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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)

#81

Post by ghaff »

temporarara wrote: post #80
ghaff wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general, at least some ability to swim is a pretty basic skill. It should happen much earlier (and it did in my case) but my undergrad required passing a swim test or at least taking the Phys Ed course.

While it's beneficial to learn swimming as young as you possible can people should be encouraged to learn it later too if they are at least mildy interested in water. I learned to swim very young pretty much on my own and thought I was decent, but it was only after taking some technique classes later on that made swimming longer distances actually enjoyable to me. Swimming as competitive sports never interested me at…

I was never a "good" swimmer. I was fairly negative buoyancy as a teenish and barely got the one mile Boy Scout patch at one point. Never had any interest in competitive.

I agree with what I think your basic point is. Swim well enough and comfortable enough so you probably won't drown in a trivial water situation or even doing stuff like canoeing/kayaking and that goes a long way.

Maybe it's my background but you end up in a river or a lake sooner or later. Or you step off into something that's a bit deeper than you expected. It seems pretty stupid to not be prepared for something that seems basically normal life for a lot of people that doesn't actually require a huge amount of work.

Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)

#82

Post by pants2 »

ZetaH wrote: post #61
jvanderbot wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard that a strong reason to live can get you through tough situations. E.g. in prison camps. I've also been solo skydiving and first hand experienced the loss of agency that comes from a poor response to life threatening situations:) So, I'm not optimistic about my own chances in those situations.

This reminded me on the "Hope" experiment they did on rats: https://homedialysis.org/news-and-research/blog/528-lifesavi... .

This is one of the more fascinating and cruel studies of the 1950's

Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)

#83

Post by bradknowles »

marcosdumay wrote: post #70
DougN7 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you exhale you’ll probably find you sink quite well. And ‘jumping’, even just using your feet/ankles will be enough to move you up 5-8 feet. Give it a try (assuming you can swim!)

> If you exhale you’ll probably find you sink quite well. That depends on how fat you are. And if there's any salt on the water.

It also depends on the type of fat. People with high density fat (like me) can be 100 pounds overweight (or more), and still be negatively buoyant. I have to work to stay afloat.

My wife has low density fat, and she can't sink or dive for love or money.

Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)

#84

Post by refurb »

1024core wrote: post #71
bloomingeek wrote: post #54

When I was about eight years old, I went to look for something I left near a motel swimming pool. I slipped into the deep end of the pool, I didn't know how to swim. At first I flailed as fast as I could, instinctively I suppose. This didn't help and I realized two things, I was still sinking and was getting tired. So I stopped and just stared ahead. I can't say I knew I was going to die, I just knew I was in trouble…

Recently I was in Hawaii, snorkeling in an area where I could walk around. I don't now how to swim, but I have been in shallow pools before. Unbeknownst to me, I was slowly drifting into a deeper area as I was busy just looking down at the fishies. Suddenly I realized my feet no longer could touch the bottom, and an initial panic set in. Then I quickly reasoned that I would just sink to the bottom (which was, about,…

The idea of snokeling without knowing how to swim seems incredibly risky.

Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)

#85

Post by themaninthedark »

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #68
bloomingeek wrote: post #54

When I was about eight years old, I went to look for something I left near a motel swimming pool. I slipped into the deep end of the pool, I didn't know how to swim. At first I flailed as fast as I could, instinctively I suppose. This didn't help and I realized two things, I was still sinking and was getting tired. So I stopped and just stared ahead. I can't say I knew I was going to die, I just knew I was in trouble…

I almost drowned as a kid too, maybe a couple of years younger. Out in rural Ireland I was jumping from rock to rock at edge of a small lake and fell in. I remember it was actually a very calm experience - sinking down underwater with eyes open, then coming back up a little, then an arm from above came down into the water and dragged me out. Luckily one of my elder cousins had seen me fall in. My parents were there t…

I head from a friend that they had a similar experience of calm when almost drowning as well.

Scroobius Pip talked about something similar in 1000 Words as well: https://youtu.be/7mrSi1DgCcI?t=69

Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)

#86

Post by waffle_ss »

nradov wrote: post #69
Ekaros wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wet suites work on principal of after they get wet they don't convect heat. I think certain clothing combination might reach same effect, just not as well.

That's not now wetsuits work. Neoprene is simply a good thermal insulator, largely because of the embedded gas bubbles. And the tight fit minimizes the amount of cold water that can flow into the suit. There is still some heat convection regardless of whether the suit is wet or not.

I can't speak to the physics but I've done cold water dives, and if you prime your wetsuit with a thermos of hot water, that envelope of hot water stays in your suit for a surprising amount of time

Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)

#87

Post by nobodyandproud »

nobodyandproud wrote: post #35

Many, many years ago my friends and I were out in the East Village (NYC). We went out for drinks and then to recharge we walked to a pizzeria (I assume 24 hours) to get a few bites. While I don’t normally drink I found I can hold my own with whiskey and I must’ve had about 10 (expensive!!) double shots over the course of 2 hours. Needless to say I was pretty buzzed. Anyway, another group picked a fight with one of my…

Weird that I’m getting downvoted. I’m curious why that is.

Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)

#88

Post by marcosdumay »

filleduchaos wrote: post #75
marcosdumay wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you exhale you’ll probably find you sink quite well. That depends on how fat you are. And if there's any salt on the water.

Unless you are extremely obese, most of your buoyancy will come from your lungs, no?

The OP is about how much buoyancy is left after you empty your lungs. Approximately all of our normal buoyancy comes from the lungs.

Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)

#89

Post by 4death4 »

brabel wrote: post #6

So 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).

Wearing multiple layers of wool clothes would certainly help.

Re: How a baker survived the Titanic by getting drunk (2022)

#90

Post by owenversteeg »

dghughes wrote: post #19

I 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.

I have personally spent a little over an hour in water only slightly above 0C and I was periodically diving under water during that time too. This was to free debris from by boat’s propellor. I had a single layer on, kept calm and did not move more than necessary. I can assure you I am not dead :)
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