[pct-l] Hypothermia Killer of the Unprepared

[David Hough on pct-l]

Shortly after I started hiking around 1971 or so I
attended a meeting of the Cal Hiking Club featuring
a SAFECO film Hypothermia Killer of the Unprepared.
I later read a Mountaineers pamphlet of the same name.

For the next thirty years I always hiked in heavy wool
clothes and mountain boots.    Finally one
record-breaking
day in July (at Rancho San Antonio for south bay
locals)
it occurred to me that perhaps in an urban area I 
could lighten up a bit.

But I will repeat the point that others have made:
the first principle of ultralight gear is ultraheavy
preparation.    Back in 1971 "proven on Everest" was
a typical claim made by backpacking gear from North
Face, Ski Hut, Sierra Designs, or REI... and people
bought that even though they didn't go to Everest.
Now what was proven on Everest was actually that any
gear will fail eventually when taken outside its
envelope and you might have to do a self arrest
through
the tent floor.    You didn't leave your ice axe
outside the tent did you?

Mountains don't care, and they go through their
weather
cycles on their own time with no concern about hikers.
Expeditionary climbers have to sit there and take it,
but recreational backpackers can choose to get out
of the way, as most do.

I have looked a little for a DVD of that hypothermia
film, without success, but maybe somebody else knows
a source.    It would be a very good program addition
to ADZ, PCTA, and ALDHA-West meetings.     It might be
that somebody somewhere could get a hold of an actual
piece of celluloid and a projector with sprocket
wheels... that technology is rarely seen nowadays.