# The coldest a human can tolerate for lengthy periods **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096 "2012-09-18T19:27:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/21 "2012-09-19T03:12:33Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > No. Normal clothing means clothing that one would normally wear under those conditions, ie a parka, thermal underwear, but not something you have to get from NASA. > > That doesn’t answer my question but just tells me that the limit is below that. > > To make the question a bit more specific, if you really wanted to walk 30 minutes to get somewhere, were acclimated to the climate, had typical polar climate clothing (no spacesuit), and there are no other adverse weather conditions like high winds or snow, at what point do even several layers of clothing fail to keep it from being very unpleasant and/or unsafe. Go back and read my response: The answer is all day, every day, for weeks or months on end. As long as you are active, well fed, rested and hydrated, you can basically go all winter. You can be comfortable. The danger point comes when those points are not maintained. The situation is a little different near the ocean, as you have to stay dry. For work we would keep several sets of gloves and boot liners and trade them out as they moistened from sweat. We had spare clothes too, just in case. It really comes down to food and rest. If you dont have enough energy, your body cannot maintain its core temperature, and you will get hypothermia. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/22 "2012-09-19T03:26:47Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > at what point do even several layers of clothing fail to keep it from being very unpleasant and/or unsafe. I’m going to say -45 celsius and below as the point where your standard gear that you can buy an any outdoor trekking shop won’t do and you need specialized gear. -40 Celsius is the coldest ever recorded at Anchorage, fits what people say above. Below that you get serious problems with any exposed skin, any amount of air breathed in, even very experienced and well equipped teams report injuries and fatalities when temperatures go much below -40 C. Read the preparations for the Ranulph Fiennes Winter South Pole trek attempt. -60 celsius is the average winter temperature at the south pole, -80 celsius is the lowest recorded anywhere (at Vostok). So you can’t get really very much colder on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/23 "2012-09-19T05:29:24Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > NTo make the question a bit more specific, if you really wanted to walk 30 minutes to get somewhere, Note that in this kind of weather, you wouldn’t really do that. Places that far away you would drive to get to (automobile, snowmobile, dogsled, etc.) – you wouldn’t walk. Most of the communities are small enough that you can walk anywhere in town in less than a half hour. To walk that long, you’d have to be walking out in the open, unpopulated country – that’s not a smart thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/24 "2012-09-19T08:04:12Z")
> [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > Go back and read my response: The answer is all day, every day, for weeks or months on end. The question was what’s the lowest temperature that one can be safely exposed to for at least half an hour under the given circumstances. How is “all day” an answer to that? > [@coremelt](#): > > I’m going to say -45 celsius and below as the point where your standard gear that you can buy an any outdoor trekking shop won’t do and you need specialized gear. > > -40 Celsius is the coldest ever recorded at Anchorage, fits what people say above. Below that you get serious problems with any exposed skin, any amount of air breathed in, even very experienced and well equipped teams report injuries and fatalities when temperatures go much below -40 C. Read the preparations for the Ranulph Fiennes Winter South Pole trek attempt. > > -60 celsius is the average winter temperature at the south pole, -80 celsius is the lowest recorded anywhere (at Vostok). So you can’t get really very much colder on the planet. Now that’s just the kind of answer I was looking for. So you say -45 C is the minimum practical limit for normal gear. Let me ask about [this story](http://www.jacklondons.net/buildafire.html) then. The guy walks for hours in -75 F weather. Granted he did end up dying but only when he fell in water. Was he just lucky up to that point, is the story unrealistic, or what? What do you make of it? > [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Note that in this kind of weather, you wouldn’t really do that. Places that far away you would drive to get to (automobile, snowmobile, dogsled, etc.) – you wouldn’t walk. Most of the communities are small enough that you can walk anywhere in town in less than a half hour. To walk that long, you’d have to be walking out in the open, unpopulated country – that’s not a smart thing to do. Well okay, let’s say he is walking in open country like in the above story but ignore the danger of falling in water. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/25 "2012-09-19T08:26:23Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > The guy walks for hours in -75 F weather. Well in the story it’s claimed " The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below".. which is approx -45 celsius. Which is the limit I claimed you would need extraordinary gear and precautions. > [@](#): > > Granted he did end up dying Kind of proves the point. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/26 "2012-09-19T14:00:50Z")
Just wanted to jump in and say a space suit is going to be pretty crappy in significant terrestrial cold. Space suits are designed to get rid of body heat not keep it in. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/27 "2012-09-19T14:34:12Z")
[**Wind chill**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill), mentioned by a couple of posters, is important to keep in mind. The link goes to a Wikipedia article with a wind-chill table in Fahrenheit degrees. Clicking on it will enlarge it. The article also discusses discrepencies in wind-chill calculations. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/28 "2012-09-19T15:23:18Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > [**Wind chill**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill), mentioned by a couple of posters, is important to keep in mind. At those temperatures you have no exposed skin anyway so it’s not a major part of the equation. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/29 "2012-09-19T16:26:50Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > At those temperatures you have no exposed skin anyway so it’s not a major part of the equation. What temperatures do you mean? All of them? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/30 "2012-09-19T18:18:52Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > What temperatures do you mean? All of them? Anything under 20 below F you don’t really want any skin exposed no matter what the wind speed. So it doesn’t have much impact on the coldest temps humans can tolerate with the proper clothing. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/31 "2012-09-19T18:45:20Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > The question was what’s the lowest temperature that one can be safely exposed to for at least half an hour under the given circumstances. How is “all day” an answer to that? It is an answer in the sense that there is realistically no where on the surface of earth where it is so cold that you couldnt endure 30 minutes dressed to your specifications. You’ll note that I specified that we changed our clothes at -40. If I could endure -40 in a t-shirt and jeans for a minute (remove gloves/mask/snow suit, take off sweaty hooded shirt, put new shirt on, snow suit, new mask, new gloves), then you could endure -80 for 30 minutes dressed as I was. You mentioned comfort. I mentioned sweating at -40. Your gloves and boots eventually become saturated and your body cant keep that moisture warm. So your gloves start to freeze and pretty soon you have ice very close to your skin. In my case I was doing dexterous work handing very cold objects. My hands got cold. If I had just been walking, that could be staved off pretty much indefinitely. The purpose of clothing -for any season- is to regulate your energy consumption, so that your bodies mechanisms can maintain you at a optimal(and hopefully comfortable) temperature. It is when that consumption is too high that you feel cold. Case in point: How long can you comfortably endure a cold rainy day while naked? Depends on what you are doing. When will it kill you? When you starve to death. I have some data points for you: Winter joggers. I’m sure someone will chip in that its actually quite nice to run when its just below freezing. Other than slippery ice, you can be quite comfortable. They dress with mobility in mind. Activity keeps them warm. Dog sledders: We dressed about equivalent to these race officials at 2:00 minutes. [http://youtu.be/UUyXKAKCpkE?t=2m](http://youtu.be/UUyXKAKCpkE?t=2m). They might have endured hours of that weather. Heh. Those dogs sure were anxious to start running again. Mountain climbers: They camp on Everest overnight in little tents, making their final push at dawn. Their little heaters dont warm them _that_ much. They do have pretty fancy clothes, but you cannot wear a survival suit and climb mountains. Polar swimmers! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MpaSrJeEMs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MpaSrJeEMs) See how scantly dressed they are? A quote from [http://polarplunge.com/View/Page/FAQs#3:](http://polarplunge.com/View/Page/FAQs#3:) > [@](#): > > How does the Plunge occur? > Just prior to the actual Plunge, all the plungers enter the fenced in plunger-only area. Our water rescue dive team supervisor then briefs everyone on how to plunge safely. After the briefing, our Special Olympics athletes will be the first to Plunge. For their protection, we ask that everyone else hold back until they are safely out of the water. Then, we’ll signal to the rest of the crowd that it’s time to plunge. How far out you go and how long you stay in are up to you, as long as you are following the direction of the EMS team. Eventually, the dive team will escort the remaining plungers out of the water (there are always some who try to stay in the longest!). How long do you think some of those people have stand, dressed like that, waiting their turn? Well, if you have 200 plungers, and they each stay in 5 seconds, that is 500 seconds or 8.3 minutes(two people at a time), plus their run to the pool, plus the time of the briefing(a minute?), plus any complications like someone needing help getting out. Its conceivable that someone could end up standing there in an bikini for 10 minutes or more. > [@snailboy](#): > > The question was what’s the lowest temperature that one can be safely exposed to for at least half an hour under the given circumstances. How is “all day” an answer to that? Cold weather doesnt cause immediate medical distress. Even hypothermia doesnt kill you in 30 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/32 "2012-09-19T18:51:08Z")
Sir Ranulph Fiennes is going to try to cross the Antarctic continent on foot during the next southern winter, apparently. Temperatures during the trip are expected to consistently get down to around -60F. > **[Sir Ranulph Fiennes to attempt record Antarctica trek](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19609293)** > > British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes unveils plans to set a new world record by leading the first team on foot across Antarctica during the southern winter. I’ve read some of his books, and I think the guy is an absolute beast, but he’s 68 years old now and I highly doubt that he’ll succeed, even though he won’t actually be manhauling his own supplies this time. Apparently he and one other guy will only have to pull behind their skis a radar unit designed to detect upcoming crevasses. All of their tents and fuel, food, etc will be pulled by motorised vehicles that will be following them. I still don’t think that it will end well. Mind you, if I was a sadistic mad scientist I’d like to make a few clones of Henry “Birdie” Bowers from Scott’s party a century ago, and see what a bunch of them could achieve in extremely cold conditions. During the six week long “Worst Journey in the World”, where he and two others gathered Emperor penguin eggs during the Antarctic winter, he didn’t even have any problems sleeping when it was -60F. When Scott’s party was approaching the South Pole the five of them only had four pairs of skis, so Bowers just went on foot. Read up on him. That guy was an absolute f\*\*\*ing freak of nature. > **[Henry Robertson Bowers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Robertson_Bowers)** > > Henry Robertson Bowers (29 July 1883 – c. 29 March 1912) was one of Robert Falcon Scott's polar party on the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition of 1910–1913, all of whom died during their return from the South Pole. > Bowers was born on 29 July 1883 in Greenock, Scotland. The only son and youngest of three children of Alexander Bowers, a naval captain and independent merchantman, and Emily, née Webb. He was of Scottish descent. After his father died in Rangoon, his mother alone raised him from the... ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/33 "2012-09-19T19:11:05Z")
> [@Molesworth\_2](#): > > Read up on him. That guy was an absolute f\*\*\*ing freak of nature. > > [Henry Robertson Bowers - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Robertson_Bowers) Incredible human being! But I’ll one up you, twice. Read up on “The mad trapper of Rat River”. Find the book(its a short but good read) if you can. Harder to find is stuff on Jerry Potts. [Jerry Potts - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Potts) The wikipedia reference doesnt discuss him unerringly finding a destination in a snow storm. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/34 "2012-09-19T19:49:17Z")
> [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > It is an answer in the sense that there is realistically no where on the surface of earth where it is so cold that you couldnt endure 30 minutes dressed to your specifications. A very informative post, but just to be sure, you’re saying that even at the South Pole when it’s -120 F, one could dress up in the type of clothing you’d expect someone at the South Pole to have, go for at least a 30 minute walk around the base (assuming the weather is otherwise nice), and return with no health problems? That’s very surprising to me if so. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/35 "2012-09-19T21:00:48Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > A very informative post, but just to be sure, you’re saying that even at the South Pole when it’s -120 F, one could dress up in the type of clothing you’d expect someone at the South Pole to have, go for at least a 30 minute walk around the base (assuming the weather is otherwise nice), and return with no health problems? That’s very surprising to me if so. Why is that so surprising? The folk who spend the winter at the South Pole, and even more so Vostok, are wearing appropriate clothing outside when they have to go out. They’d be dead if they didn’t. Why is your 30 minute outside exposure significant? Indeed, what do you think is nice weather on a high plateau close to the southern pole? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/36 "2012-09-19T22:51:04Z")
It’s hardly ever close to -120F in Antarctica. That’s record cold. It’s usually much warmer even in the dead of winter. I grew up in Fairbanks Alaska, where we got to 60 below a couple of times every winter. It is perfectly safe to go outside at 60 below with normal cold weather clothing for an hour or two. What makes it dangerous is if you get damp, or disoriented, or tired or hungry. If you are hiking there is absolutely no margin for error, a simple mistake can cost you your life. There are two dangers, frostbite and hypothermia. Ironically, because you are wearing warm clothes hypothermia isn’t the biggest danger. Much more likely is frostbite, where the tissue of your extremities literally freezes. Your core temperatures can be fine but your fingers, toes, ears and nose can be literally frozen. You can lose fingers and toes and ears to frostbite in a very short time if you aren’t dressed appropriately. But since the OP specified that the test subject could wear appropriate “normal” cold weather gear, that’s not a danger for the short times he’s talking about. People tend to spend an absolute minimum amount of time outdoors when it gets colder than 40 below. That’s damn cold and not any fun, and 60 below seems three times colder. At 60 below it starts to feel like you’re on an alien planet. Sounds are distorted, the air is absolutely still, ice fog as thick as peanut butter, and you can feel the cold punching you in the face as you walk. Also, cars left outside won’t start even if they’re plugged in, metal and plastic items become extremely brittle. Nothing more embarrassing than going to open your car door and having the handle snap off in your hand. ---
**Author:** ![Robb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Robb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robb)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/37 "2012-09-20T01:20:27Z")
Some of the indigenous peoples of the southern end of South America lived in the cold in little to no clothing. They were nomadic and didn’t really build shelters. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/38 "2012-09-20T02:15:39Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Why is that so surprising? The folk who spend the winter at the South Pole, and even more so Vostok, are wearing appropriate clothing outside when they have to go out. They’d be dead if they didn’t. Why is your 30 minute outside exposure significant? Indeed, what do you think is nice weather on a high plateau close to the southern pole? I’m from Texas. It’s strange to even think that it has hit -120 anywhere on Earth. I figured they just didn’t go outside when it hit such extreme temperatures. And I do know that -120 is (almost) the record temperature, not the winter average. Still, if you stay at South Pole or Vostok Station through the winter, you’re going to see temperatures close to that at some point. ---
**Author:** ![pabstist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@pabstist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pabstist)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/39 "2012-09-21T02:31:59Z")
I work at a high school, and one day that was about 20 degrees out, I saw kid get dropped off out front. “Hey Earl, aren’t you kinda cold wearing shorts today?” “Nope, my family is 6th generation Vermonters, so we don’t get cold.” Ah, I did not know that the human body could adapt like that over a few generations! ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096/40 "2012-09-21T03:05:13Z")
Real Vermonters have disdain for the weather. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-coldest-a-human-can-tolerate-for-lengthy-periods/635096.md?page=3)