SPORTS AFIELD / NOVEMBER 1993
B Y M A R K S A K R Y
Find out how much you really know
about staying warm this hunting season.
Every year thousands of hunters face the cold. And every year, some of them die from it. Hypothermia is the number-one killer associated with outdoor leisure sports. Surprisingly, most hypothermia deaths happen during periods of marginally cold weather in the spring and fall. Do you really know how to plan and dress for cold weather? The following quiz will help you find out.
TRUE OR FALSE?
ANSWERS:
1. False. Well, mostly false, anyway. Concentrated sugar and carbohydrates will warm you up, but they burn too quickly to be effective for long, immobile periods in a deer stand. High-calorie food is essential for generating body heat, but it should be taken in the form of fat or complex carbohydrates (like peanuts, whole-grain cereals and breads), which burn more slowly. A good, greasy breakfast of sausage and eggs will give you a lot more mileage than sweet rolls in the morning. Peanut butter and bacon, spread thickly between slices of whole-wheat bread, makes a good lunch or snack and will sustain you far longer than candy will.
2. False. There isn't enough heat in a cup of hot anything to do more than merely soothe your innards. High-calorie beverages—like cocoa, cider and sugary fruit drinks—provide quick energy but are essentially the same as candy in effect. It also happens that caffeine is diuretic, meaning it depletes body fluids, which are necessary to effectively metabolize body heat.
3. True. When you burn up internal fuel, the body has a built-in mechanism that cuts off blood to the extremities in order to conserve energy for your more vital internal-core functions. It's the body's way of telling you that you need to generate more heat (or insulate more adequately) in order to stay alive. Simply eating something, like a strip of beef jerky or a handful of trail mix, is often all you need to warm up. A midmorning walk will also stimulate heat production, but only as long as your energy reserves hold out.
4. False. Cotton retains as much as 50 percent of its weight in moisture. It literally collects perspiration and holds the dampness against you all day. Damp clothing draws heat away from the body 24 times faster than dry duds do. Synthetics, like polypropylene and Thermax, are your best bets for cold-weather underwear. They retain only 1 percent of their weight in moisture, and they wick away perspiration through your outer layers of clothing. (You can burn your cotton hunting shirts and sweaters, too. Wool, which retains 13 percent of its weight in moisture, will still insulate when wet; it's a far better choice for outer clothes.)
5. False. Mittens are generally warmer than gloves. The tradeoff to hunters, however, is more cumbersome shooting. Shooting mittens—with slits cut into them—are available, but avoid the cheap cotton ones.
6. False. Ironically, in cold weather you often have to be more concerned about becoming too warm than too cold. Overheating commonly leads to hypothermia by way of dampness. With a single pair of warm hunting coveralls, you can neither remove it if you get too warm nor practically add to it if you get too cold. Dress in several layers of lighter clothing, and remove or add layers to suit your level of activity.
7. False. Alcohol is not only a diuretic, it is a vasodilator (widens the blood vessels). You experience the sensation of warmth as a result. But that warmth—in reality—is the accelerated loss of heat through your skin.
8. False. Of course you should bring everything you'll need, but you won't necessarily wear it. (Sorry, trick question.) Many hunters make the painful mistake of bundling up for the hike to the deer stand, only to find themselves shivering in perspiration-soaked clothes by shooting time. After a good hearty breakfast, you should be able to guess that you'll be glowing pretty well about five minutes into your hike, and you should shed clothing accordingly. Or, at least, ventilate excess heat by zipping down your jacket or unbuttoning your shirt.
9. False. Violent shivering means you're entering an advanced state of hypothermia, a state where judgment is seriously impaired. If you're lucky enough to recognize it, you must act quickly: 1) Guzzle your hot beverage (unless it's alcohol); 2) Scarf down your high-energy snack; 3) Do jumping jacks (vigorously!); 4) Build a fire using nearby sources of firewood. Do not wander off! Many experienced hunters have gotten lost—and subsequently died—trying to make their way back to camp with impaired sensibilities. This is no time to get cocky; you could have prevented this situation in the first place. Stay by your fire and take your licks until help arrives, or until you are once again generating (and retaining) substantial body heat.
10. True. Snow (that is, dry snow) makes an excellent natural insulator. The trick is staying dry yourself while you're in it. Ideally, hollow out a mound of the stuff after it has set for about an hour. You can insulate yourself effectively from the floor of your "cave" with dry leaves or pine boughs. With warm, dry clothes you will remain surprisingly comfortable all night. A candle, if you have one, makes a consoling companion. Prop your hunting cap on a stick outside to alert searchers of your whereabouts.
11. False. You not only dehydrate more rapidly in cold weather, but less noticeably. Dehydration catches up on you fast—with no apparent thirst. It feels like a bad hangover with similar effects. You can never drink too much water when you're active in the outside cold. It is essential for properly metabolizing food/fuel into heat. Fill a plastic gallon jug and keep it at your deer stand.
12. False. The air inside an air mattress is not sufficiently "trapped" to insulate. It gets as cold as the ground beneath it and the air around it. A closed-cell foam pad—though it provides less of a cushion—is superior to almost anything for reducing conduction from the ground. You can't really sleep comfortably on cold surfaces without one, no matter how warm the sleeping bag.
13. False. You won't even be able to get to sleep if you're significantly cold. As a matter of fact, it would be better if you could sleep—simply from the standpoint of conserving energy for warmth.
14. True. More hunters have died of hypothermia due to wet clothing in cool, rainy weather than to the bare elements in cold, snowy weather. Good raingear is truly one of the most essential items in a hunter's trail pack. While Gore-Tex is admittedly expensive, it still makes the best raingear because it breathes. Trapped perspiration—typical of vinyl and rubberized nylon rain suits—tends to chill you.
15. False. Trapped dead-air space is what insulates you from the cold. The thicker—hence tighter—the layer inside your boot, the less insulating value it has. In fact, it will actually conduct heat away from your foot to the outside. The ideal sock combination for nearly any cold-weather application is a light polypropylene liner sock, with a heavier wool (or poly-wool) outer sock, inside an insulated boot. You should at least be able to wiggle your toes. It helps even more if your footwear breathes a little, to boot.
16. False. Down is still the best natural insulator—when dry. But once it's wet, its insulating value is zilch. For all practical purposes, clothing made with synthetic materials—such as Hollowfil and Quallofil—are superior in the field. Also, when wet down is allowed to freeze, its fragile fibers break down and lose much of their original insulating properties. This does not happen with the new synthetics.
17. True. It sure will. In fact, there are reported cases of individuals who actually started forest fires in attempts to save themselves. This is total nonsense. If you must resort to measures of this extreme, you probably don't belong in the woods to start with. Proper knowledge, planning and preparation for the outdoors will better ensure your safety.
18. True. More accurately, it prevents heat loss. Wherever your body makes contact with a cold object, you lose heat through conduction. You not only experience the discomfort of contact, but your energy reserves are used up as your body works to warm up the spot. Whether your sitting pad is "hot" or not is insignificant. An inexpensive closed-cell foam pad works nearly as well. SA
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