Soccer Dad Empathizes With Lost Subjects

I recently took my daughter to her Saturday morning soccer game. The weather was a damp 45 degrees Fahrenheit with a very light breeze. We setup our car camping chairs along the sideline and sipped hot coffee from my tumbler. I’ve found that if I sit at the game I’m less likely to be one of those obnoxious parents (you know who you are).

Knowing that I’d be sitting for at least an hour, I decided to layer appropriately which included a light synthetic down jacket under a heavy Gore-Tex jacket. I also had a knit hat and gloves. While I thought this would be a bit overkill, my legs soon became cold because of the breeze. I grabbed my daughter’s rain coat (she wasn’t using it) and put it over my legs to cut the wind. That helped quite a bit, but for most of the game I was pretty cold.

 My personal whimpyness aside, I began to think about the effects of the cold on a lost person especially if he/she wasn’t prepared for the weather. I had the luxury of knowing I’d be sitting for only an hour and the temperature wasn’t desperately cold, perhaps even balmy for some regions.

The key point I learned was just how quickly a person can get cold not moving and just sitting in the elements.  I will keep this in mind on future rescue/search missions for both prepared and unprepared hikers.