TimothyH

You guys have a preferred brand for chemical warmers?

I have some Heat Factory but they don't seem to work well. My guess is that they are old. Grabber seem to be good. Hot Hands didn't seem to last as long.

Do these things go stale? Do some sources provide fresher product than others?


-Tim-

rumrunn6

curious too. haven't heard of Heat Factory. in my area Grabber & Hot Hands seem to have cornered the market. I've had a suspicion that if they are really old they won't work as well or as long. I've had a cpl duds over the years but I think I've gone thru all the old stock

Wilbur Bud

I think it depends on your type and duration of ride. If you go all-day touring you may need to make sure the pack really runs the full advertised duration compared to say commuting 30-60 minutes one-way where you want to make sure you could at least seal it up in a ziploc in the morning to shut off the reaction so you could use it a second time at night on the way home, in order to keep daily cost down.

For myself, I've generally wound up with "Hot Hands" brand toe warmers, buy them a box at a time (or more) in order to get the cost down under $1 per pack, and then use them for my hands if needed, although generally my hands are fine at zero degrees F when double gloved while my feet still want the chemical pack between socks in an insulated boot. But that's as a commuter so I never test the continuous 8 hour value advertised.

typical 40 individual packs (2 to a pack) for $32:
https://www.amazon.com/HotHands-Toe-...ds+toe+warmers

I think you'd do better (in terms of freshness) buying in bulk once per year, but wait until maybe January to make sure the prior year inventory is gone.

John Nolan 

I gave up on chemical warmers. Too expensive, I have these.

mcours2006

I buy the ones from Costco. I'm sure they're the same in U.S. as Canada. They work out to be about $0.50 per pack for the hand warmers, and $0.75 for the toes. I guess the extra adhesive adds to the cost. They work well enough for the trip there as long as I open them in advance, like at least 30 minutes, to let them heat up before using them.

TimothyH

I've seen these around and am interested.

How long does that one last?

Do you know if they will fit into the warmer pocket on a glove?


-Tim-

John Nolan 

They seem to last a couple of hours. I charge them the night before if the forecast calls for them.

I don't know if they fit in a warmer pocket—I only use them inside mittens, when my mitts aren't going to be sufficient. If the weather is warm enough to consider gloves with a warmer, I would always chose to wear my mitts instead.

rumrunn6

FWIW
last night while shopping for shirts for my Son at a neighborhood outdoor store I also picked up the following heat pack related items
1 HotMocs brand neck gator w 1 heat pack pocket (+ a complimentary pack of Hot Hands brand hand warmers listing 10 hrs of heat) $7.95
1 HotMocs brand headband w 2 heat pack pockets (+ a complimentary pack of Little Hotties brand hand warmers listing 8 hrs of heat (these appear smaller than the usual units) $5.95
a 10 pack of Grabber brand hand warmers listing 7+ hrs of heat $7.95 (approx $.80 per pair)
3 pair of toe warmers $4.47 (approx $1.50 pr pair)
after getting out of my gym I visited the Ocean State Job Lot store next to the gym which is not known for quality but sometimes I can find something useful. they hand a 10 pack of Narrow River Trading Company brand hand warmers listing 8+ hrs of heat $5 (approx $.50 pr pair)
the headband & neck gator might be good gift ideas but I don't think I would personally use heat packs in them)
it was interesting to read the instruction sheet that came with them

I think the business relationship between the clothing manufacturer & Hot Hands might be a good plug for that brand heat pack?

neck gator


headband




fine print on back of heat packs:

• HotHands: Kobayashi Healthcare Europe Ltd, London UK (www.kobayashihealthcare.com)
• Little Hotties: Implus LLC Durham, North Carolina (www.littlehottieswarmers.com)

roadsnakes

'
Before retiring, I worked outside all day at my job. Those were some brutal Wisconsin winters. I`ve used every brand over the years, and they none really stood out better then others.
But I did find you can`t stock up on any brand, then try to use the same batch the following year. Sometimes they worked, other times not.
So, buy what you can use this year, but don`t rely on any left over to work next year.

TimothyH

The voice of experience is worth 10,000 guesses, theories and blog posts.

Thank you.


-Tim-

heywood

same here.. I find the zippo ones very good.. my mini does 3hrs of good constant heat. I'm now tempted to get the larger size. Electronic ones seem to be a good solution too.. I may give them a try.
Environmentally the chemical ones would probably be a bit of a nightmare constantly having to replace them.

John Nolan 

I never saw the Zippo ones before. They look good too.

cyccommute 

John Nolan 

I've tried some of these (but not that brand, these.). The ones I had didn't get warm enough to beat the cold on the days I really needed them, and it was kind of a pain to have to boil them. To make matters worse, one of them broke!