Inflatable Kayak Blog

I posted a blog on Tuesday (11-30-10) that talked about keeping warm when paddling in cold weather, knowing what causes you to get cold and wearing the right clothing. Then I found this killer video that provides more insight into water’s effect on hypothermia. It’s called “Cold Water Boot Camp”. It shows a group of nine volunteers recruited by the University of Manitoba in Canada to demonstrate how paddlers can survive accidental cold water immersion.

Life jackets are especially important in this demonstration since research has shown that if you’re in water below 68 degrees Fahrenheit, your survival chances decrease dramatically without a life jacket. Overall 80% of drowning victims were not wearing life jackets and were within 7 feet of safety. Factor cold water into an accidental immersion and the outlook isn’t good. This video is an eye-opener!

You’ll note that all the references in the video are metric (Celsius, meters, etc.) since Canada uses the metric system. Here’s a link to a conversion calculator if you need it.