Your funeral director will help you source an oversized casket. A person who was obese may be too big for the average coffin which is 22-24 inches wide. They're likely to need a custom-made coffin or casket.
Funeral directors sometimes pull up the knees or shift the padding in the coffin to make sure the body fits.
Anyone up to 6'10" and weighing less than 350lbs will fit in a standard coffin. As a matter of fact, people a bit over 6'10” can also fit, as long as the funeral directors bend their knees a bit.
The standard casket fits anyone who is up to 6'10” in height and weighs up to 350 lbs. The standard casket is 24” in width and 79” long. There are also caskets that are 28” wide to accommodate those up to 450 lbs. Though most people fit into these sizes, there are alternatives for those who might be bigger or smaller.
Body size (weight) and levels of body fat have considerable effects on the operation of your cremation equipment. A body weighing more than 300 pounds should be treated with caution.
Your funeral director will help you source an oversized casket. A person who was obese may be too big for the average coffin which is 22-24 inches wide. They're likely to need a custom-made coffin or casket.
The Body During the Cremation Process
Combustion occurs in two stages: Primary combustion burns off tissue, organs, body fat, and some container materials as gases, then secondary combustion continues to work on the remaining inorganic particles, usually from the container.
Usually the head end of the coffin is the heaviest, thus the strongest two of your six pallbearers should take the handles at this end.
Both men and women can be pallbearers, and many people often choose either family members or close friends of the deceased to carry the coffin. Traditionally, there are four to six pallbearers at a funeral, depending on the weight of the coffin.
It takes between four and eight people to carry the coffin, depending on its size. Six is usually a good number. You don't have to be tall, able-bodied or particularly strong, and the role of bearer is not restricted to any particular gender or age.
A standard-sized one would generally work fine should you need it for a deceased. However, if the person is taller, you need to acquire an oversized casket. If you opt for cremation, you won't need an expensive casket and choose a modest one because there is no burial, and the casket will be burnt in the incinerator.
To Protect the Corpse from Being Stolen. Snatching dead bodies was common in many parts of England and Scotland in the early 1800s. Therefore, graves were always dug six feet deep to prevent body snatchers from gaining access to the buried remains.
Coffins get tapered to conform to the shape of a human form. A coffin also has a removable lid while caskets have lids with hinges. Coffins are usually made out of wood and lined with cloth interiors. Unlike caskets, they do not have rails that make transportation easier.
For open casket viewings family members are often given private time to view the body to allow them to grieve. Generally, you are not allowed to touch the body or make any comments about the person's appearance.
Something that people don't often know is that the belly button never burns to ash; it remains hard and in the same shape.
Carrying a coffin with the feet first helps keep it balanced and also means the deceased is being handled with great care. The funeral director will provide instructions on how to take the coffin.
In most instances, men are pallbearers, so it seems like the norm. However, there is no cultural or religious customs stating that women can't serve as pallbearers. The only reason why they don't do this job is that they may not be strong enough to lift the casket, which can sometimes be quite heavy.
Physical strength is definitely one of the first things you need to consider. Although there are usually six pallbearers, they each have to be able to do some of the lifting. People who are ill or who are not naturally strong are not the best option.
Most coffins have six or eight handles, depending on the size. You'll need to select one pallbearer per handle. Men or women may be pallbearers.
It is a common practice to cover the legs as there is swelling in the feet and shoes don't fit. As part of funeral care, the body is dressed and preserved, with the prime focus on the face. Post embalming, bodies are often placed without shoes; hence covering the legs is the way to offer a dignified funeral.
Coffins can be lifted and carried on the shoulders, as we've all seen, or lower using the handles, if they're loadbearing. Although it doesn't quite have the dramatic effect of the shoulder carry, it's less arduous on those shoulders and upper arms.
Is Carrying a Coffin Heavy for Pallbearers? Yes, carrying a coffin can be burdensome for pallbearers. The body, casket, and hardware may weigh 400 pounds. If that weight is divided evenly among six pallbearers, each one is responsible for about 66 pounds.
We think this is an urban legend. We've witnessed many cremations and never heard a scream. But then again, cremation retorts aren't silent either. Now, bodies do make all kinds of gnarly noises.
The simple answer is that yes, an obese person can be cremated. However, it can prove more complex and costly to cremate someone who is larger than average in size. Cremating an overweight body does require a larger cremation chamber or retort, and this can be one of the first obstacles that a family may face.
Does the body feel pain during cremation? The body does not feel pain during cremation because the person is no longer alive. When a person dies, their brain stops sending signals to the body. This means that the person cannot feel pain or any other sensation.