? Surely they keep a layer of warmer water nearer your skin - the same way wet suits work. Once someone is out the water wet clothing should be removed.
- avar 16y ago
  Wetsuits are made of neophrene, they only work because neophrene is completely waterproof. That's not the case with a pair of jeans and a sweater. New cold water will seep through much faster than your body can warm it. Even if you gained a fraction of a degree from tightly fitting clothes you'd lose much more than that through lack of mobility.
  - adolph 16y ago
    Wetsuits are named wet because their operational concept depends the water they absorb. Maybe you intended to refer to a drysuit? See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetsuit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetsuit ". . .a thin layer of trapped water could be tolerated between the suit fabric and the skin, so long as insulation was present in the fabric in the form of trapped bubbles. In this case, the water would quickly reach skin temperature and the air in the fabric would continue to act as the thermal insulation to keep it that way. The suit did not need to be dry to be insulative."
    - avar 16y ago
      No I meant a wetsuit. Wetsuits are completely waterproof aside from a select few entry points where water is allowed to seep through as you first get in the water. The idea behind their operation is that you have a thin film of warm water around your body, isolated by a waterproof neophrene layer. So there's: The Sea -> neophrene -> Warm water that doesn't freely mix with the sea -> You. That doesn't work (as deadmansshoes thought) if you're wearing normal clothes instead of a neophrene layer. In that case the water next to your body is constantly being replaced by new & cold water, faster than you can heat it up to provide you with insulation. Both wetsuit and drysuits depend on there being a layer next to your body that you heat up. With wetsuits this is a layer of water that doesn't get swapped out, with drysuits it's a layer of air + rubber.
  - deadmansshoes 16y ago
    Do you have any links? The article suggests you won't be able to swim so struggling to take your clothes off seems like very bad advice. Several layers of clothes, and even a semi-waterproof jacket or anorak will trap water - and air which would help with bouyancy. A fraction of a degree could be all important - there is a tipping point where a fraction means living or dying.
SkyMarshal 16y ago
What about after you're out of the cold water and on land? Take off the wet clothes and dry off naked, or leave them on for protection against wind chill? Or does it just depend on the wind chill and other circumstantial factors?
- avar 16y ago
  It depends entirely on what sort of clothes they are. Wool will insulate you even when soaked, but wearing a pair of wet jeans is worse than wearing nothing at all. They don't provide insulation, and only serve to make you wet and extract heat from you. Just like a wet towel wrapped around a champaign bottle.