Time for some fun facts about hypothermia!
Hypothermia is really difficult to calculate; it's dependent on body mass, outside temperature, clothing insulation, and whether you're in open air or freezing water. So, it was basically impossible for me to calculate how long it would take Frost to get hypothermia in the conditions I've got him in, here. The assumption I've made is that his fur isn't very insulating (like a human, he lives mostly indoors in climate controlled environment, so he'd have no need to grow a winter coat). Also, he doesn't pig out and build up fat stores like real animals, so he's about as well-protected as a human, give or take. In this temperature, five minutes is all it would take for exposed skin to freeze. Just assume the walk was long enough that he'd have already met the impaired muscle coordination stage of hypothermia before he reached home >_>
(Sorry for the info dump; I did a lot of research and found a lot of these factoids interesting enough to share, plus I knew some might question how a furry could get hypothermia in the first place).
That said. I was outside in -25 weather and I saw a guy in shorts who didn't look cold at all. Canadians are mental. For me, -10 is comfy, once it goes below -20 though fuck that.
Next page is already done and will be updated next Friday :)
Sounds like you really put yourself into your work, researching facts and imagining how your character would feel. Its no wonder why your pieces look so lively (even in these moments). I'm looking forward to next pages. .
I once saw this gif captioned 'how canadian's are born' XD http://tinyurl.com/otaosur
I live in a place where -37 is pretty common aye. However, I must say going from -10 to -37 really is a cold wave, and I (thankfully)haven't experienced one of those. Sounds terrifying (and I hate the cold so much)
All that nonsense being said, another great page! Actually made me a bit sad even though we already know the outcome of this event XD you sure have successfully made lovable characters (even Cinder!)
That kind of dip in temperature is not very common. There is a record of a temperature drop of 27 C in five minutes though, so at least I know it's possible XD
Was in Rapid City, South Dakota, I believe. Some sources say the drop was 27 degrees, others say 26. Either way it was steep. However, I can't find what the actual temperature was (whether it went from seriously hot to normal or from normal to seriously cold). I decided I was going to pull the creative license card there XD
Good research, and a realistic depiction of the issues that come with hypothermia. Him wanting to sleep is definitely the sort of thing that eventually happens. From speaking to folks who have been through it (used to teach first aid and did disaster response work), eventually the shivering stops and you just feel warm, content and sleepy.
I used to live up in central Alaska. Dealt with temperatures like this all the time. But, for whatever dumb reason, I feel colder living on the west coast of the USA than I ever felt up in Fairbanks! Thermometer says it's 37 degrees (fahrenheit, mind you) and yet I feel colder than at zero in Alaska. It must be the humidity. Either way, the weather here ticks me off. It shouldn't feel that cold yet not get snowy.
It's so easy for me to forget about adaptation when people talk about domesticated animals. When I read about zoo keepers bringing in polar bears from the cold during that polar vortex early this month, I flipped out. It's the apocalypse, they said. But no, the poor polar bears just didn't have their standard winter attire :P
It's -12 C out here now. Every time I have to go somewhere I get irrationally angry X___x
That last panel is maybe the best thing I've seen you draw in this comic, if not since I've been following you. Not only is the detail exquisitely and tenderly rendered, it's the first panel of the comic that really shows a sort of cinematic framing. Most of the panels so far are either middle-distance or standard 3/4 portraits, but that last image really makes us connect with Frost's vulnerability. Awesome!
Thank you! I haven't really had a chance to do anything truly 'cinematic' yet because a lot of this comic contains dialogue. I like dialogue perhaps a bit too much >_> But dramatizing that with weird angles just looks over-dramatic and uncomfortable to me, hence the more standard framing. In the future of the comic there will be some more drama though :P
i get hypothermia as soon as it drops below 70 degrees
jk lol, but seriously..
I really dig the infodump. 8] I loooooOoOoove the research and consideration behind stuff; definitely gives depth.
One tiny suggestion for a detail:
I wonder if showing snow/ice accumulated and stuck to certain spots of his fur/clothes would strengthen the implication that he's been out in the cold and weather for a long time. Especially if his body temp has dropped, it would freeze a little easier to him. Just a thought. :D
I was outside when it was snowing recently and it didn't take long for it to build up in my hair and on my coat, as well as my dad's beard being a snow-catch, lol.
Even animals suffer from flash freezes. Many horses and cows, even well fed and with winter coats, perish in extreme temperature changes if they're caught exposed without shelter. Deadly stuff if you're not prepared!
I experienced hypothermia once, and how you depict it here rings true. You shiver terribly, get super tired, get super chill and give out and just kinda laze around, and eventually you'll start losing consciousness, but it's so slow it's almost like you're falling asleep. It's a really surreal feeling. Anyways! Great page. I especially love how you drew the trees in the first panel, they're simply gorgeous!
In Emergency Medicine we have a saying, "You aren't dead until you are warm and dead." Basically what you mentioned is true, in a cardiac arrest caused by hypothermia we would not try to warm the patient up but would haul-ass to the hospital where they could slowly warm the patient up in hopes to minimize damage. Not sure what the actual stats for this working are, but it's what we are taught.
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really interesting info there, had heard about the paradoxical undressing before
-10 is not comfy for me anymore, haha, I like it warm and from the point where my breath freezes on my hair/clothes it's just too damn cold for me xD