Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2001 02:43:47 -0600
Reply-To: Max Wellhouse <maxjoyce@IPA.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Max Wellhouse <maxjoyce@IPA.NET>
Subject: Re: Let's not make vented catalytic heaters
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Since I don't know what a watch cap is, may I offer an alternative that
Patagonia makes called a Balaclava. Made of their cinchilla pile, this
little number covers all the head and neck(modeled after a scuba diver's
hood I think) except the mouth nose and eyes. The pile wicks moisture away
from the skin and doesn't itch like wool. They and other manufaturers make
dry suit liners out of the pile for the scuba and whitewater crowd that
would really make a sleeping bag comfy at night.
I thought the head was responsible for 50% of the heat loss in the body, but
other than that, John's article was excellent.
Thank you sir.
Dimwitted aMoose and Flying Squirrel
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Rodgers" <jhrodgers@MINDSPRING.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2001 1:36 PM
Subject: Re: Let's not make vented catalytic heaters
> Rico Sapolich wrote:
>
> > Eat a lot of fat,
>
> Great call, Rico. Fat has more energy per gram than any other food. Will
> definitely help keep one warm at night.
>
> > wear a watch cap,
>
> Another good call. 25 percent of your body energy is lost through the
head. Guys
> like me with no hair on top are especially prone to cold and energy loss
when
> there is no cover on top. A good cap goes a long way towards keeping that
energy
> in the body and in the sleeping bag at night.
>
> By the way, DO NOT direct your breathing into your sleeping bag. The
moisture
> brom your breath will destroy the insulation with in and hour and you will
be
> totally miserable. If its cold enough you need to protect your nose, put
on a
> watchcap, pull the hood of the bag up, leaving the face exposed and lay a
towel
> or something similar over the fact. Anything to abate the temperature
difference
> between the face and the outsid air. In other words reglate the heart and
> moisture from the breath, but don't direct it into the bag.
>
> > take a whiz,
>
> Reduce the prospects of having to get up at night, and loose the
accumulated
> heat energy in the sleeping bag, and a rapid heat loss and chill down of
the
> body, which may take hours to recover from.
>
> > change into fresh dry skivvies before you bed down and you will be
> > surprised how warm you will be.
>
> Clean skivvies are essential . Actually, not just the skivvies. Keeping
the body
> clean of all body oils and perspiration is essential.
>
> Attended the Air Force Arctic Survival School outside of Fairbanks, AK one
year.
> Temps were about -35/40. Spent a week out, lost nearly 30 lbs, but never
really
> suffered from the cold. Learned a hell of a lot about keeping warm in the
cold,
> especially extreme cold. The one thing the instructors insisted on was
that we
> keep ourselves well washed. That was a real trip, trying to wash in that
extreme
> cold. But we learned why, and how, and experienced the effects of
it.......we
> were warmer for it.
>
> Why keep washed in the cold. The body oils and perspiration very quickly
destroy
> the insulating value of your clothing. We were shown that under clothing
could
> be washed and dried in extreme cold. You do have to melt snow and warm the
water
> a bit by fire, and the clothes do freeze, but they dry out by sublimation
of the
> ice in them. And washing the bod made an amazing difference.
>
> We also learned the importance of drinking water. When in the cold, drink
plenty
> of water. Have some every hour or so, whether you feel thirsty or not. It
is
> extremely easy to become dehydrated in cold weather because we don't FEEL
> thirsty. You can get into real trouble in short order unless you pay
special
> attention to it. Once dehydration sets in the cold affects you more
rapidly.
>
> DON'T EAT SNOW!! Takes a huge amount of body energy just to convert the
snow at
> 32F to water at 32F, much less raise the temperature to any measure. Warm
the
> water to at least normal room temperature before drinking.
>
> Keep plenty of fluids pumping through, warm liquids are best, but water is
best
> of all.
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL Driver
|