This week has been one of those damp cold times, not especially cold but the damp makes it feel worse. I’ve a bit of arthritis in my knuckles so I feel the cold there when it’s like this.
A product I’ve heard lots of great things about but never used is the Zippo Hand Warmer which we’ve recently added to the range. The manky weather seemed like a good time to liberate one from the shelves for ‘long term test’!
Handy Hand Warmer from Zippo
The first thing that strikes you when you take it out of the box is the size, it looks like a Zippo but it’s way bigger – it certainly fits the hand well.
The second thing you notice is the weight, or rather the lack of it! It looks like it is sculpted from a solid block of metal and should weigh a ton but it weighs bog all – just a whisker over 70g (2 1/2 oz in old money) including the bag.
The package includes a little filling ‘jug’ which allows you to gauge the burn time you are going to get, it has graduations of 1/2 and 1 which represent approximately 6 and 12 hours respectively.
Filling is straight forward, just pour the Zippo Fuel from the jug (or straight from the can if you’re feeling lucky!) in to the hand warmer and replace the catalytic ‘burner’.
I’d say lighting is probably easier with a flame style lighter than with the Windmill I had in my pocket at the time. I bobbed a bit of fuel on to the ‘burner’ and lit the fuel before replacing the lid. Probably not the best way to do it and I suspect it may reduce the lifespan of the ‘burner’ – so don’t try this at home folks!
Once lit, drop the beast into the supplied bag and bob in your pocket or warm your hands straight away!
You may, like me, think of those hand warmers that used the charcoal sticks when people mention hand warmer. You may, like me, remember them as being ‘a bit crap’ either being too bloody hot or going out all the time.
No such issues with the Zippo Hand Warmer. The system burns away nicely on the quiet and the bag makes sure you don’t singe your hands – you get a good warming without being too hot.
All in all this is a great little product you’ll be glad of on those cold winter mornings or evenings in the great outdoors.
