03-12-2008, 08:01 PM
Quote:That is irrelevant, thanks to what we now know about hypothermia, and the widely varying ability to resist it in human beings. Having a higher metabolism, or any number of other traits that are not outwardly visible, impact on how one's body resists cold, what temp one's core dropping to induces lethargy. Also not obvious is the strength of will to live, and the point at which someone mentally loses the desire to live or fight the suffering. Likewise, some people reach a point, and simply accept their death, and stop trying. I cold weather situations, this tends to be fatal.
The discovermagazine link by Jared Diamond actually did mention some of the things you brought up. Even things like the physiological differences between sexes, considering the number of males vs females who survived and perished.
The will to survive is definitely a factor. What caught my attention though is the 3 ox legs, and the comment on how it's too dry. These folks according to the article at least, ate their oxen, dogs, and at one point either boiled or chewed their shoes.
So 2 things came to my mind. Keseberg developed a taste for human (sapiens, it's the other white meat!). A bit too lurid and sensational, but stranger things have happened I guess. Second is Keseberg mentally snapped. I'm likely to put my money on the second, but that could just be me trying to mentally shield myself.
Quote:After seven different formal cold weather training sessions over 20+ years, I learned a bit more each time from the Physioligists, and the answers to how one survives cold (in our case, the general scenario was being in cold water, but similar issues apply to cold weather on land) are not as simple as "conventional wisdom" would suggest.
Another thing the article mentioned, some of the folks who went out may not have the experience needed to take the route. And yes, I quite agree that when it's out in the field, nothing is simple as conventional wisdom.
ps. On a slightly unrelated note, I was on a light camping trip once where me and my friends tried out some of the 'survival tips' in some books. I remembered one tip on how to find direction from looking at which side of the tree\rock moss grows. Something about moss only growing on the East side or other. The tip simply didn't apply to where we were, because we found moss was growing on all sides of the rocks and trees. Nature did not comply with the information given from the book!