Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hand warmers disposable vs rechargeable?

Running low on chemical throwaway hand warmers. Considering going to rechargeable but never tried them. What are your thoughts and experiences?

Merry Christmas to all.

I haven't tried a rechargeable handwarmer but I do have a rechargeable vest that works very well so I know the tech is good. Both types have their limitations.

Chemicals have an expiration date. After a period of time, they start losing the ability to fully heat up. A couple years ago I bought a box of them at Costco and have about 1/3 of them left. They're getting close to worthless now as they just barely get warm. Don't buy more than you can use this winter.
I have 2 pairs of Glov-mitts with pockets for them. Those are great as the heat is right over the backs of my fingers where I need it the most.

Chargeables are made to fit in a pocket. I haven't seen any that will fit in gloves or mittens. The big issue is whether you have a way to charge them. On a hunting or winter camping trip, you might not.

My son has a rechargable one,he says on our really cold days it doesn't work very well.
We do use alot of the throw aways.

I wear a heated vest for night calling and 2 handwarmers in my pouch when out calling.
I use the sticky back toe warmers in my gloves, they are thin, work great and dont bunch up in gloves n stay in place
Pal uses heated golves, but not what I'd consider heavy duty, seems he is always messing w them.
I have 8 cases of hand warmers a railroad pal gets and use them extensively, easier to use.

I have a rechargeable LC-C300 I bought for cold golfing and fishing. It is a bit bulky, but it's great otherwise. Has a 10,000mAh battery, and works as a hand warmer (three levels, from toasty to too hot to touch), a flashlight, and a charging station. Some websites list it as no longer available, but you might still find one HERE

Back in the cold days of my rabbit hunting youth, we’d use the solid fuel hand warmers. Nothing else came close. I don’t see them around any more. Probably toxic or something. Wife uses the disposable toe warmers in her boots. She’d sooner go without her rifle than without them!

The smell of solid fuel hand warmers is unforgettable. Wearing bread bags as waterproof boot liners is forgettable. So were electric socks with a D battery handing off the side.

Stansport still makes the fuel sticks. I don't know if anyone makes the warmers any more.

I bought a few Zippo Heatbank rechargeable warmers for the girls a couple years back. In my experience they stay warm at least as long as the disposable packs.

Jon E lighter fluid warmers.

Been using these things for over 25 years.

Jon-e is out of business. Zippo makes them but I don't know if they're the same thing or something similar.

If the fuel sticks are the same, these things flat out work. Light both ends of the stick for real heat. Break the stick in half and light all 4 ends for “fire hazard hot”. Yea, not kidding. 😳

January rabbit hunting in Northern MI. A special kind of cold.

Plenty on the used market.

Zippo same concept and I wouldn't be afraid of one.

I have two of the rechargeable hand warmers. One I have had for 3 years. Love them both. Both have Low, med, hi. Rarely run them above low. I use them mostly for ice fishing. They do what they are suppose do. Usually run around $30. or so on Amazon.

I like the chemical warmers. I had to snow blow this morning with a 20 mph wind. One in each glove had my hands nice and toasty. I was using the hot hand brand that is found in most big box stores. These things activate when they get access to air so once you are done, you can put them in a zip lock bag, press out the air and they will turn off so you can get more than one time out with them.

I have two Zippo handwarmers. I followed Zippo's instructions to the letter on multiple attempts to get them to work properly and then tried a few things differently to try to improve them when they didn't work. One warmer has never stayed lit for more than a few minutes no matter what I've done to it. The second warmer will stay lit, but its heat output is so weak that it's entirely useless.

A sample of two....

Somewhere I still have one of those with a half dozen sticks. They were a bitch to get lit correctly and I’m pretty sure the inerds were asbestos but you’re right they did work well.

Chemical here for hands and toes

Chemical ones dry my hands out, they start cracking at the fingernails.

My rechargeable are much easier on my hands.