Using A Hot Water Bottle To Stay Warm

[Dux]

I love using HWBs (Hot Water Bottles) while winter hanging. Absolutely brilliant!!

Been using them for about five years now without an incident. So far I have tried cozies made of single and double layers of reflectix. The single layers let out a lot of heat right away thus are useful for prewarming bedding. They give me about 4-5 hours of useful heat. The double layer cozies are deceptive because at first it seems as though they aren't letting much heat out. Give them time! Takes about a half hour before they get rolling. They give me 7-8 hours of useful heat. Meant to try a triple layer cozy, just to see how that performed, but am so happy with the double layer that I haven't yet.

I've done dozens of full rolling boils in doubled reflectix cozies using the same quart Nalgene containers without an issue. With "imitation" Nalgenes I've had them deform and delaminate from pouring too hot (full rolling boil) water in 'em while in a double layer of reflectix cozy. Pour hot water in them again with the lid off and they mostly return to shape but they have never relaminated. Still using them (still work, still haven't leaked) yet the writing is on the wall. If using a nonNalgene bottle, I go to a small boil (tiny bubbles sticking to sides of pot) and a single layer of reflectix cozy. Less heat for less time, but also less risk.

Happy Trails!!

[Dux]

I'd be worried about extra moisture in my quilt or bag...

The only dampness you might experience is from sweating! None from the heat from the bottle, none from leaking. At least that's been my experience so far.

[VoiceOfTreason]

The only dampness you might experience is from sweating! None from the heat from the bottle, none from leaking. At least that's been my experience so far.

I was referring to using the hot water bottle to dry damp socks as you sleep. On its own, I've used the hot water in the Nalgene bottle trick myself several times. It's amazing how, with the insulation of your top/bottom quilt and/or sleeping bag and your own body heat how long that thing can stay warm for!

[mojeb21]

yup i love doing thing! while camping ill throw it in before i go in and its warm!

[ckossuth]

I've never thought of this. This is a sweet idea!

[Twokag]

Reminds me of being a kid. We did not have a heater in the house, just a fireplace that was inefficient at best (but looked great!). We would use GLASS juice bottles with hot water in our beds, and were so glad when plastic 2-liter soda bottles became common. I Definitely do not recommend glass, but that was back before all the warning labels, and before we knew that everything fun would kill you. Had we known, I am sure we would not have survived. Instead we had to use common sense and take responsibility for anything dumb we did. (Including putting a hot glass bottle against bare skin). If CPS had only known......

[nualle]

We've been using 40 oz Klean Kanteen bottles (stainless steel, cylindrical, a great seal on the lid) as hot water bottles for years at home. Even using only hot-from-the-faucet water, it stays plenty warm through the night. It needs only to be wrapped in a hand towel to protect from contact burns.

It sounds amazing as a camping solution, particularly since the water will most likely be hotter to start with -- boiling rather than merely hot to the touch. I have a neoprene sleeve that fits it. Should protect against burns. I'll have to see how that'll work.

[EwanK]

Hot water bottles are a great camping solution for chilly nights! A time honoured bed heater, from back when people relied on wood stoves rather than central air. For those who like to geek about the history of energy use this is an interesting article. See the section on portable heaters.

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/...ot-spaces.html

Another nifty cold weather solution is to use what I call an ozan - borrowing the Blackfoot word for the smaller bed-tent at the back of the tipi. We live in a cold apartment and so at home we just throw a sheet over the ridgeline of the hammock and it keeps drafts off quite nicely and warms up just from body heat. It looks like Warbonnet is calling these travel socks. I'll have to get one of those if we do much late season hammock camping! Combining the hot water bottle with the ozan/travel sock sounds like the way to go, to me!

[sophistihip]

I tried this method last fall and I wasn't a huge fan. Having the right gear, setup properly, eating right before bed, I feel like with the water bottle or not, you're going to be cold come morning if you're not prepared. If you are, as you should be, you are going to sweat early on in the night. I guess it's handy if the temperature drops precipitously, but I usually have my eye on historical lows and prepare for them, instead of just hoping for average lows and lugging around the nalgene. I guess either way I'm carrying the wait, but fiddling with the bottle and sweating was too much trouble for me.

[AdanClinton]

I use a hot water bottle to stay warm every winter.It works well!