Hand and toe warmers don’t work very well in 15F wind chill

[Dirt]

It is really hard to get the combination of things working well. We’re all a little different and we need to mix and match things and try to find things that work best for us. I tend to use my morning commutes to test and try things out… with a a 60-90 minute ride each way, it makes it not so bad if I get the combination wrong.

I got it right on Sunday.

Feet are always difficult for me. Packing too many layers in the shoes causes circulation problems. I’ve talked a little about putting the chem warmers between your shoes and shoe covers. That did the job for me yesterday. Warm wool socks, summer road shoes, chem warmers on the toes and neoprene shoe covers. My toes weren’t always warm, but they never really got cold either.

For long rides, I have been not using bar mitts. I need to move around on the bars too much to really use them. I use either moose mitts or goretex over-mitts made for mountaineering.

I hope that helps a little. Good luck!

[DSalovesh]

They’re not quite as compact or insertable as the single use ones, but I’ve become a big fan of the reusable sodium acetate “HotSnapZ” variety of hand warmers.

I like that they have a definite reaction and don’t get TOO hot, and that they aren’t bothered by water like sweat or rain, but they’re bulkier than disposables and get hard when they’re spent. They need to be protected against puncture (though the chemicals are basically harmless if they leak – same stuff they use for vinegar flavoring on chips) and once used they need to be boiled to reset them.

I’ve seen them on retail shelves at outdoor stores, which isn’t bad if you just want a pair to test, but mail order is definitely the way to go if you like them.

[Dirt]

@DSalovesh 44173 wrote:

They’re not quite as compact or insertable as the single use ones, but I’ve become a big fan of the reusable sodium acetate “HotSnapZ” variety of hand warmers.

Seriously cool! I really like that they’re not disposable.

[thecyclingeconomist]

@Dirt 44175 wrote:

Seriously cool! I really like that they’re not disposable.

They work great too… just boil to re-energize. I have 6 or 8 pairs of them.

[Dirt]

@thecyclingeconomist 44177 wrote:

They work great too… just boil to re-energize. I have 6 or 8 pairs of them.

Says they hold heat for about an hour?

[mstone]

Hmm. Not all of the hotsnapz google results are exactly what I was looking for.

[vvill]

@DSalovesh 44173 wrote:

They’re not quite as compact or insertable as the single use ones, but I’ve become a big fan of the reusable sodium acetate “HotSnapZ” variety of hand warmers.

I like that they have a definite reaction and don’t get TOO hot, and that they aren’t bothered by water like sweat or rain, but they’re bulkier than disposables and get hard when they’re spent. They need to be protected against puncture (though the chemicals are basically harmless if they leak – same stuff they use for vinegar flavoring on chips) and once used they need to be boiled to reset them.

I’ve seen them on retail shelves at outdoor stores, which isn’t bad if you just want a pair to test, but mail order is definitely the way to go if you like them.

Cool! The main reason I don’t use chemical hand warmers is because they’re not re-usable. Where do you order them usually?

I haven’t found a solution for my hands, I’ve found they tend to get cold easily. I do have the drop bar Moose Mitts but they do limit your hand movements a bit.

Wool socks and full shoe covers keep my toes from freezing although in yesterday’s windchill they were only “warm” compared to my fingers. As soon as I started thinking about my toes being cold, they felt very cold.

[Vicegrip]

The reusable hand warmers produce much less heat per cycle the than the non reusable ones. They are great for some things but are quite diferent in some use aspects. They take up more space, weigh more per BTU and become ridged when spent. They are way fun to click and watch the reaction. My kids learner about super saturate solutions, exothermic and exothermic reactions from them. How the disposables work is interesting too and even as they are useonce and toss they are made from largely innocuous chemicals.

[5555624]

A few years back, I decided to wimp out at wind chills below 20F and go with heated gloves. I don’t have to take the layer approach and I don’t lose the freedom of movement. My hands aren’t necessarily “warm and toasty,” but they aren’t freezing.

[consularrider]

The past two weekends I’ve done long rides on both gusty, windy days (100 on the 9th-just over seven hours in the wind, and 52 on the 17th-almost four hours in the wind). On both my hands and feet were comfortable for the entire ride. On both rides I used dropbar Moose Mitts with PI ELITE Cyclone soft shell gloves and Smartwool merino liners. These were my first two real rides with the Moose Mitts and I am still getting used to them, but had no issues with riding on the hoods and did a little time in the drops. One observation, the Moose Mitts can catch a strong wind and make steering tricky.

For my feet I was using PI Barrier GTX winter cycling shoes (spds). On both rides I wore a double sock layer, Lorpen lightweight silk/merino ski socks and Smartwool PhD lightweight merino ankle socks. I use this sock combination because I should have ordered the shoes one size larger, the are too tight with a thick merino ski sock. On the 17th I added lightweight shoe covers as a test and was warmer.

This really reads like an ad, doesn’t it? :p

[Dirt]

@5555624 44200 wrote:

A few years back, I decided to wimp out at wind chills below 20F and go with heated gloves. I don’t have to take the layer approach and I don’t lose the freedom of movement. My hands aren’t necessarily “warm and toasty,” but they aren’t freezing.

What brand do you use? Is the heat adjustable?

[DSalovesh]

@vvill 44181 wrote:

Where do you order them usually?

(Sorry, I think the gerbils ate my reply…)

I picked up a pair at Target (cupcakes!) and a pair at REI (circles) to figure out how they worked for me. When I decided they were fine I found hotsnapz.com where they came out to about half the price.

[PotomacCyclist]

@consularrider 44207 wrote:

The past two weekends I’ve done long rides on both gusty, windy days (100 on the 9th-just over seven hours in the wind, and 52 on the 17th-almost four hours in the wind). On both my hands and feet were comfortable for the entire ride. On both rides I used dropbar Moose Mitts with PI ELITE Cyclone soft shell gloves and Smartwool merino liners. These were my first two real rides with the Moose Mitts and I am still getting used to them, but had no issues with riding on the hoods and did a little time in the drops. One observation, the Moose Mitts can catch a strong wind and make steering tricky.

For my feet I was using PI Barrier GTX winter cycling shoes (spds). On both rides I wore a double sock layer, Lorpen lightweight silk/merino ski socks and Smartwool PhD lightweight merino ankle socks. I use this sock combination because I should have ordered the shoes one size larger, the are too tight with a thick merino ski sock. On the 17th I added lightweight shoe covers as a test and was warmer.

This really reads like an ad, doesn’t it? :p

Are the Pearl Izumi GTX shoes still manufactured? There don’t seem to be many store listings online for that model.

I won’t buy any winter bike shoes now. Next weekend will be more moderate. I don’t think we’ll see too many more Arctic weather days this winter. But I’ll have to think about getting a pair of winter shoes before next winter.

[5555624]

@Dirt 44217 wrote:

What brand do you use? Is the heat adjustable?

These frmo CozyWinters. There are three heat settings. The batteries are rechargeable and fit in a pouch on the gloves.

[dasgeh]

@PotomacCyclist 44324 wrote:

I don’t think we’ll see too many more Arctic weather days this winter. But I’ll have to think about getting a pair of winter shoes before next winter.

The only way to guarantee we won’t have any more Artic weather (brrrrrrrr) is to buy winter cycling shoes

[Author]

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