Don't ever wear cotton outdoors in the first place (except for bandanas and bandages - even my full brimmed has are now synthetic).

I'm not sure of the scientific explanation, but I can tell you from personal experience that certain fabrics remain "survivable" warm when they're soaking wet. Example...

I went snowboarding one time in Japan. I had to buy new gloves on the mountain. The labels were in Japanese, and I don't read Japanese. I decided to buy some gloves that were clearly fleece (polyester) on the inside. That day it started raining pretty hard on the mountain. The water went straight through my cheap-ass gloves. Although my hands were uncomfortable from the wetness, my hands were not unbearably cold. The glove exteriors, although worthless for waterproofing, must have provided a bit of insulation for warmth. The saving grace was the fleece insulation underneath the glove exteriors. By the way, I'm the type of person with hands that get cold easily.

During lunch time, I had a chance to wring out my gloves. They were completely full of water, but the fleece insulation did wring out more easily than other fabrics would have. It did stop raining, and I was able to continue snowboarding with gloves that were about 95% dry.

Bigtoe..my wife was with me and there were other people at this riverside free run dog park.in the summer it's wonderful in the winter it's very pretty but you have to watch your step.i was wet from the armpits down and had on the minus ten winter clothes,long johns,lined pants,heavy shirt,down vest under a 20-40 jacket,boots.
i knew if i stood around waiting for 911 i would be colder than a fast walk back to the car and a short drive home.my heart was pounding all the way back but i never starting shivering,just cold and wet.



this is the place,the brown dog was the one i went in after.this photo was taken later in the winter.

BEAUTIFUL DOGS!

But their manias will get them into trouble sometimes!

Sue

Thanks Sue!..we keep them away from the river in the winter if there is any kind of ice shelf they can walk out on,most time we just stay back in the woods.just as a side note,because the Mississippi and the dog park is just a short walk,and a couple minutes by car,from the house i never think about taking any sort of survival gear,i mean what could happen----

Only dry, powdery snow will absorb water - the kind of powder you find when the temperatures are well below the freezing point of water. If it is 0C/32F or above the snow will be wet and won't absorb anything. Snow that has transformed into larger ball-shaped crystals won't be of much help, no matter the temperatures.



Dunno, haven't actually tried it - but I seriously don't think so.

I think it is a 3-part problem

1) You have to heat the water next to your skin and the water in your clothes. Water has a very high heat capacity, requiring lots of energy to raise the temperature of said water.

2) Evaporation. The colder, the more pronounced effect. Wind increases the evaporation a lot.

3) I haven't the data to back it up, but my gut reaction is that heat conduction through the wet clothes is the least of your worries.

Anyway, I second the procedure outlined above by several others: Strip down, wring semi-dry, put back on, add vapor barrier. Then think about your options about evacuating, building a fire, bivuacking or just continuing your merry way, depending on circumstances.



Yes. Fleece is amazing stuff, but I really don't like it when it's wet. Wring it fairly dry, put it on. I am sure there must be more synthetic fibres with similar properties out there.

Wool is even more amazing, and my #1 choice for outdoor underlayer (with the exception of my cotton boxer shorts, which has been nowhere near of killing me - yet). For the middle and insulation layer I mix wool and fleece, depending on circumstances.

May help:

http://www.yukonman.com/cold_water.asp

"Consider carrying a backpackers towel to dry off. Even a tiny one 12 x 18 will do"

Very good suggestion.
I'll add a small towel to my rucksack this weekend. :-)

Pete #2

I'm thinking the same thing Pete. Think I'll store it in something waterproof.