[tomppu]

Hi!
I've been working on my new job (small apple-farm) for some time and during the spring cleaning we found this strange package... No idea what it might be, haven't open it yet since it can contain some nasty stuff (although the packaging looks pretty harmless). Already we've found some very old gun powder, so that can be almost anything. About 9x5cm plastic wrap (picture here) and inside was about centimeter thick brown little bag of something that felt like powder of some sort.

If anybody can tell me what the package says, maybe we can go ahead and look inside the package... thanks in advance!

t�mppu

EDIT: the size was bigger than I first remembered

[rjenkinson]

it's for warming your feet or legs, most likely a pouch containing two materials which produce warmth when combined.

-r.

[wataru]

rjenkinson nailed it. The product's name is "Hokaron." "Hokahoka" is a Japanese onomatopoeia that indicates warmth or heat.

But, "Oriental experts?" What are you, from the 18th century?

[John V. Smith]

Originally posted by wataru:
rjenkinson nailed it. The product's name is "Hokaron." "Hokahoka" is a Japanese onomotopoeia that indicates warmth or heat.

"Oriental experts?" What are you, from the 18th century?

products from the east are said to be from the orient. afaik this is not an archaic word. plus the guy says he's from scandinavia so give him a break on his diction..

[PacHead]

And I can attest that the package works damn good.

This past winter, some friends and I took a vacation to an arctic,frigid place, and one of them had a few of those packs with them.

The small ones that go inside boots/shoes worked good.

[OwlBoy]

Maybe its like these! http://www.grabberwarmers.com/handwarmer.htm

-Owl

[koldhardd]

Actually "orient" is archaic according to m-w.com (dictionary).
and besides, the orient & asia are different. i think the orient is generally around persia (think oriental rugs). i guess that was pretty east back in the day.
But I do know that Asians do not like to be called orientals. Even "asian" is very broad since most countries have their own unique culture.

[macroy]

My mother gave me these packets that looks like saline drips - except its all sealed and it has this nickle sized disk in it. you simply snap the disk, and it gets really hot. Lasts about and hour, then cools off and the liquid becomes a solid. You then simply boil it in water.. and it returns to its original condition. Pretty cool... not sure how/why it works though.

[Scifience]

Yep, it is a Japanese hand warmer. I happen to have one sitting on my desk right now.

No real danger in opening it, just don't burn yourself.

[tomppu]

Thanks for the replies guys! I think we save this little wonder for some cold winter day...
As for "oriental experts", sorry if I insulted somebody. I wasn't even sure what language that text is, now I know better. Koldhardd mentioned about orient being generally around Persia and to me the picture somehow brings that to mind so...

t�mppu

[wataru]

Originally posted by tomppu:
to me the picture somehow brings that to mind so...

Agreed. I don't know why there's a magic carpet guy there. The product website doesn't say where the name came from, in case it's supposed to be a pun on something other than "hokahoka."