Hi! Through this video, we've apparently uncovered another one of those fun continental divides. It seems the reusable kind is quite common across Europe, and the disposable kind is almost unheard of! Wouldn't ya know. Since I assumed the situations were similar, I'll add that the most significant advantage of the oxidation-type is that they last _hours_ and not minutes. During the B-roll shooting, the handwarmer you saw me open was still nearly as hot as a freshly-opened one 4+ hours later! And these were very cheap. It's through that lens that I made the judgment that the reusable kind are pretty meh - I'm simply accustomed to something that will reasonably last an entire workday. My take is that given the sustained heat output and fairly inert materials the disposable ones are likely roughly on-par to the reusable ones with regards to environmental costs, especially when you factor in energy spent to re-activate the reusable ones. But that's just my opinion! I hardly use these things at all, really, so I've got no skin in the game.
That's not how they are used in Europe, I had one in my coat pocket today with busses delayed in winter they are nice... Our Public transport delays are often short. Aren't there "electrical" rechargeable/power Bank connected ones that would be cheaper within a season too? If the job in question does not offer warmth.
Used to shove these in my gloves for my walks to school as a small English child. Although pretty good for the journey there, you end up walking home with cold pebbles in your pocket.
Those liquid hand warmers were a must have during my childhood. We used them everyday during winter. You’d used them straight from the pot on your way to school and then pop the metal coin on the way back home.
@@seymoarsalvageI know this is late but they stay clear/ liquid for a long time (only tested this on a period of like 1 month) until you pop or bend the coin
@@TheRailroad99 He pressed the 30-second express button, but I heard the commotion immediately and came running about 10 seconds in. It was sparking heavily and looked like lightning. It also made the whole house stink like burnt metal for a week.
It’s been years so I may be misremembering, but we had these reusable packs when I was a kid and I’m pretty sure we used to “thaw” them in the microwave!
@@mackit there is a kind of those that is supposed to go to microwave - but cannot be reheated without it. It is called hotcold compress in my country and I am using them a lot.
I have a pair of earmuffs with little pockets on the inside that each fit a small reusable warmer. I think it's actually a pretty clever use of them. They're in a fabric pouch so they're insulated from the outside air and aren't directly against my skin. And even once the warmers themselves stop generating heat, the earmuffs help to hold in the heat they did generate for longer. Great for walks on cold days!
@@katherineleigh. Oh gosh, I got them so long ago I have no idea lol. Brand name on the warmers is Aroma Home, though I would assume they're not the only brand that's made them
My parents used to have one of these back in the '90s. We would used it to warm our hands after horseback riding in the winter. It was clear, and turned white when activated. I remember how they used to have to boil it on the stovetop after every use. I also remember how hard it got: not quite like a rock, but like certain plastics, maybe even PVC. But tell the truth. The way they work is that each one has a magic wish-granting genie inside, whom we have enslaved and commanded to generate heat each time we squeeze the disk. It's a good thing you didn't cut one open to show us the liquid on its own, because you would have freed the genie, and he would surely have killed you.
My fam uses these for hiking when it's snowing on mountain peaks. I use the non-reusable ones but it's a brand that actually does say you can open it once it's used as the contents can be tipped on the garden and the pouch is compostable. Woot.
That’s awesome! I was hoping that some of those could be used in the garden. When he said they can contain vermiculite and activated charcoal, I instantly thought of gardening because I use both those when working with plants. I could see how the rust might cause some issues if the soil is already too acidic, but mostly would be fine for those with normal or alkaline ph soils.
These were a life saver in the Finnish winter during my conscription service. When standing for 3 hours in a frozen hole in the ground in the middle of the night in a blizzard with -25 celcius temperature, the little heat that these offered to warm my hands, face, rifle and anywhere else I desired, was very welcome.
Fun fact: Zippo currently sells a refillable pocket warmer that uses zippo fluid as a fuel source. It uses a catalytic heater inside to allow it to burn without fire and the case has vent holes to draw in enough oxygen to keep it warm in its bag in your pocket for 6-12 hours depending on what size you get.
Just beware they do produce carbon monoxide, so best used where you have good ventilation. Outdoors open air only! Other than that they are really great.
Coming from Germany , here nearly every kid knows these. I personally used them a lot on my way to school in the winter to warm the hands inside of my pockets. I think every second kid had a big set of them so they are very common here. I switched to the zippo hand warmers years ago and they are fantastic. I would really appreciate a video about there types of warmers fueld with lighter gasoline (yet not actually burning)
The marketing on zippo hand warmers is a bit misleading. While the fuel is not burning in the traditional sense, the same reaction between the fuel and oxygen to release heat is still occurring. The key is in the catalytic burner. Normally for the fuel to burn it has to be mixed with oxygen and brought up to a high enough temperature known as the flash point. Then the reaction proceeds giving off heat (some of which will be converted to light by thermal emissions, which we see as flame) bringing other fuel and oxygen around it up to the flash point in a continuous cycle. A catalyst is a material which reduces the energy barrier for a reaction to occur by some how participating without being consumed itself. Thus, at the surface of the catalyst, the flash point is reduced. By controlling available surface area of the catalyst and the available oxygen, the rate of the reaction can be severely reduced and held at temperatures below its normal flash point. Since the reaction is only occurring at the surface of the catalyst and at a much lower temperature (and likely more completely so that there is fewer particulate to incandesce), there is no flame to be observed. So in essence you are still burning the fuel, just not the way we're used to. Sincerely, a materials scientist
Growing up in the US we almost exclusively used the disposable type and never knew there was another option. The disposable type CRANK the heat and last for hours. We also used the Zippo type but I found them a bit cumbersome and sometimes got so hot you had to keep switching where you had them placed as it was uncomfortably hot. Sometimes that was a welcome situation.
These days all of these seem to be getting replaced by electric warmers that last a lot longer and can be easily toggled on and off. And they show the charge state as well. And they also function as a rechargeable power bank for your phone when needed.
@@4nlimited3dition_4n3d ive had all types and honestly yeah electric is the way to go. The list from best to worst would be: 1. Electric handwarmers 2. Zippo/fuel handwarmers 3. Disposable handwarmers 4. Reusable handwarmers
My daughter said that I don't really take risks - she says I'm safe in my own way, I just "don't allow as much of a margin of safety as normal people". 😁
As a weekend camper, this is one of my nostalgic treasured items. I cook with a wood stove so boiling water for it is no issue. I warm up some water to keep me warm for the first few hours of sleep, and use this in the night if I wake up cold.
The Zippo catalytic hand warmers are the best I've tried. USB hand warmers are also okay. Especially the ones that can plug into a powerbank for extended runtime.
@@rcpmac simply run the antutu benchmark lol i already did this once, it works pretty well but the only problem is that the battery gets down REALLY fast
@@SimuLord Nilered did a video on bath salts, which were apparently almost 50% water. He extracted most of it, which was pretty cool. Now I kind of want to see those rust-based hand warmers in a pure oxygen environment, or activated by sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide or something. See if we can get it to get so hot it melts. Then add some aluminum powder and see if we can make some self-activating thermite.
I use this in the winter as a field researcher. The disposables are definitely better for actual heat, but an unusual perk of these is that they're 'waterproof' .The rust packs seem to get ruined if they get wet; which is a pretty common occurance in my line of work ^^;
@@user-v4v5c Strategic reserves are designed as a stopgap for a predetermined timeframe of complete production capacity interruptions. Below is a snippet from the official Canadian reserves website. With a combined capacity of 133 million pounds (216,000 barrels), the three warehouses can hold the equivalent of 53 Olympic-sized swimming pools of maple syrup. At full capacity, it would represent a value of $400 Million.
These seem like something that would be particularly useful when camping. Your average campfire releases a LOT of heat because, you know, it's fire, so boiling them even for an extended period isn't an issue. You then have a portable heat source to use through out the day when you're away from your fire and have nothing else around for that purpose.
I was thinking the same thing. Especially if you're boiling drinking water already. Doesn't hurt to toss them in the pot and kill two birds with one stone?
Water also gives off heat as it freezes. The effect is used in orchards to prevent damage to the blooms during a late frost. You have a sprinkler system setup through out the orchard with fine mist heads. As long as the below zero temps don't last too long it will save the crop.
I believe that most substances actually give off heat as they cool because cooling is exothermic. When a system is cooled down, it loses energy that goes in to the surroundings. This causes the surroundings to increase in temperature.
It's not really surprising. It's exactly what your normal freezer does - it (forcefully) removes heat from whatever is inside it. Here the heat is expelled from the item.
@@Ryan6.022 Almost anything "gives off heat" as it freezes simply because it must be in an environment colder than itself to be liquid yet about to freeze. What you're referring to is that the air actually has to take quite a bit of energy from the water in order to freeze it. While this energy is removed, the temperature of the water stays exactly the same, at the freezing point. Basically you're adding "thermal mass" to the leaves so that they can resist freezing for longer, and also warming them with water that's much warmer than air.
@@MrSebastiniposaunini Idk if you have already but I can assure you no science class of mine taught this, not even chemistry, she wasn't a very hands on visualization type of teacher...
We had a couple of these when we were young. My sister and I loved them and took them to school in the winter. Would take them home and boil them to "recharge" them :)
@@imthemistermaster You can! On occasion, these have activated in my bag, leaving me to wait for the bus in a colder state than I'm used to. All you need is a nucleation site of some kind and a quick, focused impact can provide this.
I think the instant heat is the best aspect of these. I want an emergency hot tub full of this stuff. I mean probably that's a poor idea but how cool would that look as it crystallized?!
Chances are if you didnt get horrible burns or other various health issues you would remain sealed within the ice until it melted or otherwise weakened enough for you to leave which would make any burns that much worse since it locks you in place so you cant avoid it.
@@ernestjorda2777 I think the reusable ones use sodium acetate - the chemical flavouring added to "salt and vinegar" flavoured pringles/chips/crisps.... so eating probably isn't out of the question
Going through scouts as a kid, I was always told that the disposable warmers were bad for the environment and just wasteful. Though it probably would have been more wasteful to use the water and gas needed to reactivate these while camping. I just settled with not using anything and sticking my hands in my armpits when I needed to.
Tho for disposable one ,if they come from across the sea in huge container ships (these are EXTREMELY polluting, a few of em dwarf the north american CO2 production from driving cars) they have a huge CO2 cost, and you alway gotta buy more. But with reusable one you only need to use some energy to boil em.
Yeah, there's actually a lot more complexity to this stuff than people think. Like how cotton tote bags use more energy to make than plastic ones. Better off just getting plastic reusable tote bags or using paper bags for your groceries.
@@datonecommieirongear2020 Stop spreading myths. A Panamax container ship travelling at 25 mph uses typically the same amount of fuel as merely few hundred SUVs.
I usually recharge my hand warmers when boiling some eggs for breakfast. Just get the eggs out and let the hand warmers continue to boil for a few more minutes. But thank you Alec for that introduction to non-reusable warmers. I thought they were just cheap and bad for the environment. But if all that's left is rust and a de-composable pouch, then it's probably worth a try.
@@danielthecake8617You'll be alright, knew a friend who ate those pills that when exposed to water expands into a sponge dinosaur.. left him a bit constipated but it worked out in the end 💩
How did you get verified? According to UA-cam you have 143 subs. It also says you’ve been here for 14 years- did the verification process used to be different?
From a longevity perspective, I got one of these over 12 years as promotional item from Guinness. I quickly came to the same conclusion as you have (massively inefficient and overly cumbersome to recharge) so it has lived buried in a drawer for the past twelve years. But after boiling it for 12 minutes, it still came back to life. Massive heat for the first minute and then hot for the next 5 minutes, the tepid going forward. So at least they do last for a long time with their limited usability...
What a great explanation, thanks! Especially the fact that the additional energy from the liquid form needs to go somewhere (turns into heat) during the transition to a solid made total sense.
It comes down to how we interpret something as being "frozen" - a piece of solid steel can be considered to be frozen, molten steel. A rock is essentially frozen lava.
@@illuminadi7055 Would you say that ice can't be considered frozen water when it's put into a freezer whose ambient temperature is lower than or equal to the ice's temperature?
@@illuminadi7055 Freezing is the process of changing from a (usually) liquid to a solid. Ambient temperature is only relevant as a day to day reference point for humans because just like many other measurements do, our lives revolve around water.
As a former kid, I can promise you that if you have kids and have these things in the house your kids are going to play with them all the time and they aren't guaranteed to be ready when you want them to warm your hands. :)
my father had a big/green one of those, i was a small child back then. he was using it to treat his backpain by wrapping around his waist with a special corset(?). as a 5-6 years old child in early 90s, that thing was just pure magic for me and of course parents being aware of this situation ended up as "pure magic ice pocket that is hidden somewhere in the big living room" for me. of course i found it one day and tried to break the "ice" with wooden stool's feet. next time they boiled it, it didn't work because container was leaking i guess? to be honest i still don't know. i was just hiding in my room pretending i have no idea, about anything at all. soooo yes... storing it as a solid is also not a good idea either. single-use ones are way to go!
I just want to say again how much I love this channel. It's so interesting to learn how the seemingly mundane works and it's a joy to hear intricate explanations. Also I feel like this kind of content would probably help me out the most when stuck in a zombie apocalypse.
Working in a refrigerated warehouse, loads of people use the HotHands and I see them crushed on the floor run over by lifts, and it always looked like coffee grounds to me, now I know what that is inside them, thanks!
Finally someone that has answers to my questions that I had for so many years!!! I was always amazed by those as a little kid. This was like magic to me.
@@YounesLayachi just wow. Almost sounds like you never experienced this, but are you aware that if you see something as a kid that you don’t understand but you never get confronted with ever again after this, that this just isn’t something that is in your mind at a later age? Last time I saw one of those things was easily 13 years ago. So let me specify this for you people a bit more: Finally someone that has an answer to my questions that I had for so many years *when I was a little kid*.
"Don't rush out and buy this" !! You should get a medal for saying this! Thank you for creating a better world made of cool ideas and disinterested empathy!
I remember getting one of these as a kid. I was so excited trying to figure out exactly how the mechanism worked. Not many other things got me so enthused about science.
@@NikkiTheOtter I would drop mine into the microwave and start off whit them hot and when they got chilled from being outside in my pockets that is when I would activate them , I did a lot of sub zero motorcycle riding in my younger days
I use up the 8 pack of the click heat ones within a day, not only that but i have to use one constantly because my hands get cold enough to turn purple.
@@tiny_rotty214 u might be better off with a rechargeable pair, they often come with adjustable heat settings + can be charged with a portable charger, enabling max heat for a longer time.
As someone who delivers letters and newspapers at night, I can say that these things saved my life (and more importantly, my fingers) on more than one occasion. Praise be chemistry!
@@manoz6194 I would say no because they are getting too hot in the first couple of minutes and after that too stiff to move your fingers freely. These rusty ones sounds better for that purpose but i never tried them so I'm not sure.
@@manoz6194 This could actually work depends on how long you plan to ride. But i guess when it's really cold outside they will only last a couple of minutes, at best 10 minutes.
@@KnoppersPolizei damn I work in food delivery on bicycle so need warmth to last a few hours at least. Feet and hands are the hardest parts to keep warm.
I work in the film industry, and let me tell ya on cold rainy days, those disposable heating packs are an absolute MUST. I often get the larger ones that are about the size of a hand palm and use them in pairs to keep myself warm and they can get very warm, and last for a long time, sometimes upwards to even 12 hours. Certainly worth it.
Absolutely everyone used to have these back in school during the early 2000s, when winters still reached below 0C temps. I loved them. The pouches I had were in the form of Santa, I think because Aldi only sold those.
@@cm01 Have you ever been outside at night in the winter? I'm German and I thought my hands were gonna die off last week when I went home. Maybe because I live near the water, but still, no need to gatekeep the cold.
@@cm01 if it’s warm enough to be 32F at night it’s probably not winter yet Edit: my comment is to highlight that you shouldn’t gate keep the cold when you sound like you’re from the south
The one time the reusables really appealed to me was at a LARP in the middle of winter, where we had a constant campfire going, so we could stick a pot of water on it and leave that boiling basically all day to keep rotating communal handwarmers
So cool man! I’ve been obsessed with watching these things for years…i just collect the used ones and then boil them all together at once! Also, that Fringe reference alone earned you a new subs!!
I've just ordered one of these... A cheap one. I'm going to do an experiment with it to see if It will reset from the 85°c of engine coolant, which is sustained for 40 minutes and will be heated while the sodium acetate is still giving off its latent heat. If it works I might buy in bulk the chemical behind this reaction (sodium acetate trihydrate) to make a self resetting engine coolant heater. I'll maybe do some experiments to see if I can make an electronic trigger if the self reset idea works just so I don't have to pop the bonnet and remove insulation to manually activate the heater.
Any temperature above its melting point will reset it with sufficient time. 85 C will take longer than boiling it because its a lower temperature, but 40 min will probably do it if you have good enough conduction. The determining factor is heat transfer into the system. A given mass of the material requires a fixed quantity of energy to melt. Ie, the time to fully melt will be reduced with exposure to higher temperatures, improving the energy transfer (in this case conduction) between your heat source and the sodium acetate trihydrate, or reducing the size of your system, thus reducing the energy needed to melt it. I should also note that the solution will not give off heat above its melting point. Once at its melting point the solid and liquid are in equilibrium, and thus no reaction occurs. Once above its melting point the solid is now meta-stable and the liquid stable, so it will begin to melt and absorb heat. It is possible to super heat solids, but its much less common than super cooling liquids, and usually only occurs briefly if a material is heated very quickly. Sincerely, a materials scientist
I used these when I worked at a charter school (Exactly those square orange ones!) They were great in winter during recess. Just put them in a jacket pocket, snap them, and I had a warm pouch for the entire outdoors period! We also provided boiling water for drinks at lunch, so there was always easy access to hot water to reset them everyday. Plus the kids loved the magic of snapping the metal and seeing the chain reaction. I always had a line of kids who wanted to be the one that day to snap it!
The reusable kind is blue because...people associate blue with heat? It's just a colorant. The solution itself is colorless. Ah, good, you found the orange ones. I first encountered these twenty-seven years ago next month as reusable heating pads to help treat mastitis - which they worked well for. I bought a set six years ago to be used on my commute (they were a bugger to find) which included a mile long walk through the bitterly cold Kansas winter.
I've always loved these hand warmers. I've never found good use of them though, I just enjoyed popping the thing and then boil it so it would go back to normal
Back in the 90's my friend used these and used double boiler to make soup or dinner while resetting them so as not to waste energy. If only they had more durable cases.
As a paperboy in 1964-65, I used a Jon-E hand warmer. Fill it up with lighter fluid [remember that], then heat the element with a flame of some sort. I had the larger one which would run for a couple of hours. Stash it in your hoodie pouch and warmth for the entire paper route.
Some one sent me one of those crystall reaction hand warmers. Coolest thing to see for the first time without expecing it. I just use the zippo hand warms now when in the mountains. They are pretty effective for a long time.
@@Eidolon1andOnly hard to stick the lighter in your pocket while it is still running. The hand warmer is a non-flame catalyzed reaction, so you can keep it in in an internal pocket while still running to keep you warm.
Really important thing about resetting the reusable ones. Please make sure to put a tea towel in the bottom!!! Large ones work well esp the orange ones (a shoulder sized orange one can last 3 hours easily) If you're not careful you can start to melt the outer plastic over multiple resets which can cause a leak!!!
it started with that mechanical pinball machine, through lava lamps, and now here. hand warmers., before I finally realize, "why am I not subscribed yet?!" thank you for hyperfixating/dumping those findings. your just what the doctor ordered, mon frere
"Fortunately, I have scissors and a propensity to ignore safety warnings." Man I love how you deliver these videos, it makes almost boring stuff so incredibly interesting I can't help but watch every video.
Shoot, last week Hank Green tells me that ice is rocks and water is lava. This week we're freezing liquids to make heat. My world view may never recover. 😅
Technology Connections, I would love to see you do a video on the Zippo type hand warmers! You add fuel to them and they safely and slowly burn over time, providing up to 12-18 hours of heat! Great video by the way, I loved watching it even though I'm familiar with the science of these. 😁
I had one of these when I was a child. I am convinced watching the strange reaction in real time, every cold night, getting able to play with the package as it froze over yet became hot, is exactly why I got into science and chemistry (that and the science videos but eh)
All the reusable hand warmers I’ve had work better than the traditional ones. Spending once is a lot less expensive than buying a million bags of the throwaway ones. Plus the throwaway ones take forever to heat up / you have to constantly shake them. The reusable ones heat up immediately and don’t need anything else once you pop the metal. I have spent many, many hours outside in below freezing weather lol (:
When they start to become cool, you knead them to get the remaining heat because it’s stored in the center (aka everything cools from the outside but the center is still warm). Lifehack! =)
Hi! Through this video, we've apparently uncovered another one of those fun continental divides. It seems the reusable kind is quite common across Europe, and the disposable kind is almost unheard of! Wouldn't ya know. Since I assumed the situations were similar, I'll add that the most significant advantage of the oxidation-type is that they last _hours_ and not minutes. During the B-roll shooting, the handwarmer you saw me open was still nearly as hot as a freshly-opened one 4+ hours later! And these were very cheap.
It's through that lens that I made the judgment that the reusable kind are pretty meh - I'm simply accustomed to something that will reasonably last an entire workday. My take is that given the sustained heat output and fairly inert materials the disposable ones are likely roughly on-par to the reusable ones with regards to environmental costs, especially when you factor in energy spent to re-activate the reusable ones. But that's just my opinion! I hardly use these things at all, really, so I've got no skin in the game.
We got some of those yesterday here... Do you happen to have a camera in our flat?
I like that the reverse product (...which is an ice pack you can wear, that warms up slowly) exists for cosplay. EZCooldown vests.
I had never heard of these products before! Cool vid!
That's not how they are used in Europe, I had one in my coat pocket today with busses delayed in winter they are nice... Our Public transport delays are often short.
Aren't there "electrical" rechargeable/power Bank connected ones that would be cheaper within a season too? If the job in question does not offer warmth.
we do have the disposable kind in Europe too, that's what we put inside the gloves when we go skiing
Used to shove these in my gloves for my walks to school as a small English child. Although pretty good for the journey there, you end up walking home with cold pebbles in your pocket.
wholesome
Glad to see you here 😊
Ayyy it’s the lads!!
Hi Gav n Dan
Do you still identify as a small English child? 😄
You can reuse the rust in the used "non-reusable" ones to make thermite, which of course, releases even more heat.
Which of course you shouldn't do at home, no matter how easy and fun it is *wink*
@@DragonBornish I once made thermite at school under supervision of my science teacher it was fun
VeryHotHands
@@Sh4quille0atmeal BurnedHands
Forbidden hand warmers
Havent we been trough this? The spent single-use ones are not browner, they are oranger with just as little context.
ORANGE is NEON BROWN.
Nice throw back...
1 day ago? How?
@@1976kanthi the videos are shared via private youtube link to the patreon supporters before made public on youtube.
@@Robert_DROP_TABLE_students-- oh I see.
Those liquid hand warmers were a must have during my childhood. We used them everyday during winter. You’d used them straight from the pot on your way to school and then pop the metal coin on the way back home.
Very clever to use the initial heat for the first half of the journey.
Thats fucking brilliant
So, they stay "melted" all day until you pop the coin??
@@seymoarsalvage Yup!
@@seymoarsalvageI know this is late but they stay clear/ liquid for a long time (only tested this on a period of like 1 month) until you pop or bend the coin
"It's rust, how iron-ic" we are getting so much layers guys! Very nice
The pun police have been notified.
Please stop 😂
Why are the smartest people always with the most stupid sense of humor?
Can this technology be “scaled”?
@@eliasmg9144 dude, don’t lose your “ temper “
"Fortunately, I have scissors, and a propensity to ignore safety instructions."
Heck yes!
@Duke Hugh Johnson we... Have a club?! Yes!
@@JakHart do we get jackets?!
@@JanPeterson oh my gosh a check mark your verify
@@JanPeterson absolutely! And a lanyard!
heck? are you in kindergarten?
My young son recently tried to “recharge” a HotHands in our microwave. Ten seconds later he learned an important lesson and I bought a new microwave.
that's interesting.... what happened? Did it vaporise/explode?
@@TheRailroad99 He pressed the 30-second express button, but I heard the commotion immediately and came running about 10 seconds in. It was sparking heavily and looked like lightning. It also made the whole house stink like burnt metal for a week.
@@TechStuff1 the little disk in it has the perfect size to generate a plasma inside of a microwave, that is probably what happened.
It’s been years so I may be misremembering, but we had these reusable packs when I was a kid and I’m pretty sure we used to “thaw” them in the microwave!
@@mackit there is a kind of those that is supposed to go to microwave - but cannot be reheated without it. It is called hotcold compress in my country and I am using them a lot.
I have a pair of earmuffs with little pockets on the inside that each fit a small reusable warmer. I think it's actually a pretty clever use of them. They're in a fabric pouch so they're insulated from the outside air and aren't directly against my skin. And even once the warmers themselves stop generating heat, the earmuffs help to hold in the heat they did generate for longer. Great for walks on cold days!
wow, quite lovely
where are these magic ear muffs from?? hahh
@@katherineleigh. Oh gosh, I got them so long ago I have no idea lol. Brand name on the warmers is Aroma Home, though I would assume they're not the only brand that's made them
@@BriWhoSaysNi ahh i found them online!! they’re called “aroma home click and heat cosy ears”!! thank you haha :)
“It’s rust! How ironic!”
damn i missed this one, epic
Stealth pun!
Nice pun and i see you like angry birds also nice
Sometimes the puns you don't notice are the best ones BlargNaut
IRONic 🤣
"It got a *lot* browner" - no no no!
It got more "orange with context"...
Orange... but *_darker_*
"It got a lot more orange contextual".
This will haunt Alec for the rest of his life.
Brown is my favorite non-existent color
@@mincos_outon *laughs in Magenta*
Alec: "Don't buy these"
*more and more accumulate in front of Alec as the video progresses*
He said that because he already bought them all, apparently.
He wants it all to himself that's why.
"Don't buy these THEY ARE ALL MINEE MUAAA HAHAH"
help i cant stop buying them
its already too late for me
dont make the same mistake i did
dont buy these
Oh, so the rules don't apply to him.
My parents used to have one of these back in the '90s. We would used it to warm our hands after horseback riding in the winter. It was clear, and turned white when activated. I remember how they used to have to boil it on the stovetop after every use. I also remember how hard it got: not quite like a rock, but like certain plastics, maybe even PVC.
But tell the truth. The way they work is that each one has a magic wish-granting genie inside, whom we have enslaved and commanded to generate heat each time we squeeze the disk. It's a good thing you didn't cut one open to show us the liquid on its own, because you would have freed the genie, and he would surely have killed you.
When parents try to explain what they don't know:
Thats slavery. I wish the genie did escape
You're so funny I forgot to laugh
@@omgrapist Task failed successfully..?
Haha
"I have scissors and a propensity to ignore safety instructions"
I need that on a shirt 🤣
"I have a screw driver and a propensity to ignore warranty voiding" could be another one...
"I have a lighter and a propensity to ignore BOOM, HELP ME CALL 911 NOW!!!"
My fam uses these for hiking when it's snowing on mountain peaks. I use the non-reusable ones but it's a brand that actually does say you can open it once it's used as the contents can be tipped on the garden and the pouch is compostable. Woot.
whats the name of the brand?
That’s awesome!
I was hoping that some of those could be used in the garden. When he said they can contain vermiculite and activated charcoal, I instantly thought of gardening because I use both those when working with plants.
I could see how the rust might cause some issues if the soil is already too acidic, but mostly would be fine for those with normal or alkaline ph soils.
"Fortunately, I have scissors and a propensity to ignore safety instructions."
"a not yet taken apart one"
That got a chuckle out of me too hehe :)
He runs with scissors as well.
@@Dreyno dammit... i was gun a say that
Don't we all?
These were a life saver in the Finnish winter during my conscription service. When standing for 3 hours in a frozen hole in the ground in the middle of the night in a blizzard with -25 celcius temperature, the little heat that these offered to warm my hands, face, rifle and anywhere else I desired, was very welcome.
when you klick the matal thingy the substance is like "oh right thats what i forgot"
Metal?
Cyber Sandbox Medal
"Oops, it seems I've forgotten to freeze over! Silly mistake, better late than never!"
click* metal*
@@CyberSandbox no. matal.
2:10 - "Open, rupture or tear". Well, they didn't say 'cut', so I think you're in the clear.
Fun fact: Zippo currently sells a refillable pocket warmer that uses zippo fluid as a fuel source. It uses a catalytic heater inside to allow it to burn without fire and the case has vent holes to draw in enough oxygen to keep it warm in its bag in your pocket for 6-12 hours depending on what size you get.
Just beware they do produce carbon monoxide, so best used where you have good ventilation. Outdoors open air only! Other than that they are really great.
Zippo has been making those for over 75 years you should see the early versions
I have one. They're excellent for skiing/snowshoeing. I keep it inside my coat
Zippo also makes battery hand warmers that can double as portable chargers.
@@WeneDog0628 yea but there's thousands of those wheres the fun in that vs a fucking mini furnace in your pocket
Coming from Germany , here nearly every kid knows these. I personally used them a lot on my way to school in the winter to warm the hands inside of my pockets. I think every second kid had a big set of them so they are very common here. I switched to the zippo hand warmers years ago and they are fantastic. I would really appreciate a video about there types of warmers fueld with lighter gasoline (yet not actually burning)
Europe does everything better. Living in the US fuckin sucks.
The marketing on zippo hand warmers is a bit misleading. While the fuel is not burning in the traditional sense, the same reaction between the fuel and oxygen to release heat is still occurring. The key is in the catalytic burner. Normally for the fuel to burn it has to be mixed with oxygen and brought up to a high enough temperature known as the flash point. Then the reaction proceeds giving off heat (some of which will be converted to light by thermal emissions, which we see as flame) bringing other fuel and oxygen around it up to the flash point in a continuous cycle. A catalyst is a material which reduces the energy barrier for a reaction to occur by some how participating without being consumed itself. Thus, at the surface of the catalyst, the flash point is reduced. By controlling available surface area of the catalyst and the available oxygen, the rate of the reaction can be severely reduced and held at temperatures below its normal flash point. Since the reaction is only occurring at the surface of the catalyst and at a much lower temperature (and likely more completely so that there is fewer particulate to incandesce), there is no flame to be observed. So in essence you are still burning the fuel, just not the way we're used to.
Sincerely,
a materials scientist
Growing up in the US we almost exclusively used the disposable type and never knew there was another option. The disposable type CRANK the heat and last for hours. We also used the Zippo type but I found them a bit cumbersome and sometimes got so hot you had to keep switching where you had them placed as it was uncomfortably hot. Sometimes that was a welcome situation.
These days all of these seem to be getting replaced by electric warmers that last a lot longer and can be easily toggled on and off. And they show the charge state as well. And they also function as a rechargeable power bank for your phone when needed.
@@4nlimited3dition_4n3d ive had all types and honestly yeah electric is the way to go. The list from best to worst would be:
1. Electric handwarmers
2. Zippo/fuel handwarmers
3. Disposable handwarmers
4. Reusable handwarmers
“Fortunately I have scissors and a propensity to disregard safety instructions”- my new life motto
It's been the story of my life!
My daughter said that I don't really take risks - she says I'm safe in my own way, I just "don't allow as much of a margin of safety as normal people". 😁
The scissors are really a state of mind.
@@tecc9999 I agree with that - just not when it would put others at risk (or my license/insurance rates)
The blue is more squishy to be more bouncy and the orange is harder to be more slippy. Cave is truly a genius
johnson did it again
There's a weird message on the back of the package: NOT FOR USE ON THE MOON. Huh, wonder what that's about?
Give mommy her phone back kids
That was a portal reference, not stupidity.
"I have scissors and a propensity to ignore safety instructions." - best line of the internet today.
As a kid, when I tended to dismantle something, it usually involved screwdrivers
@@Krahazik Yea, when I was in college, screwdrivers often led to things getting dismantled too.
...
Oh wait, wrong screwdrivers.
As a weekend camper, this is one of my nostalgic treasured items. I cook with a wood stove so boiling water for it is no issue. I warm up some water to keep me warm for the first few hours of sleep, and use this in the night if I wake up cold.
The Zippo catalytic hand warmers are the best I've tried.
USB hand warmers are also okay. Especially the ones that can plug into a powerbank for extended runtime.
My dad uses the catalytic ones, and I just got myself a pair of them yesterday. Best hand warmers on the market, period.
I just use my phone. It usually does the job when I run multiple apps at the same time.
@@Spuffiy building a hand warmer app should be simple. I’ll bet there is such a thing
@@rcpmac viruses
@@rcpmac simply run the antutu benchmark lol i already did this once, it works pretty well but the only problem is that the battery gets down REALLY fast
4:18 Opportunity to say "These, on the other hand" while holding the other hand warmer in the other hand LOST
10:07 portal reference! Rewatching this and I never noticed it the first time
I could have watched this video 100 times and that reference would sail right over my head without this comment lol
When you said "I am a little rusty" I immediately knew that it was a pun.
And ironic lol
If you already knew the pun was a pun, your hands were warmed long ago... - Oma Desala
I had these as a kid. They were freaking magic, and even today I find them amazing.
@@SimuLord Toasty.
They frickin are
@@SimuLord Nilered did a video on bath salts, which were apparently almost 50% water. He extracted most of it, which was pretty cool.
Now I kind of want to see those rust-based hand warmers in a pure oxygen environment, or activated by sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide or something. See if we can get it to get so hot it melts. Then add some aluminum powder and see if we can make some self-activating thermite.
When I read "kid" I remembered that these are used (as a disposable) as infant foot warmers.
I use this in the winter as a field researcher. The disposables are definitely better for actual heat, but an unusual perk of these is that they're 'waterproof' .The rust packs seem to get ruined if they get wet; which is a pretty common occurance in my line of work ^^;
Can you say more about your line of work if you don't mind? :)
Blink twice if you're a spy for the penguins.
@@mayatambitoHe's working at the Canadian Maple Syrup Strategic Reserve.. Yes, shouldn't we be more surprised if they didn't have one?
@@RP-hn1qcThats called a forest lol
@@user-v4v5c Strategic reserves are designed as a stopgap for a predetermined timeframe of complete production capacity interruptions. Below is a snippet from the official Canadian reserves website.
With a combined capacity of 133 million pounds (216,000 barrels), the three warehouses can hold the equivalent of 53 Olympic-sized swimming pools of maple syrup. At full capacity, it would represent a value of $400 Million.
These seem like something that would be particularly useful when camping. Your average campfire releases a LOT of heat because, you know, it's fire, so boiling them even for an extended period isn't an issue. You then have a portable heat source to use through out the day when you're away from your fire and have nothing else around for that purpose.
I was thinking the same thing. Especially if you're boiling drinking water already. Doesn't hurt to toss them in the pot and kill two birds with one stone?
"Don't do this at home."
Do it at a friend's home.
@tutacat Yes
You can't do it at a friends home because there's a pandemic as of right now.
You don't have a house because you burned it down while trying to kill your adoptive brother.
Need a friend.
Ratchet Gladiator lol
"These are more of a novelty than a truly useful object" - Alec Technology Connections with like 15 hand warmers in front of him
"These are more of a novelty than a truly useful object" - Alec Technology Connections describing anything in his videos
@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Except Sunbeam toasters. All hail Radiant Control!
@@davidshi451 Automatic beyond belief! Automatic beyond belief! Automatic beyond belief!
Every single european watching this video: "am I a joke for you?"
I love how they gradually accumulate during the video, as by reproducing.
freezing to create heat. my mind is suitably blown
thermodynamics sure is mesmerizing, especially if you just learned it in university
You need to look up the Mpemba Effect. Fun story.
What. Everything heats up when it freezes, what do you mean??
A literal freeze burn
welcome to chemistry
At least in the winter, the "lost" heat from boiling goes to heat the house and the vapor takes some load off the humidifier.
And in the summer you probably aren’t using them anyway, so that seems fair!
You don’t even need to boil them, just boil some water, turn the stove off, put the warmers in, put on the lid and go away.
This is also why light bulbs aren't bad regarding energy efficiency in cold climates.
1:33 “It’s rust! How *iron*ic”
I was looking for that comment
omega pun intended
@@PikaGamingPikaVlogshallo indeed
Fascinating! I've never heard of these before, much less the concept of something giving off heat as it "freezes".
Water also gives off heat as it freezes. The effect is used in orchards to prevent damage to the blooms during a late frost. You have a sprinkler system setup through out the orchard with fine mist heads. As long as the below zero temps don't last too long it will save the crop.
I believe that most substances actually give off heat as they cool because cooling is exothermic. When a system is cooled down, it loses energy that goes in to the surroundings. This causes the surroundings to increase in temperature.
@@bombmac5163 *It's probably the cooling-speed.* The handwarmers freeze almost instantly, making them feel hot to the touch.
It's not really surprising. It's exactly what your normal freezer does - it (forcefully) removes heat from whatever is inside it. Here the heat is expelled from the item.
@@Ryan6.022 Almost anything "gives off heat" as it freezes simply because it must be in an environment colder than itself to be liquid yet about to freeze. What you're referring to is that the air actually has to take quite a bit of energy from the water in order to freeze it. While this energy is removed, the temperature of the water stays exactly the same, at the freezing point. Basically you're adding "thermal mass" to the leaves so that they can resist freezing for longer, and also warming them with water that's much warmer than air.
Best thing about this channel is I can watch a long, overly complicated video about the weirdest things and enjoy every minute of it
Overly complicated? Have you even finished school?
@@MrSebastiniposaunini Idk if you have already but I can assure you no science class of mine taught this, not even chemistry, she wasn't a very hands on visualization type of teacher...
We had a couple of these when we were young. My sister and I loved them and took them to school in the winter. Would take them home and boil them to "recharge" them :)
As a matter of fact, "enthalpically smooth jazz" is indeed "fusion jazz", so...
r/angryupvote
I was expecting "latently smooth jazz"
I remember when I was young inquiring about how these ultimately wear out: eventually the metal piece will break and it becomes very hard to use.
My caveman instinct wonders if slamming them hard against a table or something is enough to trigger the freezing
@@EksNiHil0 it is.
@@EksNiHil0 yes, but your mom gets really mad after you break it open on attempt number 3
@@averagejoey2000 can you flick it?
@@imthemistermaster You can! On occasion, these have activated in my bag, leaving me to wait for the bus in a colder state than I'm used to. All you need is a nucleation site of some kind and a quick, focused impact can provide this.
“Oh wait it’s rust! How iron-ic.” GET OUT
I love that it's become my job to write terrible jokes.
Except that's not irony, so it's not funny😎
did you see that the word "terrible" was in front of the word "jokes"?
@@TechnologyConnections I prefer to read every other word, gets you through a text twice as fast.
This joke was un-ferr(ous)
I think the instant heat is the best aspect of these. I want an emergency hot tub full of this stuff. I mean probably that's a poor idea but how cool would that look as it crystallized?!
Like a breaking bad crime scene
@Charles Hines ...?
Chances are if you didnt get horrible burns or other various health issues you would remain sealed within the ice until it melted or otherwise weakened enough for you to leave which would make any burns that much worse since it locks you in place so you cant avoid it.
@charleshines7282This is great information that will help the next time I am trying to get rid of a body. 🤣
HEAT PUMP VIDEO CONFIRMED
THIS IS NOT A DRILL
Imagine having less than 100% efficiency
This comment was brought to you by the heat pump gang
Well, it's clearly the Pump!
FINALLY
Won't it just be the air-conditioning video in reverse?
@@randomnickify I think you mean compressor
Started to get a NileRed vibe a few minutes in, and now I wanna see him make his own re-useable hand warmers.
Knowing nile red, he's gonna turn it into something that can be consumed.
@@ernestjorda2777 yeah
I've been saying these two need to collab on something for AGES
@@ernestjorda2777 I think the reusable ones use sodium acetate - the chemical flavouring added to "salt and vinegar" flavoured pringles/chips/crisps.... so eating probably isn't out of the question
Oh and don't forget that he'll "lose" probably 1/4 of the whole volume during the transfers 🤣
Going through scouts as a kid, I was always told that the disposable warmers were bad for the environment and just wasteful. Though it probably would have been more wasteful to use the water and gas needed to reactivate these while camping. I just settled with not using anything and sticking my hands in my armpits when I needed to.
Yeah I don't really understand hand warmers when your body produces heat. There good for keeping fake pee warm tho
@@angryburnttoast Wait until you get older and your blood circulation starts to falter.. as it does in everyone.
Tho for disposable one ,if they come from across the sea in huge container ships (these are EXTREMELY polluting, a few of em dwarf the north american CO2 production from driving cars) they have a huge CO2 cost, and you alway gotta buy more. But with reusable one you only need to use some energy to boil em.
Yeah, there's actually a lot more complexity to this stuff than people think. Like how cotton tote bags use more energy to make than plastic ones. Better off just getting plastic reusable tote bags or using paper bags for your groceries.
@@datonecommieirongear2020 Stop spreading myths. A Panamax container ship travelling at 25 mph uses typically the same amount of fuel as merely few hundred SUVs.
I usually recharge my hand warmers when boiling some eggs for breakfast. Just get the eggs out and let the hand warmers continue to boil for a few more minutes. But thank you Alec for that introduction to non-reusable warmers. I thought they were just cheap and bad for the environment. But if all that's left is rust and a de-composable pouch, then it's probably worth a try.
I mixed up the eggs and hand warmers once. Never again
@@danielthecake8617You'll be alright, knew a friend who ate those pills that when exposed to water expands into a sponge dinosaur.. left him a bit constipated but it worked out in the end 💩
Rest of his high school chemistry class: “We’ll never use this in real life.”
Alec starts UA-cam channel, makes his living from it.
How did you get verified? According to UA-cam you have 143 subs. It also says you’ve been here for 14 years- did the verification process used to be different?
Okay sorry just looked at your about page, now I don’t need to waste your time!
@@WilliamCooper2005 hahaha, apparently he gets asked that A LOT
@@eduazy yes. I can imagine. I was quite intrigued.
Interesting. Never knew that.
(The Check)
"I am going to show you something cool. Actually it is hot"
-Every dad ever
As a dad, I approve this message.
...Pop-Tarts?
"IT'S NOT POP-TARTS!"
From a longevity perspective, I got one of these over 12 years as promotional item from Guinness. I quickly came to the same conclusion as you have (massively inefficient and overly cumbersome to recharge) so it has lived buried in a drawer for the past twelve years. But after boiling it for 12 minutes, it still came back to life. Massive heat for the first minute and then hot for the next 5 minutes, the tepid going forward. So at least they do last for a long time with their limited usability...
What a great explanation, thanks! Especially the fact that the additional energy from the liquid form needs to go somewhere (turns into heat) during the transition to a solid made total sense.
"I have scissors and a propensity to ignore safety instructions" is now my favorite quote!
It comes down to how we interpret something as being "frozen" - a piece of solid steel can be considered to be frozen, molten steel. A rock is essentially frozen lava.
*Elsa enters chat*
@@roybiv7018 Let it snooooww!
Not really something being frozen means that it is solid when cooled below ambient temperature.
@@illuminadi7055
Would you say that ice can't be considered frozen water when it's put into a freezer whose ambient temperature is lower than or equal to the ice's temperature?
@@illuminadi7055 Freezing is the process of changing from a (usually) liquid to a solid. Ambient temperature is only relevant as a day to day reference point for humans because just like many other measurements do, our lives revolve around water.
As a former kid, I can promise you that if you have kids and have these things in the house your kids are going to play with them all the time and they aren't guaranteed to be ready when you want them to warm your hands. :)
As an *actual* kid, can confirm
my father had a big/green one of those, i was a small child back then. he was using it to treat his backpain by wrapping around his waist with a special corset(?). as a 5-6 years old child in early 90s, that thing was just pure magic for me and of course parents being aware of this situation ended up as "pure magic ice pocket that is hidden somewhere in the big living room" for me. of course i found it one day and tried to break the "ice" with wooden stool's feet. next time they boiled it, it didn't work because container was leaking i guess? to be honest i still don't know. i was just hiding in my room pretending i have no idea, about anything at all.
soooo yes... storing it as a solid is also not a good idea either. single-use ones are way to go!
i like to come back to this video from time to time, this was the first TC video i watched
Me who doesn't understand anything he's saying but still watching it: "i like your funny words magic man"
Why
I think he explained it in a rather simple way
@@定涼 hillbilly my dude
My brain dead self watching the video: *(my pfp)*
"Nothing bad ever happens to the Kennedys."
)
I just want to say again how much I love this channel. It's so interesting to learn how the seemingly mundane works and it's a joy to hear intricate explanations. Also I feel like this kind of content would probably help me out the most when stuck in a zombie apocalypse.
"I'll be Frank"
Only if I can be Suzan.
Don’t call me Shirley
"I'm gonna be Frank"
"...okay, can I still be Garth?"
Surely you can't be serious!
Sounds filthy
Well, alright, but can I still be me?
Working in a refrigerated warehouse, loads of people use the HotHands and I see them crushed on the floor run over by lifts, and it always looked like coffee grounds to me, now I know what that is inside them, thanks!
The Portal reference hit me harder than a used up orange reusable handwarmer.
same
Was a lovely touch wasn't it
If Aperture tried to make a reusable handwarmer, they'd end up making shampoo
Finally someone that has answers to my questions that I had for so many years!!!
I was always amazed by those as a little kid. This was like magic to me.
May I introduce you to google
I was fascinated by them as well
I had one around 1988 and it was a treasure to me as a little kid 😂
These people, they scare me.
They have questions but never try to look for answers. Wouldn't that be unbearable ?
@@YounesLayachi just wow. Almost sounds like you never experienced this, but are you aware that if you see something as a kid that you don’t understand but you never get confronted with ever again after this, that this just isn’t something that is in your mind at a later age? Last time I saw one of those things was easily 13 years ago.
So let me specify this for you people a bit more:
Finally someone that has an answer to my questions that I had for so many years *when I was a little kid*.
"Don't rush out and buy this" !! You should get a medal for saying this! Thank you for creating a better world made of cool ideas and disinterested empathy!
I remember getting one of these as a kid. I was so excited trying to figure out exactly how the mechanism worked. Not many other things got me so enthused about science.
"Is that a handwarmer in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
Lmfao
They both get as hot and as stiff when activated too o.o
Both can result in sweaty balls
Can’t it be both? Ha
Handwarmee or warmed by hand?
Some people may know you as the toaster guy or the dishwasher guy, but it seems more like you're the latent heat guy these days
I'll take it!
He's the captions guy in my book.
He'll always be the Laserdisc Guy to me!
Latent Heat is the name of my bassoon and triangle reggae band.
@@mpbx3003 I got sucked in by LightScribe and subscribed after crawling to the VHS series.
"boiling them gets old fast" to be fair, you used like 300 of them so I can imagine that yes indeed that would be the case
Also if you aren't careful boiling them, you can melt the casing...as I did...oops.
@@NikkiTheOtter I would drop mine into the microwave and start off whit them hot and when they got chilled from being outside in my pockets that is when I would activate them , I did a lot of sub zero motorcycle riding in my younger days
I use up the 8 pack of the click heat ones within a day, not only that but i have to use one constantly because my hands get cold enough to turn purple.
@@tiny_rotty214 u might be better off with a rechargeable pair, they often come with adjustable heat settings + can be charged with a portable charger, enabling max heat for a longer time.
@@doctorwholover1012 zippo makes hand warmers that run on lighter fluid as well.
1:43 forbidden teabag
As someone who delivers letters and newspapers at night, I can say that these things saved my life (and more importantly, my fingers) on more than one occasion. Praise be chemistry!
Are they good for putting in my gloves while cycling in the winter?
@@manoz6194 I would say no because they are getting too hot in the first couple of minutes and after that too stiff to move your fingers freely.
These rusty ones sounds better for that purpose but i never tried them so I'm not sure.
@@KnoppersPolizei what about rubber banding them to the handlebars?
@@manoz6194 This could actually work depends on how long you plan to ride.
But i guess when it's really cold outside they will only last a couple of minutes, at best 10 minutes.
@@KnoppersPolizei damn I work in food delivery on bicycle so need warmth to last a few hours at least. Feet and hands are the hardest parts to keep warm.
"Do you know what a supercool liquid is?"
"Sure. Irish whiskey."
- Spider Robinson
"Bring water to a boil, add a used pad and keep simmering until pad is dissolved," coincidentally, is how vampires make soup.
Tampon tea
cursed comment
to venture where no jokes have ventured before; godspeed
🤢
Ewww...
I work in the film industry, and let me tell ya on cold rainy days, those disposable heating packs are an absolute MUST. I often get the larger ones that are about the size of a hand palm and use them in pairs to keep myself warm and they can get very warm, and last for a long time, sometimes upwards to even 12 hours. Certainly worth it.
Absolutely everyone used to have these back in school during the early 2000s, when winters still reached below 0C temps. I loved them. The pouches I had were in the form of Santa, I think because Aldi only sold those.
Where do you live that 0C is so cold it's time to bring in chemical reactions for heat?
@@cm01 Have you ever been outside at night in the winter?
I'm German and I thought my hands were gonna die off last week when I went home.
Maybe because I live near the water, but still, no need to gatekeep the cold.
@@Solanin0803 I'm outside at night frequently, 32F just isn't very cold
@@cm01 if it’s warm enough to be 32F at night it’s probably not winter yet
Edit: my comment is to highlight that you shouldn’t gate keep the cold when you sound like you’re from the south
@@Jenny-tm3cm nowhere did I say it was 32F outside at night
The one time the reusables really appealed to me was at a LARP in the middle of winter, where we had a constant campfire going, so we could stick a pot of water on it and leave that boiling basically all day to keep rotating communal handwarmers
That's actually brilliant
What a great idea, thinking along those lines, it’d be perfect for winter camping too. Definitely keeping that one in mind.
"It's basically a packet of rocks and rust when it's used up, making it MOSTLY HARMLESS."
"I see what you did there." - Arthur Dent
So cool man! I’ve been obsessed with watching these things for years…i just collect the used ones and then boil them all together at once! Also, that Fringe reference alone earned you a new subs!!
10:16
"No luck with the portal."
I think he was playing portal.
ye cool to imagine alec playing games and giving commentary and critique to it
Orange and blue? Portals? Definitely.
I absolutely loved the Portal reference.
@@tieran2009 I enjoyed it, but the portals in portal are clearly intra-dimensional, not inter-dimensional.
@@lucasatwell6846 Profile picture checks out. Also, I thought the same thing!
I love these! They're great for giving to children complaining of the cold, give them a hot rock to nurse and play with until they get home
"Mostly Harmless." I appreciate you.
And I appreciate you appreciating him for that.
O7?
@@ElectroDFW I appreciate you appreciating him as he appreciates him.
Earth
Thanks
🐬 (for all the fish) 🐬
I've just ordered one of these... A cheap one. I'm going to do an experiment with it to see if It will reset from the 85°c of engine coolant, which is sustained for 40 minutes and will be heated while the sodium acetate is still giving off its latent heat. If it works I might buy in bulk the chemical behind this reaction (sodium acetate trihydrate) to make a self resetting engine coolant heater.
I'll maybe do some experiments to see if I can make an electronic trigger if the self reset idea works just so I don't have to pop the bonnet and remove insulation to manually activate the heater.
This sounds interesting please update when theres more
Any temperature above its melting point will reset it with sufficient time. 85 C will take longer than boiling it because its a lower temperature, but 40 min will probably do it if you have good enough conduction. The determining factor is heat transfer into the system. A given mass of the material requires a fixed quantity of energy to melt. Ie, the time to fully melt will be reduced with exposure to higher temperatures, improving the energy transfer (in this case conduction) between your heat source and the sodium acetate trihydrate, or reducing the size of your system, thus reducing the energy needed to melt it.
I should also note that the solution will not give off heat above its melting point. Once at its melting point the solid and liquid are in equilibrium, and thus no reaction occurs. Once above its melting point the solid is now meta-stable and the liquid stable, so it will begin to melt and absorb heat. It is possible to super heat solids, but its much less common than super cooling liquids, and usually only occurs briefly if a material is heated very quickly.
Sincerely,
a materials scientist
I need to know how much you think cheap is. in Germany they cost around 1-2 Euro
1:33 Go to pun jail, 1000 years. No chance of parole.
You do realize that pun jail is just paradise, right? The humour there is incredible, especially if Brad Bird ever visits
the pun-itentiary
God I love this channel so much, always talks about the most random things that becomes interesting.
"I'm doing it so you don't have to" ~ tagline of the entirety of the educational side of youtube
Nostalgia Critic has changed genre to physics? ^^
@Egon Freeman it's entertainment in general lol
I used these when I worked at a charter school (Exactly those square orange ones!) They were great in winter during recess. Just put them in a jacket pocket, snap them, and I had a warm pouch for the entire outdoors period! We also provided boiling water for drinks at lunch, so there was always easy access to hot water to reset them everyday. Plus the kids loved the magic of snapping the metal and seeing the chain reaction. I always had a line of kids who wanted to be the one that day to snap it!
I remember my high school chemistry teacher doing this demonstration with supersaturated sugar water in Ziploc bags. Cool stuff.
The reusable kind is blue because...people associate blue with heat? It's just a colorant. The solution itself is colorless. Ah, good, you found the orange ones. I first encountered these twenty-seven years ago next month as reusable heating pads to help treat mastitis - which they worked well for. I bought a set six years ago to be used on my commute (they were a bugger to find) which included a mile long walk through the bitterly cold Kansas winter.
1:30 At first I was like "wait that's not ironic, you planned out that pun!" and then I realized that ironic itself was another pun...
That may not be ironic; ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife, on the other hand...
I've always loved these hand warmers. I've never found good use of them though, I just enjoyed popping the thing and then boil it so it would go back to normal
Back in the 90's my friend used these and used double boiler to make soup or dinner while resetting them so as not to waste energy. If only they had more durable cases.
As a paperboy in 1964-65, I used a Jon-E hand warmer. Fill it up with lighter fluid [remember that], then heat the element with a flame of some sort. I had the larger one which would run for a couple of hours. Stash it in your hoodie pouch and warmth for the entire paper route.
The "Mostly Harmless" Earth reference was greatly appreciated.
There must have been an update. it only said "harmless" before.
Don't Panic! 🤪
Some one sent me one of those crystall reaction hand warmers. Coolest thing to see for the first time without expecing it.
I just use the zippo hand warms now when in the mountains. They are pretty effective for a long time.
Didn't expect to see you here!
@@joshm264 I get around this UA-cam place :D
A normal Zippo lighter can be used as a lighter, candle, and a hand warmer.
Try the peacock brand.
@@Eidolon1andOnly hard to stick the lighter in your pocket while it is still running. The hand warmer is a non-flame catalyzed reaction, so you can keep it in in an internal pocket while still running to keep you warm.
Really important thing about resetting the reusable ones. Please make sure to put a tea towel in the bottom!!! Large ones work well esp the orange ones (a shoulder sized orange one can last 3 hours easily)
If you're not careful you can start to melt the outer plastic over multiple resets which can cause a leak!!!
it started with that mechanical pinball machine, through lava lamps, and now here. hand warmers., before I finally realize, "why am I not subscribed yet?!" thank you for hyperfixating/dumping those findings. your just what the doctor ordered, mon frere
I love how everyone in the world is growing their hair out like mad scientists.
I've been cutting my own hair for about 25 years. Being kind of a solitary person most of the time, this quarantine has had little impact.
@@MonkeyJedi99 ...and then there is me... hair down to my ass. Haven't cut it in 20 years. Only a few trims to keep the ends nice.
Were gonna need a couple to get through this mess
@@jamesomen1602 And I like to keep mine between 1/4 and 3/4 inches long at most.
- The brainwashing at Fort Benning is still holding 30 years later.
Universal soldiers ain't no more! I mean it really helps differentiating "John from Jack" by amount of care they take after their hair.
"Fortunately, I have scissors and a propensity to ignore safety warnings."
Man I love how you deliver these videos, it makes almost boring stuff so incredibly interesting I can't help but watch every video.
"The spent one looks a bit browner", I think you mean oranger, but with context.
Good one!
Underrated comment.
haha nice
1:33
"Oh it's rust. How ironic" 🤣 I had a breakdown. Well done 👏
Shoot, last week Hank Green tells me that ice is rocks and water is lava. This week we're freezing liquids to make heat. My world view may never recover. 😅
Technology Connections, I would love to see you do a video on the Zippo type hand warmers! You add fuel to them and they safely and slowly burn over time, providing up to 12-18 hours of heat! Great video by the way, I loved watching it even though I'm familiar with the science of these. 😁
Bought one for my partner and my dad. They love em.
Looked it up. Seems interesting.
I had one of these when I was a child. I am convinced watching the strange reaction in real time, every cold night, getting able to play with the package as it froze over yet became hot, is exactly why I got into science and chemistry (that and the science videos but eh)
All the reusable hand warmers I’ve had work better than the traditional ones. Spending once is a lot less expensive than buying a million bags of the throwaway ones. Plus the throwaway ones take forever to heat up / you have to constantly shake them. The reusable ones heat up immediately and don’t need anything else once you pop the metal. I have spent many, many hours outside in below freezing weather lol (:
When they start to become cool, you knead them to get the remaining heat because it’s stored in the center (aka everything cools from the outside but the center is still warm). Lifehack! =)