Hand warmers? Heat packs? Don't be silly - go high tech instead.

Hi again. I have blogged so much about winter clothing - I would like to talk about another item which (for some strange reason) Singaporeans are extremely fond of but I have rarely ever seen anyone using in Europe: heat packs, also known as hand warmers. Well, the name "hand warmer" is actually somewhat misleading as it can be used to heat any part of your body. I have never recommended it on my blog, in fact I have never ever used one of these to keep myself warm before; nonetheless, I have encountered it before in a totally different context. You see, these were originally created for medical uses - if you have some kind of injury like a sprained ankle, you would put a hot compress on the injury to boost blood circulation, relief muscle soreness and joint stiffness. As a gymnast, I am do suffer from such injuries and have used a "hand warmer" in this context before as it helps with the healing process.

Are you going for a winter holiday?

So, have I tried using a "hand warmer" to keep myself warm in winter before? I actually did once - a group of us were skiing in France and one of the guys started handing them out like candy, I thought okay, if he is giving them out for free, what have I got to lose? I was given two of them and I was told to put them in my pockets. Were they warm? Yes they were, but did they keep me warm? Well, they didn't really - if I kept it in my inner pockets, they felt too hot as the heat was very localized, but if I put them in the outer pockets of my coat, the heat didn't really reach me through my layers of winter clothing and I didn't quite see the point of them. Therein lies the problem, it boils down to the design of the product: the heat produced remained very localized - thus they are very effective in treating say a sore shoulder or neck, but if you were relying on it to keep you warm on a freezing cold day, they were not able to perform that function.

Now I have heard that some people try to shove them down their gloves or boots in a bid to keep their extremities warm - now I find this practice odd at best because this suggests that you are not wearing the right gloves or boots in the first place. I have spent a lot of time in very cold winter weather and it is very important to have the right gloves and footwear for winter weather - trying to keep your hands or feet warm with these hand warmers simply isn't going to work. You're better off just buying more suitable gloves and footwear! Besides, shoving something into the glove or boot is going to create more air pockets, making the glove and boot a lot less efficient when it comes to keeping your extremities warm because these air pockets are actually letting in far more cold air. Please, let's be sensible about this.

All you need is a decent pair of winter gloves

One product that did fascinate me are heated gloves - we've had electric blankets for years, this is just an adaptation of the same technology, using a small battery to keep the gloves warm.  have a look at this here for example. Now the prices do vary - obviously, the cheaper ones are less efficient than the more expensive ones, but the principle is simple: it uses an insulated wire or heating element inserted into a fabric that heats when it is plugged in. The heated gloves have become popular with motorcyclists in cold countries, but anyone can now have toasty hot gloves thanks to this technology. Now I would definitely recommend this as it works (and yes I've tried them) - I don't own a pair because I live in London and we tend not to get -10 degrees, so my normal gloves would suffice for most British winters. And even when I got skiing, I find that my skiing gloves are sufficient, but if you are really afraid of cold hands, then please get these heated gloves rather than rely on hand warmers. Heck, there are even heated socks and insoles, using the same technology - these either rely on a battery or are rechargeable. Why stop there? You can even get an electric jacket and these come with a small battery pack that you charge like a mobile phone.  

So should you be rushing out to get these heated gloves, socks, insoles and hats just because are they available? Well, I imagine that if you were a Russian reindeer farmer and had to spend many hours a day standing out in the -30 degree winter weather, then these would be suitable for you. But if you are simply going to spend a few hours a day sightseeing, then I really don't see the point as normal winter wear would suffice. It is a luxury product at the end of the day (but one that is not too expensive), one that you probably can do without but if you have the money to spend, then by all means treat yourself to them. The reason why they are not that popular today is because most normal winter wear would be more than sufficient in most cases and most people just don't feel the need to use these electric-heated winter clothes at all. Whether you actually need it or not is another matter though, but that's your choice. But for crying out aloud, do not rely on heat packs or hand warmers to stay warm in winter: just use them to treat injuries instead. 

I love experiencing proper winter weather.

So that's it from me on this issue. If you have any other questions about keeping warm this winter, feel free to give me a shout, leave a comment below. Are you traveling somewhere very cold for a holiday this winter? Have you tried these electric-heated winter wear before? What have your experiences been with them? Many thanks for reading!