Using A Hot Water Bottle To Stay Warm

[BLUEFIN 774]

Hey Shug,

I like the backup baggie idea as an insurance you don't have a leak in the hammock and get the down TQ and UQ wet.

[DeRozea]

well many a times even after snowshoeing 400 meters...conversion....1312.336 feet, my water bottle would be slush. -40 plus a wind chill and tenting. it was called February. even if the bottle doesn't freeze it just has to remain below body temperature to start being an effective heat drain.
I will say I am curious as to hammock winter camping, smaller space= easier to heat compared to a tent.

[steveflinn]

soft bottle is much better IMO. squeeze the air out and it conforms to your thigh over the femoral artery. also recommend you heat it only to a non-scalding temperature, just in case.

[HammockSwings]

This is an amazing trick. I have never done it with the hot water, rather I would use hot rocks heated from the fire.

[bigsilk]

I have a Nalgene 96 oz soft bottle I use for this. I made a bag from those reflective, windshield shades; it keeps the water warmer longer and protects the sensitive fabric inside my bag. I also made 'koozies' from this for FBC. No thawing water for brekky from frozen water containers. The extra fuel you might use to warm water the night before might offset having to thaw/melt any.

[Indy138]

Hot water bottles work good to dry out damp socks too!

[Twisted Stick]

This is an amazing trick. I have never done it with the hot water, rather I would use hot rocks heated from the fire.

I remember my grandmother using a rock heated in the fireplace to warm her bed. That and a giant red hot water bag filled with scalding water. The bag also doubled as a shower on camping trips so we had solar showers in the 50's!

Currently I use 2, 3/4ltr SS Bottles from Ice Age Water out of Canada that I carry for drinking. These are wrapped in camp towels and stuffed into a 10ltr drysack. No nasties leaching out and liquid type H2O on those cold mornings when the rest of the world is solid.

[Skeetrock]

I've got a pack of foot warmers called "Toasti Toes" (same as hand warmers i guess, ive never used them) and i wonder if they would heat a nalgene bottle of water if you stuck em down inside the water. would they just fizzle out and not work or would they keep your bottle of water nice and toasty all night?

[Skeetrock]

It doesnt look like sticking foot warmers in water will work. Evidently they need oxygen to work. maybe if I put a koozy around the bottle and stuck the warmers down in the koozy... That might help out a couple hours before daylight if its really cold out.

[Stone]

Thoese hand warmers work best is small places like pockets. I also think trying to warm a bottle if water wouldn't work due to the shear mass/volume of water you are trying to warm. I have tried placing them in my boots to "warm" them overnight....fail.