HotSnapZ Reusable Hand Warmers & Body Warmers - Instant Heat Packs

These are cool little devices. Bending the metal disk with your thumbs activates the reaction which causes the liquid gel to solidify and heat up. It gets to a max temp of 130F. I purchased them for scuba diving and tested them out with my wetsuits in a pool. When I placed one against my abdomen (over a bathing suit, under a wetsuit and in water), it was very warm and did leave a red mark on my skin (which went away). I used the large one between two layers of wetsuit on my back, and it was comfortable. Also small ones fit nicely in my armpits and were not too hot because they were not pressed against the skin like the abdomen one was. Because the water moves around in a wetsuit, the heat didn't last very long (maybe 15min) but I'm hoping it will be enough to make a chilly dive more comfortable. There is no way to activate these through the wetsuit, so you have to activate them then gear up and get in (would be perfect if I could activate one near the end of a dive). They become quite hard once activated, in whatever shape they were when they were activated. The heat lasts much longer when insulated and dry, for example in a jacket pocket.Things I learned: Although there are microwave directions on the website, they are much trickier than the boiling method. I damaged one in the microwave. I recommend sticking with the stovetop boiling method. I was also having a problem with them activating on their own (after a week of sitting on the counter, while I wasn't even home so not touched). Ray from the company was extremely responsive and helpful with these problems. He explained that the self-activating was due to not boiling long enough so there was an invisible rogue crystal left that at some point randomly triggered activation. He recommended boiling longer, and/or letting the HotSnapZ cool in the water to be sure everything is completely dissolved. That seems to have worked. He also replaced one that arrived damaged quickly and generously (adding extra free ones).Customer service is outstanding, Ray really stands behind his product. My kids are stealing them every evening to use after swim practice!Update: I have now used these scuba diving, and they work REALLY WELL under a wetsuit when placed in the armpits. It is so cozy to dive with a warm core, and the wetsuit insulates the heat for the whole dive. And, they can be recharged by boiling in the hotel coffee/tea pot.

My MIL(60s) burned herself by over using these on her shoulders when she seemingly irritated her rotator cuff, the heat did help at first until the burn occurred(she used one every night in the same spot for a 4 days). No burn has occurred on her elbow when she uses these for plasma donation comfort twice weekly. My husband(29) and I(31) have used these no problem regularly for about a month. When we first got them shipped they seemed slow to react but after the first boiling they have been triggered with ease. All my set was as described and functional. Silicone tongs are a must for fishing these out of the pot because they are slippery, boiling hot, and the plastic thins/stretches during the process of deactivating them. They also stay hot for a good while after getting them out of the boiling water.I am very happy with these, just remember everybody needs to pay attention to their own temperature limits.ETA 3/28/2022Husband has now lightly burned himself with the pads, Cover with a towel as sometimes they just continue to warm up past comfortable temperatures.These still work great with weekly boilings(we wait until we can do the full box or at least all the small ones for a recharge). And we're looking into getting more small ones.

I have had these for years and they still work fantastic every winter!!!

I love reheatable gel packs - I first bought another brand years ago called Body Comfort, then later when I wanted more decided to give these a try. (Comparison details further down.)This time I bought two boxes — unfortunately a few didn’t work, but the seller sent me a replacement pack pretty quickly. (Go through their website.)Check out my photo - these are a mix of new ones and older ones, including one I accidentally left outside in the hot sun for a month. Still works fine though.I recommend these more for people who have an instant pot or rice steamer, because boiling them is a pain. I use at least one a day - it's a great way to relax and warm my back during my evening chill time, like right now. :-)I use an instant pot to recharge mine. 5 minutes on low pressure. You can also of course use a freshly charged one while it's still warm from the steamer/cooker.Both these and Body Comfort work. Here are the salient details:Body Comfort comes in various shapes like hand and foot, but I find I don't use them for those purposes.Hot Snapz are "juicier" (have more fluid in them) so perhaps they stay warm longer?Hot Snapz are nicer to look at if you like color.Body Comfort - none of them didn't work right out of the gate, it was only after a few years of use that they began to fail, mostly by breaking.All of these eventually stop working, as they tell you in the product description, so it doesn’t feel great to throw the plastic on the landfill, which is my only long-term issue with these. Otherwise they are great.