Heaters can we use snow?

[dirtbag]

Good test !
However....
Snow has 1/10 th the amount of water for the same volume.
I think you would have to completely fill up the FRH to get the same amount of water needed (fill line).
I think the reason they stopped early was not enough liquid, only some of the chemicals was reacting.
Try a full bag next time.

[housil]

Snow/ice has the wrong aggregate phase at all.
You need some liquid!

[Imon]

Good test !
However....
Snow has 1/10 th the amount of water for the same volume.
I think you would have to completely fill up the FRH to get the same amount of water needed (fill line).
I think the reason they stopped early was not enough liquid, only some of the chemicals was reacting.
Try a full bag next time.

Yes, maybe you are right and the FRH would work with more snow but not without adding salt or somethin else which melts the snow.Good idea for a further test
But the FRH of 1992 wouldnt work with everything.
The test with crushed wetly ice shows that it also depends on the age of the FRH whether they work well or not.

[kman]

Great field test and pics, Imon!

Today we finally got some real snow here in North Carolina. It's been about 2 years since we've had any snow actually stick to the ground.

Backyard

At long last, I can test this FRH and snow stuff myself - even though there's not much point to it since Imon seems to have tested everything out. But here are my pictures and experiences anyway.

I filled the FRH full of snow and as everyone else has discovered, it did nothing - not even when I held it in my (now freezing) hands for a few minutes. I eventually brought the FRH inside and let it sit in a warm house but after 10 minutes, there wasn't any heating action. I thought I could kick-start things by adding a little water to the heater and that did produce some steam but it stopped after 30 seconds...so I must not have added enough for the reaction to go "critical". After 15 minutes of waiting around, I decided I really should start working on something else so I left the FRH in the kitchen sink. The snow eventually melted, but I'm not sure what happened with the chemical element of the heater.

FRH from 2005

FRH packed with snow

[housil]

Hehe... ...freezing hand...

[kman]

Yes...sadly, it's been a long time since I've been in snow. After cramming snow in an FRH for a few minutes my hands started to burn from the cold and I believe my exact words were, "Motherf***ker! That stuff is cold!"