Reasonable comfort is essential to the individual who wants to spend as much time in the woods as he or she can during those too-few days reserved for hunting. Cold is one entity that can rob the hunter of hours outside. A freezing hunter is one who will abandon the stand and seek the warmth of camp or home.
PolarWrap, LLC has addressed this issue with three products that assist in warding off the cold. These are the ExChanger II mask, the Toasty Feet Insoles, and the PolarPad.
The mask system, available in both the Full Head Cover and ExChanger II, operates on the premise of transferring warm air and water vapor back to the user. The Full Head Cover is designed for moderate efficiency; the ExChanger II is designed for maximum efficiency. Both masks contain a patented thermal exchange module which traps the warmth from exhaled breath and warms the cold air that is inhaled. Protecting the body core from the invasion of cold air is a key ingredient to cold weather comfort. With this system, the user is actually breathing 80-degree air even when the temperatures are at the freezing mark. Both masks are now offered in Realtree AP.
A second product from PolarWrap is the Toasty Feet Insole. Designed to be trimmed to fit and placed inside a shoe or boot, Toasty Feet Insoles employ the nonporous insulating material aerogel. This product was developed for and is used by NASA in space suits and spacecraft. It is the lightest and lowest-density solid known to exist and has the highest thermal insulation value of any solid material available. It helps block the transfer of heat or cold from outside the shoe/boot sole to the foot.
One plus of aerogel is that its insulating qualities are not impacted by compression. Unlike insulating materials that require loft to block heat or cold, aerogel maintains its insulating properties even when compressed, which will occur when a product is used under the foot. And it is light and thin enough to fit into practically any shoe or boot. Toasty Feet Insoles are in all my hunting boots.
The third product in the line up, the PolarPad, works much the same as the Toasty Feet Insole. Also made with aerogel, the PolarPad is a light 12×16 inch pad that folds to 12×4 inces for easy transport. It can be used on the seat of a deer stand or at the stadium for sporting events. It also affords an efficient moisture barrier, so it is ideal for hunters who sit on the ground. And since it blocks heat as well as cold, PolarPad could be ideal for those days when the truck seat has been soaking up the sun and warming to the point of being unbearable.
PolarPad can be had in two colors: cream and black. It also comes with or without grommets. Pads with grommets can be tied to a belt or a string around the waist to provide a ready seat wherever the hunter decides to sit. The mobile hunter, such as the turkey hunter, should find this latter unit particularly appealing.
Contact: PolarWrap; (800) 967-9727; www.polarwrap.com.
