Chemical hand warmers...when do you actually use them?

[Alan]

Some guys pop them immediately when it's cold. I save them for absolute emergencies or all-day sits. They're expensive and I feel like people waste them. What's your hand warmer strategy? Use them freely or save them for when you really need them?

 

[Donnie]

I save them for long sits or brutal cold. Once they’re gone, they’re gone..it is better to manage layers and movement first.

 

[Tabby]

Some guys pop them immediately when it's cold. I save them for absolute emergencies or all-day sits. They're expensive and I feel like people waste them. What's your hand warmer strategy? Use them freely or save them for when you really need them?

Well, now this is going to be a wild discussion. It will become a contest between creature comfort or a macho event. There are people out there that claim that cold fingers do not bother them and grin and bare it until the fingers are too stiff to pull a trigger and wait until they have a good case of Chilblains or even worse frostbite just to prove how tough they are. Cold weather injury is not being tough, it's being, shall we say less than intelligent. Hand warmers as well as foot warmers have been around longer than I have, and that my friends is a very long time. I've used hand warmers that used lighter fluid and actually had a little glowing flame held within a metal container covered with a velvet bag. They worked well, matter of a fact sometimes too well and would actually cause burns. Another one good for this was a clamsell metal container lined with a fire resistant material where you actually burned a punk like stick to produce heat, which again could and often did get too hot and cause minor burns. Then there were battery powered socks and gloves, that worked relatively well providing you saved up for a year for batteries and were able to haul enough batteries around to change as often as the batteries went dead, which was quite often. These days they sometimes have rechargable batteries, but the heat only lasts as long as the batteries do. which is not going to last all day. So what is the best solution to keeping warm in the winter, chemical hand and toe warmers. They are small, produce sufficient heat to prevent cold injury without burning and depending on who makes them last between 8 and 12 hours. A package of 10 will set you back $8 or so. If you don't use them all, they will be just as good next year. Cold is nothing to play with, it can cause serious injury or even death. It is insidious and can creep up on you, make you tired and if you fall asleep you may never wake up again. Stay Warm and Stay Safe my Friends.

 

[CZMark]

I used to think they were a joke. Since I developed Raynaud's Syndrom, I use them whenever I'm out in the cold, which is almost daily in the winter

 

[Crash87]

If its an all day sit, I will be able to go until maybe 10a.m. then they go in the boots. Gun season I use a muff and the hands dont really get as cold as quick as the feet, so it depends on the weather.

 

[Alan]

I save them for long sits or brutal cold. Once they’re gone, they’re gone..it is better to manage layers and movement first.

That’s pretty much my approach too...layers and movement first, warmers reserved for long sits or real misery when conditions demand it.

 

[Alan]

Well, now this is going to be a wild discussion. It will become a contest between creature comfort or a macho event. There are people out there that claim that cold fingers do not bother them and grin and bare it until the fingers are too stiff to pull a trigger and wait until they have a good case of Chilblains or even worse frostbite just to prove how tough they are. Cold weather injury is not being tough, it's being, shall we say less than intelligent. Hand warmers as well as foot warmers have been around longer than I have, and that my friends is a very long time. I've used hand warmers that used lighter fluid and actually had a little glowing flame held within a metal container covered with a velvet bag. They worked well, matter of a fact sometimes too well and would actually cause burns. Another one good for this was a clamsell metal container lined with a fire resistant material where you actually burned a punk like stick to produce heat, which again could and often did get too hot and cause minor burns. Then there were battery powered socks and gloves, that worked relatively well providing you saved up for a year for batteries and were able to haul enough batteries around to change as often as the batteries went dead, which was quite often. These days they sometimes have rechargable batteries, but the heat only lasts as long as the batteries do. which is not going to last all day. So what is the best solution to keeping warm in the winter, chemical hand and toe warmers. They are small, produce sufficient heat to prevent cold injury without burning and depending on who makes them last between 8 and 12 hours. A package of 10 will set you back $8 or so. If you don't use them all, they will be just as good next year. Cold is nothing to play with, it can cause serious injury or even death. It is insidious and can creep up on you, make you tired and if you fall asleep you may never wake up again. Stay Warm and Stay Safe my Friends.

Well said. Cold injuries aren’t toughness badges. Modern hand warmers are cheap insurance and staying warm is just smart, not weak.

 

[Alan]

I used to think they were a joke. Since I developed Raynaud's Syndrom, I use them whenever I'm out in the cold, which is almost daily in the winter

Glad you’ve found what works for you.

 

[Alan]

If its an all day sit, I will be able to go until maybe 10a.m. then they go in the boots. Gun season I use a muff and the hands dont really get as cold as quick as the feet, so it depends on the weather.

Timing and placement matter and boots definitely steal heat faster than hands on long, cold sits..

 

[Toyboy]

I hate being cold, so I've got some fired up before I leave for the woods. I especially like the type that you can put on your shirt back. As far as cost goes, you can't put a price on comfort. Once you get cold there's no coming back.
One opening day up north here, myself and a friend went out and it was very cold, something like 4 deg and windy. Brutal opener.
We stuck it out till around ten then decided to call it quits. We were connected by 2-way radios and Frank told me where he was and I would pick him up on the way out.
When I got to Frank he had so many hand warmers going, that there was a 2 foot melt in the snow around him where he was sitting.
Not really, but it's a good story that I tease him about.
Frank did in face have all his warmers going though.