Just about every time I camp in cooler weather, my feet are the first thing to get cold. Turns out, there are four reasons this happens -

• Decreased blood flow in your feet, because they are so far away from your body’s core / heart, warm blood has a hard time arriving… warm...
• Decreased available energy, every moment of every day your body is using energy, it takes an immense amount of calories to keep your body running - much less create warmth. When your body is cold, you use calories twice as fast because you’re constantly trying to warm yourself up.
• Moisture / humidity environmental effects can increase the cooling effect on your body, moisture in the air makes the temperature feel colder than it really is - adding to that misery feeling. (and if your feet/socks get wet it’s over!)
• Poor insulation can have an ill effect on your body staying warm. This could come from using the wrong temperature rating or having a gap in your insulation which can add up to you losing your precious heat pre-maturely - leaving you shivering.

So what can we do about these????

Well here are a few ways I go about solving the cold feet problem when I’m camping.

• Camp Booties, If you can afford the weight, take these. You can get down booties that weigh very little, just be careful when walking around camp - as most have a very smooth surface on the bottom. There are a lot of different types, down, synthetic, rubber bottom, smooth bottoms. Get something comfy and breathable if possible.
• Fresh Pair of Socks, If you’re hiking - pay attention to your feet throughout the day don’t let them get wet or moist and when you get to camp and you’re ready for bed - Pull off your trail socks and throw on a dry fresh pair of socks (preferably wool). This will do wonders for you both physically and mentally, it will also help dry out your feet. Toss your trail socks somewhere in your sleeping bag or Hot Pocket to start drying them out for the next day.
• And then there’s the Hot Pocket, Here’s my secret weapon - this device actually provides on demand warmth for your feet (or anything else for that matter), here’s how it works. When you get in your sleeping bag, unzip the Hot Pocket and slide your feet inside it - turn it on and enjoy 10-15 minutes of fireside warmth on demand (sure to thaw you out fast). I wouldn’t go any longer than that or you’ll probably start sweating.

We created the Hot Pocket because there just wasn’t a good 2 am warm up solution available. Once you start getting cold, a chain reaction of shivering and sleeplessness starts and unless you warm your body back up.

The Hot Pocket changes that and puts the control back in your hands, so that when you’re cold all you have to do is press the button to warm up. You can use Hot Pocket to compress your insulation, unzip it and spread it out for on-demand heat, and it even works as a day pack (with our Strap Packs).

If you’re interested in learning more about Hot Pocket click below.