Alternative to disposable hand warmers?

[Dustin V]

I’m looking for an alternative to single-use chemical hand warmer packs. I’m not crazy about disposable packs, plus once you open it, you’re committed for hours.

I like the idea of battery units because you can turn them on and off, but I haven’t seen one that will fit into the pockets on my gloves. And there are small gel packets that will fit and which can be reset by boiling, but it sounds like they don’t last long.

Has anyone found something small, that doesn’t turn into trash, and lasts a few hours?

[Kevin Babione]

You don’t give a lot of other details (where you’ll be hiking, expected temps, etc.), but a quick search returned these:  Weston Rechargeable Heated Gloves

[Dustin V]

True; I wasn’t clear about the usage. I was thinking of a few different scenarios that could plausibly happen over the course of a day in CO.

First, if it’s extra-cold in the morning, pop them in gloves for an hour. Then in the evening, if my canister is cold, pop one underneath for a few minutes. Before bed, pop them back into the gloves. And finally, put them in the sleep system for a few hours if it gets colder than expected.

These little things are pretty versatile. Possibly multi-use?

The pockets on the back of a lot of gloves are sized for the little chemical packets. That’s why I mentioned gloves specifically. If they didn’t fit into gloves, I doubt I’d bring them.

[Arthur]

Zippo makes a little, less than 2 oz, 6 hour warmer that works on lighter fluid. But you have to carry and use fuel. I would guess it is not recommended in an enclosed sleeping bag if you want to wake up in the morning after a dose of CO. (and I don’t mean Colorado) . No facts to support that hunch.

[Dustin V]

I’ve always been kind of leery of those things just because of the idea of having a fire in my pocket seems crazy on the face of it, but I know they must work somehow. Maybe I should get over my  Frankenstein’s monster fear ‘Fire bad!’ and check them out.

[David Thomas]

There are the even cheaper combustion units that burn a charcoal stick inside an insulated case akin to a very flat glasses hard, clam-shell case (with red flocking on it):

Solid Fuel Hand Warmer & 2 Charcoal Sticks Snow Cold Weather Heater Eco Friendly 11319557901 | eBay

And there are the reusable gel packs that you restore by placing them in boiling water for a few minutes but then you’re hauling fuel to make that happen.  And those gel packs are heavier than the charcoal ones, the thin disposable ones or the lighter-fluid options.

[Dustin V]

Never heard of that kind, David. Do you know if you could use one of those to start some tinder? Same question to Arthur. Trying to think of other possible uses.

Also, how do you stop/pause them?

[David Thomas]

The smoldering charcoal is only smoldering, not burning so you’d need to blow on it to get it hotter and then press it to some tinder.  Far easier to flick your Bic.  But you can transfer the non-flame to a cigarette.

To stop them, you stub it out on a rock or chunk of wood, as you would a lit cigarette.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

My recollection is that those hand warmers are a simple iron oxide decomposition.  For more heat, expose it to more air (to a point).  To shut it off, put it in a ziplock bag, suck the air out and seal it.  That should stop the reaction.  Open the bag to deactivate it.  My 2 cents.

[Andrew P]

My recollection is that those hand warmers are a simple iron oxide decomposition. For more heat, expose it to more air (to a point). To shut it off, put it in a ziplock bag, suck the air out and seal it. That should stop the reaction. Open the bag to deactivate it. My 2 cents.

 

I’ve yet to test this in the wild, but I’m counting on being able to shut down the reaction using a ziploc. I suffer from Reynaud’s so being able to keep my fingers warm in the early morning is really important, but I don’t need them for more than an hour or so. I’d much rather not carry around 5 or 6 pairs of the chemical pads.

Another nice thing about the chemical packets is that they are based on a simple iron oxide decomposition. When the pads are done you can just rip them open and scatter the contents. They’re basically nothing more than rusty sand. No chemicals or plastics, just minerals.

 

[Jeff McWilliams]

I had one of those charcoal stick hand warmers that David describes, like 35 years ago when I was a young teenager.  It seemed to work reasonably well as I recall, as a hand warmer, and at least you weren’t generating trash the way one does with the iron oxide based hand warmers do.

For keeping a sleeping bag warm, I feel that the good ole Nalgene full of boiling water does the trick.

 

[Dustin V]

I figured that the contents of the disposable packets was synthetic, so it didn’t occur to me to cut them open. Looks like I can compost the contents. And some claim to have biodegradable or compostable casings. I feel a bit better about using them, now.

And if the Ziploc trick works, that sounds like the rest of the solution.

Has anyone tried one next to the femoral artery? I’m mostly a side-sleeper, so a bottle between my legs is kind of a non-starter.

[David Thomas]

You can make those iron-oxide ones yourself out of irons filings, salt, water, and cedar shavings.  I assume the reaction rate is determined by the size of the iron filings.

The toe-heater version is nice for a day of downhill skiing.  They smaller and have tape so you can stick them to the bottom of your socks under your toes before putting on your ski boots.

[John K]

I’m a fan of the zippo units.

[Andrew P]

I did verify that putting one of the Hot Hands warmers into a small zipper bag and removing as much air as possible does indeed shutdown the reaction. The packaging claims a 10 hour life for each pad so if I only need a couple hours a day I could get 4 – 5 days out of a set of pads.

 

For those considering this approach I will mention that I have had issues with these iron oxide pads being DOA out of the packaging. Since I’m not certain on how much time I’ll get out of a pad I’ll bring backups on my first outing. Once longevity is known I’ll probably activate the pads before the trip to ensure they’re good then snuff them in a baggie.

[David Thomas]

Yeah, if the packaging has developed a tiny hole, they can have gone off” prematurely.

If they feel a little stiff, then I put a question mark on them and try them around town when there’s the opportunity to use a different one, if needed.

[Kevin Babione]

They also have expiration dates hidden on the packaging…”fresher is better”.  My twins are competitive figure skaters so we spend a lot of (all year ’round) in ice rinks and we’ve gone through a fair number of the disposable hand warmers.  Beware of discounted ones – especially if you’re depending on them to be able to function effectively.

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