Went Xmas shopping yesterday

[conuly]

Because the Christmas fair closes at, well, Christmas, and makes no provisions for those of us who do Little Christmas for, uh, cultural reasons (and mostly financial ones, I must admit).

Went there and got what I came to pick up, which is a trio of mismatched dino socks, and yes I'm aware that I can pick those up online, but that's not the point.

And then I saw these

OMG.

I totally abandoned Evangeline to the mercies of the TV (and my mother, I'm not totally heartless here!) to post about them. (I would've done this last night but I fell asleep at, like, 8!)

They're awesome. Bend the metal thing and they turn all solid! It's the coolest thing you'll ever see. Plus, they keep your hands warm ^.^ (And if ever there was a time for Japanese smilies, now is it.)

I'm definitely picking up a few dozen more $15 per pair price tag be damned. These are the bestest things evah!

Comments

[sayga.livejournal.com]

Those are very cool. We had some of those when I was 12 or so, and they lasted a long time (3 years of frequent winter time use, before they started leaking or we had one that no matter how much you boiled would not remelt the crystals). I had totally forgotten about them, but I'd recommend them!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Ooh, we made those in chemistry class, back in the day! I still remember that we cut the metal plates from old pepsi cans and that it was really tricky to carve them so they could be clicked the right way. A few of us (14/ 15-year-olds) actually managed to finish the job, though, so I'll say the "wonder" bit is somewhat exaggerated. We were none of us wunderkinder.

[conuly]

Oooh, how did you do it?

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I'd have to look the details up, but basically we just made bags out of boil-proof plastic film, filled them with distilled water and some salt, put the evil little metal plates in, welded the bags shut and dropped them in boiling water. After that you could use them as handwarmers. The succussion of clicking the metal plate is enough to make the salt crystallise again, which is an exothermic process; and by dropping the thing back in boiling water, it dissolves again and can be re-used.

EDIT: Looked the salt up, it was sodium acetate trihydrate.

[dandelion.livejournal.com]

You can do it far more cheaply than $15/pair! I bought a pair of socks with two heatwarmers (they go in a pouch in each sock) for £4.80, and a few years ago got some from this place (http://www.hawkin.com/find/keyword-is-hand/product-is-02813) which are a bit bigger, no socks, for £4. I love them - I get cold really easily since I've got Raynaud's, and they're so handy! (no pun intended)

[conuly]

That's $8 for one, isn't it, in the link? I can never quite remember the exchange rate. And then with shipping... oy.

AND THEY ARE HANDY OMG! I may just run out and buy some more. Or order one of the back warmer ones from the website.

[dandelion.livejournal.com]

$6, the pound's weak at the moment. I think you can get them more cheaply even than that, though - try camping shops :)

[righteous-betty.livejournal.com]

They started selling those at our local mall this winter. I could've used it when the heating went on my car!

[sayga.livejournal.com]

Those are very cool. We had some of those when I was 12 or so, and they lasted a long time (3 years of frequent winter time use, before they started leaking or we had one that no matter how much you boiled would not remelt the crystals). I had totally forgotten about them, but I'd recommend them!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Ooh, we made those in chemistry class, back in the day! I still remember that we cut the metal plates from old pepsi cans and that it was really tricky to carve them so they could be clicked the right way. A few of us (14/ 15-year-olds) actually managed to finish the job, though, so I'll say the "wonder" bit is somewhat exaggerated. We were none of us wunderkinder.

[conuly]

Oooh, how did you do it?

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I'd have to look the details up, but basically we just made bags out of boil-proof plastic film, filled them with distilled water and some salt, put the evil little metal plates in, welded the bags shut and dropped them in boiling water. After that you could use them as handwarmers. The succussion of clicking the metal plate is enough to make the salt crystallise again, which is an exothermic process; and by dropping the thing back in boiling water, it dissolves again and can be re-used.

EDIT: Looked the salt up, it was sodium acetate trihydrate.

[dandelion.livejournal.com]

You can do it far more cheaply than $15/pair! I bought a pair of socks with two heatwarmers (they go in a pouch in each sock) for £4.80, and a few years ago got some from this place (http://www.hawkin.com/find/keyword-is-hand/product-is-02813) which are a bit bigger, no socks, for £4. I love them - I get cold really easily since I've got Raynaud's, and they're so handy! (no pun intended)

[conuly]

That's $8 for one, isn't it, in the link? I can never quite remember the exchange rate. And then with shipping... oy.

AND THEY ARE HANDY OMG! I may just run out and buy some more. Or order one of the back warmer ones from the website.

[dandelion.livejournal.com]

$6, the pound's weak at the moment. I think you can get them more cheaply even than that, though - try camping shops :)

[righteous-betty.livejournal.com]

They started selling those at our local mall this winter. I could've used it when the heating went on my car!