The DryGuy Warm N’ Charge rechargeable hand warmer is a pocket-sized cure for two common wintertime colds: cold hands and cold, nearly-dead phones. I suffer from both quite regularly here in Jackson Hole, where the winter fun and outdoor activities go on regardless of how frigid the temps.
It’s been in the low teens for several weeks, and before that, it dumped buckets of powder snow in the valley. The skiing has been quite good but also kind of burly. Last weekend, it was between 5 and 10 degrees F on the slopes. My girlfriends and I rallied to ski for a few hours so that we could have an excuse to apres-ski. The DryGuy Warm N’ Charge fit inside my big ski mitts to warm my hands, one at a time.
When the cold drained the batteries from my iPhone, the Warm N’ Charge came to the rescue to revive it so I could make plans to meet up for apres at the end of the day. Nice.
I also enjoyed the benefits of the DryGuy Warm N’ Charge while ice climbing earlier in December (yet another prime activity for freezing cold hands). I appreciated having a reliable heat source that lasted for several hours. However, because it is bulkier than a disposable hand warmer, and can only be used one hand at a time, I used it for strategic doses of heat rather than a consistent, within-the-glove heat.
The 5-ounce DryGuy Warm N’ Charge has low (110 degree) and high setting (120 degrees) for heat, and can put out the BTUs for up to five hours. It will also provide juice for around two full charges on most smartphones. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t warm and charge at the same time. It took about 2.5 hours for my iPhone to go from 30% to 99%, so it’s great as a backup but not as fast as a standard wall charger. The DryGuy Warm N’ Charge is available in Black and Silver, and comes with a knit carrying cozy that looks like a grey tube sock (I didn’t use it).
While there are many convenient things about the DryGuy Warm N’ Charge, there is a learning curve. For best performance, I need to: 1) remember to charge ahead of time, overnight; 2) remember how to use the buttons; and 3) remember to bring along a phone charging cable, in order to take full advantage of the charger. When it was dumping snow and I was focused on getting out the door, I didn’t always have this dialed in. Now that I do, I’m resolved to make the Warm N’ Charge a key part of my ski kit. I can’t wait to bring it on my next backcountry yurt trip because my hands are always cold and my phone is always dying in the winter time.
Bottom Line: A handy rechargeable hand warmer that doubles as a phone charger.
Manufacturer’s Site: http://dryguy.com
$40