Wayne.B wrote:
Any PFD that does not keep your head up is not worth wearing. The
main value in cold water is to keep you breathing after you pass out
from the cold, otherwise you are gone as soon as you loose
conciousness or muscle control. I was in near freezing water for
about 15 minutes or so as a kid. The impact is unbelievable when you
first hit the water, and I was barely able to walk or talk when I got
out.


It's not unusual to *not* be able to walk or talk after
removal from freezing (or even just cold) water.

Hypothermia is little understood by the public, and many
people's first encounter with it is their last.

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
heh, heh...when i was active with our dive rescue team, i made the
mistake of donig an ice dive in a heavy wet suit.

i will never do that again. the shock was incredible and i never did
warm up.

i am very warm blooded.

One thing those guys at the "Polar Bear Clubs" who like to
jump into a hole chopped in their local frozen body of
water, is that a certain percentage of people have immediate
cardiac arrest. Seems to be a "bell curve" thing, a few
(very few!) people are almost immune to cold water immersion.

Furthermore, age & physical condition have nothing to do
with it. I had the experience of pulling a *very* fit
college athlete out of our lake, after he slipped getting
off his jetski. He fell in knee-deep water and was out like
a light. He would have certainly died, if I and a couple of
his buddies hadn't been standing there watching, and pulled
him out.

Depending on how cold the water is, a life jacket will make
a big difference for a while. It will keep you able to
breath, and will help preserve the body core temp. And if
nothing else, it will make your body easier to find.

Fresh Breezes
Doug King