Update section is at the bottom!
Dear Readers,
Have a happy holiday season.
Thanks to the God of modern commerce, that being Amazon, I'm expecting some newfangled hand warmers. I used the chemical type for the last couple of years.
These are the ones where you open a Mylar package, shake, and then they are warm for about 4 to 6 hours. They work pretty well and the cost is about $1 per pair of warmers.
They do have a shelf life however. One pair I used this year lasted about 3 hours and then went cold. It then becomes a problem to buy the right amount for a season.
But there are other technologies available. The old lighter fuel fueled catalytic heaters have been around forever. I can remember wanted them in my youth, but grandma wasn't going to spring for anything with fire, so I never had one. I understand the catalyst needs to be replaced after a while and I am not sure how well they will work in a pocket, which is where I want them.
The latest items are rechargeable batter packs with some kind of heater built in. You can either charge your phone or turn on the heater feature.
I noticed these last year, but the Amazon reviews didn't suggested they had some problems and I went the chemical route.
But while looking for chemical warmers, I ran across some of the new ones that had solid reviews. There were not a lot of reviews, but no one was upset by performance.
There is a life span on these as the batteries are not replaceable unless you have a soldering iron :-). But they are supposed to go 500 charge discharge cycles, which ought to last a number of years. Three temperature settings, too!
They are $50 a pair, so a lot cheaper than the chemicals guys over the long range. Funny thing, I order them on 12/23 and Amazon has one day free shipping! How nice is that? I don't expect their business model to hold up for the long run, but it sure is nice while it lasts.
It's turned pretty cold in this part of the world - not in absolute temps, it's kind of a relative world. We have frost delays in the morning and interestingly the greens can either be a bit frozen and you hard bounces, but the putting speeds can be all over the map. We've also have dry days where there was no moisture on the greens and grass and then others where there are rooster tails on the putts and it is a trip to soggy city.
Do I need to discuss water proof shoes? I've met guys who will buy nothing else and it's kind of a dry climate. Well, ok, they do water a lot and with that high quality "used" water, so keeping the stuff off your toes can't be a bad idea.
OK, happy holidays and I'll review the heaters when I try them. Probably Tuesday.
Update:
I tried the hand warmers. There are three levels of heat and the first level is probably hotter than the chemical warmers. They heat for a bit, then the heater turns off, then that's repeated. Quite warm. I was surprised how big they were. I had no real expectations, but maybe 4 inches by 1.5 inches by about an inch thick. A nice size to hold in your hand.
They are a metal shell with a control button, a charging port, which is micro USB, an output standard USB female connector, and some indicator leds.
There are three levels of heating and per the manual, the ranges of temperatures overlap a bit and maybe are 3 degrees apart. As I mentioned, level 1 is pretty warm.
They come with a charging cable and a draw string bag for storage.
I'm happy with them. The last two items that matter are how long they stay warm and how many cycles I'll get out of them.
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