Could the many calories of the alcohol help in such situations?
Eating fat during a ship sinking accident is probably better, but alcohol has more calories than sugar and having enough energy to survive in the cold is important.
How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)
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Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)
#12So the secret is to remain calm and keep hope (both of which are helped by drunkness) besides the obvious "be last to get into the water" and "put on more layers of clothing" (though I didn't know that more clothes help even when wet).
I'm not sure how being fully submerged for long periods of time affects this, but in outdoor culture there are sayings like "warm when wet" - pertaining to certain fabrics such as wool and polyester. One famous strategy is the pile and pertex combination. Where you have a thin basically windproof but not waterproof shell made typically from Pertex, and then fake fur from polyster on the inside. These jackets are used…
I used to have a second hand, well-worn Buffalo Systems pullover and it was fantastic for staying warm whilst wet hiking.
Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)
#13I find it hard to believe he survived in the water for that long.
There could be a Darwinian something to the stereotype of drunk UNION sailor
Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)
#14Come on. Getting drunk will lower your survival chances for sure. It counterintuitively doesn't warm you up, waste precious energy while the body fights intoxication, and you are more likely to injure yourself in anything requiring body coordination.
I am not sure that drinking alcohol wastes energy. It contains a lot of calories, more than sugar. I also haven’t heard about people drinking alcohol to lose weight.
Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)
#15I find it hard to believe he survived in the water for that long.
I read about a north fisherman whose boat sunk. everyone perished in the cold water but he was so large and wrapped in heavy clothing he eventually paddled to shore, walked a mile and knocked on a door, without dying. Fat and cloth layers really help. He was also said to have survived because he was incredibly drunk. Maybe the alcohol in the system reduces the effects of the cold?
Sounds like anti-freeze keeping the oxygen circulating to the brain.
Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)
#16So the secret is to remain calm and keep hope (both of which are helped by drunkness) besides the obvious "be last to get into the water" and "put on more layers of clothing" (though I didn't know that more clothes help even when wet).
I think any clothes can help building an insulating layer around your body.
I've been doing some cold plunges recently and the difference between still and moving water is staggering, as you quickly get a thermal layer around you. Surely clothes would help with that.
Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)
#17> cannot seem to kill
I live in a cold Canadian city that has a substantial population with drug addictions.
I was talking to a cop one night (he was off duty) and he was telling me about how you eventually learn some of the regular offenders names and stories. He told me how tough some of these guys are. How he'd pick one up for stealing and he's out in -30C with ganggreen on his leg.
"Cockroach energy" he called it.
Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)
#18Come on. Getting drunk will lower your survival chances for sure. It counterintuitively doesn't warm you up, waste precious energy while the body fights intoxication, and you are more likely to injure yourself in anything requiring body coordination.
I am not sure that drinking alcohol wastes energy. It contains a lot of calories, more than sugar. I also haven’t heard about people drinking alcohol to lose weight.
Vomiting won’t retain calories which happens when you are “spectacularly drunk”.
Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)
#19I find it difficult to believe. It was April -2C air temp in the open ocean and water temp probably 0C or 1C. Even with clothes on or relaxed you'd be dead in 15 minutes.
I live in Canada on the coast and there are many news articles of people drowning after falling into cold water. And those people were in modern cold weather clothing.
Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)
#20I find it hard to believe he survived in the water for that long.
I read about a north fisherman whose boat sunk. everyone perished in the cold water but he was so large and wrapped in heavy clothing he eventually paddled to shore, walked a mile and knocked on a door, without dying. Fat and cloth layers really help. He was also said to have survived because he was incredibly drunk. Maybe the alcohol in the system reduces the effects of the cold?
In non freezing temperatures bad blood circulation probably is an advantage? There is probably no point in heating your fingers if in cold water for a long time. It will just cool more important organs.