sagalout
Well-known member
I have bought and used both the charcoal and the lighter fluid type hand warmers. I like two hand warmers so I have one for each hand. These are warmers not hot plates but I find the heat is very pleasant when my hands get cold.
The charcoal ones allow the heat to be increased by lighting the charcoal stick at both ends. The major problem with this type is that I have difficulty lighting the sticks and keep them burning (the sticks I have used are the highlander brand, may be I should have tried another brand but I didn't think of that until now, after all charcoal is charcaol ain't it? NOTE I lied here the warmers are highlander, the sticks are gelert). I have tried getting 1/2 an inch burning before putting it in the box and also keep opening the box and blowing on the stick to re-invigorate the burn. When they do burn properly they work well, but trying to light one on the bank on a windy day is always going to be a challenge. When one burns without going out it supplies about 6 hours of heat, half that if you light both ends. A charcoal stick costs about 20p.
The petrol lighter ones work by catalytic action so there is no flame. The lighter fluid is poured into the main body and then a flame is applied to the burner unit for 15-30 seconds to start the process. These work well and supply around 12 hours on a fill, the heat cannot be varied. The problem of lighting it on a windy bank applies to these as well as the charcoal ones, but once alight these do not stop until the fuel supply is exhausted so lighting it going before leaving home is the best option.
There is a petrol version, the S-Boston, that has a battery operated igniter and claims to never need a burner replacement but at an eye watering £32'ish I couldn't convince myself to buy one even though long term it may prove to be the cheapest option. I did find a review of this one where the user was complaining that sand had got into the igniter and it no longer worked and no spares were available. That decided me to go for the Zippo because the spares are readily available.
The petrol ones need a new catalitic gismo every 60 to 80 uses (the number comes from the Zippo litrature) and at the moment a new burner unit for a Zippo is about £5, so worst case running cost is about 8p for the burner and about 10ml of lighter fluid for a 6 hour burn costs about 10p so the running costs are comparable.
Both types give off some odour with the petrol version being the worst but it is not horrendous, just a slight whiff.
The first petrol one I bought was unbranded and the burner unit lasted about 10 uses and I could not get a replacement so it has languished in my **** draw and was the reason I went to the charcoal ones. I have given up on the charcoal ones now because I spent more time trying to keep them alight than fishing, and have just bought a Zippo petrol burner. The burner from the Zippo fits my johnny no brand so I have ordered a Zippo burner for that.
The charcoal ones allow the heat to be increased by lighting the charcoal stick at both ends. The major problem with this type is that I have difficulty lighting the sticks and keep them burning (the sticks I have used are the highlander brand, may be I should have tried another brand but I didn't think of that until now, after all charcoal is charcaol ain't it? NOTE I lied here the warmers are highlander, the sticks are gelert). I have tried getting 1/2 an inch burning before putting it in the box and also keep opening the box and blowing on the stick to re-invigorate the burn. When they do burn properly they work well, but trying to light one on the bank on a windy day is always going to be a challenge. When one burns without going out it supplies about 6 hours of heat, half that if you light both ends. A charcoal stick costs about 20p.
The petrol lighter ones work by catalytic action so there is no flame. The lighter fluid is poured into the main body and then a flame is applied to the burner unit for 15-30 seconds to start the process. These work well and supply around 12 hours on a fill, the heat cannot be varied. The problem of lighting it on a windy bank applies to these as well as the charcoal ones, but once alight these do not stop until the fuel supply is exhausted so lighting it going before leaving home is the best option.
There is a petrol version, the S-Boston, that has a battery operated igniter and claims to never need a burner replacement but at an eye watering £32'ish I couldn't convince myself to buy one even though long term it may prove to be the cheapest option. I did find a review of this one where the user was complaining that sand had got into the igniter and it no longer worked and no spares were available. That decided me to go for the Zippo because the spares are readily available.
The petrol ones need a new catalitic gismo every 60 to 80 uses (the number comes from the Zippo litrature) and at the moment a new burner unit for a Zippo is about £5, so worst case running cost is about 8p for the burner and about 10ml of lighter fluid for a 6 hour burn costs about 10p so the running costs are comparable.
Both types give off some odour with the petrol version being the worst but it is not horrendous, just a slight whiff.
The first petrol one I bought was unbranded and the burner unit lasted about 10 uses and I could not get a replacement so it has languished in my **** draw and was the reason I went to the charcoal ones. I have given up on the charcoal ones now because I spent more time trying to keep them alight than fishing, and have just bought a Zippo petrol burner. The burner from the Zippo fits my johnny no brand so I have ordered a Zippo burner for that.
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