Dynamic Scotland Photography Prints

I was sent this handwarmer to test by the kind people of Ocoopa who sent me the handwarmer to try out and give them some honest feedback on it. so rather than simply switch it on and say "ooh that's nice and hot and great for the cold days out with the camera".... Which it is! I decided to give it a full test and review out in the field during a full day’s photography outing and see if it's something I'd add to my day bag and recommend to anyone else.

Right now, it's late-November and here in Scotland the tops of the hills are starting to get some dustings of snow with the forecast for the week ahead showing some colder weather and hinting at the possibility of some snow on the lower foothills in the Scottish Highlands so *warm* fingers crossed, I can get out and give this handwarmer a proper test.

For anyone that's read any of my blog posts or tutorials previously might have seen me mention that I always carry a few "chemical" hand-warmers in my pack during the winter or for just spending the night on the hills shooting the night sky or doing time-lapses. Using the handwarmers helps to stop the build-up of condensation on the lens when shooting in colder air if you place one beside or near the front of your lens. (I tried the boil to reset handwarmers for a bit but most or of all the re-boil ones I tried were only giving off practical heat for around 10-15 minutes at most, I'm not knocking those. as they're ideal to have in the house for use on colder days when heading out for short periods, just no good for using on longer days out)

Air Activated, Single Use "Chemical" Handwarmers are a combination of cellulose, iron, activated carbon, vermiculite (which holds water vapours) and salt, the heat is produced by the exothermic oxidisation of the iron powder when exposed to air and can stay warm for up to 8-10 hours.

The chemical hand warmers have been a godsend on many occasions, both as a hand warmer and for keeping the lens from fogging up with condensation, especially on colder nights when I'm out shooting the night sky, so it will take a lot to convince me to change my set-up from them to the rechargeable handwarmer if I'm perfectly honest.

On first impressions of the Ocoopa Handwarmer I'm thoroughly impressed, the build is solid, and the material used in its construction is well thought out and well put together. it's ergonomic and is easy to hold firmly with one hand or clasped between both hands. as you can see above the packaging is good, well-structured box and nicely designed, and the handwarmer design itself is nice. its modern sleek design means it's not going to be out of place in any camera bag or hiking backpack alongside our other devices. Also, there's loads of different designs, colours, and styles of handwarmer products to choose from on the Ocoopa website or Amazon page so you can pick and choose which one best suit your specific tastes.

*The heat pad is large enough to heat a large area of the hand, but the overall product is still small enough to fit easily into any pocket.*

The hand Handwarmer has many features that I didn't expect but was really surprised and pleased to find out that they did have. first is that as well as a handwarmer the product also doubles as a power bank to charge some of your devices while out and about. anyone who's spent long periods out in the ice and snow knows just how quickly your phone and camera batteries can drain thanks to the cold air. so not only can the Ocoopa hand warmer keep your hands, pockets or bag nice and warm giving you a warm space to give your batteries that little bit longer life, you can also charge your batteries on the go with the handwarmer to give them a second or third life while out for a long day in the outdoors.

The power storage capacity of the hand warmer will depend on the model that you choose from. the one I have (H01PD) has a 10000mAh capacity and is also a quick charge model so can be recharged twice as fast as similar products if using a fast charge cable which many phones come with.

One thing that is forever a problem in my house is that some of my devices have the older micro-USB connectors and some have the newer USB-C connectors and there's always a hunt for whatever charging wire with the right connector you need (no matter which one you're looking for), it's almost always only the opposite one you can find. lol. So, a little bit of insight has been had here from the designers of this handwarmer as it comes with both the micro-USB and the USB-C inlet ports for charging the device as well as a 18W PD supercharge USB outlet.

The choice to use the Micro USB as well as the USB-C is a handy feature in this product and coupled with the 18W supercharge capabilities means that you spend less time charging and more time using this product. on the lower heat setting (which rose… — The choice to use the Micro USB as well as the USB-C is a handy feature in this product and coupled with the 18W supercharge capabilities means that you spend less time charging and more time using this product. on the lower heat setting (which rose above my own thermometers reading limit of 40 degrees Celsius) it lasts for up to 15hours.

The Ocoopa H01PD Handwarmer has three heat level settings for use in deferent severities of weather, so wither there is just a light chill, a cold, damp and wet day (known here in Scotland as a 'dreich' day) or a full-on blizzard you have the ability to change the heat settings to your particular needs.

The heat settings on the handwarmer will determine the length of time the devices power will last, at the lowest setting the charge is estimated to last for a full 15 hours from full charge, 12 hours on medium heat and 8 hours on the highest heat setting. so, all in all should see you through even the longest of outdoor activities on a single charge.

Being rechargeable, heat adjustable and having the added ability to be a power bank really makes this handwarmer more appealing over the single use chemical handwarmers that I normally use. I can’t strap the handwarmer to the side of my lens like I did with the small sachets of the "chemical" handwarmers, but I have the ability to plug in my USB powered lens due heater that does the exact same job, meaning that I no longer need to carry both hand warmer and power bank for this as the Ocoopa handwarmer can cover both jobs for me, a hand warmer and a lens heater power pack all in one.

The Ocoopa handwarmer working away as the power supply to my dew heater, so when it’s not keeping my hands warm it’s keeping my lens warm saving from the lens misting up with condensation by keeping the lens from dropping below the ambient temperature of the surrounding air.

OK enough about the specs and what it says it does, let’s put it to the test and see how it performs in the real world, this product boasts some really amazing features and has some pretty amazing reviews online both on their website and their amazon shopping page (I'll add a link to that below). I'll try and see how this information compares in the real world. I'll try and be as objectively honest and fair as I can possibly be as at the end of the day, I can only really recommend products that I have faith in. but reading this you may have already guessed that so far, I'm already really impressed with this product.

*Screenshots at the beginning middle and end of a charging session using the power bank function of the Ocoopa Handwarmer to keep track of the charging speed showing the time between each stage.*

The Ocoopa Handwarmer gave me almost two full charges on two high speck mobile phones using a supercharge cable. I took screenshots at the beginning, middle and end of each charging session to show the time it took for each charge. the first charge as seen above took 01h:29m to give a full charge, the second charge started at 30% battery and the Ocoopa Handwarmer managed to get the second charging session to 96% and took 02h:01m so all in all this is really impressive thanks to the 18W supercharge functionality in this product, more so as all other power banks that I've used previously have taken much longer to charge my mobile devices. the Ocoopa Handwarmer gave me a whole 60% charge in less than 40 minutes. that is impressive!

*'Cold Start', from a cold start on a frozen morning I tested the heat up time and heat temp of the Ocoopa Handwarmer and again was not disappointed with it.*

From a cold start laying on the frozen ground I picked up the hand warmer and took the temperature of the heat pad after having been sitting on the frozen grass a for a minute or so, which was around 2 - 3°C. After switching the handwarmer on there was a noticeable heat change within 00m:05s:44ms and within 01m:05s:23ms the handwarmer was at around 41°C which was more than enough to keep the hands and pockets nice and toasty, this is an ideal temperature for the heat to penetrate through thick gloves to keep your hands warm throughout the day. (Just be careful) when holding for prolonged periods in bare hands as this may get a little intense after 2 mins grasped in a tight hand for some people with sensitive hands, but super comfortable and a life saver for keeping out the cold when transferred from hand to hand. I've found that this temp is quite similar to the single use handwarmers but the benefit to the Ocoopa Handwarmer is that you can turn the heat down if you need to, you can turn it on and off as needed also, and is rechargeable so is not a single use item, so as a handwarmer option the Ocoopa wins hands down (no pun intended, lol)

From no charge the handwarmer took just under 4 hours to charge so the 3.5hr charge time on the website is accurate. So! Yet again the Ocoopa handwarmer does exactly as it says on the box.

On full power (power setting 3) the handwarmer stayed active and consistent in temperature for 07h:04m, on medium power, it lasted for 10h:10m and on low power it lasted for 12h:05m. so not the full respective 15h, 12h and 8h as advertised but that being said I didn't test under optimal lab settings. I was testing in the outdoors and on the move in ever changing conditions and temperatures throughout the day so have to add that this is still impressive times for the device to keep its heat.

December!!!

It's now December and here in Scotland the first proper dumping of snow has arrived, but this also coincides with the current travel restrictions that are in place due to the global outbreak of Covid-19 so travel up into the highlands is not possible for me just now which is disappointing for many reasons but one of which was that I had planned on taking the Ocoopa hand warmer and testing it in the field on a day’s photography outing in the snowy mountains of the Scottish Highlands. so a trek up into the local moors was where I got the chance to put the handwarmer to the usefulness test instead.

*'When Jack Frost comes nipping at your toes'*

'When the winter comes, and Jack Frost comes nipping at your toes' You can at least be secure in the knowledge that your fingers are held in good stead! lol. all I can say is that I'm so glad I had this handwarmer with me yesterday, I was out shooting in the Ayrshire moors on the west coast of Scotland and got caught up in several snowstorms throughout the day. at one point I sat my gloves down on some rocks and when I went to put them back on, they were like blocks of ice on my hands.

The pain was quite bad, and it hurt putting my hands in my pocket. but as mentioned earlier the Ocoopa hand warmer only takes several seconds to heat up and within a minute or so my hands were starting to heat up and fingers regaining some function. so, this handwarmer really is going to be an important piece of kit in my camera bag from now on during the winter months.

For the whole of the day shooting, I only really had to take the handwarmer out on about three or four occasions, but each time I did I was so thankful that I had it there, and as the light started to fade at the end of the day and the temperature started to plummet this is when I was mostly grateful for having the handwarmer charged up and in my bag. it was a long 2 mile or so walk back to the car and the temperature had dropped well below zero, everything was damp and cold, and my hands were beginning not to function as well as I would like especially as a bit of scrambling was involved to get back down the hills. but again, the handwarmer completely had me covered holding the hand warmer in my gloved hands it was hot enough to heat up the glove and penetrate through to my hands and kept my hands and spirits warm till I got back to the car where I could put it on charge if need and be ready for the next morning or stored for the next outing.... and just in-case I forget to mention! (I highly recommend this handwarmer!!!)

*Charge on the go to keep the charger available for any occasion*

Perfect for anyone who needs to get their hands warm and get them warm fast. after a full day out in the freezing snow covered moors this handwarmer came in super useful and at one point was essential to get the heat back into my hands before a poor situation became a dire one. that might seem a wee bit dramatic with this just being in the local moors, but when things turn bad and you’re out on a frozen mountain range, miles from anywhere one small mistake can lead to larger and more dire situations. so (even if it's just the air activated sachet ones), I would highly recommend keeping some sort of heat source in your emergency/first aid pack when out on a full day adventures during the Scottish winters.

Ocoopa have many different models of handwarmers ranging in design, power storage capacities and price ranges which are available to buy from their website or amazon page.

https://www.ocoopa.com/

Many thanks for taking the time to read this review by myself Sylvan Buckley (Dynamic Scotland Photography) I will try and give as much information as I possibly can whenever reviewing any product in the hope that it can help you make an informed decision if interested in the product each of the reviews. I'll be as objective as I possibly can and give an honest review wither this is good points or bad points. but I will never recommend a product that I would not use myself or spend my limited budget on myself.

Many thanks once again for reading, take care and all the very best!

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Sylvan Buckley (Dynamic Scotland Photography)