Thermal Protective Aids

[PaulS]

Does anyone know much about these? I know they are nowhere near as effective as a full immersion suit but are they better than nothing? I was thinking I could put a few in my ditch bag and perhaps they'd extend survival time in cold water by a few hours. That is if they can be worn in the water - I haven't been able to find a whole lot of info on them.

http://www.landfallnavigation.com/sitp1.html

[BiteFactory]

Originally Posted by PaulS

Does anyone know much about these? I know they are nowhere near as effective as a full immersion suit but are they better than nothing? I was thinking I could put a few in my ditch bag and perhaps they'd extend survival time in cold water by a few hours. That is if they can be worn in the water - I haven't been able to find a whole lot of info on them.

http://www.landfallnavigation.com/sitp1.html

You'd have to heat up all the water that would be inside. This thing appears to be made to minimize heat loss in air and maybe to keep out of water in the raft. Heat loss when immersed in water is something like 30 times worse than in air. Then there is the water flushing problem - where your hard earned warm water flushes out and cold water takes it's place. With a big baggy cover I think it would be worse. The thickness of the insulation is a factor as well.

I wouldn't count on being able to put this on when in the water. Even in a nice heated pool you can get exhausted getting into something - shortening your time in the process.