At 18:33 05-01-99 EST, Bluecanoe2_at_aol.com wrote: > > >In a message dated 1/5/1999 10:42:12 AM EST, CHUCK_at_multitech.com writes: > ><< I considered wading into the river after my takeout, but the current > and the knowledge that I would be standing around in a windchill below > zero afterward dissuaded me. I know others who have done it, though, > and it is something I would like to try in other circumstances -- say, > just as the ice is going off the city lakes. >> > >Windchill is the calculated effect the wind has on wet skin, not on clothed, >dry suited skin. Although the wind does have an effect on the amount of heat >removed from your body through teh insulation layers and the dry or wet suit. >The effect is similar, but not the same. It is like measuring apples and >oranges. > >John LeBlanc You are technically correct, but then what do you call the thermal effect of wind on a wet drysuit? At eight degrees F. with a strong wind blowing, the surface of a wet drysuit would be much colder in the air than in the water -- at least, until the moisture froze. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
>>Windchill is the calculated effect the wind has on wet skin, not on clothed, dry suited skin. Although the wind does have an effect on the amount of heat removed from your body through teh insulation layers and the dry or wet suit. >>The effect is similar, but not the same. It is like measuring apples and >>oranges. >> >>John LeBlanc >You are technically correct, but then what do you call the thermal effect of wind on a wet drysuit? At eight degrees F. with a strong wind blowing, the surface of a wet drysuit would be much colder in the air than in the water -- at least, until the > >Chuck Holst > Chuck, I don't mean to be nitpicking on details, but it's probably helpful if we have a full discussion of windchill. If I understand them accurately I think technically your statement is correct and so is John LeBlanc's. At air temperature of 8 deg. F the surface temperature of an wet drysuit, exposed to the air, will be very close to 8 deg. F, whether the wind speed is 10 or 25 mph. However the RATE of heat loss will be much higher in the 25-mph wind. In any case the surface temp won't go below the air temp. The phenomenon of heat being whisked away faster and faster as the wind speed goes up is termed windchill. And that, as we all know, increases the hazard of hypothermia, whether it's over exposed skin or over protected and insulated skin. Our exothermic (heat-generating) bodies can produce heat only up to a limited rate. If the rate of heat loss exceeds the heat generation rate then body temperature begins to drop, first in the extremities, feet, hands, then legs, arms, then progressively in the brain and body core. Insulation protects us by reducing the rate of heat loss, but does not eliminate that heat loss. On the other hand, fire, sunshine, hot showers, hot air and hot drinks have the effect of actually adding heat to our bodies. I suppose we could capitalize Windchill when it refers to the effect of wind over skin and use lower case windchill for other cases, over drysuits etc., the underlying physics is the same in principle. Now most of us also know that we can protect ourselves from windchill by standing out of the wind. But it has been observed even more effective to stand downwind from some Paddlewisers. While hypERthermia is unlikely, one should be a bit careful here, as the situation may become unpleasant, depending on which end of the Paddlewiser's body the hot air is coming from. :~) Cheers, John Somers *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 1/6/1999 6:15:23 PM EST, somers_at_utmbrt.utmb.edu writes: << >>Windchill is the calculated effect the wind has on wet skin, not on clothed, dry suited skin. Although the wind does have an effect on the amount of heat removed from your body through teh insulation layers and the dry or wet suit. >>The effect is similar, but not the same. It is like measuring apples and >>oranges. >> >>John LeBlanc >> Opps! Sorry folks! I used the wrong adjective. It is the effect on EXPOSED skin, not wet skin. Sorry. John *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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