Instant ice/heat packs

Has anyone else here ever thought of using these things for survival? A typical cold pack contains the ionic compound ammonium nitrate sale which reacts with water. If you are stranded in a hot & dry place (like last nights Surviorman), an instant cold pack can come in handy. It can cool you off, and in a pinch you can drink the water inside the pouch(before crushing the dry stuff into it). Any thoughts on these things?

I carry a couple in the large FAK (home, car camping, fishing trips). Have worked well for burns and sprains. Over the years my FAK seems to have evolved to focus mainly on burns, cuts and guts. (City boys playing with fire and sharp instruments.) I've always thought the instant ice packs took up too much room for a BOB or woods bag.

M

I carry these sometimes when hiking in very hot weather. Throw one in a bucket of water and you have a nice cold drink on those 100 degree Alabama summer camping trips.

I used them quite a bit at the pool I used to lifeguard at, and I was never really that impressed with them. They worked, but they didn't stay cold for very long, and we'd end up using a few of them to treat a single injury. Who knows, maybe we just had the cheap ones?

Personally, I don't think they are worth their space or weight in a back pack. I would rather carry an extra water bottle. You could use a cold pack to cool off, but I don't think it would last long enough to be worth carrying. If it's a really hot day out, then as JRR mentioned, they may have some value as a drink cooler. However, in a car or home kit (where space and weight aren't as big of an issue), they are better than nothing and probably worth having around.

I can't imagine drinking the water in them, but that's just my hesitation.

I always carry a few when car camping. I've used them at Burning Man on a couple of people who sprained something - each worked long enough for the EMTs to arrive and haul the wounded off to better treatment. I'm hoping it kept swelling down.

I've used heat packs to keep warm at some events where it was uncomfortably cool but not exactly cold (San Francisco) and for muscle strain on myself.

I've got both heat and cold packs here at home, and that's likely where my survival situation will occur, due to earthquake. So if I can get to them, I'll have them; but I'm not carrying them around in evacuation kits. I think I'll put some in my survival van, though, now that you've reminded me.


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Euripides? Eumenides.

Burning man...

Now thats a place i've Always wanted to spend a week at..

Someday..

On average, I use an instant cold-pack five times a month. I have an 8 year old boy, and he has a bunch of 8 year old friends. Put them together and you have plenty of ice-packs used. I keep a bunch in my Jeep too, for the usual sprains and bumps of life.
I carry a tiny cooler in the jeep as well, on occasion I pick something up that I'd like to keep cool and I don't have any ice, so I pop a large pack and throw it in there and it helps.
I keep a small one in my FAK, this gets used often enough. That leads to the inevitable FAK discussion, I'll just leave it at my kids are limited to mostly ways to stop the bleeding, sooth the bruise and burn, and that's about it. I have a very minimal pharmacy (Tylenol, immodium) and minimal tools (Medic Shears, BP Cuff and Stethoscope, Flashlight, Sam SPlint, Tweezers & Forceps). It's mostly about keeping things from getting worse, not making things better.

I pack several instant heat packs in my winter car kits -- a cheap, fast way to warm up.

Teacher

I've always relied on them as a ready source of ammonium nitrate. Using that to cool stuff seems such a waste...

-Blast, still on the road.

I sure wouldn't wanna get on your bad side Blast....

I don't know that I'd want to take my chances drinking that water, but...

I keep an instant ice pack in my FAK, as I've found that getting cold on something right away can make the difference between an ankle you're walking on the next day and one that you're limping on for a week. Numerous first aid applications there.

These days I always keep one in my hydration pack for long trail runs in case I find myself having problems coping with the heat (or in case I do something stupid which would require immediate icing).

In the winter I carry a couple of reusable heat packs. Although I wouldn't count on them to keep me alive they do provide a little creature comfort when things get too chilly.