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This reminds me about Stanislav Kurilov [1], who successfully escaped USSR by jumping off the cruise ship with a snorkeling mask and swimming for the following

This reminds me about Stanislav Kurilov [1], who successfully escaped USSR by jumping off the cruise ship with a snorkeling mask and swimming for the following 2.5 days towards Philippines. He wrote an interesting book called "Alone In The Ocean" [2] where he described his endeavor. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Kurilov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Kurilov [2]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HYLLOZ2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HYLLOZ2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?...

kiliantics 9y ago
Reminded me of the Icelandic man who survived a shipwreck and several hours in ice cold waters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%C3%B0laugur_Fri%C3%B0%C3%BE%C3%B3rsson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%C3%B0laugur_Fri%C3%B0%C3%BE...
- kitd 9y ago
  This is the story I was reminded of too. Not mentioned in that link though is that the doctors who examined him believed his resistance to cold came from him eating a traditional diet that included seal meat in his youth, and that his body fat had accumulated a not inconsiderable amount of seal blubber.
EGreg 9y ago
How did he combat hypothermia?
- mixmastamyk 9y ago
  In the Philippines?
  - juliendorra 9y ago
    Hypothermia starts at relatively high temperature (naked, below 25°c if I remember well) There are records of people dying after hours of being exposed to 14°c without proper clothing (actually in the Philippine, if memory serves me well) Our body (without technology like clothing or homes) are really just adapted to live around the equator at constant 27°c :-)
    - mixmastamyk 9y ago
      The Ph. are just off the equator. I’ve been in the water in northern Australia and the water was 30c and on the verge of being too warm. Definitely not refreshing, felt like a salty bath tub.
      - oeuviz 9y ago
        Due to water being a way better conductor of heat than air you lose heat up to 75% faster than in air. Even 30°C warm water can therefore quickly lead to hypothermia if unprotected. Ever seen scuba instructors in warm countries? While their customers would often submerge in nothing but a swimsuit the instructors would often wear 6mm full body wetsuits due to longer exposure. And yet a lot of them are shivering in the evenings.
        EGreg 9y ago
        True, although below the surface the water tends to be colder.
        mixmastamyk 9y ago
        Yes, it is a lot colder when scuba diving at say 10m, but we’re talking about treading water at the surface.
        marvin 9y ago
        I've been shivering in the water at 27 degrees Celcius in Australia (diving, no wetsuit, sitting on the bottom). Admittedly I have a very slender build, but clearly 27 degrees is below my equilibrium temperature when not in activity.
    - Retric 9y ago
      There are a few adaptions to colder conditions like Brown Fat and shivering which directly converts calories into heat and work fairly well. Body Size and insulating fat at can also make a huge difference. People in warmer climates are simply less adapted to cold conditions and therefore at greater risk for a given temperature. PS: Some people can actually walk around without clothing or becoming cold in 40f weather and be perfectly comfortable. It's sleeping that's the greatest risk as you reduce metabolic activity while having a large surface area in contact with the ground.
- LeifCarrotson 9y ago
  Swimming continuously. It's one thing to sit neutrally bouyant in a Scuba suit, or in a flotation device, with nothing but shivering to keep warm. Asleep, you can get hypothermia in water that is nearly at body temperature. However, endurance athletes (like this 2.5-day-swimmer apparently decided he was) can keep warm by exertion. Competitive swimmers will keep warm, and actually sweat a great deal, in a very cold pool throughout an hour or two of practice in nothing but a speedo. The problem only comes when one discovers, like the protagonist of Jack London's "To Build A Fire", that you lack the endurance.
  - rrhyne 9y ago
    He wouldn’t/couldn’t have swam continuously for 72 hours. He would have floated, treaded water, etc. the wetsuit kept him warm.
    - lobf 9y ago
      Did anybody read the article?? One of the most important factors was staying in the fetal position- he even lost consciousness at times and was saved by a floatation device that kept his head above water.
  - agumonkey 9y ago
    heat production by effort is large, probably way more efficient than shivering so your chances are probably better if you can reach a destination by swimming.
- specialp 9y ago
  The most important aspect of this is he was wearing a 5mil wetsuit. All of the rest of the things they mentioned are much smaller factors in him staying warm. The wetsuit also makes him slightly more buoyant. I kayak in the winter and have a dry suit, and a 5mil wetsuit when the water gets a bit warmer. In the winter my survival time would be minutes unprotected. The most dangerous time of year is May and June as unprotected kayakers come out in response to the warm air temperature. But the water is still very cold. In that water he would have succumb to hypothermia in hours. I spent 2 hours wading in water with no protection in the same temperature that he was in. My body temp was 95 degrees, lower than his after 72.
  - totalZero 9y ago
    > 95 degrees this sounds dangerous. Just curious, why were you in 60deg water for two hours?
    - EGreg 9y ago
      When the sun is shining on you btw you get additional heat you don't get when diving underwater
sehugg 9y ago
Also reminds me of the ex-football player in South Florida that was knocked off his boat by a wave and swam 16 hours to shore: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-dolphins-player-robert-konrad-speaks-about-16-hour-swim-for-his-life/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-dolphins-player-robert-k...

kiliantics 9y ago

Reminded me of the Icelandic man who survived a shipwreck and several hours in ice cold waters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%C3%B0laugur_Fri%C3%B0%C3%BE%C3%B3rsson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%C3%B0laugur_Fri%C3%B0%C3%BE...

kitd 9y ago
This is the story I was reminded of too. Not mentioned in that link though is that the doctors who examined him believed his resistance to cold came from him eating a traditional diet that included seal meat in his youth, and that his body fat had accumulated a not inconsiderable amount of seal blubber.

EGreg 9y ago

How did he combat hypothermia?

mixmastamyk 9y ago
In the Philippines?
- juliendorra 9y ago
  Hypothermia starts at relatively high temperature (naked, below 25°c if I remember well) There are records of people dying after hours of being exposed to 14°c without proper clothing (actually in the Philippine, if memory serves me well) Our body (without technology like clothing or homes) are really just adapted to live around the equator at constant 27°c :-)
  - mixmastamyk 9y ago
    The Ph. are just off the equator. I’ve been in the water in northern Australia and the water was 30c and on the verge of being too warm. Definitely not refreshing, felt like a salty bath tub.
    - oeuviz 9y ago
      Due to water being a way better conductor of heat than air you lose heat up to 75% faster than in air. Even 30°C warm water can therefore quickly lead to hypothermia if unprotected. Ever seen scuba instructors in warm countries? While their customers would often submerge in nothing but a swimsuit the instructors would often wear 6mm full body wetsuits due to longer exposure. And yet a lot of them are shivering in the evenings.
      - EGreg 9y ago
        True, although below the surface the water tends to be colder.
        mixmastamyk 9y ago
        Yes, it is a lot colder when scuba diving at say 10m, but we’re talking about treading water at the surface.
      - marvin 9y ago
        I've been shivering in the water at 27 degrees Celcius in Australia (diving, no wetsuit, sitting on the bottom). Admittedly I have a very slender build, but clearly 27 degrees is below my equilibrium temperature when not in activity.
  - Retric 9y ago
    There are a few adaptions to colder conditions like Brown Fat and shivering which directly converts calories into heat and work fairly well. Body Size and insulating fat at can also make a huge difference. People in warmer climates are simply less adapted to cold conditions and therefore at greater risk for a given temperature. PS: Some people can actually walk around without clothing or becoming cold in 40f weather and be perfectly comfortable. It's sleeping that's the greatest risk as you reduce metabolic activity while having a large surface area in contact with the ground.
LeifCarrotson 9y ago
Swimming continuously. It's one thing to sit neutrally bouyant in a Scuba suit, or in a flotation device, with nothing but shivering to keep warm. Asleep, you can get hypothermia in water that is nearly at body temperature. However, endurance athletes (like this 2.5-day-swimmer apparently decided he was) can keep warm by exertion. Competitive swimmers will keep warm, and actually sweat a great deal, in a very cold pool throughout an hour or two of practice in nothing but a speedo. The problem only comes when one discovers, like the protagonist of Jack London's "To Build A Fire", that you lack the endurance.
- rrhyne 9y ago
  He wouldn’t/couldn’t have swam continuously for 72 hours. He would have floated, treaded water, etc. the wetsuit kept him warm.
  - lobf 9y ago
    Did anybody read the article?? One of the most important factors was staying in the fetal position- he even lost consciousness at times and was saved by a floatation device that kept his head above water.
- agumonkey 9y ago
  heat production by effort is large, probably way more efficient than shivering so your chances are probably better if you can reach a destination by swimming.
specialp 9y ago
The most important aspect of this is he was wearing a 5mil wetsuit. All of the rest of the things they mentioned are much smaller factors in him staying warm. The wetsuit also makes him slightly more buoyant. I kayak in the winter and have a dry suit, and a 5mil wetsuit when the water gets a bit warmer. In the winter my survival time would be minutes unprotected. The most dangerous time of year is May and June as unprotected kayakers come out in response to the warm air temperature. But the water is still very cold. In that water he would have succumb to hypothermia in hours. I spent 2 hours wading in water with no protection in the same temperature that he was in. My body temp was 95 degrees, lower than his after 72.
- totalZero 9y ago
  > 95 degrees this sounds dangerous. Just curious, why were you in 60deg water for two hours?
  - EGreg 9y ago
    When the sun is shining on you btw you get additional heat you don't get when diving underwater

sehugg 9y ago

Also reminds me of the ex-football player in South Florida that was knocked off his boat by a wave and swam 16 hours to shore: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-dolphins-player-robert-konrad-speaks-about-16-hour-swim-for-his-life/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-dolphins-player-robert-k...