Are chemical heat packs effective?

**nogods** · 01-21-2008, 21:29

My son and I climbed a peak in the Adirondacks on Sunday. It was -7 when we started and just got colder as the day went on. around noon we tried some of the hand warmers to warm our hands after exposing them to the cold while starting the stove for a hot lunch. They got "warm" but not much. They felt like room temperature compared to the surrounding cold, which was better than nothing but not really a "warmer"

**ZDP-189** · 01-21-2008, 23:18

If you can get your hammock warm inside, you'll be OK, but spot heating really won't change that.

**Rat** · 01-22-2008, 02:40

Originally Posted by Tobit

Heh, that's not fishing!

Come up here where the ice is 3' thick and you run around the lake all day chasing the "tip-ups".

Didn't think people still used those battery socks, figured it was just one of those fads when I was a kid. Cool that they have improved and work well.

- JT

Yea, ya'll ice hackers are NUTZ I say! Actually I know some pretty cool guys from up north that are die hard crappie fishers. The one time I went I was surprised to find a whole city living on the ice, stores and all, pretty cool.

I modified my socks to run off of a 12v battery, so yea, they work a little better than the 9v batteries you are supposed to use! Tim Taylor syndrome

.

**pure_mahem** · 01-22-2008, 03:23

Ice fishing was an excuse to by some more power tools. Ice auger, cordless screw driver, neumatic nail gun, space heater, four wheeler, and probably a few more I'm not thinking of right off the top of my head. Need tools to build shantee need four wheeler to pull shantee on to the ice, LOL!

**Tobit** · 01-22-2008, 06:22

Originally Posted by pure_mahem

Ice fishing was an excuse to by some more power tools. Ice auger, cordless screw driver, neumatic nail gun, space heater, four wheeler, and probably a few more I'm not thinking of right off the top of my head. Need tools to build shantee need four wheeler to pull shantee on to the ice, LOL!

Snowmobile works much much better than a 4-wheeler.

- JT

**pure_mahem** · 01-22-2008, 06:25

Naw just goes faster!

**Tobit** · 01-22-2008, 08:10

Originally Posted by pure_mahem

Naw just goes faster!

Yeah, go fast enough with a snowmobile and you can hydroplane across sections of open water.

- JT

**Preacha Man** · 01-22-2008, 11:27

Originally Posted by Hogn8r

I modified my socks to run off of a 12v battery, so yea, they work a little better than the 9v batteries you are supposed to use! Tim Taylor syndrome

.

Soon someone is going to hook up an electric blanket to a 12v too, and make a warm hammock that way. Hmmm... may not be a bad idea

**Nails** · 01-22-2008, 12:02

Originally Posted by Preacha Man

Soon someone is going to hook up an electric blanket to a 12v too, and make a warm hammock that way. Hmmm... may not be a bad idea

I was just thinking about this the other day, while using my wife's electric blanket. Could an electric blanket be lightened and modified for outdoor use somehow?

In the winter, I'm not all that worried about gear weight. My dad would always tell me "You won't be complaining about lugging around a ten-pound hobo stove when you can sleep in a 50-degree tent at the end of the day." So forget about that aspect for awhile.

Is it feasible to make a battery-powered electric blanket-like thing for outdoor use? Anybody out there inspired to attempt it? I'll admit, I'm not (I'll stay home until spring, thanks.)

**JayS** · 01-22-2008, 13:16

They make electric blankets for use in the car (electricity via a cigarette lighter plug). It is also advertised as something that can be warmed up in the car and then used at a ball game. Can't remember who makes it but seems like I may have seen it on Bargain Outfitters.