I Never Leave Home in Winter Without These (Cheap) Heated Gadgets

It never fails to annoy me when I tell my friends here in New York City that I am cold and they reply, "But you're from North Dakota! This is nothing compared to what you grew up with." I know . Why do you think I left the coldest state in the continental U.S. as soon as I turned 18? I hate the cold in North Dakota, but that doesn't mean I hate the cold in New York any less. Indeed, wherever I am in winter, I'm at war with the cold-midwestern cold, northeastern cold, it's all cold. This is why I've devised a number of plans to mitigate it, and the most useful of my anti-cold measures is the collection of heated accessories I cart around with me every day. These gadgets are inexpensive, effective, and small enough to stash in my bag once I'm back in the warm embrace of the indoors after a shivering commute. How to choose good cold-weather devices My friends do have a point: Us North Dakotans have come up with all kinds of ways to stay warm. Buildings in more populated areas are connected by skyways or underground tunnels, for instance, and people spend a small fortune each winter heating their garages so no one ever has to step into the cold for a second, even to get into the car. Growing up somewhere the cold can literally kill you if you're not prepared means growing up in a culture built around hacks to keep you out of it. When I moved to New York, I found it less cold, but I also discovered I was not ready for the reality of being outside and walking around in the winter. So I called on the spirit of my resourceful ancestors, replicating their anti-freezing measures on a smaller, personalized, more urban scale. I learned a lot along the way. For example, those crushable hand and foot warmers are useless because they're ineffective and will ultimately disintegrate into a grainy mess in your pockets or boots. Wearing a bunch of layers doesn't work for me either, because I'm still vain enough that I want to look cute and stylish when I get wherever I'm going, and that's not happening with multiple thermal base layers puffing up my outfit. The Download Newsletter After much trial and error, I've come to rely on "heat tech" that meets the following criteria:: It's small (so I can store it away post-commute) It's cheap (because so am I) It's effective at keeping me warm (or at least making me less cold) My favorite self-warming gadgets All of that preamble aside, here are three gadgets I consider an essential part of my winter warming kit. CooCoCo Portable Heating Pad $19.99 at Amazon $19.99 at Amazon Heated Scarf $19.99 at Amazon $29.99 Save $10.00 $19.99 at Amazon $29.99 Save $10.00 Heated Gloves $19.99 at Amazon $19.99 at Amazon A wearable heating pad My winter time bag always includes a wearable heating pad...

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