Probably a bit of a strange question, but watching Cody Lundin on Dual Survival has got me thinking. Cody manages to go barefoot in just about every climate short of arctic, and even in deep snow he only wears wool socks. At various points in the show he said that he wouldn't advise most people to do what he does as he's been doing it for years, and also says that through his acclimatisation his mitochondria have become far better at generating heat to allow his feet to deal with cold conditions. Assuming Cody isn't just a genetic freak, is there much knowledge on just how much the body can acclimatise to harsh conditions, and just how quick/slow the process is?
Acclimatisation - how long does it take and how well does it work?
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I'm not sure I'd encourage anyone to wander about barefoot in winter, however I'm often wearing sandals and shorts while the Hungarians around me are dressed for the arctic (I am Scottish), so perhaps there is a little genetic freakery going on with Cody. 
When I was fit and healthy I didn't feel the cold, have many pictures of me on summits in the middle of winter in a T-shirt. In fact if anything I tended to overheat 'till I learned to go at a slower pace.
I feel it quite badly now, but then I don't have the insulating layer of working muscle and the old ticker doesn't get the blood 'round too well.
For years I practised in a freezing cold dojo in bare feet and it didn't bother me, also tended to run around the house in bare feet too. As to time it takes to acclimatise it would be hugely dependant on your level of fitness and general makeup and to some extent what sex you are.
Some folk like freedivers train and indeed use the cold to help them achieve their goals, slowing their bodies down. Have also known a few barefoot runners who over time build up resistance to the cold and abrasion. As Sandbender says though, I'd go car canny on leaving the house without boots. You could slowly try to build up in your garden and around camp. But the risks of heading for the tops sans gutties is asking for a talking too from the local MRT.
I've seen many folk start to loose their footing crossing burns in colder weather in bare feet. Not only is it uncomfortable but as you loose sensation then you can loose footing and take a swim - not good. It's why I tended to be on the safe side and have a pair of aqua-shoes or sandals for river crossings.
I feel it quite badly now, but then I don't have the insulating layer of working muscle and the old ticker doesn't get the blood 'round too well.
For years I practised in a freezing cold dojo in bare feet and it didn't bother me, also tended to run around the house in bare feet too. As to time it takes to acclimatise it would be hugely dependant on your level of fitness and general makeup and to some extent what sex you are.
Some folk like freedivers train and indeed use the cold to help them achieve their goals, slowing their bodies down. Have also known a few barefoot runners who over time build up resistance to the cold and abrasion. As Sandbender says though, I'd go car canny on leaving the house without boots. You could slowly try to build up in your garden and around camp. But the risks of heading for the tops sans gutties is asking for a talking too from the local MRT.
I've seen many folk start to loose their footing crossing burns in colder weather in bare feet. Not only is it uncomfortable but as you loose sensation then you can loose footing and take a swim - not good. It's why I tended to be on the safe side and have a pair of aqua-shoes or sandals for river crossings.
Sorry, i may have given the wrong impression. I wasn't strictly asking about going barefoot (which i have no plans to do) more the actual process of the body adapting to deal with harsher climates. For Cody, his ability to walk in snow and water without getting frostbite interests me much more than the fact that his skin has toughened up enough to walk outside without shoes.
There was a show on the beeb about the hottest place in the world - they equipped a local and a cameraman with temperature probes (in the form of pills) - if I recall correctly it took the cameraman about 5 days for his core body temperature to stabilise and be within bounds of that of the local.
Think this was it
[video=youtube;kA5ml9aTbos]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA5ml9aTbos#t=509[/video]
skip to 8:29
then 3:30 in part 3
Think this was it
[video=youtube;kA5ml9aTbos]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA5ml9aTbos#t=509[/video]
skip to 8:29
then 3:30 in part 3
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It takes around a week of constant cold for me to acclimatise noticably to extreme cold, after 2 weeks it's very pronounced. I can see the colour of my hands changing to a redder shade in a few days as blood flow increases, feet are about the same. Takes around a week for me to stop noticing my nose hairs freezing on inhilation. Nose, ears, cheeks and chin take 3 or 4 days to stop getting cold.
Whilst constant exposure to temps below -10c or so will speed up my acclimatisation, constant exposure to anything hovering around freezing I find really helps.
TBH, I don't think it's just the exposure to low temperature that facilitates acclimatisation. Different food types and quantities, increased activity and knowing I can't really switch off in those environments I believe force my metabolic rate to increase.
Does Cody Lundin actually go barefoot when it's really cold? I was under the impression he wore at least one pair of woolen socks and multiples if the mercury dives.
Whilst constant exposure to temps below -10c or so will speed up my acclimatisation, constant exposure to anything hovering around freezing I find really helps.
TBH, I don't think it's just the exposure to low temperature that facilitates acclimatisation. Different food types and quantities, increased activity and knowing I can't really switch off in those environments I believe force my metabolic rate to increase.
Does Cody Lundin actually go barefoot when it's really cold? I was under the impression he wore at least one pair of woolen socks and multiples if the mercury dives.
Most Kiwi kids often don't wear shoes till they are at high school and forced to wear the school uniform . Even in winter .Consequently NZ feet are wide we have trouble fitting the narrow European sized shoes. The process of acclimation changes the shape of the feet.
Perhaps not quite the same thing but I like to run cool when hiking. I seem to expend less energy and my fluid intake is not necessarily so high. As soon as I stop I pile on layers (and sometimes get in Jerven bag). Then peel off again before I start off. Have hiked (on snowshoes) down to -15 just in merino long-sleeved T, fibre pile mitts, and tights (plus requisite silly hat). Completely still air, no wind. When I stopped the extra layers went on fast. (And when there was a slight gust the windchill had to be believed! Jeez, as some might say!)
But not barefoot...
But not barefoot...
Does that go for kiwis of all origins? The Polynesians look like they'd have wide feet regardless of where they grew up.
Interesting. Between this and the video on acclimatising to extremely hot weather, it looks like the human body adapts pretty well within a week or so, depending on the individual of course. I would imagine longer term adaptation would still give smaller improvements for quite some time afterwards, and would also be lost less quickly.
I think that would depend on the diet and lifestyle you had before you started though. Although the mental aspect must play a role too, the Shaolin monks are supposed to be able to raise their body temperature on demand in cold areas.
From what i've seen he goes barefoot until there's permanent snow on the ground, then breaks out the woolies.
I never believed that cody just had on socks i dont think personnely anyone can prevent skin from freezing when exposed to snow and sub zero temps for prolonged periods they were meant to be out for numerous days in each episode sleeping overnight etc .
The native people of Tierra Del Fuego walked around completely naked in a subpolar climate comparable to that of Iceland, and they survived alright.
Interesting. Between this and the video on acclimatising to extremely hot weather, it looks like the human body adapts pretty well within a week or so, depending on the individual of course. I would imagine longer term adaptation would still give smaller improvements for quite some time afterwards, and would also be lost less quickly.
I'd agree with that. A week seems to be an adequate time to get used to a different strain on the body.
I think that would depend on the diet and lifestyle you had before you started though. Although the mental aspect must play a role too, the Shaolin monks are supposed to be able to raise their body temperature on demand in cold areas.
It would but generally it does tend to involve a change in diet and energy expenditure IME. I've not heard that about the Shaolin, must investigate. I've been trying to will blood into cold hands for years completely unsuccessfully.
From what i've seen he goes barefoot until there's permanent snow on the ground, then breaks out the woolies.
That makes sense. At temps that snow ceases to melt, the skin on his feet will be melting the snow and thus skin will be losing large amounts of energy changing the state of H2O from solid to liquid.
I'd agree with that. A week seems to be an adequate time to get used to a different strain on the body.
I think that would depend on the diet and lifestyle you had before you started though. Although the mental aspect must play a role too, the Shaolin monks are supposed to be able to raise their body temperature on demand in cold areas.
It would but generally it does tend to involve a change in diet and energy expenditure IME. I've not heard that about the Shaolin, must investigate. I've been trying to will blood into cold hands for years completely unsuccessfully.
From what i've seen he goes barefoot until there's permanent snow on the ground, then breaks out the woolies.
That makes sense. At temps that snow ceases to melt, the skin on his feet will be melting the snow and thus skin will be losing large amounts of energy changing the state of H2O from solid to liquid.
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I've always had warm feet. Even as a kid when my friends were complaining about chilblains I couldn't understand why they were complaining. I never get cold hands even now and very rarely wear gloves. So, I think that first of all there is an element of luck in the way you're made.
Then I spent some of my childhood in New Zealand and as was said up thread, went barefoot a lot of the time. Yes, I have very wide feet, no I can't buy shoes that fit, yes I have very tough skin on my feet even now.
I can walk around in snow barefoot for some time without getting particularly cold. On the rare occasions it snows here I run down through the village barefoot to leave footprints. It's been discussed in the local pub several times but I've never let on that it was me.
I rummage in the freezer without getting cold hands. I play snowballs with the kids without wearing gloves. I also swim in cold water without getting chilled but that is very definitely partly acclimatisation and if I don't do it regularly I get cold pretty quickly.
So, that's a long winded way of saying that even if you naturally have good circulation in hands and feet, long term acclimatisation accentuates it. I suspect that if someone started from scratch it would take a long time to build it up.
Then I spent some of my childhood in New Zealand and as was said up thread, went barefoot a lot of the time. Yes, I have very wide feet, no I can't buy shoes that fit, yes I have very tough skin on my feet even now.
I can walk around in snow barefoot for some time without getting particularly cold. On the rare occasions it snows here I run down through the village barefoot to leave footprints. It's been discussed in the local pub several times but I've never let on that it was me.
I rummage in the freezer without getting cold hands. I play snowballs with the kids without wearing gloves. I also swim in cold water without getting chilled but that is very definitely partly acclimatisation and if I don't do it regularly I get cold pretty quickly.
So, that's a long winded way of saying that even if you naturally have good circulation in hands and feet, long term acclimatisation accentuates it. I suspect that if someone started from scratch it would take a long time to build it up.
I'm guessing there is a fair amount of psychology which comes into it as well. The last bad winter we had it was getting down to -15 ish, then a couple of weeks later it was -5 or so and people were complaining even more about how cold it was? maybe people were thinking we should've gone into spring by then and therefore it should be warmer and noticed it more - i.e. in winter to expect it to be could so mentally you've prepared yourself.
Either that or when it was really cold people just stayed in there houses with the heating on and so didn't experience it until it got slightly warmer then the came out of their houses. I quite like the winter because it's quieter outdoors.
For some reason I find it harder to acclimatise to warmth over cold.
Either that or when it was really cold people just stayed in there houses with the heating on and so didn't experience it until it got slightly warmer then the came out of their houses. I quite like the winter because it's quieter outdoors.
For some reason I find it harder to acclimatise to warmth over cold.
It takes me about a week to re-adjust to English temperatures after coming back from the Mediterranean.
I have felt cold in the South of France at 14C wearing what I usually wear at 8C in England.
I don't know about Cody Lundin's feet, but I have read about North Sea trawlermen working without gloves in wet, freezing conditions because their hands have become accustomed to the cold.
I know I feel colder at +2C when it's wet than -8C in the snow.
When I lived in the tropics where it was hot and wet I acclimatised, but I also learned to emulate the locals by moving at a slower pace: they got things done quicker that way!
I have felt cold in the South of France at 14C wearing what I usually wear at 8C in England.
I don't know about Cody Lundin's feet, but I have read about North Sea trawlermen working without gloves in wet, freezing conditions because their hands have become accustomed to the cold.
I know I feel colder at +2C when it's wet than -8C in the snow.
When I lived in the tropics where it was hot and wet I acclimatised, but I also learned to emulate the locals by moving at a slower pace: they got things done quicker that way!
I used to sail dinghies right through the year, on many occasions with the air temperature down around freezing and occasionally with thin ice forming on the water. No gloves, warm hands.
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