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Heat Treat
Warmers
Field
Report
June 18, 2005 |
| Biographical Information |
| Name |
Jennifer Pope |
| Age |
24 |
| Gender |
Female |
| Height |
5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) |
| Weight |
140 lb (64 kg) |
| Shoe size |
8 US |
| Email
address |
Jennifer dot Pope at gmail dot
com |
| Location |
Los Angeles, CA |
Backpacking
Background
Newbie. I’ve been a car-camper as long as I can remember and
started backpacking in Northern California when I was 16. I'm starting to
get back into backpacking after a hiatus during college. I recently moved
to Southern California and so far I've only backpacked in the Angeles
National Forest but I'm planning on branching out to other Southern California
mountain areas; the California desert; and the Sierra in the summer
months. I'm a tent camper leaning towards lightweight; but I am a fan of
gadgets and I like being comfortable. I also do a mix of short and long
day hikes in and around Los Angeles. |
| Product Information (back to top) |
| Manufacturer |
Grabber Mycoal |
| Manufacturer
URL |
www.warmers.com |
| Year of
Manufacture |
2005 |
Actual Weights
Hand Warmer
Foot Warmer
Body Warmer |
1.3 oz (37 g)
1.3 oz (37 g)
1.3 oz (37 g) |
| Validity Date |
July 30, 2008 and later |
| Ingredients |
Iron, water, cellulose, vermiculite, activated carbon and salt (no vermiculite in foot warmers) |
MSRP
Hand Warmers
Foot Warmers
Body Warmers |
$61.99 US/40 sets
$34.99 US/10 sets
$10.99 US/6 sets |
For this test I was using three different kinds of warmers- hand, foot, and body. The hand warmers come two to a pack (one for each hand) and are basically just a small bag that could fit into a glove or pocket. The foot warmers resemble an insole and I just had to slip one in each shoe; these also come two to a pack. The body warmers are a larger pad with an adhesive back. They are designed with an adhesive back so they can be stuck to a shirt or pants over the area of the body that needs warming.
Using all of the types of warmers was really easy. I simply had to open the plastic packaging and the warmers were ready to go. By exposing the warmers to air you start the warming process. All of the warmers warmed to their maximum temperature in a reasonable amount of time. I’d say that they start feeling warm in about 15 minutes and reach their maximum warmness in about 30-45 minutes. Although, when I was already cold, that seemed like a long time.
Once the warmers are done giving off their heat, they weighed approximately the same as they did before. I weighed some of my warmers and their packaging after they had been used and the maximum difference in weight was an additional .4 oz (11 g). I can definitely tell that the composition inside the warmers has changed. Before I used the warmers they felt like a pad of gauze or something similar. Afterwards, it feels like there is sand or small rocks inside.
To really find out what was inside the warmers I decided to cut the used ones open (see below: hand warmer on left, body warmer on right). By reading the FAQs on the manufacturer’s website I learned that basically what’s happening is the iron inside the warmer is rusting and giving off heat in the process.
 
In my Initial Report I posed the question of whether or not the warmers could get wet. Since I didn't get the warmers wet in my use, I sent an email to the customer service contact information provided on the manufacturer's website. I got a reply back in a couple days and Patty informed me that the warmers were not harmful when wet, but that they could let off a charcoal residue that could stain. She also told me that since the warmers are air-activated they will stop working when wet. So I guess the consensus is, they're not harmful if wet, but they might stop working.
More details on the warmers can be found in my Initial Report.
On My Couch – sea level – approx. 70 F (20 C)
My first use of the warmers was for pain in my knee. I applied one of the body warmers to the inside of my pant leg in the knee area. The package was easy to open and it was easy to take the paper backing off the adhesive so I could stick the warmer to my pant leg. I was also able to apply and then re-position the warmer and it still kept its stickiness. I was worried that after I applied it, it might not re-stick if I had to take it off and stick it somewhere else.
I found that the warmer did heat up quickly. It probably reached its maximum warmness in about 20-30 minutes. It seemed to keep that temperature for at least 5 hours. At about that time (or maybe a little longer) the temperature seemed to get a little weaker. By that time my knee was back to normal. The temperature seemed to be just the right amount of heat to ease muscle aches. It never got so hot that I needed to take the heat away from my knee. It was just hot enough to keep my knee warm and relaxed. I found that it was best to keep my knee flat and raised so that the warmer was constantly in contact with my knee. Otherwise with my slightly baggy pants the warmer wasn’t in direct contact with my knee (which I found to be necessary). So I had to sit on the couch and watch t.v. instead of doing work around the house.
San Bernardino National Forrest – 7,000 ft (2100 m) – lows around 35 F (0 C)
This was a weekend trip I took up to the Big Bear area with my husband. The trip consisted of two nights of car camping and one long day hike.
Our first night we arrived very late at night (around 11:30 PM) since we had made the drive from LA after work on a Friday night. So when we arrived to set up camp it was already quite cold out (in the 40s F/5 C) and we still had to set up camp. I started out by putting some hand warmers in the fleece lined pockets of my jacket and some foot warmers in my Keen Taos sandals (which are closer to shoes than sandals – so I thought they’d be enclosed enough to use the warmers – the package recommends you use them in enclosed shoes). The hand warmers began to feel warm in about 10-15 minutes and reached their maximum temperature in about 30-45 minutes. The foot warmer heat seemed less intense; instead of my feet feeling warm they just didn’t feel cold- if that makes sense. But they seemed to activate in about the same timeframe as the hand warmers.
The hand warmers were in my pockets as I was going about the duties of setting up camp. When I got a chance I would slip my hands in my pockets to warm them slightly. I found the best way to get them warm was to grab each of the warmers and hold them inside my clenched fist. My husband also took a few opportunitites to put his hands in my pockets too. After camp was set up we were sitting outside enjoying the stars and I moved the hand warmers from my pockets to my fleece gloves. I found that while in my gloves (under my palm), my palm was warm, but my fingers and the top of my hand were still cold. This could be partly because my gloves were too thin, but I found the warmers to be more effective if I clenched them in my fist and took my fingers out of the fingers of my gloves.
By the time we were ready to go to sleep the warmers were, of course, still going strong. The package recommends that you don’t sleep with them, but they also sell a warmer accessory which appears to be a fleece bag you put a warmer in to heat your sleeping bag. So I brought the foot warmers and the hand warmers in my sleeping bag with me. The foot warmers need a place with limited air circulation to work, so I decided to put them inside my socks. So the warmers were in direct contact with my feet, with my socks over them. I just put my hand warmers in my bag with me. Even though our air mattress failed overnight and we ended up sleeping on the cold, hard ground, I was still nice and warm. And my husband was glad that we had our bags zipped together because the warmers helped to keep his side warm too (although he sleeps warmer than I do anyway). When I woke up the next morning, the foot warmers were done giving up their heat, but the hand warmers were still giving off warmth. They weren’t as warm as they had been, but they were still warm- about 9 hours later. At that point, I didn’t need them anymore, so I let them die off on their own.
Later that morning we set off on an ambitious hike of about 12 miles (20 km) and around 2500 ft (750 m) of elevation gain and loss. This was a difficult hike for us and by the end I was both tired and sore, and it was starting to cool off. When we got back to camp, I immediately put on a clean pair of thick wool socks, my foot warmers, and a clean pair of trail runners. I found my trail runners to be a little tight with both the thick socks and the warmers in shoes. But it was workable and I wasn’t planning on walking a lot due to both feet being pretty sore and tired. I again put my hand warmers in my gloves and proceeded to laze around the campsite for the rest of the night. When we went to bed the foot warmers went in my socks and the hand warmers in my bag.
In the morning, I found that my feet were as good as new. The hot spots I thought might turn into blisters were fine and the arch and general foot soreness had completely dissipated. I was very happy with the outcome. The hand warmers also kept my bag toasty throughout the night.
Back On My Couch – sea level – approx. 75 F (25 C)
Post-weekend and back at my apartment all my muscles weren’t fairing as well as my feet after a long day hiking the day before. I attempted to use my last body warmer to ease up some lingering hip pain. Initially it was somewhat warm, but after about an hour the heat fizzled out and it was just barely warm. I almost couldn’t tell if it was working at all. I’m not sure what the problem with this particular warmer was, but it really didn’t do much of anything. I gave up on it for a little while and gave it to my husband to mess around with; he noticed that it was warmer on the adhesive side. The warmer is designed to stick to your clothes next to the part of your body you want warmed. So it seems like the warming agent may be backwards and was aiming heat away from my body instead of towards it. The amount of warmth it gave off also seemed to vary. At some points it would be warm, but then it would cool off and barely be warm at all. The level of warmth seemed to go up, down, then back up again.
I was able to adhere the warmer to the inside of my jeans while we went out to dinner and walked around a little. This actually worked out really well and would have worked better if the warmer would have stayed warm.
Hand Warmers
I am very satisfied with this product. I think the hand warmers are my favorite and I will probably purchase them in the future. They get the warmest out of the three types I tested and they are also the most versatile (I could put one anywhere).
Body Warmers
Despite the problem I had with one of the body warmers, I still think they are quite useful. I was able to stick one to my clothing, remove it, and then stick it somewhere else. After sticking and un-sticking the warmer a couple times it does loose its stickiness though. They definitely did help to ease the pain of sore muscles.
Foot Warmers
I liked these but they didn’t seem to get warm enough for me. They served their purpose, but I would have preferred them to get slightly warmer. These warmers also seemed to be a little small for my shoes. They are supposed to fit Women’s shoe sizes 5-8 US; I’m on the upper range of this limit (8 US), so they were a little small for my shoes. I think next time I will try the larger size since I think I’d rather have them slightly too big rather than too small. They are bendable, so if the warmer was a little too long it could curve up the side of my shoe without it being uncomfortable.
Good
- Provide significant heat for a long period of time.
- Can be used for many different applications.
- Warms up a sleeping bag nicely.
Bad
- Hand warmer doesn’t warm the whole hand in gloves.
- One body warmer seemed to be warm on the wrong side or inconsistently warm.
I want to thank BackpackGearTest.org and Grabber Mycoal for giving me the opportunity to test this item.
Read more reviews of Grabber Performance Group gear
Read more gear reviews by Jennifer Pope
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