just my thoughts from a "dip" in the Mississippi River at 10 below zero.it's a long story i have told here but it involved saving our dog,a happy go lucky retriever,who busted thru the edge of an ice sheet with fast moving water very close.i chose to make the 20 minute walk back to the car and the five minute ride home rather than wait for the 911 gang to show up,people were getting cell phones out and i waved them off.if i had been alone in the woods a i would have used a trash bag like a poncho to hold as much heat in as possible while i gathered wood to make a fire.i would not want to loose any heat to the air.two fires to stand between and dry my clothes would have been my first thought but any sort of fire would work.on the walk back the clothes froze but the only part that was too cold to stand were my hands in wet nylon gloves,i used my Wife's,small but enough to keep the cold air off them.
now the follow up is something to think about.at home the dog and i got onto a hot shower,i had to wait until my jacket thawed a bit before i could get it off.our dog was in no better shape and just sat under the hot water in a heap...now when it was over and i had a cup of hot coco and my Wife toweled the dog off i went to bed and slept for hours..note that,slept for hours.i would think anyone who get wets and comes out of hypothermia is going to be in the same situation and not have a ounce of energy left to do very much of anything except recover.now i'm talking about the real thing here,not getting damp on a hike and standing by a fire to warm up before heading off to camp down the trail someplace...so now you have two problems to think over.not just what order your going to use the trash bag in but what your going to do when you saved yourself but have no energy to much else...and yes,the dog spent the rest of the day sleeping....