You gave me a heat pack Saturday: reporting how it worked!

[oregondiver]

I know you were octosomethingorother on the board, but I never got your "real" name. And your husband was lurking with you being the main board person. I met you at the club dive and you gave me a heat pack item (active ingredient Iron) that you bought for neck pain. I was soooo cold after my leaky glove, and that heat pack was wonderful for the surface interval. You were laughing because you had never dove with them, and I told you that I would let you know how it worked out after my second dive, but I never found you again.

So just to let everyone know how it turned out: I finished my second dive warmer than the 10 minutes into my first dive! That heatpack was just roasting when I finished my second dive. You couldnt' believe how warm it was!! I kept it on my stomach for my entire drive back to portland. It was STILL hot 6 hours later when I took it off after getting home. I don't know if I will ever dive wtihout one of those again.... :hello2:

Except I threw the package away and dont' know exactly WHAT it was.....Anyone else know who gave me the heat pack? Or what these are?

[Nwbrewer]

Sounds like ocotloco. Glad to hear it worked well.

[Dusty2]

Hey those things work great and there are several Mfg who make them. Thermal care is one that makes them with adhesive or elastic to hold them in place. If you want just the little hand warmers you can get them at most places that sell sporting goods GI Joe's, Walmart, Target. Sportco.

Just a warning for those that haven't heard it before. Do NOT put them inside a dry suit during a dive. Especially if you are diving nitrox. They work by oxygen contact with the catalyst and increased oxygen will cause them to get much hotter. The combination of air under pressure and the pack being pressed against your body can cause very nasty burns.

[Nwbrewer]

Argon!

[oregondiver]

Hey Dusty2, thanks for the info.

I DID dive with it, thinking that nothign could go wrong since it only reacted to air. I stayed toasty warm, no overheating even with it applied directly to my skin, but that might not always be the case. So thanks for the heads up!

[kat]

if it was me i got a big pack at costco. i gave them to a couple of people. they are called hot hands2 http://www.heatmax.com/HotHands/hothands2.htm
glad they worked!

[eliseaboo]

So, I dive wet...and something I'm experimenting a bit with are these things called SnapHeat packs...they're little gel packs that have a button that can be snapped to "activate" them and they crystallize and release heat. When you're done, they can then be boiled and re-charged for use over and over. It's a fully contained reaction, so unlike the air-activated heat packs, there's little chance of the reaction getting out of control on you.

So far I tried them in one glove (with the other having nothing as a sort of control) and there wasn't much difference -- too much water movement was allowed I think. I am hoping to try them on my core, where maybe there would be less water movement and it would work better, or perhaps in my boots, but haven't yet. I have a hunch that these packs are too small to do much of anything, but oh well. If anyone has tried this and has recommendations, let me know

In all this debate back home, the issue of air-activated packs in drysuits also came up. As was said above, you should be careful when diving dry with them, in case the reaction gets out of control, because you wouldn't be able to deal with the situation until you surfaced.

[oregondiver]

I have used snapheat packs before, but they are large, like the size of a paperback book.I haven't been able to find the small cardlike size ones. I have found that they get TOO hot to put on bare skin, at least the larger ones.

If you try them near your core, the larger sizes, put a layer between you and the pack.

[Penopolypants]

I was looking at the small version of the gelpacks at NWSD last week and wondering how they worked. My suits and gloves have sprung leaks from time to time so I've always been hesitant to use the other kind. I especially like the reusable aspect. Hm.....

[oregondiver]

I had one I used for over 100 uses over the course of 5 years...adn then I think I melted it in the car....and it was dead from there on out... Definately reusable for a long time!

[pensacoladiver]

I started using the type available from Wal Mart about a month ago. I love them. They cost around $1.50 for a three pack and they make them for both the hands and the feet. I am at work right now or I would post a picture of them. :-(

I do dive them with a drysuit, never thought about the Nitrox aspect. For the most part, they dont do too awful much for me underwater as previously mentioned, they are air activated and I sure don't get too much air into my feet area while diving... same goes for the hands in the dry gloves.

Where they really help is prior to getting in (feet are nice and toasty) and when getting out, once the suit has air in it again. thats when my feet get the coldest anyway.... between dives.

I have always placed them directly on my skin, then 2 pair of wool socks or gloves over them.

I have also heard rumor that placing a plastic bag over your feet inside the dry suit will keep them nice and warm. Haven't tried that yet... anyone???

Chad

[Nwbrewer]

I have also heard rumor that placing a plastic bag over your feet inside the dry suit will keep them nice and warm. Haven't tried that yet... anyone???

Chad

Do you have leaky feet? If so I suppose it would help.

I just use two pairs of wool socks, and my feet never seem to get colder than any other part of me.

I think the issue of for the air integrated heatpacks is the the additional 02 from nitrox could make them heat up more, but I'd think you'd see that same issue with the increased PPO2 of just diving air. More O2 molecules in surface contact with the chemicals in the pack, speeding up the reaction. That's why I suggested Ar, no additional O2 being added to the suit, it gets diluted with Ar.

I can't say for sure that it's going to be an issue. I don't know enough about the packs and how the chemical reaction works (it may be rate or temp limited by some other mechanism that makes them safe. ) I'd think being sealed that the chemical reaction packs would be safe, but the ones i had in the past got hard when activated, which would probably be uncomfortable.

In all honesty, your best bet is good undies and Argon. Stay warm before you get in the suit, if you're cold getting in you're starting with a handicap.

Jake

[Octoloco]

You're welcome oregondiver. I posted a pm to you the other day but thought I could let others know as well: There was some concern of these little bundles of warmth reacted poorly to saltwater (in case of leaks). Not so with the little hand warmers I used - one fell out when Larry was getting out of his suit, landing unnoticed in a tub of risidual salt water. Didn't seem to have any effect on the warmer other than it lost it's warming abilities. The ones we used and the one I gave oregondiver had only innocuous ingrediants. And they're cheap.

[Dusty2]

I have also heard rumor that placing a plastic bag over your feet inside the dry suit will keep them nice and warm. Haven't tried that yet... anyone???

Chad

Do you have leaky feet? If so I suppose it would help.

I just use two pairs of wool socks, and my feet never seem to get colder than any other part of me.

I think the issue of for the air integrated heatpacks is the the additional 02 from nitrox could make them heat up more, but I'd think you'd see that same issue with the increased PPO2 of just diving air. More O2 molecules in surface contact with the chemicals in the pack, speeding up the reaction. That's why I suggested Ar, no additional O2 being added to the suit, it gets diluted with Ar.

I can't say for sure that it's going to be an issue. I don't know enough about the packs and how the chemical reaction works (it may be rate or temp limited by some other mechanism that makes them safe. ) I'd think being sealed that the chemical reaction packs would be safe, but the ones i had in the past got hard when activated, which would probably be uncomfortable.

In all honesty, your best bet is good undies and Argon. Stay warm before you get in the suit, if you're cold getting in you're starting with a handicap.

Jake

I agree that the best route is prevention. I would bet though that using argon would render the air activated pack useless. Argon displaces air and is inert so there would not be enough O2 for the chemical reaction.

[Nwbrewer]

I agree that the best route is prevention. I would bet though that using argon would render the air activated pack useless. Argon displaces air and is inert so there would not be enough O2 for the chemical reaction.

Possible, unless you purge the suit a few times though, (most people don't) there's gonna be a lot of air and 02 still in the suit. You may be right that later in the dive, whatever O2 was there to start with has been used up in the reaction and has not been replaced.