Tag Archive for: hand warmers

Harriet Wallis

How To Get Several Days From Your Shake-Em-Up Hand Warmers

/3 Comments/in /by

Use These Two Sneaky Tips.

The air-activated hand warmers keep your fingers toasty while you ski. Even when your legs fall off, your hand warmers keep going.

Then what do you do with them? They have a lot of heat left.

I used to give them away in the locker room. People would snap them up for themselves or their kids.

Tip #1. Here’s how to save them.

Mummified hand warmers can be revived for another day.
Credit: Harriet Wallis

I discovered I can keep them until the next day and sometimes several days by wrapping them tightly in Saran wrap or other generic plastic wrap.

Mummy them up tightly in about 2 feet of plastic wrap until you can no longer feel the heat coming through.

The wrap cuts off the air, and they go dormant. Reactivate them by unwrapping them and shaking as usual. Roll the plastic wrap onto a tube and reuse it another day.

The up side is you can save and reuse hand warmers for several days. The down side is that sometimes it just doesn’t work.

Experiments 101

Plastic baggies don’t work. Even if you squish really well, there’s still too much air left inside. Aluminum foil doesn’t seem to work, but I don’t know why. Use plastic wrap.

Tip #2. Before you buy.

Check that expiration date. It should be several years out, not soon.
Credit: Harriet Wallis

Before you buy a stockpile of hand warmers, check the expiration date. It should be several years into the future—not next year. Hand warmers close to their expiration date often have less oomph.

On the other hand, you might discover hand warmers long past their expiration date that have been buried in your ski bag for years. And they might work very well. Just don’t count on it on a sub-zero day.

To read more from Harriet click here for her stories on SkiUtah.

 

seniorsskiing

Helpful Handy Hand Warmer Hints

/3 Comments/in , /by

From Newborn Mittens to YOUR Mittens.

Editor Note: Sue Z. is a senior skier and craftsperson who hangs out at Alta.  She wrote a recent gift idea that showed how to transform worn out ski socks into a cool scarf.  

Like many older skiers, I rely on disposable glove warmers to keep my hands comfortable. I open the package at home and let them toast my gloves on the 30-minute drive to Alta, my home resort. Manufacturers of disposable hand warmers advise that they not be placed directly against the skin. Since my gloves and mittens don’t have pockets, I came up with the following idea which allows me to use disposable hand warmers without them touching my skin.

 

My ski mittens.

My ski mittens.

Mittens for newborn children, which can be bought at any store that carries infant clothing.

Mittens for newborn children, which can be bought at any store that carries infant clothing.

 

Little Hotties® hand warmers. Remove pair from package and shake.

Little Hotties® hand warmers. Remove pair from package and shake.

 

Insert Hotties into newborn mittens. Now, the Hotties will not be against your skin.

Insert Hotties into newborn mittens. Now, the Hotties will not be against your skin.

I put them in my mittens about a half hour before I’m ready to hit the slopes. That way, my mittens are warm by the time I’m ready to put them on. An added benefit: if the mittens are near my socks in my ski bag, I have warm socks as well!

®Little Hotties is a registered trademark.

SueZ*Sue Z., born in Brooklyn, is now a senior skier who likes to spend her time at Alta. When she is not skiing, she likes to paint in acrylics, plays the piano, and has taken several years of drum lessons. The “sock to scarf” idea came about while she was looking for a scarf for her new ski jacket; she came across knee socks in fun colors, and thought she could sew them together to create just what she was looking for.

Handwarmers Expiration Date
Harriet Wallis

The Truth About Hand Warmers

/0 Comments/in , , /by

A hot tip for happy hands.

The fall hunting season can be the best time to stock up on the “shake ’em up” hand warmer packets that we put into our ski gloves and mittens. In my area—Salt Lake City—some big box stores have special deals on the packets in the fall when outdoorsmen are preparing to head to the woods for the deer hunt.

Beware outdated hand warmers. Credit: Harriet Wallis

Beware outdated hand warmers.
Credit: Harriet Wallis

But before you buy a load of special deal packets, examine them for the expiration date. It’s probably embossed or printed into the edge of the foil wrapper. Packets that are close to their expiration date may have lost their oomph.

Last year, my locker room buddies stocked up on hand warmers from a big box store in fall as usual. But then they moaned and groaned all winter about the packets. Many packets heated inconsistently and some never heated at all. On close examination, we found the packets to be nearly outdated, and some were past their expiration date. The store probably had old inventory and stocked the shelves with it first.

On the other hand, I’ve had packets buried in the bottom of my ski bag for several years, and yet they heated well.

The bottom line: To assure warm hands, check the expiration date before you buy. The expiration date should be several years into the future.

What’s your hand warmer story?