I have not been able to find the complete article in the Wilderness Medicine Newsletter, so it is hard to know what the study’s parameters, measurement methodologies and controls were based upon. However, based upon the limited description of the study in the “Myth Buster” Newsletter, I must disagree that the myth has been debunked.

Simply measuring core temperature (what the Myth Buster article states) is not a true indicator of the variations in heat loss/retention from various parts of the body.

It is not uncommon to find the “experts” in the scientific field to disagree in examining the results of the same study, no less so in studies that have the appearance of being scientific or controlled, but in fact are flawed in either design, data collect and/or interpretation.

What this limited “study” would show, if anything would be a theory, not a fact. As the study would have to be repeated by others, the observations reproduced, peer reviewed and then stand the test of time before it would become fact.

Also, even if the commonly stated heat loss from the head (I have read everything from 40% to 70%) is only 10%, that 10% loss can be substantial. Keep in mind it is not only the overall loss of 10%, but the rate as well. The rate of heat loss, likely plays as big, if not a bigger factor in the rapid development of hypothermia.

Pete