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Field Report: Heat Treat Warmers
Date: June 7, 2005
Tester
Information:
Name: Pam Wyant
Age: 47
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 5 in
(1.65 m)
Weight: 165 lb (77
kg)
E-mail address: pamwyant(at)yahoo(dot)com
Location: Western
West Virginia, U.S.A.
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Backpacking Background:
Last year I finally
acted on a long time interest in backpacking, starting out slowly by
day hiking,
researching backpacking products and techniques, purchasing gear, and doing a few overnight
trips, including one solo. This year I
hope to fit in at least one longer trip in addition to several more
overnight and weekend trips. I hike and
backpack mainly
in the hills and valleys of West Virginia, and use a hammock sleeping
system. For a two-day trip my typical pack
weighs
22-30 lb (10-14 kg), and I hope to lighten that a bit.
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 Product Information
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Manufacturer: Grabber
Year of manufacture:
2003 & 2004
Date of Delivery: April 31, 2005
Manufacturer Website: www.warmers.com
MSRP: Body Warmer 6 pack $10.99 USD; Foot Warmers 10 pack $34.99
USD; Hand Warmers 10 Pack $16.99 USD
Weight:
No weight is given on the
manufacturer's website. I was shipped two each of the body
warmer, and
two pairs of foot warmers and hand warmers. Weight as delivered
for each body warmer is 1.4 oz (39.7 g) and for each pair of foot
warmers 1.7 oz (48.2 g). Interestingly, the weight of the hand
warmers varied slightly, with one package weighing 1.6 oz (45.4 g) and
one weighing 1.5 oz (42.5 g).
Shelf Life/Age of Product:
The website indicates a shelf life of four years. "Validity
dates" are printed on the back of the packages. The body warmers
I received are dated August 26, 2007; the foot warmers August 26, 2008;
and the hand warmers July 30, 2008, leading me to the conclusion these
products were manufactured in 2003 & 2004.
Packaging:
The packaging is a thin sealed plastic. The body warmer package
measures 4.75 x 6.5 in (12 x 16.5 cm), the foot
warmer package 4 x 11.75 in (10 x 30 cm), and the hand warmer package
4.5 x 6.5 in (11.5 x 16.5 cm). All three varieties are less than
0.25 in (0.5 cm) thick. See my initial
report for a detailed description of the packaging.
Ingredients:
The body and hand warmers contain: Iron, water, cellulose,
vermiculite,
activiated carbon and salt. The foot warmers contain: Iron
powder, water, activated carbon, cellulose
and salt. The packaging lists the ingredients as natural,
non-combustible, odorless, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly.
Activation and precautions:
To activate the warming effect, simply open the package and
expose the product to the air. No shaking is necessary. The
warmers work by oxidizing the iron contents, using salt as a catalyst,
and producing heat in the process. The carbon disperses the heat,
and vermiculite acts as an
insulator. While each warmer has specific directions, in general,
the packages indicate they should not be used on infants or small
children, on frostbite or desensitized skin, on bruised or swollen
skin, or while sleeping. In addition, the elderly, children,
handicapped individuals, and those
unable to remove the warmers by themselves should be supervised when
using them. Additional warnings are that they are for external
use only, should be removed immediately if they becomes uncomfortably
hot, should not be
punctured or allowed to contact eyes or mouth, and should be used only
as directed. The manufacturer warns that misusing the
product could result in either ineffectiveness, or in overheating and
burns to the skin.
Field Use -
 Conditions:
My first use of the warmers occured in Western West Virginia, during
the first night of a camping event in early May. Night time low
temperature was around 45 F (7 C), daytime high temperature close to 80
F (27 C). The second use of the warmers was on the Greenbrier
River Trail in mid May, with night time temperatures falling to 38 F (3
C) and daytime high temperature around 70 F (21 C).
Use:
Okay - the first thing I have to do is admit I didn't have enough
willpower to resist using the warmers when sleeping. Since the
middle of the night is when I get the coldest, I gave into temptation
and crawled into my sleeping bag with the body warmer inside my thermal
shirt, and the handwarmers stuffed inside my gloves. For the
first foot warmer test, I did resist using them while sleeping,
waiting to put them in my shoes in the early morning. My
willpower caved in during my Greenbrier River Trail trip though, and I
slept with the foot warmers.
My first test of the hand warmers and body warmers occured during the
wee morning hours, while camping solo. I had just finished a late
night of prepping items for a Girl Scout adult camping training to take
place the next day, and the temperature kept dropping as I worked,
making my hands really cold. I decided to break out the hand
warmers and place them inside my gloves. The hand warmers feel
sort of like a soft, miniature bean bag. Even though they are
flexible, I quickly found that I could not work with my hands very well
with them
positioned in the palm, but I could move my hands as needed when they
were placed on top. The warmers began producing heat gradually,
reaching their maximum warmth with 10 minutes or so. I liked the
feeling of the warmth against my hands and found the temperature just
right for comfort. Since they felt so good, I looked forward to
trying the first body warmer. I changed into a mid weight
polyester knit base layer shirt, removed the adhesive backing, and
stuck the body warmer to the middle back of the shirt. The body
warmer flexes as needed to fit, although feeling a bit stiffer than the
hand warmers due to the adhesive backing. It warmed slower than
the hand warmers, taking around 20-30 minutes to reach maximum
temperature. The warm sensation in the middle of my back felt
great as I settled into my hammock for a short night's sleep. I
decided I would rather have the hand warmers in the palm of my hand
since I didn't need the use of my hands, but found they still felt
bulky there. I experimented a bit, and found they felt great
tucked just inside the tops of my gloves, against the inner side of my
wrist. As I
awoke occasionally during the night, I found both the hand warmers and
the body warmer a comfort, although I did switch the body warmer a bit
lower on my back toward morning. The body warmer repositioned
easily, and the adhesive held well on the smooth knit, even after being
moved a couple of times. I tried measuring the temperature of the
body warmer and
the hand warmers with my little thermometer, but it only registered 95
F (35 C), and I am certain both varieties of warmers got hotter
than my body temperature. When I awoke the next morning, both the
hand warmers
and the body warmer were still going strong. The hand warmers
were very warm for at least 10 hours, retaining a little warmth for
another couple of hours. Incredibly, the body warmer was still
producing a comforting warmth for nearly 18 hours.
 After awakening, I decided to test the foot warmers in the
early
morning chill. I slipped them in on top of my normal hiking shoe
insole, and they warmed within 10-15 minutes. They felt fairly
comfortable inside my shoes as I did some early morning chores and
finished preparations, but I
could definitely feel their presence inside my shoes even though they
are fairly thin. I spent most of the morning
standing on concrete, or walking along a dirt path. The foot
warmers soon became bothersome, as the heat wasn't really needed when I
was moving around, and they started feeling somewhat stiff and
uncomfortable. They
began to cool off some around 5-6 hours after opening them, and I
gladly removed them at that point.
For the second test, I used the warmers on an overnight backpacking
trip, opening them just before retiring for the night, around 9:30
pm. Temperatures were around 50 F (10 C) to begin with, but
dropped to 38 F (3 C) by 4 am. I positioned the hand and body
warmers the same as the previous test, but was wearing a heavier fleece
lined thermal shirt, and found the adhesive backing of the body warmer
did not re-stick very well after being moved on the fleece
surface. The calves of my legs were aching a bit after the 7
miles we had backpacked on the gravel surface of the trail, and I
decided the foot warmers would be just the right shape to insert
against my calves inside my thermal bottoms. I debated with
myself on whether I should do this, as they are supposed to be used
inside a closed shoe without much air circulation, but decided the
thermals would also stop air circulation and to give it a try.
The warmth against my calves felt soothing, and they functioned well,
staying at a nice warm temperature. I did lose the hand warmers a
couple of times when they slid out of the tops of my gloves, but was
able to find them quickly and put them back in place. I also
found the hand warmers were nice to "spot warm" other parts of my body
- I slid them in against my chest, on my stomach, and on top of my
femoral arteries a couple of times to warm up those areas, and then
slid them back into the gloves before going back to sleep. Again
the hand warmers lasted at least 10 hours and the body warmer over 16
hours. The foot warmers had significant heat for about 6 hours
and a little heat a couple of hours after that.
The Used Product:
I found the hand warmers and body warmers stayed fairly soft and
pliable after use, but the foot warmers were stiff. The hand
warmers were a little softer than the body warmers. I think this
was due to flexing of the different products - I was constantly moving
and flexing my hands, moved my body around some, but the foot warmers
were flexed less.
Upon cutting the warmers open, I found the material inside the foot
warmers clumped together almost solid. The body warmer insides
looked like small pellets, and the hand warmer material looked like
fine soil.
Overall Impressions:
Overall, I have to say the Grabber Heat Treat Warmers a nice luxury at
a fairly inexpensive price and moderate weight. Each variety
stayed warm for at least as long as advertised. The packages fit
easily into my pack. I just threw them in a ditty bag containing
toiletries and miscellaneous items, and found they conformed around
other items and the packaging was durable enough to survive
intact. They were hard to open without using a knife or other
sharp instrument, although it could be done by using my teeth, as I did
on the Greenbrier River trip when I was too lazy to get up and find
my knife. The weight of the used product increased slightly to
1.7 oz (48.2 g) for the body warmer and hand warmers, and to 1.8
oz (51 g) for the foot warmers.
I noticed a very slight reddening and wrinkling of the skin on my hands
after using the hand warmers overnight, but it quickly went away the
next morning after I removed them. Otherwise, I had no adverse
reactions to any of the warmers.
Based on my experience, I think they would be useful along with other
measures to help warm someone in a hypothermia emergency, and a nice
treat when temperatures fall much below 50 F (10 C). I plan to
take hand warmers on any weekend or overnight trips in cooler weather,
and with a weeklong supply weighing in around 11 ounces, it is likely I
would take enough for each night on longer trips. The body
warmers were soothing and long lasting, and I will probably be tempted
to take a few of them along on my cooler weather trips too.
Although they were soothing on my calves, I don't think I will purchase
foot warmers for future use, because I don't really need them in my
shoes, and the heat doesn't last nearly as long as the hand and body
warmers.
Likes:
Relatively light
Comforting in cool temperatures
Durable packaging holds up well in pack
Dislikes:
Not reusable or recyclable
Foot warmers felt stiff after a few hours
Foot warmer heat doesn't last as long as the other warmers
What I would like
to see:
A whole body warmer that can be laid in the
bottom of a hammock, is reusable, and weights under a pound - the
perfect cold weather sleeping system for my Hennessey Hammock!
Thanks
to Grabber and BackpackGearTest for the opportunity to test the
Heat Treat Warmers.
Read more reviews of Grabber Performance Group gear
Read more gear reviews by Pamela Wyant
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