Sergey Ananov: Two days on ice with three polar bears | Hacker News Reader

Sergey Ananov: Two days on ice with three polar bears

bbc.co.uk

106 pointsColinWright18 comments

It's one of the best stories I've read on HN in a wild.

My question is - why did not he take off his life suite as soon as he get out of the water? Since t was filled with water, having it on your body will only increase effect of freezing, no?

I've worn a survival suit. They are reasonably well insulated, and proof against wind and water. Having got the excess water out of it, the remaining water will warm up and act as further insulation against losing heat through conduction. The clothing under the suit holds the water, so you don't lose heat by convection, and the suit is a rubberized fabric, so it doesn't lose heat by radiation.

Wearing it gives him a chance. Without it he would lose heat by all three methods, and probably die in a few hours.

I have never seen a survival suit. But you mention convection. I wear a wetsuit while surfing in Western Canada (Tofino, BC). So if the suit traps water than it probably start acting like a wetsuit[1] .

[1] http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/212_spring2011.web.dir/nicole_wa...

Exactly so, but a survival suit is intended to be a dry suit (when used properly) so the mechanism is not identical. However, when water does get inside, it heats up, gets held in place by your regular clothing underneath, and then the suit acts like a hybrid.

He did:

> Then I took off my survival suit. Wearing nothing but my underwear, and shaking violently in the wind, I tipped as much water as I could out of the suit. Then I put it back on, squelchy wet and freezing cold. I did it up, lifting the ridiculous built-in hat over my head.

> Then I put it back on, squelchy wet and freezing cold

He put it back, wet and cold...

  >> Then I put it back on,
  >> squelchy wet and freezing
  >> cold

  > He put it back, wet and cold...

I'm trying to work out why you're quoting this. It was wet and cold. Are you suggesting he should not have put it back on? In those conditions, not wearing a survival suit is tantamount to suicide. Are you suggesting he dry it out first? Well (a) it would take too long, and (b), how?

So what are you saying? Have I missed something?

  My question is - why did not he take off his life suite as 
  soon as he get out of the water? Since t was filled with 
  water, having it on your body will only increase effect of 
  freezing, no?

^ he posted this, he is wondering why he didn't keep it off. And yeah, he was suggesting that he should not have put it back on.

Which would have immediately warmed back up with his body heat and acted as an insulator.

He did say that he took it off to get the water out of it, although I guess it will still be wet. My guess would be he kept it on to protect himself from the wind.

>Ideas such as: Send helicopters, not planes, to look for survivors

low range

>•Make survival suits that you can actually fly in

no clue about that one

>•Attach mini radio beacons to the suits or life rafts

Breitling emergency watch from top gear comes to mind

"Make survival suits that you can actually fly in"

refers to

"Then I undid my safety belt and opened the door. Instantly I was up to my neck in icy water. I was wearing a survival suit, but only around my legs and waist - the top part hung loose because I find it quite impossible to fly with one covering my arms and upper body."

..as i read it. Incredible story!

I mean Im not familiar with survival suits nor flying planes, so cant comment if there are any currently on the market fitting his requirements.

Every PLB has a lanyard attachment. He should have done a little more preparation and secured the survival essentials to his body or the life raft.

Yes, they make many personal EPIRBs or emergency radio beacons (short range though)

http://www.bing.com/search?q=personal+epirb&src=IE-SearchBox...

They also make EPIRBS that activate automatically when submerged in water.

First he manages to 'semicrash' his helicopter in icy waters, then retrieve his life raft from beneath the sinking heli in freezing water, then survive in extreme weather for 36 hours with half a litre of water and a few protein bars, and the energy to stave off 3 polar bears!

You obviously have to have presence of mind, some training I suspect, but also dollops of luck. What if the polar bears were a bit more hungry, a bit more determined?

What a great read! Kudos and a big congratulations to Sergev Ananov for surviving this! What a relief for his family and friends and I don't think they are going to let him try again, at least not without a crew.

One of my friends does oil exploration work in remote places. Just sent me an email from north of the Arctic Circle off the coast of Norway.

Anyway, he frequently has to do emergency helicopter evac training, and has shown me the pictures. They have x amount of time to escape from a helicopter chassis which is rolled over and dunked upside down into a tank full of freezing water. I don't remember any of the numbers, but I have seen the pictures and it doesn't look like fun at all.

Ironically he used to work on land but that started getting too risky because of where the majority of the work is. Shows how bad it was getting to volunteer for helicopter insertions into a workplace in the North Sea.

Here's a fascinating 10-min audio interview with BBC Outlook's Jo Fidgen a month back: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02z7xl6

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