We’ve tried many ways to stay warm on our hunting stands, but we recently came across a simple, lightweight product that is keeping our entire CORE nice and cozy this season.
by the HuntDaily staff
I doubt that anyone has conducted a serious poll to see how many hunters sit on a stand during deer rifle season, but I’d be surprised if it’s anywhere south of 90-percent. The truth is, most of us get up in a treestand, crawl into a ground blind, or settle into a shooting shack of some flavor, and that’s where we sit for hours at a stretch, or even for an entire day. Every region is different, but where I hunt in the Appalachians, rifle season means temperatures in the 30s and 40s. After a couple hours of sitting quietly in those conditions, I’m usually getting the Big Chill.
We recently came across a new product that puts the squash on the Deer Stand Freeze. It’s called the Chaheati Heated Add-On, and it is designed to work with most of the folding chairs and seats that we use while hunting from a treestand or ground blind.
The Heated Add-On has a thin, woven heating element (versus hard and bulky coils) sandwiched between a rugged outer shell that is made from a fire- and water-resistant fabric. This element is powered by a small, rechargeable lithium battery integrated into a palm-sized control unit. The controller stows in its own compartment, out of the way, so you’re not sitting on something hard and there is no loose hardware hanging off your seat.
You can choose between four different heat settings. Which setting you use determines how long the charge will last:
- Low (6 hours @ 98.6-100.4º F)
- Medium (3.5 hours @ 109.4-113º F)
- High (2.5 hours @ 125.6-131º F)
- Max (1.8 hours @ 141.8-145.4º F)
As you can see, you can adjust the Heated Add-On to your specific needs. I usually spend a full morning and afternoon in the stand, so the medium or high setting will keep me cozy until I come in at noon, when I’ll recharge the battery while I’m eating lunch and taking a rest. If I’m hunting away from camp, I use the optional 12-volt charger and use my truck to recharge the battery.
The Chaheati Heated Add-On secures to most any folding chair or “lounge-style” treestand seat by way of its integrated hook-and-loop patches. The entire unit folds up small enough to fit in your daypack, so it is no problem to take it with you at the end of the day. Of course, you can leave it in the field and just bring the battery back home or camp to recharge for the next day’s hunt.
Operation of the Chaheati Heated Add-On is straightforward. Simply slip it onto your seat, plug in the controller, select your heat setting, and get to hunting. It only takes 15-20 seconds for the heating element to do its thing, so you don’t waste power while you wait for relief from the cold.
The Chaheati Heated Add-On is new to the hunting marketplace, but the good news is that you can find it at many key outdoor retailers throughout the country. Just go to the Chaheati retailer page to locate the dealer nearest you. If you live out in the sticks like we do and don’t have a retailer close by, you can purchase direct from the company.
The first time I tried the Heated Add-On, I was surprised at how quickly it warmed up. I set the temperature at MAX because, to be honest, I’m a skeptic by nature and had my doubts as to how effective something so light and battery powered would perform in the field. Surprisingly, it was no time before the Heated Add-On put the coal in my caboose and I had to dial it back to LOW. The same thing happened to my wife a couple of nights later at home. We were watching TV and she complained of being cold. I dug into my hunting gear bin and brought her the Heated Add-On. Five minutes later she said, “Dang! How do you turn this thing down? I’m getting hot!”
Needless to say, I have officially kicked my skepticism to the curb.
Oh, and another great thing we like about the Chaheati Heated Add-On is that once hunting season is over, we can use it pretty much anywhere we need a little extra comfort—fishing, grilling those backstraps on the deck, sitting around the bonfire… That’s what we call maximizing our investment!
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Article copyright 2015 by HuntDaily.com; promoted by Chaheati
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