"Scott Seidman" wrote in message
. 1.4...

Has anyone tried electric socks under waders, or those chemical foot
warmers that stick on to the bottom of the socks.

Scott

From my wilderness survival training, its advised to stay away from those.
When you insert an external heat source like those chemical warmers, your
feet (and sympathetically, your hands and other extremities) will
vasodialate since its so toasty there. The result is that you will lose heat
through your hands, arms and lower legs while your feet stay toasty. Then,
once the heat pack is exhausted, you get even colder since all that blood is
in your feet, losing heat.

Instead, its better to find ways to get your body to generate more heat,
warming you from the inside, and to retain that heat in your boots. If your
feet are properly insulated, then the heat you generate naturally will be
retained in your socks and boot and keep you warm.

Think about the similar thing in a sleeping bag. A tight-fitting,
lightweight bag will kill you if you put a warm heater in it, and curl
around it. Your front might be warm, but you will be losing so much heat out
of your back that it won't matter. Then, when the heater runs out, you'll
freeze to death. Conversely, if you are in a loose, well insulated bag, your
body will make a warm space and you will be fine in it without an external
heat source.

--riverman