 My first introduction to GRABBER products was on an elk hunt a few years ago. My guide had several warmers among his gear and praised their effectiveness, as well as that of the GRABBER Cozy MuffTM. Curiosity overtook me and I studied a package while I filled the daypack with my other hand. I still frequently use them to break the chill when I’m squirrel hunting late autumn. That way, I don’t have to bulk up to stay warm.
GRABBER quite impressively has supplied air-activated warmers to the outdoor industry for over 2 decades and is the official supplier for the National Ski Patrol and Professional Ski Instructors of America. This company also is involved in The Conservation Alliance of Outdoor Businesses giving back to the outdoors. GRABBER also makes a respectable effort to reach out and market to the Spanish-speaking populace. (Si tú hablas Español, debes saber que GRABBER se oferta calientadores ultra, mega, de las manos, y para la punta del pie, para los pies, para el cuerpo, y más.)
In addition to their broad new product line, GRABBER would do well to supply a hat liner as well as warmers designed for the ears and the neck. Perhaps they have these entering the production line for the fall.
The fact remains that being cold equates to neither a pleasant experience in the field nor an effective hunt. Appropriate clothing (layered, insulatory, quiet, and adequate for environment and climate) should be the hunter’s first priority in gear preparation. Utterly dedicated big game hunters, most of us will go anywhere and brave the elements for a chance to take our dream game species. We follow the musk-ox and caribou to the tundra, the deer through the frosty deciduous forests, chase the elk among the Rockies, and hunt the leopard in cold Tanzanian nights.
The precision tool-and-die and plastic injection molding field is familiar to me, and I have been exposed to the process of heat-treating for years. To me, “Heat Treat” is more than a catchy slogan for GRABBER’s line of products—it is a bold statement and a knowing promise, a promise that I set out to test. My verdict? Exceptionally accurate: GRABBER came through.
 The cold on the edges of the clear-cut in late October becomes unbearable when waiting for that elusive monster buck to show, and my GRABBER warmers were the ticket. When I was a child, before I ever carried my own weapon on hunts, my dad brought me on deer hunts to this same place. So cold I was that I could not stop shivering and the numbing pain distracted me from everything but the fact that I needed to get warm. Trying not to complain, I remember sitting still, grimacing and dreaming of alleviating my predicament. I finally broke and told my dad that I couldn’t take it any longer. By the time I got home, heat radiating from the furnace felt like the pits of hell and I had to soak my hands in lukewarm water to break the pain before they could stand to be exposed to any higher temperatures. Obviously, my father was not aware of the extent of my freezing extremities; he felt badly when I declined to accompany him to that place during December for several years thereafter. Admittedly, I was very young then and do not remember if my then unexercised self-discipline and youthful sensitivity to the elements contributed to this aversion to the cold, but I do know that the experience became etched to my permanent memory. That incident has become more of a fond recollection now, but it has nonetheless stressed for me personally how uncomfortable and distracting bitter cold can be. There is no reward in being cold, but there is satisfaction in finding a product that will allow you to bypass or at least stifle the effects of the cold.
GRABBER Performance Group may be a division based out of the States, but their products are certainly useful around the globe. From the Italian Alps to the Kalahari, these air-activated warmers will do their job outstandingly. “Wait a minute,” you say. “What would this product do for me in an African desert?”
 South African hunters—and any others who have hunted the Kalahari in autumn and winter from late May to early August—will tell you that this situation is most conducive to the use of GRABBER warmers. The mornings are refreshingly or bitterly cold, depending on how you choose to regard the situation. Either way, warmers which allow the hunter to maintain a core body temperature as close to 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit as possible in the early hours keep you on your game, should your moment of truth come early in the day. The warmers can be peeled off quickly when temperatures rise at midday. I was glad I brought some along on my recent plainsgame hunt in the Limpopo of South Africa.
GRABBER Warmers for feet are available S/M, which correlates to Women’s shoe sizes 5-8 and Men’s sizes 4-7, and M/L, fitting Women’s shoe sizes 9 and above and Men’s 8+.
Remember that we are warm-blooded creatures and that maintaining homeostasis is essential for physical endurance and longevity in the field, bush, tundra, or woodlands. If your next hunt takes you to a frigid climate and you wish to remain warm, contact GRABBER and let them “share the warmth” with you.
GRABBER Performance Group
4600 Danvers Drive SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49512 USA
Tel. 616/940.1914 or
1.800.423.1233 (USA and Canada)
www.warmers.com
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