Mel Grindol wrote: > > On Fri, 12 Nov 1999 21:50:27 Ralph Diaz wrote: > > > >And remember the bottom line...this is all in the non-dry suit realm. > >In a _dry_ suit with a decent amount of fleece underneath and hand, > >neck, foot and head protection, you could hang out for an incredibly > >long time in water in 40 degrees and lower. > > Reading the paper on Sunday I read about a shipwreck in the gulf of Alaska. A 52 foot boot sank in 20 foot seas. From the time the boat sank till the rescue helicopter appeared to pluck three men from the water was 80 minutes. All three were wearing "survival suits." I'm assuming this is some form of dry suit? They all had mild hypothermia and were released from the emergency room. > > This is a long time to stay in the water that was undoubtedly below 40F, and probably closer to freezing than 40, and have only mild effects from the exposure. Definitely a testament to the ability of a good dry suit. > To my knowledge, those survival suits do not have latex gaskets at the neck, wrists and ankles and their zippers are not at all the waterproof kind. So they will let water in. They have lots of flotation built into them. A true dry suit would do a lot better, albeit the stated survival times in the survival suits for that degree of water were impressive. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Nov 15 1999 - 12:13:33 PST
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