I got one of these things for my wife for Christmas last year. She looked pretty dubious at first. Then I filled it up and lit it. I became an instant superhero. She LOVES that thing. Guys who love women who hate getting cold: gift idea. Sweetie manages a warehouse and is cold all winter...unless she has her heater on. It stays under her jacket, jacket stays buttoned. It tends to run out of fuel on the way home. Nice vid, Kenny. Good tutorial.
Years ago, there was a kidney belt that held one over each side of you back. Near your kidneys. Great for maintaining body heat in low temps. Great video.
Fantastic video young man! Well done. You're articulate and intelligent which makes watching your video so pleasant. Thank you for your efforts and time! Much appreciated.
Great job man helped me a lot on choosing a hand warmer. I love to go deer hunting and hate when my fingers are stiff when I have to pull the trigger. Thanks again
Sounds good man. If some of yours aren't as hot as others try fluffing out the packing until it's flush with the metal lip. Sometimes they get pushed down and the fumes can't reach the burner as readily and they don't get as hot.
You continue to amaze me. I haven't seen a jon e since I bought 2 for my wife 42 years ago. They saved my fingers and toes in the UP of Michigan. Keep up the good work, the world needs more kids like you. Thanx to your parents!
I have 2 of the smaller ones and they work good and last a long time. When I was working as a Cowboy in NE Nevada, during the winter sitting in the saddle all day when it got down below or near zero the Jon-e kept me warm. I kept one in my breast pocket and one in my saddle bag keeping a extra pair of gloves worm and ready to go. When it was really cold I would use 2 with the kidney belt. It made life in the saddle more enjoyable.
Thanks for a well done presentation. I'd wondered about these but hadn't checked out. Know several people who will now be receiving them for Christmas, if not before then. And, they'll get your link on the how-to. First "gift" will be to your's truly. Extra help this winter. Especially if storms take out the power. Not only to warm feet in a sleeping bag. Warm cold feet in a cold house! Looking forward to your series.
@@nwwoodsman2545 Haven't needed to replace the burner . I use Jon-E fuel when I can find it , very clean white gas or Ronsonol lighter fluid which burns much cleaner than Zippo lighter fluid .
@@McLoaferson Are you saying GI / military ? I've never had to replace the catalytic material in any of mine . Not sure if you can purchase a replacement catalytic top burner part . You now have me wondering if carbon felt from a hardware store might work .
@@QuantumPyrite_88.9 he was in WWII battle of the bulge so he may have use it there. I've been doing research on the jon-e warmers and I see may people taking the burnt/"glazed" cotton off the top since it restricts the fuel vapors. And replaced with carbon felt because it doesn't burn like the cotton does.
Thanks for the very indepth review. I have been looking up videos and reviews on them as I am a rather thin male and get cold kind of easily. I went with a 6 hour Zippo handwarmer as the burners are still available for them and it will only be on a very rare occasion that I would need more than 6 hours- plus I also love the Zippo/Case company. Thank you for the tip on putting the Ronsonol lid on the Naptha (I use it for my zippo lighters.). My naptha is the same brand but the coloring on the can is a little different - not sure if it's just updated packaging or if it is actually different but when I run out of Ronsonol I will definitely try to pop the Ronsonol lid onto it. (I have been using a pet medicine measuring syringe - without the needle- to take the fluid out and fill up my lighters. - Only criticism is that some people might need more than 1 (1 for each hand). - Other than that - great review! Thank you!
I just picked up a small Jon-E on Ebay-it was still new in the original packaging! After having used two Zippos, I have to say...this thing COOKS. This Jon-E is a LOT hotter than the Zippos ever got. The magic has to be in the heating element. This thing is skin-melting hot. With the Zippos, I could have not used the little felt bag. With the Jon-E, I NEED it or I'm going to lose skin. This thing is epic. I love it so much. Sorry I didn't grab it sooner!
I just bought a new one. It included as flint roller like a modern lighter. I just light it and stick it in the bag right away. Doesnt need to sit at all. I have put mine in a pillow when I have an ear ache and it works great. 12 hours of heat!!! It also has a nice velvet pouch that closes with velcro and a lanyard.
Thanks BTW for that informative review of the hand warmers. I have the small Zippo hand warmer, and it works very well. I don't usually carry it since my clothing and sleeping systems don't need an external heater. However I bought the Zippo handwarmer for ice fishing. My hands can get really cold when ice fishing, especially cleaning fish on the ice. I use lighter fluid. "Naptha" here in Canada may be different than your products labeled "naptha"? Naptha here is what we call Coleman fuel.
I have one that I used back in the 60s/70s. Looks identical to the one in the video, complete with red cloth covering. It worked great. Many years ago, I attempted to light it with no success. The other day, I broke it out and made another attempt to light. I tried about everything with no success. I filled it with fluid, wet the wick, and let it burn a flame for several minutes. Didn't stay lit. Then I hit it with a torch making it glow, but it still went out. So not sure what I'm doing wrong.
I enjoyed this ... here in the Uk it is mailnly Zippo USA and Chinee/Hong Kong handwarmers ..Peacock and clones so forth and I have quite a few ... out of curiousity I have aquired a Jon E Handwarmer GI size from Michigan ..well it is really good but loves to burn the juice so to speak...I can purchase Naptha based fuel 5 litres for £16-00 sterling .. ok ok but can anybody tell me the volume of fuel I should fill into my Jon E GI ? and how long it would last ... H/W is really tops and a shade less than new ... good luck to all Alb nr Liverpool
Any ideas how to make a natural materials version? Couldn't figure out much except for a coal box (like the idea of that thing in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie). Maybe clay with some holes in it? Also, do you know if superglue will work with oilskin? I remember your video on putting a loop on a tarp & was figuring I may do that with a large piece oilskin cloth.
Can you replace the packaging material, I just got one from my cousin that belonged to her grandpa and I'm soaking it in vinegar to get the rust off and ruined the packing inside
Nice video man. I learned a few more things about heat options. I am a big fan of using the right stuff for my things bu I wonder if Coleman fuel would work with them in a situation of having no more Naphtha based fuel. Have you tested other fuels besides those on your video? Great work man.
Just found an old Jon-e "Giant" sized (4" tall x 1 1/4" thick) hand warmer in a box today and gave it a little naphtha. Lit the wick and nothin; figured someone had lit the catalyst with fluid and ruined it at some point. But then I squished the catalyst around a fit with my fingers - ya know, get summa the soot off, lit the wick again and heated the catalyst again. Five minutes later and the thing was back to life, after all these years! Now the thing's so hot you can iron clothes with it. Can't touch it for more than half a second or you will burn yourself. I've used several hand warmers and none have been has hot as this. My concern is that it'll actually light the felt pouch on fire if I find one to put it into - I mean, I can see the catalyst glowing like one of those in them gas fireplaces - eesh! Maybe kinda ease it into a cotton pouch and keep an eye out for smoke? It's kinda creepin' me out how hot this thing is. Is the heat proportional to how much platinum the catalyst has in it maybe?
Great video, just watched two other reviews by older fellas who don't even understand how it works. One of them is considered the "Pro" (Mountain parameters) on these and even has a website while he pulls cotton out to touch his catalyst because you "need contact with the fluid" and complains they burn out too fast lol. This guy even does videos about modifying, while not even understanding the science or how they work
Question, I'm looking for a small heat source to use in an automobile in case of an emergency. Would this keep a person warm in an automobile (not using the bag)?
First off, great vid! I have the Zippo. A couple of points, the Zippo easily does 12 hours, as mines done today, even with a 'spent' burner, ignited wrongly with a blow torch! The main gripe I have is the localised heat. Put it in your pants pocket you get a red hot patch on your skin, put it in the sack baggy thing, you can barely feel the heat. Is there any way I wonder of spreading the heat? After all a handwarmers only any good if you're holding it in your hands, if you're shooting or whatevever, you're not holding it! Great vid, good info on the Jon-E. Peace.
I hang mine on a lanyard around my neck hanging down, open the bag more for more heat, tighten it for less, the bag functions also as an oxygen controller.
I do a lot of winter camping and as cool as i always thought they looked, i have never owned one of these handwarmers... nor have i used the "packet" type handwarmers...
I looked everywhere for the Non-existent brand hand warmers to no avail. Are they out of business? I hope not. Zippo makes them, and the Japanese peacock hand warmers work great as well. I did find a Non-existent in New condition, minus the measuring cup, in an antique store. I snapped it up for $3.95!
Hey dude, would you be able to help me out in regards to dating my Jon-Es? One only says Pat. Pend, and the other only has the first patent from 1951, but not the second one in '54, so I'm assuming the first is prior to '51 and the second one is somewhere in between '51 and '54? They don't have any year marks like I've seen one the ones from the 60's onward...
I did a search for the them on amazon. The only thing that came up was the expensive Japanese style or the zippo brand. What are the cheap knock offs called?
Ive purchased two of the Zippo hand warmers of the last two years and have had to replace them because the catalysts keep pooping out. They don't seem to last more than one winter. I wish they lasted forever. I don't know what's going on, but they seem so cheaply made and definitely do not last, "forever".
That's what I'm saying! People are telling me to replace the catalyst, but I use them like 25 times a year! There's .00001% platinum in those things. Like you said the Jon E's last 50 years and still work fine. I have to get one. Do you know of a good seller or should I just check Ebay? @@KLH1966
@Jason Kaiser There are video's on RU-vid on how to rebuild them. I collect many types of hand warmers. Main guy YT channel is Mountain Parameters shows you how and has a link to his web were you can buy the Platinum catalyst plus more. I have ordered from him and got my order fast. 2 ways to pay. Check him out. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cktDMupd8No.html
Yep, was 1921 if my memory serves me right. Just some people put there own twist on there designs, like Jon-e hand warmers. I got my first one a GI in 1978 when I was 12 years old. Still going strong 40 years later.
The misconception is that the hand warmer is 'burning' the fuel vapor. It does nothing of the sort. The platinum that is embedded in the head of the hand warmer acts as a catalyst to convert the vapor that is coming out of the reservoir into formaldehyde. The oxidization reaction that results creates a lot of heat.
The catalytic converter doesn’t last forever needs to be changed about every 80 uses, you can buy the material, pack it yourself in the head. The oxidation of the vapors is due to the heat, heat is needed to start it, not a coal burning, it’s just an effect of the hot heat in the converter, a red glow, like a car cigarette lighter. Oh, you can thermal shock these devices into stop producing heat, say in below zero temperatures, removing from bag, very cold wind blowing, and then very cold hands on the fuel tank, it lowers the temperature too much, to quickly, to the point vapor production stops or slows too much for oxidation . Zippo hand warmers are made in China, lighters in USA, better hand warmers are the Japanese Peacock made in Korea for them, 3 sizes, baby, standard, the giant which can heat for 24 hours. My favorite is the UK Whitby, yes the UK seaside town of Dracula fame, it’s made in China but is still of high quality. You don’t need to remove the head of a Whitby, it has a self sealing fill port on the tank’s shoulder. It removes the chance of dropping and losing the converter while out camping, fishing, etc, you get 6 and 12 hours. Jon-E I believe is long out of business, too bad, rather liked them. Use? Fill it let it sit upright, the converter burner snapped on, so vapor builds up under the converter, is trapped there, start it as much as possible with heat from the flame, sooting, coated the platinum in the fiberglass material in the catalytic converter is what shortens the life. Use a USB lighter, model after car lighter, this is a non dirty light. Let it heat upright for ten minutes before putting it in the bag, the bag is an oxygen controller, you want the device to heat itself, the whole converter across and the fuel tank, this causes more efficient evaporation. Put it in the bag control the heat via of how much you close the bag tight.