[calmbonsai]

I've never experienced any deaths on hikes, but I have experienced folks suffering the initial stages of hypothermia (and not realizing it) when wearing jeans on a multi-day excursion when the weather went from dry and sunny to rainy, to icey-rain to sleet.

Unwaxed cotton absorbs water, stays wet, and shrinks when wet to make close contact with skin--three properties that one does not want when its wet and cold.

[Aeolun]

So taking your pants off would work? Seems superior to wet clingy cold pants anyway.

[calmbonsai]

That depends on the specifics of the environment, trail, and your pants.

Indeed, going "pantsless" for short periods can be less risky if your pants are already soaked-through, it's very humid, there's ice build-up, and there's little to no risk of skin abrasion from terrain traversal.

[saagarjha]

In the cold?

[calmbonsai]

If you're wearing "wet ice", convective heat loss from air is preferable to conductive heat loss from water.

Water on skin is a really, really good mechanism for heat transfer (both ways)--hence why we sweat in the heat.