Quote:
Originally Posted by Baz
IMHO....us humans used to be tougher than "we" are now.
We've gotten SOFT!  |
No doubt humans were tougher back then and I can accept a lot of what they say he went through. The bear attack, riding the horse off the cliff, being buried and more. I would go as far to say being tougher, drive to avenge the murder of his son and even adrenaline carried him farther than most. But the effects of hypothermia don't care. This man was out in the wilderness in the dead of winter for several weeks. Not days but weeks. No hat, no gloves wet to his core on several occasions. I'm a little fuzzy but I don't think he had shoes either. I think the guys that buried him took those.
He rides a horse off the cliff and survives. OK that's possible. He slits the horses belly, gets completely undressed. He leaves his clothes laying on the ground. He climbs in the horses cavity for warmth and protection from the storm. Ok I can see that. Here is where it becomes a problem. In the morning he gets out of the cavity of the horse and is now completely covered in wet blood. He proceeds to put on the clothes that he left on the frozen ground and now have been covered by snow. Again, no hat no gloves. How long until the wet horse blood, his frozen clothes and air temperature drop his core temp below 96 degrees and it becomes life threatening? How long until he loses use of his extremities, he becomes disoriented and tired? Thirty minutes? Given his extra toughness, drive, etc. Could it possibly exceed an hour and a half? Three times the normal?
In another scene he is running across the frozen plain. Obviously this is causing his body temp to rise so he will begin to sweat. Not only will sweating cause dehydration his core body temp will drop rapidly once he stops moving. Much of his body heat being lost out the top of his head. He then sleeps directly on the frozen ground with no shelter. What do you think the air temp dropped to after the sun went down? How about wind chill factors?
In another scene he comes upon a river. Not only does he wade into the river, he sits down in it to eat a fish. Now he is drenched over most of his body and his clothing is absorbing the frigid water as well. In addition he puts his hands in the water to catch the fish. There is ice on the river bank and snow on the ground so the water temp and the air temp are below freezing. Wouldn't the river water drop his core temp dramatically in the matter of a few minutes? Wouldn't his clothes freeze? Again, how long until his core temp drops to life threatening level?
He had complete use of his hands, fingers, feet, toes and legs. No effects from the freezing temps what so ever. No sign of frost bite on his ears, nose, fingers, toes, nothing.