# Handwarmers



## Steelwolf (Jul 25, 2006)

I thought I'd start this thread as a repository of anything to do with handwarmers. Of particular interest are the Jon-E type handwarmers, but we can also discuss all other types of handwarmers. For example, I know that certain brands of disposable warmers (that use iron filings, salt and wood dust) work better than others. Either they actually last as long as the manufacturer says, or it actually gets warm enough to be of use.

Areas of interest might be:
1. Does it actually live up to the manufacturer's claims?
2. List of suppliers, online and brick & mortar.
3. Prices, deals, etc.
4. Mods to make it work better.
5. Observations on quality, usefulness, etc.


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## leukos (Jul 25, 2006)

I don't know much about handwarmers at all. I picked up an old-fashioned chrome plated one that runs off of lighter fluid. It stays hot to the touch for over eight hours. I probably won't ever use it hunting as it gives off a slight smell, but great for most other outdoor activities.


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## Steelwolf (Jul 25, 2006)

To start off:
I have just bought a few new Jon-E handwarmers. These use a liquid fuel to power them. Heat is generated by an exothermic catalytic reaction, using platinum wires or wool as the catalyst.

These were bought from Scotts Bait and Tackle (www.scottsbt.com). They came in a packaging different to what you normally see on other on-line stores. It is a clear plastic clamshell package, whereas the pictures on the other websites seem to be a blister pack with printed cardboard backing. I wonder if the version I got is the newer or older packaging and whether there has been any small changes to the design of the handwarmers.

Years ago, I bought a couple of other handwarmers, not from the Jon-E brand. The big difference was that it didn't have the wick on the side and seemed to use a bit of platinum wool rolled in a wire gauze, rather than the woven stuff that Jon-E uses.

I think that the Jon-E design has a major disadvantage in that the wick continues to vaporise fuel even after the flame has been blown out and the catalyst is running. It seems very wasteful as I'm sure most of the fuel vapour from the wick is missing the catalyst.

A quick test seemed to bear this out. I loaded both my old non-Jon-E handwarmer and my new Jon-E handwarmers with similar amounts of fuel. The Jon-E ones come with a filling jug and I loaded each handwarmer with 1 measure of the filling jug. (The instructions state that it a full fill is 2 measures).

Both seemed to get to the same temperature, but the Jon-E handwarmer burned out about a half hour before the off-brand handwarmer. I forgot to check the starting time. Also, the smell from the off-brand was clean with no odour, while the Jon-E version definitely smelled of unburnt fuel. Anyone else noticed this with their Jon-Es? Has anyone tried to plug up the wick to stop the smell? I know having the wick there makes lighting easier, but I wonder if it wouldn't be better without the wick. One can light them almost as easily with a proper Zippo.

I held an open flame close to the case and actually had the Jon-E version burst in to flames. Nothing happened with the off-brand version.

Pity I can't recall where I bought the off-brand version from, but it was quite a few years ago when there weren't many online stores selling these handwarmers. The only one I remember looking at was safetycentral, but they weren't shipping internationally at that time.

Anyway, a note about the fuel. I've never used Jon-E branded fuel as it has to be sent by ground, so I don't know if there is any noticeable difference in operation quality between the branded fuel and generic fuel.

I did note that Jon-E fuel is supposed to be Naptha, which is also the predominant component of Shellite, Zippo fuel and Coleman Fuel. I can't find an MSDS for Jon-E or Zippo fuel (though I found one for Rosonol). However, the MSDS for Shellite and Coleman both show that the fuels are composed of greater than 95% Naptha.

I have used Zippo fuel and Shellite with no noticeable ill effect. At some stage I may try Coleman fuel. Has anyone else got any other fuel recommendations?

BTW, has anyone tried the "1955 handwarmer" from restorationhardware.com? At $15 a pair, it has to be the cheapest one I've seen. Does it have a wick?

Also, I noticed that the finish on my off-brand handwarmers is very nice and smooth, like it was properly polished and buffed before being chromed. The Jon-E ones are much rougher, like it had been put through a drawing former that had been over-used, then not even given a cursory rub before being chromed. The 1955 ones look to have a beautifully buffed finish.


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## leukos (Jul 25, 2006)

Steelwolf,

Actually, the handwarmer I own was from restoration hardware, the one pictured here: http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod230102&navAction=jump 
The inside is filled with something like cotton, and the heating element looks like some kind of rolled metal mesh (sorry I don't know the terminology) and there is no wick. I just use Zippo lighter fluid in it, and that seems to work just fine.


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## luigi (Jul 25, 2006)

Well if you bring the subject here in CPF then:
I use a Q3 with rechargeable batteries, it gets quite warm, has a long runtime, easy to reuse, you can have extra batteries if you need to be warm longer, etc.


Luigi


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## Manzerick (Jul 25, 2006)

It looks cool... Now the $1,000,000 questions: Is this safe? 

I'm thinking this would be perfect for a Patriots game here in New England. I would want probably 4 of them (2 for pants pockets... two for jacket pockets mabe 5)

I guess what i'm asking is.....Will I be a walking bomb?



leukos said:


> Steelwolf,
> 
> Actually, the handwarmer I own was from restoration hardware, the one pictured here: http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod230102&navAction=jump
> The inside is filled with something like cotton, and the heating element looks like some kind of rolled metal mesh (sorry I don't know the terminology) and there is no wick. I just use Zippo lighter fluid in it, and that seems to work just fine.


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## cobb (Jul 25, 2006)

I used the shake ones and find they need to be shaken to warm them back up, plus they can be resued in a zip lock bag. When they go bad, they go from feeling like they are full of fine sand, to rough grains of material.

The Jon E one gets hot fast and stays hot. The only bad part is you need to light it for a minute in a calm area before you put it in your pocket. Ive done this in bathrooms with no problems in public places.


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## Steelwolf (Jul 26, 2006)

Cobb: can you elaborate on the shaken handwarmers? Are they disposable or reusable? Do you have a brand?

Manzerick: 4 may be too many. I typically only need one in an inside pocket. Jon-E sells a hip pack that holds 2 standard sized handwarmers close to your kidneys. The idea being that the kidneys go through a lot of blood in an hour. If you can warm that blood, pretty soon it would reach the other parts of your body and start warming you up.

Leukos: Any pictures of the mesh/heating element and the filling port underneath the mesh? How's the performance? Does it warm up quickly? How long does it really stay hot on a single filling? How much fuel is considered "a single filling"?

I've just tweaked the woven heating element in my Jon-E handwarmers so that it sits lower, a little closer to the filling port. It now heats up very quickly. Much faster than my test yesterday anyway, and definitely a lot faster than the off-brand version. Within minutes, I could barely hold the bare Jon-E, while the off-brand was still only just perceptibly warm.

I believe it is a useful and fairly simple tweak to make the Jon-E perform better. I think that by pushing the heating element closer to the filling port, and having it seal up the opening, it catches more of the fuel vapours and so gets hot faster. It remains to be seen if this will adversely affect its run time. 

Luigi: Interestingly, I once came across a battery powered handwarmer. IIRC, it took 4 AA cells to run. I haven't come across it again, and I can't remember where I saw it previously. If anyone has seen it, can they point it out?


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## drizzle (Jul 26, 2006)

I saw one several years ago that a co-worker got at a flea market. It was a small heavy plastic bag with a liquid inside. It also had a little metal "clicker" in there. When you bent the clicker to make it click, it set off a chemical reaction that gave off heat and turned the liquid to gel. The really great thing about this was that you could "reset" it back to the liquid stage by heating it in your microwave.

It was only good for a short duration, IIRC. It wouldn't keep your hands warm for an entire football game but it would warm them up if they got cold.

I've never seen them for sale anywhere before or since, including at flea markets. Anyone know if they are still around and where they can be bought?

Added: Hehe, well I guess I never did a google search for them since google wasn't around back then. After a quick search I found Quantum Heat


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## Trashman (Jul 26, 2006)

Man, I really wish I could remember the name of the hand warmers I saw at the computer show, but I'll try to describe them. They're little little bean bag sized vinyl packets that are filled with some type of goo. There is a little "button" inside the packet, that when pressed, snaps and then the thing becomes nice and warm. When the warmth ends, which I believe was over a period of hours (can't remember how long), the good becomes more solid, kind of like sand. They can be recharged by, I think, boiling them. Boiling them IS NOT where the warmth comes from, it only turns the sand back into a gooey liquid. After they are "charged" you let them cool down and they are ready for activation again just by popping the imbedded button. 

I'll look around to see if I can find them.

Edit: Found them! http://www.hotsnapz.com/


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## drizzle (Jul 26, 2006)

LOL, Trashman, great minds think alike. 

Oh, and from the web site, it says don't microwave it. You need to boil it like Trashman says.


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## Trashman (Jul 26, 2006)

drizzle said:


> LOL, Trashman, great minds think alike.
> 
> Oh, and from the web site, it says don't microwave it. You need to boil it like Trashman says.



Hey, no posting when I'm typing! You beat me to it! Anyway, now that I see the name of your link, I remember that those are the ones I actually saw, although I believe that they are the same thing. I knew they had a "Q" in the name, but I couldn't remember what it was!


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## Phreeq (Jul 26, 2006)

Those handwarmers usually contain sodium acetate tri-hydrate which has a melting temperature of 58°C.
It only stays liquid below 58°C as long as there are no seed crystals. By bending the small aluminum "button" you generate a disturbance where crystallisation starts. During cristallisation, (latent) heat is released.

When boiling the handwarmer the contents are heated above the melting temperature of 58°C. The crystals melt and during melting latent heat is stored.


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## leukos (Jul 26, 2006)

Those rechargable chemical hand warmers last about two hours or so with decreasing effectiveness. They are a good idea for some applications, but I find the fluid type better for my uses.


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## Omega Man (Jul 26, 2006)

I bought an 8 pack of Grabber Mycoal's "Hand Treat Hand Warmers " on clearance at Target last year for around $5.
I popped one open to try them, and it lasted for atleast the advertised 7 hours. Needs to get exposed to air to activate, and it helped to take them out of my pocket to "breathe" every few hours.


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## cobb (Jul 26, 2006)

I think the brand name varies year to year and are found in the sporting good section of a mart store. I think last years brand was called hot hands. 

I too have one of those reusable hand heaters with the flicker disk. They make a lot of heat instantly, then fizzle out.


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## Steelwolf (Jul 28, 2006)

It seems that the sodium acetate handwarmers tend to be the major type being used. I guess it doesn't feel as wasteful as the disposable packets like "Grabber Mycoal" and the solid fuel and liquid fuel ones are more messy. Also, I think the liquid fuel ones tend to be harder to find? You need to go to a proper outdoor store and even then, not all of them have it. But Coghlan's puts out a solid fuel handwarmer and that brand is almost ubiquitous. Even KMart carries it.

But the sodium acetate handwarmers tend to make an appearance in Perth shops only through "sales booths". It isn't a store carried item. Someone comes along and sets up a little kiosk with couple of tables and sells them for a week or two, then moves on to another mall.

At least the outdoor shops like Mainpeak and Mountain Design, and army surplus shops like Midland Army & Navy Disposals carry both the solid fuel handwarmers and the disposable packets. Though sometimes it seems to be carried only seasonally.

Since I'm still playing with the Jon-E handwarmers, I thought I'd mention that I measured the amount of fuel dispensed by the filling jugs that come with Jon-E branded handwarmers. There is an almost unnoticeable marking on the inside of the jug that marks the fill line. Unnoticeable because it isn't heavily embossed or coloured, so it kind of blends into the container wall. I certainly didn't notice them until about the third or fifth time I was filling the handwarmers.

Anyway, the standard size takes 20ml per half filling, the giant takes 40ml per half filling, i.e. one jug. A full fill is supposed to be 2 jugs. The easiest way to fill is not actually with the jugs as they just dribble everywhere. Use a syringe. You can get them without needles. I happened to have a couple of 30ml and 60ml syringes and they worked a treat as you can fill the handwarmers slowly and give the absorbant material inside time to soak in the fuel.


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## CLHC (Jul 28, 2006)

My uncle still has the Jon-E (still chromed! :huh that I saw him use more than 30 years ago. Today, I like using the Jon-E handwarmers and it seems that one of them performs better than the other for some reason or another. Don't know. . .But pretty much what *Steelwolf* stated above in post #3, except that "bursting into flames" part.

Using the Jon-E brand fuel does emit odor though. But to me, after the initial "break-in" period, I don't notice it. Mine stays pretty warm for nearly 7 hours, but it does need to "breath" some. I do that by opening the flannel bag from time-to-time until it gets HOT!

The finish is nice and smooth without any burrs or pitting that I can notice. No regrets buying it.

I have the other type that that uses some fire "sticks" that you insert into a small velvet lined eyeglass case type holder. But this one REALLY SMELLS! I forgot the name of it though. . .

Enjoy!


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## Pwallwin (Jul 29, 2006)

A 'handy' little tip with the clicky ones is, instead of boiling them in a pan over the cooker to recharge, simply throw them in the kettle and boil it. They don't leave any smell or trace!!


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## Trashman (Jul 29, 2006)

Here I am contemplating the purchase of handwarmers in the middle of summer.....

If it weren't for CPF, I'd have absolutely no debt. Thanks guys.


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## spock (Jul 30, 2006)

guess i will go way back to 1956. bought two chrome jon-e handwarmers in the red cotton bags for my paper route as i delivered on my bicycle. they had a small pop on metal burner which had something like a coleman mantle in it. it was not fragile. after getting it hot with a match, it would glow and burn the fumes of the lighter fluid. i would put one in my shirt pocket and regulate the temperature by unzipping my coat. i still have them and they both work on the original burner after 50 years.


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## cobb (Jul 31, 2006)

I found measuring the fuel to be messy too. In that case I just gave the small one a good squirt and the large one, two good squirts of fuel.


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## AngelEyes (Aug 1, 2006)

Trashman said:


> Here I am contemplating the purchase of handwarmers in the middle of summer.....
> 
> If it weren't for CPF, I'd have absolutely no debt. Thanks guys.



Its winter in Oz though. Some folks Down Under will appreciate this thread - that is if you can find those stuff down there....


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## cobb (Aug 1, 2006)

So its true that the seasons are reverse across the equator? So yalls down south are expericing winter while we notherners are experiencing summer? 

Man, just think Santa arrives in a tank top and buremma shorts down below....


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## Brangdon (Aug 6, 2006)

I have one of the small electric handwarmers from Orb. It's not 100% efficient - some light leaks out the front - so the battery only last about 15 minutes. It does get nice and warm, though.


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## guntotin_fool (Aug 8, 2006)

Hunting in northern Minnesota and wisconsin, we used to try to get those Jon E warmers to work and not smell or leak and they do a good job for what they are for, but really have found the throw aways to be really better. I have a friend who is just skin and bone and was never able to stay warm in a tree stand no matter what he wore. He tried wearing one of the mesh fly fishing vests that he had packed the pockets with "Grabers" under his hunting coat and he finally stayed warm enough to make it to lunch in his tree stand. That has sort of become a staple for us, the 12 hour packets do in fact keep warm for twelve hours. If you can place them near your core, (in an emergency, sticking them under the armpits works amazingly well.) they will do a good job of keeping you comfortable, I would not however rely on them as an emergency heat source for Life and death circumstances. Real heat output is needed for that.


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## OldGreyGuy (Aug 8, 2006)

cobb said:


> So its true that the seasons are reverse across the equator? So yalls down south are expericing winter while we notherners are experiencing summer?


Yep, It's winter down here mate, makes me want to think about putting on a pair of shoes instead of my beach sandals  Some parts of Oz never get what you guys call cold, although there is plenty of snow and ice in the South of the country and New Zealand has some great skiing.



cobb said:


> Man, just think Santa arrives in a tank top and buremma shorts down below....


Riding a surfboard, being towed by 6 big kangaroos. :santa:


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## Steelwolf (Aug 21, 2006)

Well, I've just returned from 2 weeks in New Zealand. Heck of a lot colder than Perth, I must say. Though the last few days spent in Christchurch was warm enough not to require much winter wear, the first week never saw more than 6 degC max. Then there was a good dosing of rain to contend with too. I've spent Christmas in Vancouver, so I can say that the first week was fairly close to that, though the later part of the trip was actually closer to a cool Vancouver summer.

The main thing though, was the Jon-E handwarmers were a real bear. I brought 2 giants and 1 regular. Since you can't fly with fuel, I bought "Andrew's" brand fuellite from the local Bunnings hardware when I arrived in Christchurch. From my research, it seemed to be the closest to shellite and Zippo fuel.

It worked fairly well in my Zippo lighter, the various handwarmers lit up easily and went through the warm up phase normally. But then I had lots of difficulty keeping them lit. They wouldn't stay lit in my coat pocket. Maybe suffocated? Holding them in my hand and nursing them along seemed to work only when it wasn't particularly cold and windy (just when I needed them the most). By nursing, I mean trying to ensure that it got enough oxygen to breath, was sheltered as much as possible from the wind, letting it get as hot as possible before extracting some heat to warm cold hands and letting it re-warm up whenever it started feeling cool. I even used one giant Jon-E for each hand, so that it wouldn't have to work so hard. They were hard to keep alight.

Also, they were ridiculously inefficient. For the amount of fuel used, the off brands would have run for at least 24 hours. Instead, I almost go dizzy with the unburnt fumes, especially when we had long drives. And I only lit the one regular for days when we had lots of driving to do. The giants stayed unlit on those days. And if I put it on its side, it tended to go out.

I believe that for a little bit more money than I spent on fuel, I could have bought enough disposables to run for the entire period I needed the Jon-E handwarmers, and suffered less frustration in trying to get them lit and getting them to stay lit.

Also, to add final insult, I couldn't get them clean enough to pass muster at the airport for the return trip. There were still some traces of fuel, so I had to surrender them to security. There was a mixture of relief that they were finally taken off my hands and unhappiness that they had to be surrendered. I can't say which emotion was stronger.

I think I may stick to disposables from now on, though I am still looking for an electric, or perhaps a butane handwarmer.


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## eart (Aug 24, 2006)

Hi everyone. Too bad I didn't investigate this thing earlier - I went to an overnight party the other day, and while the day started out with temperatures being in the high 20s (celsius that is) it ended up with barely 5C. Needless to say I was freezing my butt off.

So this is something I definitely want to investigate for the coming skiing season. Some things I'm having trouble understanding though:

1. Is there an actual open flame while the handwarmer is in operation? It doesn't seem to be the case from your discussions, but just be safe..
2. Can it be put out? ie: if i'm skiing for 6 hours, can I kill that thing before the fuel runs out?
3. Has anyone had any experience with the above linked product from hardwarerestorations? http://www.restorationhardware.com/...oduct.jsp?productId=prod230102&navAction=jump 
Seems to be beautifully made and much cheaper than the Jon-E brand ones..

Thanks in advance.


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## Steelwolf (Aug 25, 2006)

Hi Eart,
I'm also considering replacing my surrendered Jon-E handwarmers with those from Restoration Hardware. Leukos has those specific ones. They are cheaper and certainly look nicer than the Jon-E type.

To answer your questions:
1. No open flame. The catalyst does glow a dull red, but you'll be one step removed from direct contact when you've got the lid on. The fuel is oxidising and giving off heat when it is in close proximity to the hot catalyst, but it isn't an open flame.

2. You can put it out by opening the top and prying the catalyst off. Watch out though. The catalyst is very hot and can cause some grief. It cools down fairly quickly, but it can still leave a nasty burn in the 10-15 seconds. However, like a Zippo lighter, the fuel will continue to vapourise, though at a much slower rate since it isn't as warm now.

One of the problems I've found with the Jon-E design and just the Zippo "thing" in general is that there is no way to stop the fuel vapourising. You load up the Jon-E in the morning and by the time you want to use it in the evening, quite a bit of fuel has vapourised. Only thing you can do is keep the fuel in an air-tight container and only load the handwarmer when you're ready to use it.


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## eluminator (Aug 25, 2006)

Steelwolf said:


> .
> I have used Zippo fuel and Shellite with no noticeable ill effect. At some stage I may try Coleman fuel. Has anyone else got any other fuel recommendations?



I think what you want is purified gasoline. The purer it is, the less the smell. Coleman fuel should be good and it's the undisputed leader in the price department at $6 a gallon at WalMart. I never used any because it comes in gallon cans, and I don't need that much.

I bought a quart of Crown brand camp fuel. I sometimes use it in my Zippo. I think it has less smell than Zippo fluid, and at $5 a quart, it's a lot cheaper. It ought to have less smell than Coleman considering it costs 3-4 times as much. MSR also makes camp fuel, and afficionados of such stuff think it's the best of all. At $8 a quart, it ought to be. You can find this camp fuel at stores that cater to backpackers. I bought mine at Eastern Mountain Sports, in the local mall.

By the way, Shellite is not a name used in the US. I guess it's a Canadian thing.

I should mention that if you want to get this stuff inside a Zippo, you need some method of dispensing it. I have a bunch of small squeeze bottles that I use for many things, and I don't know how I managed to get along without them in the past.
http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=213


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## cobb (Aug 25, 2006)

I think cabelas once sold electric gloves, like kmart sells electric socks in the winter time in the sports dept. They use single cells and have a heating cable in the end. I think the socks go for 10 bucks a pair. 

My jon e s I put in a zip lock bag to prevent the fuel from evaporating and to snuff them out when not needed.


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## Steelwolf (Jul 22, 2007)

Just revisiting this thread. I have finally found an electric handwarmer. Goes by the name of FirePod, by Optronics. It is an orange-coloured, plastic thing approximately 12cm x 6cm x 2.5cm.

It takes 4 AA cells. The claim is "Maintains optimum heat for 5 hrs. Begins warming instantly. Reaches full temperature in 15mins. Safe, efficient & odour free."

It is really nothing more than a bunch of high wattage resistors on a PCB. An on-off switch connects the cells to the resistors and off you go. There are several problems with the design. The main one is that the only way for heat to get out is through convection. The resistors are seated on the PCB, away from any of the outside walls of the device, besides which it is all plastic, so it makes for a bad conductor anyway. There are huge vents in the body, but the resistors don't really get warm enough to start up a proper convection current.

The entire device feels cold and doesn't really produce all that much heat. I think I worked out that the entire thing runs about 2W when the cells are fresh, but quickly drop off. We have lights that run warmer than that! However, hanging it by the provided neck strap, such that it is close to the chest/heart, does provide some noticeable benefit.

I suppose the main concern there is safety, as there isn't a thermal switch. If you pumped too much power through it, it would just keep heating up till the whole thing melted in to a puddle. This way, it ticks over with only a little bit of heat and natural convection currents would keep it cool enough to keep from melting.

I modified it by throwing out the resistors, replaced the front face with a sheet of aluminium and glued a peltier chip to the inside of the aluminium sheet. This boosted the performance a thousand-fold. The peltier chip is a very efficient heater. Though it was only running about 3W, it was also drawing whatever heat it could and transferring it to the aluminium face. This had the benefit of keeping the cells cool so that power wasn't wasted due to over-heated cells and internal resistance.

The aluminium face got quite hot if left unattended for a short while and could burn you if you grabbed it. But at least it felt warm and worked quite well as a handwarmer. An improvement would, of course, be a thermal fuse. However, the lowest cut out temperature I could find so far is 60degC. Still hot enough to burn. An ideal solution would be a thermostat, but that is just getting too complicated.

Anyway, the final conclusion is not to bother with these "firepods", unless you can't be bothered to build your own, or don't need loads of heat, or are willing to live with less heat for a cleaner, odour-free system. 

However, having said that, I do have two pairs (that's 4 pods) in un-opened packages. (thought they were being sold individually so I bought 3). If anyone is interested to try them out, let me know. We can work out a reasonable price or trade.


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## Manzerick (Jul 22, 2007)

Has anyone seen and used the "solid fuel" handwarmer?


http://www.preparedness.com/solfuelhanpo.html


I wonder how this will work. It seems to eliminate the mess of the fuel.



I still can't believe i'm taling about this in July!! :lolsign:


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## GarageBoy (Jul 23, 2007)

The resto hardware ones are a PAIN to get to light


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## Steelwolf (Jul 23, 2007)

I have used these solid fuel ones before, and was trying to move away from them, which resulted in me trying out liquid fuel and electric handwarmers.

The solid fuel is a stick that looks like charcoal. It isn't hard to light if you have a hot flame source like the "jet" lighters or a Zippo flame. Regular BIC lighters will struggle a bit, unless you have a sharp clean edge to apply the flame to.

The amount of heat produced is not too shabby and you can easily double the output by lighting the stick at both ends or even, breaking the stick in to a few smaller pieces and lighting all of them.

The metal case under the layer of velvet has some holes in it and the fuel stick sits on a bed of glass fibres. There are also small channels at either end of the case. All this keeps you away from the burning stick but allows the required air to get in and exhaust to come out.

Like all burning systems, if it gets cold enough or if you smother it by covering it too tightly, the handwarmer can go out. After all, it is only an ember in there. It is quite robust though and it will take quite a bit to put it out.

However, the major downside is the smell. After using it for a few minutes, you smell like you've been in a major forest fire. It really is quite a strong smell. Also, when it comes time to empty the ash, you have to be careful, just like clearing out your fire place, or else you'll get black streaks everywhere.

The minor downside is that apparently you are still not allowed to fly with the fuel sticks, even though they are actually a little harder to light than cotton clothing. Also, getting the fuel sticks usually requires a camping store or a camping section at a big retailer like KMart; just a little bit rarer than lighter fluid, unless smoking suddenly disappears.


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## leukos (Jul 24, 2007)

Zippo just came out with a handwarmer this year, I'm looking to pick a few up eventually: http://www.zippo.com/Products/handWarmer.aspx?bhcp=1 :thumbsup:


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## Flying Turtle (Jul 24, 2007)

The Zippo looks nice, but I wonder how often the burner should be replaced. Might be hard to find them, too.

Geoff


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## Steelwolf (Jul 26, 2007)

The Zippo one is no different to the JonE type, just smaller and more elegant. By all accounts, if it is taken care of, the burner should last forever. Basically, it is a platinum catalyst. So long as you don't poison it with a leaded fuel, or arsenic, it doesn't get consumed or worn out.


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## GarageBoy (Jul 27, 2007)

Okay, HOW does it work?


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## leukos (Jul 28, 2007)

Steelwolf, my other liquid fueled handwarmer only lasts about 8 hours when filled up. Zippo is claiming 24 hours on a complete fill, I'm curious if their claims are accurate, or if they have made an old design more efficient.


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## CLHC (Jul 28, 2007)

Well I'm a JonEee come lately, I'll have to purchase a couple of these Zippo Hand Warmers myself. Thanks for the lead!


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## Iagent (Feb 12, 2016)

hi, I am experiencing short life with hand warmer platinum catalyst in hand warmers. Does anyone know where I might find some bulk catalyst? 

The best hand warmer that I have found so far is the Hakkin Spot. Its high quality for the price.





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## RickZ (Feb 20, 2016)

I use iron powder hot hands hand warmers. I only go through two per week or so. They use oxygen so to prolong their life (ten hours straight) I tie them in nylon gloves. This gives me an hour per day of warmth.


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