Ski Club 2.0 Home
Snow Reports
FAQFAQ

Mail for help.Help!!

Log in to snowHeads to make it MUCH better! Registration's totally free, of course, and makes snowHeads easier to use and to understand, gives better searching, filtering etc. as well as access to 'members only' forums, discounts and deals that U don't even know exist as a 'guest' user. (btw. 50,000+ snowHeads already know all this, making snowHeads the biggest, most active community of snow-heads in the UK, so you'll be in good company)..... When you register, you get our free weekly(-ish) snow report by email. It's rather good and not made up by tourist offices (or people that love the tourist office and want to marry it either)... We don't share your email address with anyone and we never send out any of those cheesy 'message from our partners' emails either. Anyway, snowHeads really is MUCH better when you're logged in - not least because you get to post your own messages complaining about things that annoy you like perhaps this banner which, incidentally, disappears when you log in :-)
Username:-
 Password:
Remember me:
👁 durr, I forgot...
Or: Register
(to be a proper snow-head, all official-like!)

Heat loss in hatless is a myth

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Scientists from Indiana University in Indianapolis have debunked the myth that most of our body heat is lost from our heads. They traced the origins of this advice to a US army survival manual from 1970. It strongly recommended covering the head when it is cold, since "40% to 45% of body heat" is lost from the head. According to the scientists, if this were true, humans would be just as cold if they went without trousers. The myth is thought to have arisen through a flawed interpretation of a vaguely scientific experiment by the US military in the 1950s, in which volunteers were dressed in Arctic survival suits but with nothing on their heads and exposed to bitterly cold conditions....Because it was the only part of their bodies left uncovered, most of their heat was lost through their heads. If the experiment had been performed with people wearing only swimming trunks, they would have lost no more than 10% of their body heat through their heads.

The research was published in the British Medical Journal this week.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/dec/17/medicalresearch-humanbehaviour

Abstact: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/337/dec17_2/a2769
ski holidays
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I have started to wear a tie just to nip out to the shops now. If I have scarf , I figure I may as well seal all draughts around my neck.

Flat cap as well and a sheepskin coat.

I may even start wearing my merino thermals to football. I had two pair of socks on last time. Cold seems to travel up from the concrete.
snow conditions
 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
More heat is lost from the neck than the head.
ski holidays
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
el Hen wrote:
If the experiment had been performed with people wearing only swimming trunks, they would have lost no more than 10% of their body heat through their heads.

Thermal swimming trunks would, of course, increase that percentage.
snow report
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Does it take into account the amount of hot air an individual emits from their head?
snow report
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Whitegold wrote:
More heat is lost from the neck than the head.

I suggest a thermal condom.
ski holidays
 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
laundryman, yes, if it's very cold, it shrinks.

But warming it up doesn't make it bigger than normal rolling eyes .
latest report
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
This is old news. I'm pretty sure that I read this in the Mythconceptions in Fortean Times about a year ago.
snow conditions
 You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
First time I've ever heard the 45% claim, sounds like a straw man argument to me. I've heard 25% from hands and head. I'll go and RTFA now.
ski holidays
 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
I remember hearing about these big percentages back in the Seventies, despite the relatively small surface area of the head, and it was said to be partly because a relatively large amount of blood circulates in the head (don't know if this true).

I think the salient points are:

1. The advice was never given (as I recall) on the express assumption of 'the rest of the body being naked'. Therefore there was always the ambiguity that maybe the body below the head should be assumed clothed, maybe not. Various percentages were bandied about in the ski community for heat loss from the head: 25%, 30% 40% etc.

2. The most important point, myth or no myth, was that you could reduce general heat loss of the body by covering the head well. You would experience less numbing to the fingers and toes etc.

So, whatever the truth/myth, the advice to cover the head and ears with a well-designed wool hat (or to be carrying one) remains sound guidance if there's a risk of chilling down. Presumably. And a possible life-saver if you get into serious trouble and are exposed to potential hypothermia on the mountain.
snow report
 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
David Goldsmith, My mum always quotes 50% of total heat lost being from head at me, and I (trained thermodynamicist that I am) always retorted "I really don't think so". I always reckoned your circulation, etc. argument to be true. so I am quite gratified to be vindicated.

That said, on bitter ski days now, while I still loathe full headwear, I can't stand getting my ears cold, so 70's pornstar headbands have become personally de rigeur. My ears didn't used to get so cold Sad
snow report
 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Quote:

wool

Too itchy, and gets too wet.
ski holidays
 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
How many of these folk are wearing hats, gloves or sunglasses ?!!


http://youtube.com/v/iwrSv1PaPTg
ski holidays
 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
stanton, amazing film! (My father learned how to ski with the Schneider brothers around that time.)
snow conditions
 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
David Goldsmith, well done. At last someone trying to make sense of this article.
The conditions of the original experiment (volunteers dressed in Arctic survival suits with nothing on their heads and exposed to bitterly cold conditions) is just what we experience on the ski slopes. It is under those conditions that 40% - 45% of heat is lost through the head. Hence the old adage: if you want to prevent cold feet, wear a hat (or these days, a helmet wink ).

Of course, for those who ski only in their swimming trunks, a hat may not be quite so effective. Cool
snow conditions
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
the reporting of this new research drives me batty as it is this new research rather than the old research that is missing the salient point here...

yes if i go skiing in swimming trunks ( Skullie ) i will only lose 10% of my body heat through my head. However, i generally wear clothes when i go skiing, therefore the 40% heat loss through my head figure still stands.
snow conditions
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
What about this poor lass then? No hat and I'm not sure it was a thermal swimming thong!

snow report
 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
I wonder what insulating effect a good thatch and a full beard have, versus a clean-shaven baldy.
snow conditions
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
Quote:

I wander (sic) what insulating effect a good thatch and a full beard have, versus a clean-shaven baldy?


Quite a lot, having travelled almost from one extreme to the other. From memory, I think it was found that the hair reduces heat loss from the head by about 25%, but it can be comparatively more in windy conditions.
snow conditions
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
WayneC wrote:
What about this poor lass then? No hat and I'm not sure it was a thermal swimming thong!



I want one!
snow conditions
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
It's all to do with Lv (and wind chill exagerates). Exposed skin, especially covering core organs, is where the most heat is going to be lost. Many people are safe.
snow report
 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I lived in quite cold and windy place for many years, the advice was never "cover your head". Instead, it's "COVER ANY EXPOSED SKIN"! Head included, of course.

I'm glad I learned to deal with cold BEFORE I have to deal with the mountains. Mountains are very unforgiving and cold is just the final (and often the fatal) blow.
latest report
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
WayneC, Ill-fitting rear entry boots, if I am not mistaken. And no sign of snow-chains. Tut tut.

snowHead
snow report
 You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Utter 'Boffin' Tosh !


Wearing a hat (as well as suitable winter clothing) works for me.


Rob
snow conditions
 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
[quote="abc"]I lived in quite cold and windy place for many years, the advice was never "cover your head". Instead, it's "COVER ANY EXPOSED SKIN"! Head included, of course.

I'm glad I learned to deal with cold BEFORE I have to deal with the mountains. Mountains are very unforgiving and cold is just the final (and often the fatal) blow.[/quote]



As are ski resorts when you are full of booze and staggering back to your digs.


Heads up people to ski resort hypothermia.
snow report
 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
my head cold this week Smile
snow report
 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
i'm wearing a face mask anyway (so that slope staff doesnt see the difference between me and my friend on his season pass photo Very Happy )
latest report
 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
About five years ago I started getting really cold arms, especially at the elbows, in bed. I even cut the arms off an old jumper and sowed them onto the sleeves of my pyjama top, but it didn't help. My arms were always cold Sad . Then it struck me that the onset of cold night time arms coincided with my hair being trimmed to a No.2 machine trim Confused (a B&Q cut - when it's gone it's gone). I now wear a hat in bed - not thick, an Ali-G type thing, and guess what, my arms are lovely and warm! Little Angel


Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much on Fri 2-01-09 23:42; edited 1 time in total
latest report
 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:

my head cold this week


Chris - Are you a 19th centaury native American, or is grammar dieing in Newcastle? wink
snow report
 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
chrisb, I'll try and restrain myself from making the obvious reply to skiday on your behalf! Laughing Laughing (The clue is spelling.)
snow report
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Feel free
latest report



Terms and conditions  Privacy Policy