Using A Hot Water Bottle To Stay Warm

[TheDoc]

My girlfriend thanks you for the warm feet.

[Carbon]

I bring my stainless steel 40oz bottle to near boil over my fancy feast stove, put the bottle in a heavy wool sock, and sleep with it. That volume of water remains very warm til the morning.

[Pyrogen]

Is using an electric blanket or electric heating pad out of the question for in-home hanging?

[Durtsurf]

It seems ok to me. The only thing crossing my mind is whether the heat could melt the nylon. So you'd want to make sure it doesn't reach nylon's melting point or you could have a failure. Now in the yard during a thunderstorm...

Is using an electric blanket or electric heating pad out of the question for in-home hanging?

[Pyrogen]

I don't like it scalding hot anyhow, so I suppose I should be fine. I've heard people throw near-boiling hot water bottles in with them- my heating pads don't get near that warm, or concentrated and are covered in a thick fleece case.

Now in the yard during a thunderstorm...

You don't think that's a good Idea? I was just going to wrap the cords and suspension around my flag pole and a chain link fence post. Anyone else smell fried chicken?

[jadekayak]

That's cool!

This is a wonderful trick and works splendidly. I have used it several times for those nights when you just can't get warm for whatever reason. Placed right against the Femoral Artery and you can feel the warmth through your body almost immediately.

That's the best use of the femoral if ever heard.

I'll try that in a couple of weeks when I go hanging

[hove64]

BIG HOT ROCKS

hi guys.

i also love the hot bottle trick.
been using it for years.

i am usually using a klean Kanteen, stainless steel bottle, boiling water in it, over fire, and then inserting it into a DIY bubble-mylar wrap cozy. It works amazing! it keeps the water hot through the night, by slowing down the heat loss, and at the same time protecting me from burns. This way i can start with a fully boiled water + bottle straight from the fire, which prolong the heating duration.
The cozy not only protect me from heat, extremely well, but also protect my bedding, from soot. When i pack the bottle, the cozy protect the bag as well, from the soot, while taking almost zero extra space, not to mention weight, which is negligible.

just make sure you close the lead properly, to avoid leakage.


The main big draw back here is the bottle weight, compare to aluminum, or plastic.

regarding hot rocks (yeah, yeah. no river rocks from fear of explosion from the moisture).

the huge advantage is that they are usually available, and the fire is often there, anyway.
More so, in survival situation, if you are out of water, and freezing

i have been using hot rocks too, but they lose heat faster than water.
(for hammock, water bottle is better).

So i found out that if you take a good size (football volume size) rock, and heat it really well, it can last all night, and even warm a tent.
if it is too heavy to put on top, you can put it on the ground (yes, not for hammock, if it is really big ) next to you, and share a blanket with it. ...or even sleeping bag...BE CAREFUL.

what i am asking is for , are ideas for a good wrapping,( lite weight, preferably, dual use), cloth, that can withstand quite a hot rock. At least as a base layer.
Maybe something like Kevlar ?

AND YES, IT IS DANGEROUS if you don't protect you skin well, from touching the rock.



cheers.

[hove64]

cooked boil potatoes

...some people suggest cooked boil potatoes, instead of rocks.
they are supposed to hold heat for quite a long time.
i have not tried it.

Some even suggest cooking the potatoes on the car engine, while driving -what a cool idea.

[Klemvore]

You have to be careful with this method... because if the water bottle leaks you are screwed... no one carries a backup sleeping bag really. So make sure you buy a quality bottle... with a really good seal.

I am brand spanking new here... like this is my first post... I don't even have a hammock yet but I am a backpacker and a kayaker and really this tip isn't exclusive to hammocks it's about light weight camping with a nylon home. So I will offer my advice on this.

large Hand warmer activated charcoal packs.
http://www.amazon.com/HotHands-Body-.../dp/B0190WT6GC

$29 for 40 of the things... 18 hours of heat per... the weight of enough for a 4-5 day trip is not that much... and they don't have the risk of making your bag wet.

The beauty of the hot water bottle is the sleeping bag is trapping the heat in the bag with you... you aren't moving so you are not generating heat and sleeping bags do no generate heat... so every tiny bit of heat above body temperature is a HUGE bonus inside that bag... in zero degree weather I usually use my Marmot never summer 0 degree down bag... and a Big Agnes insulated sleeping pad with a sea to summit reactor sleeping bag liner and 1-2 hand warmers.. that usually keeps me nice and toasty.

I am assuming sleeping bag liners are a huge PITA for hammock campers here is the trick I learned.. you just need a thin flannel sheet... see if you use a sleeping bag liner as designed I have found they are kinda crappy (with the thing inserted so it matches your bag shape) the best way to use a bag liner is to use it upside down so the extra stuff that should be under your head is instead bunched up around your neck.... THIN flannel sheets conform to what they are laying on better.. a lot of the hot air from your bag is actually escaping from around your neck unless you really cinch the mummy down.. and most of us hate this. that flannel sheet or bag liner when it's crumpled up around your neck traps that heat that would otherwise escape due to the more structured poofy sleeping bag... it provides a "seal" not a "layer" in my experience.

As far as the coldest night... I think one of my nights in the rockies with windchill was negative 5.

The main perk with the hot water bottle or hand warmers is that when you get up to take a pee and you come back the sleeping bag isn't ice cold.

I will be asking questions about hammocks shortly in a separate post... but as a winter camper this topic was near and dear to my heart and I had to handle it first lol.

[Leafer]

Interesting read,though I admit I didn't read all the post,I did read many.Im fairly new to hammocks,but not to primitive camping.My thoughts on cold weather hanging leads me to an old trick used by winter ground sleepers.The technique requires a trench to be dug the length of the sleeper,a fire is built in the trench,allowed to burn down to a bed of coals,then covered with dirt.The heat will radiate upwards,bedding would be placed on top of the dirt,woola,a cozy bed all night long.
A hammock could be warmed by hanging it a few inches off the ground above the covered coal bed.A meal ,meat,potatoes,veggies,could be wrapped and placed underground on the coals the night before,by morning,breakfast is served .Using a trench bed is about the only way I can see a hanger staying completely warm in very fridged temps,head to toe in my feeble opinion,