If you hunt in cold climates like Wisconsin, keeping warm is paramount to spending time on stand. Here is an idea that I made up and have been using for a while. I made another to show how. The reason your hands and feet get cold is because your body's core temp is dropping and the body knows to keep important organs warm for survival. I use the air activated hand warmers to keep out core temp. up. I Start with a piece of material. You can use and old tee shirt or any material you have around. I like to use fleece because it is soft and warm feeling against the skin. Cut a piece large enough to hold a large sized disposable hand warmer, or two of the glove sized warmers. I sewed a pouch and added two pieces of light weight webbing. Sew the webbing while the pouch is still inside out. so that when you turn the bag, the webbing will be in the inside. Make another pouch and sew it to the other ends of the webbing like before. You wear the two pouches over your shoulders which puts one warmer in the center of your chest and the other between your shoulders. Make the webbing long enough so that the pouches are directly in front of your heart (both in front and back) The finished product weighs about 3 ounces (without the heater packets) And can be put on and slid down inside your shirt once you reach your stand. The weight of the heater packets is more than enough to aid in sliding the pouches down. When you are doing a little walking, they can be pulled out and put in a pocket. My brother's variation on this was to sew pockets into a tee shirt for the hand warmers but it was hard to add or remove the heater packets without unzipping your coat or pulling up your outer layers. This is also true of the foot warmers that are adhesive backed. We tried sticking them directly to our shirts but that never really worked out. The other nice thing about the adhesive backed foot warmers is that you can stick one to the inside top of your hat while sitting on your stand. We loose most of out bodies heat through the top of our head so if you can add heat to this area, you will not have problems staying warm. The disposable packets are also very inexpensive which is another plus. I wore this type of heater bag on a camping trip where the temperature was 18 below zero and never needed to wear gloves. A few years ago, I saw a discovery channel program about methods the military was experimenting with to keep soldiers warm in cold climates. They had a variation this ideas but they used electronics and a rather bulky undershirt. They did a core temp. test on soldiers where they had them do activities to show manual dexterity, both with and without the heater shirt on. The soldiers sat in a large freezer room, on a lawn chair, wearing only boxer shorts. They recorded the body core temps and timed the tests they performed. The soldiers wearing the heater shirt lasted 4 times longer and performed every test quicker and never saw a dangerous lowering of their core temps. I have never seen the heater pouches that I explained above, for sale anywhere so if some enterprising person wants to patent the idea and start a business, Go for it. Just remember to send me a note when you make it big. Now, if your not the sewing type, try this, the next time you wear out a pair of blue jeans, cut out the back pockets and attach the rope. It makes a nice hand warmer pouch.
Dude, can I just come over with a case of beer and listen to you talk? I won't say anything we can just play show and tell. This is men vs boys.
Great offer but I have not had a beer in more than 21 years. (Bachelor party gone horribly wrong) I understand that modern science has found a way to remove the fat and carbs, etc from beer but until they find a way to remove the stuff that makes me think I can sing and fight, I have to stay away from it.
I do this same thing with my pocket on my bibs. I don't have one to cover the backside but it does keep you warm in stand. I use one in the bib pocket and two each in my pockets to keep my hands warm. Works great.
Yes but I (Gawd, I'm gonna catch hell for this) don't like the taste of beer. There, I said it and I don't care who knows. Boy that felt good. You don't know what its like for an able bodied he-man, hunter to say he doesn't like how beer tastes. You would think I insulted the flag, Mom, John Wayne, your wife and all that is good. I just don't care for the taste of any beer I have tried. People tell me that I have to get used to it and think to myself "What the hell are you talking about?" If I don't like something, forcing myself to do more of it is supposed to make me like it. I don't drink alcohol or smoke or drink coffee. I have been known to eat anything that isn't nailed down but everybody need a vice and I enjoy food. This has been very cathartic. Dont think less of me. P.S., does this purse match my shoes?
That's okay...we still love ya brother! Alchohol doesn't really keep you warm anyway. No, but that dress make your butt look fat...
Good idea. They make hand/body warmers with adhesive tape on them now. I buy those and stick them to the base layers and inside my coat.
they make these big pads for sore backs (a gift to the factory worker) they are fantastic for this...
You beat me to it. The disposable heat pads for sore backs/shoulders are fantastic. They have adhesive and if placed over your lower back, they cover your kidneys and that in turn really warms your blood.
Great idea, your sling might be my next little project. I have reuseable hand warmers I use every season while in the stand. This may sound kind of weird but for someone suffering from either hyper/hypothermia you can cool or warm them faster with cold/hot packs on their groin and neck. Anywhere an artery can be cooled or warmed a little faster. So I usually have a hand warmer on the side of my neck and one around my groin on cold days. Now if you can make a sling for that I'm sold lol! Good post! -Simplman-
