Most of your chance of survival is mental

Heavy winter clothes can actually help buoyancy for a while but not if you flap and panic and try to swim, which obviously most of us would. Instinct isn't to lay on your back and calmly skull to safety like Vim Hoff would.

I've had a very basic cold water immersion survival lesson. Your chances of survival hinge on the first couple of minutes and staying composed while the shock passes. Then you've got a limited window to find a way out or get hold of something. If you don't, you're f**ked basically as your arms and legs soon stop working and you sink. The effect of water temperature is bloody frightening. 11 degrees sounds quite bearable, it's not.

This all presumes you don't succumb to a heart attack, so you're a man over 50, your odds are immediately slashed drastically. Cheery stuff.

Posted By: Captain Bligh, Feb 4, 12:34:12