On Fri, 31 Oct 2014 18:27:45 -0000, Rod Speed wrote:

Uncle Peter wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Bod wrote

Uncle Peter made this incredible statement:

"This is a fact. -20C air does not make you cold, .
You might shiver if you were naked, but the
shivering will stop you getting any colder".

To me, it sounds like he's talking absolute bull****
and he should be sent to the funny farm, but is
there an element of truth in what he said?....

Nope. Its certainly possible to be quite active when
naked in -20C air and do fine, but just standing there
naked and shivering wont let you survive for long.

Active or not it doesn't matter.

Bull****. Try going for a walk when its -20C and see the
difference it makes, or chopping up some firewood etc.

I've been in the cold plenty times, and if not active I just shiver. No big deal.

Shivering replaces active, it's the same thing,

Bull****.

It's what shivering is for, it uses your muscles to generate heat, just as though you were running.

your muscles are moving.

Much less when shivering instead of chopping firewood etc.

Wrong. Your muscles will shiver as much strength as they have, you can't chop firewood with more power than your muscles have.

You also have reduced blood flow to the surface (all of you,
not just your fingers and toes and other sticky out things),
and brown fat cells which generate heat directly from calories.

And if you are actually stupid enough to be stark naked in a gale
at -20C and just stand there, you will be dead quite quickly.

Wrong. I always thought as a kid that all this "wrap up warm" was a load of nonsense, so I tried stuff like snowball fights with no gloves, then going cycling in winter in the snow with no shirt, and swimming in icy lakes. I disproved the bull**** that everyone just believes and passes on like utter ignorant morons.

--
Impeccable, adjective: something which cannot be destroyed by the beak of a parrot. Scientists have yet to discover such a substance.