keeping warm

[GREEN THERAPY]

Over the past few chilly nites out in the hammock I have been experimenting with some small packages of hand warmers and body warmers that are available from Wal Mart. Take them out of the plastic package and expose them to the air and they heat up. I have found that they stay warm for up to 10 hours and have been using them at stratigic areas in my sleeping bag to stay warm. I am using a BYO hammock of 1.1 oz ripstop with a 3/8 inch Wal Mart blue closed foam pad under my sleeping bag ( 2.5 lb synthetic three season) and have been toasty down to 40F.

I am thinking of making a hooded top with zoned off areas that I can insert both wool strips cut from some old wool (Stanfield brand name) tops that I have and inserting a warm pouch for nite sleeping. Mabe be able to cut down on bulk and weight for winter hikes. The heat pouches cost 1.75 for a package of two and I am gladly paying that now per nite for a warm and lightweight sleep. Has anyone else tried this and if so what are the pros and cons of it?

[slowhike]

some others had them on the mt rogers winter trip last feb & they spoke highly of them.
i may give them a shot this winter. i get cold feet

[GREEN THERAPY]

I have been using them for a while now and they sure are nice in the wee hours of the morning before the sun comes up. I am pushing 60 and these ole bones seem to need an extra shot of warm at times.

[mr. dribbles]

I carry at least 1 or 2 in my survival kit in the early spring and later fall. They saved my carcass once when I ended up with shaking chills about 3 AM during a cold snap back when I was still a ground dweller. Placing them over a major artery, like the groin or armpit, warms one up quicker. They are nothing more than iron filings that react with oxygen.

[GREEN THERAPY]

my reason for trying them was to reduce pack weight. With them I am down to 12 1/2 lbs on my back for a four day outing. Seems to be well worth the cost.

[headchange4u]

I have used the hand warmers before and they work great. At Mt. Rogers I filled my Nalgene bottle with boiling water, put it in a fleece sack, and put it in the sleeping bag with me. Stayed warm all night.

[GREEN THERAPY]

I use a couple of small plastic pop bottles for water and have not filled them with hot water for my sleeping bag but have filled them with hot water and put them inside my wet socks to dry out at nite.

Amazing what you can do
When you don't know how.

[slowhike]

oh yeah... a bottle of hot water in a dry sock, between your feet on a cold night!!! heavenly!!!

[Tinmar]

Something new to try. Off to Wal Mart. Thanks

[kayak karl]

i think the hand warmers are a nice addition, but as part of a sleeping system i don't agree with that. they can and will fail. what if you are snowed or iced in. temps stay low and then what? i got stuck twice in my hammock for 36 hours each time. consider maybe an extra 1/4 inch torso pad regardless of weight.
KK