TechStage | Hand warmers from 5 euros in comparison: with petrol, chemicals or as a USB power bank

At low temperatures, the onion system will help. However, this works poorly with gloves. If you want to keep your hands free or don’t want to wear thick ski gloves, you need a different solution to keep your fingers constantly cold.

One solution are so-called hand and pocket warmers. In the past, these were real pocket stoves, which were operated with lighter fluid or charcoal sticks. The method still works today, but using fossil fuels is neither convenient nor up-to-date. Instead, modern pocket warmers rely on a chemical reaction and, for some time now, on battery power and heating wires. We have compared various reusable solutions in practice and show what to look out for when buying.

The oldest are small pocket stoves made of metal, which are operated with a smoldering charcoal stick or a small burner head and lighter fluid.

Comparing the two variants, we see the carbon rod heaters as having a minimal advantage. This is a small metal can lined with non-combustible fiberglass material. A smoldering charcoal stick is placed inside, which heats up the can. On particularly cold days you can light the stick on both sides, which halves the burning time but leads to higher temperatures. It doesn’t matter which way around the can is held. The burning time is about 2 to 4 hours.

The petrol version is different. This is similar to a petrol lighter. Instead of an open flame, a smoldering burner head is used here. Although this burner head is protected by a cover, you still have to keep this pocket stove upright at all times. There are also no different heating levels, as with charcoal sticks. The burning time of this method is very long at up to 20 hours.

The advantage of the old-school variant is the independence from the power grid, at least as long as you have enough consumables in the form of petrol, burner heads and charcoal sticks in stock. Apart from the running costs, we find two other points much more problematic. First, there is the odor problem. Although only the petrol smells when refilling, both methods are unsuitable for sensitive noses during combustion. On the other hand, there is the safety aspect, after all you have hardly any influence on the temperature and you cannot simply identify these ovens. The Zippo brand model contains the following information:

Once ignited there is no safe way to stop the heating process. If necessary, place the hand warmer in the provided protective fabric pouch and place on a fireproof surface until the fuel runs out and the hand warmer is cool to the touch. As a little reminder: we are talking about a burning time of up to 20 hours!

We therefore find the well-known ones much more recommendable hand warming pads or gel heating pads, which have been around for a number of years. Ultimately, these are soft, transparent bags with a solid substance inside, a so-called latent heat storage. If you place the bags in boiling water, the contents (usually sodium acetate trihydrate) will begin to melt until, after a few minutes, all you can see is clear gel and a round steel disc inside. After the liquid has cooled down, the heat pad is immediately ready for use.

If you bend the plate, the chemical process starts and the contents solidify within seconds. The temperature of the bag rises rapidly by about 50 degrees and stays there for 30 to 40 minutes. Although there is still a slight residual heat after an hour, it is no longer sufficient for really warm fingers. Here it is worth taking several of the compact and inexpensive heating pads with you for longer tours.

When you get home, 10 minutes in the water bath is enough and the heat pads are ready for the next use. Experience has shown that if you treat the bags with care, you can use them for many years. Apart from the easy handling and the manageable costs, the form factor is also convincing here. No other hand warmer is better suited as an unobtrusive source of heat in the glove.

For some years are electronic hand warmers coming. These are small battery-operated heating elements in a handy housing. The devices are charged via USB cable.

Apart from the simple and odor-free handling, this variant offers other advantages. The internal battery can be tapped to charge the smartphone, for example. In addition, the temperature here can be regulated in several stages (between 45 and 65 degrees). If you don’t use the compact devices as a power bank at the same time, you can achieve battery life of 4 to 10 hours – depending on the model and the selected heat level.

In practice, we compared some devices for the guide and found important practical differences. First the positives: All devices worked properly and both charged our USB gadgets and warmed our fingers. Both at the same time also worked, but is impractical. Compared to the chemical heat pads, the battery version takes significantly longer to get up to temperature. After a few minutes, however, the heat is comparable and is also available for significantly longer.

When you look at the lavish offer at Amazon, for example, you immediately notice that there are individual hand warmers and hand warmer sets. A single pocket warmer is better than none, but for two hands we prefer two heat sources. Single devices like that of Tripole hand warmers for 26 euros in a double pack would be far too expensive for us. With cheap models like this Genround hand warmers for 10 eurosthe costs are manageable, but the device doesn’t appear compact enough for our purposes.

The sets between 20 and 40 euros contain either two individual hand warmers or divisible variants. We like the idea of ​​a compact solution with a split device much better at the beginning of the test. In practice, however, the image then rotates quickly. Most of the magnetically adhesive hand warmers only heat up on the outside. If the two individual modules are connected, this is irrelevant. But if you separate the devices, you always have an uneven heat development. Ultimately, the power bank that is not heated on all sides is much more pleasant than cold fingers, but we would always choose a model with all-round heating when buying it.

A closer look reveals other differences. Let’s start with the charging cables. Some of the USB pocket stoves use the old Micro-USB port, others already use USB-C. Since none of the devices has a quick charge function, we would opt for the variant that is used more frequently privately. Since the hand warmers should also be usable in snowfall, we find USB ports covered with a protective hood the best, such as in the Ocoopa model. Unfortunately, very few hand warmers have hidden ports. In case of doubt, cheap ones help here Silicone plugs for USB ports.

Some hand warmers show the operating status and the selected heat level very smartly on the display, others with colorful RGB lighting. Most commonly, the status is signaled with a few small LEDs. Ultimately, it comes down to personal taste, but we find the simple version with status LEDs easily sufficient. We find the control buttons to be much more important. Although all models are operated with a short or long press on the single button, this is what makes the difference.

In the model of woillit for example, the button is centrally located and easily accessible. It is similar with the devices from Moray or the No-name model in the shape of a beetle solved. As good as the easy-to-reach button is meant to be, in practice you sometimes hit it unintentionally and then the battery is suddenly empty when you need it. However, if you accidentally switch it on in your pocket, you will notice this quickly enough. Nevertheless, we would pay attention to a more clever placement of the button. On some split devices like the Ocoopa model you only get to the button when the halves of the device have been separated. An incorrect entry in the pocket is therefore impossible.

Hand warmers with a rechargeable battery as a USB power bank are available from 10 euros. Models with more than 10,000 mAh cost around 30 euros. Hand warming pads with a chemical reaction cost less than 5 euros, as do pocket warmers with petrol or carbon sticks. .

Cold hands don’t have to be. If you don’t want to burn your fingers right away, you don’t have to use a charcoal stick or petrol burner. Chemical heat pads and electric hand warmers are cheap, easy, and clean on-the-go heat sources.

Anyone who already uses a power bank should simply exchange it for a variant with integrated heating. But even without this extra feature, the battery variant our buy recommendation. Our conclusion is: cheap, small, practical and effective. Our favorite of the tested models is a twin pack of two non-magnetic hand warmers with power bank function and 5000 mAh each for just over 30 euros. In addition to the successful form factor, the modern USB-C port, the chic status display and the high and even heat development speak for the model.

The gel heat packs heat up even faster, but keep them much shorter than all other variants. The low price convinces. If you want to bridge longer periods of time, then you need several pillows. If you have a lot of pillows, you can also share them with friends and family. Also practical and recommended.

From our point of view, pocket stoves with charcoal or petrol burners are primarily for nostalgics or survival fans. On the one hand there is the unpleasant smell and the moderately comfortable handling and on the other hand burning units or charcoal sticks are not available on every corner. Other than electricity or hot water.