Built a Hand ‘Oven’

[Hailey_Phillips]

Well today was absolutely brutal cold here in Mississippi, hahaha, high of 43 or so with 10-12mph winds. In all seriousness, that’s cold for down here.

Well as you know, gloves and bow hunting aren’t always best friends. I wear some super thin liner type gloves all season long. I have a ton of different types of gloves that I love for cold gun hunting, but none are the most release friendly.

I’ve had a cheap old hand muff for a long time, but it’s thin and not very warm, even with hand warmers inside. Well... a few weeks ago I had an idea and finally put it to work today.

I took a piece of reflectix and cut it length of my hand muff and long enough to make a liner for the inside of my hand muff. Picture a sleeve about the size of a roll of paper towels. Well I rolled it up put it inside, and opened it up. Threw in a couple Toe Warmers, and holy crap! It was so hot inside that thing!

The reflectix blocks wind and obviously holds the heat in. It was so hot, that even with only the little liner gloves, I couldn’t leave them in but about 5-10 minutes or my hands would get sweaty..

Now, with that said, I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to use those toe warmers with that much air around them... the package said not to, but that’s all I had. They swell up to about the size of a golf ball and get so hot you can’t touch them hardly.. I put 4 in there (2 packages) and it was crazy hot..

I have about 20 packs of toe warmers, so I’m gonna keep using them until I run out and then I’ll buy some regular hand warmers for it.

Anyways, thought I’d throw the idea out there incase anyone doesn’t like big gloves and wants a cheap ‘oven’. I think the hand muff was like $20 new a few years ago and reflectix is as cheap as dirt.


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[elk yinzer]

The "hand warmers" are formulated to burn oxygen at a slower rate. Use those in muffs.

Over the past few seasons I've kinda been developing a theory about chemical handwarmers, though. I think they make me colder overall. Its a fake warmth, it messes with your mind. Screws up your acclimation.

 

[Hailey_Phillips]

The "hand warmers" are formulated to burn oxygen at a slower rate. Use those in muffs.

Over the past few seasons I've kinda been developing a theory about chemical handwarmers, though. I think they make me colder overall. Its a fake warmth, it messes with your mind. Screws up your acclimation.

Yeah I figured the hand warmers would do better/last longer that the toe warmers, but again, it’s all I had on me today. I like using them in pockets, now the muff, because it’s enough to keep my fingertips warm. When my fingertips get cold, I can’t feel hardly anything, and I wanna make sure I can feel my trigger.

I’ve used the body warmers before, stuck to a base layer on my back, and I can say, I stayed warmer with less clothes on than without them. Maybe placebo effect? Maybe mind games? I guess if it works and keeps you still on stand longer go for it.

I think it messes with your acclamation just like getting dressed inside in the heat does. If I wear the bare minimum, for as long as I can, then get dressed once I feel the ‘cool’ creeping in, I feel like my clothes warm me up. If I get completely dressed inside, and walk outside and the cold hits me, I feel like it’s down hill from there. If my hands are cold, then I warm them up with warmers, and take my hands out, after a couple minutes it feels twice as cold. Just like working in the heat, if you stay in it, you get used to it, if you’re back and forth in the AC, you can’t get used to it and it feels hotter.


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[dalton916]

Wrists, neck and kidneys is where I place them when it’s brutally cold. Warm blood is a good thing.

 

[Gumbymedic]

Well today was absolutely brutal cold here in Mississippi, hahaha, high of 43 or so with 10-12mph winds. In all seriousness, that’s cold for down here.

Well as you know, gloves and bow hunting aren’t always best friends. I wear some super thin liner type gloves all season long. I have a ton of different types of gloves that I love for cold gun hunting, but none are the most release friendly.

I’ve had a cheap old hand muff for a long time, but it’s thin and not very warm, even with hand warmers inside. Well... a few weeks ago I had an idea and finally put it to work today.

I took a piece of reflectix and cut it length of my hand muff and long enough to make a liner for the inside of my hand muff. Picture a sleeve about the size of a roll of paper towels. Well I rolled it up put it inside, and opened it up. Threw in a couple Toe Warmers, and holy crap! It was so hot inside that thing!

The reflectix blocks wind and obviously holds the heat in. It was so hot, that even with only the little liner gloves, I couldn’t leave them in but about 5-10 minutes or my hands would get sweaty..

Now, with that said, I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to use those toe warmers with that much air around them... the package said not to, but that’s all I had. They swell up to about the size of a golf ball and get so hot you can’t touch them hardly.. I put 4 in there (2 packages) and it was crazy hot..

I have about 20 packs of toe warmers, so I’m gonna keep using them until I run out and then I’ll buy some regular hand warmers for it.

Anyways, thought I’d throw the idea out there incase anyone doesn’t like big gloves and wants a cheap ‘oven’. I think the hand muff was like $20 new a few years ago and reflectix is as cheap as dirt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did the same thing with my boots. I started with just a Reflectix insole and that worked pretty well. I figured "more is better" so I made a piece that fit in the toe box of my boot effectively making a Reflectix slipper that fit in my boots. I then put a stick-on toe warmer on the tops of my socks. Well, it ended up working too well. My feet were very warm at first but it actually caused my feet to sweat more because of it. Once the toe warmer mellowed out a bit, the cold came back with a vengeance. I removed the toe box piece but kept the insole...much better.

 

[Nate]

The "hand warmers" are formulated to burn oxygen at a slower rate. Use those in muffs.

Over the past few seasons I've kinda been developing a theory about chemical handwarmers, though. I think they make me colder overall. Its a fake warmth, it messes with your mind. Screws up your acclimation.

I’ve wondered the same thing about heated vests.

 

[Jtaylor]

Seems like those hand warmers get too warm and my hands/feet sweat leading me to get colder than in the first place. I might give the reflectix a shot though. Neoprene works really well in those muffs too if it isnt made from neoprene already. You can pick up the neoprene compression sleeves pretty cheap. They work great in sweatshirts or coats with the long front pocket too.

 

[Gumbymedic]

I’ve wondered the same thing about heated vests.

I use a Pnuma Iconx heated vest. I like it but I rarely turn it on. The vest has a slight compression fit and that seems to do the trick keeping me warmer than without the vest.