Staying Alive Cold - Kit (SACKit)

[susannewilliams]

Nothing quite prepares you for 2 degree Celsius water when your not expecting it.

I have trained myself to put my hand over my mouth anytime I hit the water. The huge gasp reflex is just a killer in cold water.

Amazing is that you have a full 10 mins before incapacitated by hypothermia.

But for the first minute you just have to fight not to drown, and just get your breathing under control.

After that things can get better.

[susannewilliams]

Do you ever use a bothy bag?

Sometimes a Bothy 2, but these days more often I have my Jerven Bag. That is full on life insurance.

You can get into your Jerven Bag and light a candle in there too.

This will get hot very quickly and even dry your clothes out.

I have tried this. Amazing!

[susannewilliams]

Thanks for your tips Sue,A life Saver.!
You look HOT in both your "running Gear n Turkey Wrap"lol.Its surprising how much heat those T lites put out!

Thank you!!! Wow. Blushing a little. But not in a bad way. :-)

[susannewilliams]

I hav e a survival/bivi/ sleeping bag in the form of the Jerven bag. Very expensive and purchased before I got a family...anyway, it does that job too...Susanne also loves them.

What I bring in the boat is a 30 litre dry bag with a rope on it, with a knife, some waterproof firestarters, some freeze dried food, energy bars, candles, emergency flares, and a set of thermal underwear, dry wool socks and a light weight set of rain jacket and trousers...the idea is I can grab it if I have to ditch the boat on some rock out there (plenty of them)...but SIB's are very safe boats, so I doubt it will ever happen...
But it makes me feel safer...

Still recommend a little kit in your PFD. It happens so fast to get seperated. So horribly fast.

[FishyFolk]

Still recommend a little kit in your PFD. It happens so fast to get seperated. So horribly fast.

I got some stuff in the pockets of my float suit too. But unless I fall overboard, everything happens in slow motion on my boat. It only has a 4hp engine on it so it just putters allong. The dry bag I can clip to me with a carbine hook. A likely scenario is probably that I get a hole in the boat, and have to beach it and do a repair. And then I have to wait a few hours until the glue sets. The boat has several air chambers so it won't sink. And these boats are incredibly steady.

Anyway, the punctured boat scenario I had once so I know how it will play out :-)

[susannewilliams]

I got some stuff in the pockets of my float suit too. But unless I fall overboard, everything happens in slow motion on my boat. It only has a 4hp engine on it so it just putters allong. The dry bag I can clip to me with a carbine hook. A likely scenario is probably that I get a hole in the boat, and have to beach it and do a repair. And then I have to wait a few hours until the glue sets. The boat has several air chambers so it won't sink. And these boats are incredibly steady.

Anyway, the punctured boat scenario I had once so I know how it will play out :-)

Ah ok. Thought you were talking about a sea kayak...

What float suit did you get?

[susannewilliams]

Here is an example of use. Drysuit with pockets (and a PFD) but that's it. Now this is my home lake but I also explore remotely like this.

[FishyFolk]

Ah ok. Thought you were talking about a sea kayak...

What float suit did you get?

Regatta Sportline 953. It think its a Norwegian brand.
http://www.regatta.no/index.php?page_id=522

[FishyFolk]

Ah ok. Thought you were talking about a sea kayak...

I wanted a sit-on-top kayak, but my then pregnant wife, took one look at it, patted her belly and told me "No"...

Strange as her father made a living making river boats in Thailand...and those things had a smaller free board than most kayaks, ha ha
Or maybe she thinks that kayak is as dangerous to use as those river boats...I tried them, and sank every time, to half the villages amusement.... :-)

[rik_uk3]

Sometimes a Bothy 2, but these days more often I have my Jerven Bag. That is full on life insurance.

You can get into your Jerven Bag and light a candle in there too.

This will get hot very quickly and even dry your clothes out.

I have tried this. Amazing!

You can light a candle in a bothy bag too