A good pair of Thinsulate or lambswool gloves provides plenty of warmth for your fingers during the freezing winter days. But there are alternate ways to keep your mitts warm. Last year, I discovered the Zippo Hand Warmer (I believe I paid somewhere around $13 one on Amazon), a portable tool I have deemed essential to surviving cold winters. The polished metal burner resembles a giant Zippo lighter (albeit with more rounded corners and edges) and works exactly as you’d expect. You fill it the up with lighter fluid and then you take a lighter and light its burner. Snap the cap back on and wait for it to get warm and then hot. Then, you simply stuff it into your gloves (if it fits), or bury it your jacket pocket. Gloves? Gloves are for suckers.

The Zippo Hand Warmer emits heat for around 8-10 hours (it’s advertised as up to 12 hours), which should be more than enough to last you a full eight-hour work day or to run errands around town.

Each Hand Warmer comes with a filling cup (for the lighter fluid) and a warming bag, but I found the cup to be poorly designed, leading to many spills through the spout, and the bag often suppressed the heat from coming out. That said, since the Hand Warmer can get pretty darn hot (enough to burn) at times, I would recommend keeping the bag handy when you’re out and about. Sadly, there really is no way of of getting around the awful filling up unless you use your own.

Also take note: It may take a few tries the very first time you attempt to light the Hand Warmer. And remember that the burner should glow a faint red when it’s properly lit. (LightersDirect’s tutorial video does a good job explaining how to operate a Zippo Hand Warmer.)

Price: $20
Source: Zippo

(Image credits: Raymond Wong/Dapper Guide)