I once took a skinny dip in a pool in John's Brook in the Adirondacks during an early spring backpacking trip. It was unusually warm (>20C) for that time of year, but the water was snow melt coming down the mountain and wasn't much above freezing ........... Believe me, freezing water can disable you very, very quickly if you're not dressed for it. I rather doubt that street clothes are much better than naked in those conditions. .......................... When I was a little kid we used to spend some summertime on the South Bay of Lake Champlain. When we went fishing, to get bait we'd go to a mountain called the Diameter at the very southern end. The East face was all talus with lots of ice packed in over the winter. The stream were freezing cold. We'd herd small frogs toward it. They'd jump in and within seconds they stopped moving. We had to use a dipnet to get them out; your hands would stiffen up within seconds. Then we'd continue on down the stream to the Beaver ponds. By that time they would have revived.... *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>...... > >Believe me, freezing water can disable you very, very quickly if you're >not dressed for it. I rather doubt that street clothes are much better >than naked in those conditions. Actually it would likely be worse. The street clothes would not likely make you any warmer when you're in the water, but they're certainly are going to help warm you up better if they're dry once you get out of the water. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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