I believe the Peacock ones are a bit better praised, but from what I've read the Zippo ones are good especially for the price above. I'll be ordering some Carbon felt along with the two I purchased from China to 'upgrade' the cotton wadding - apparently makes a huge difference to the efficacy of the heaters.Fantastic price for a brilliantly designed bit of kit.
I've got a couple of Peacock ones which I think were the original makers of these warmers.
Anybody thinking of buying a handwarmer ( or two ) really should avoid the charcoal stick ones & get these as they are brilliant.
I'm still surprisingly on the fence about buying them, purely on the fact I'm awaiting 2 from China, though one will be a 'tester' model for me (I'll disclose at a later date, perhaps). I'm also tempted to buy some charcoal felt to replace the cotton interior, which apparently chars at the interface with the catalytic burner...
My research tells me that, as long as they're not overfilled, that they're A-okay. I've access to JB-weld so will be reinforcing any seams I can see... Also, it's a strange one because it's not quite like firing like an ember which smoulders, it's complete combustion.I'd be interetsed to know what the Chinese ones are like, I would assume they would safe and good but for me if I have an ember and lighter fluid in my pocket I think I would want a brand or something I can trust.
Is the felt to replace the lint type of stuff in the burner? Never had any issues with it beyond me burning it last year, it wouldn't light for love nor money which after several years of almost daily use isn't bad. Easily replaced thankfully. Don't know if you have used one but don't overfill or there'll be a few days worth of burning lol
There's this thread too from last year about hand warmers http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/community/index.php?threads/all-things-hand-warmer.41207/
Great comprehensive reply. I've some of the platinum catalyst sheets and they really do bump up the performance.I came across this thread, and thought I'd offer my experiences with these types of handwarmers.
After a number of years, I believe I've finally "figured them out" .... I have both the zippo
type, and the peacock type - both function fine when setup properly.
I've found that filling and lighting are the two critical aspects - over filling
will stymie the function - you only want vapors, no liquid should be present.
Two aspects to light them - first, warm the body of the hand warmer ....
a warm to hot body is what keeps the vapor path working from the body
to the head cap of the unit. If I have time, I lay the unit on top of a baseboard
heater for 5 minutes - or if in a hurry, use a lighter and apply the heat to
the body of the heater near the top outlet - for 30-40 seconds, rotating the
body so both sides get warm/hot. When the body is well warmed, I'll
apply the flame to just below the fibers in the top - early on I put the
flame on the fibers, and eventually the fibers char and the catalytic
combustion stopped working.
Again, make sure the body is warm - even hot - it makes lighting
a breeze, and fast tracks the vapor movement setup. When the
body is hot, it "feeds" the vapor generation, and keeps the
catalyst steadily supplied.
I've also found that it's important to use the felt-like carriers
they include - once the unit starts working, these carriers keep
the body warm/hot, which in turns keeps the warmer going very
steadily. They also prevent the unit from being "cold shocked" ...
if you drop a "bare" warmer on the cold ground, chances are it
will go out - not so if they are in their cloth carriers.
By keeping direct flames away from the catalyst fibers when lighting,
the heads last a very long time - if you apply the flame directly
to the fibers, they will clog quickly and stop working.
Also, I found a source for the platinum fiber that can be used
to re-pack a worn out head - google:
Platinum Bright Embers by Advanced Catalyst Systems
There's a great video on repacking a warmer head at:
Finally - all this talk about how to gauge the amount
of fuel so they don't burn forever .... just pull the
head off the body - it immediately stops the process.
If you're concerned about the head being hot, use
gloves or pliers, but I've found if I pull it off
quickly, it's no big deal using my bare fingers.
Hope this helps, folks
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?