Mr. Heater Buddy in a large tent?

Brett C

Brett C

Adventurist
Senior Staff
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Any of you guys ever use one of these? I have a 10x10 floor plan with 6 foot ceiling canvas kodak tent. I can easily open vent areas etc. My wife is a pansy for cold lol. I hunt year round in a small tent and never worry about cold but if she's cold I'm awake too lol.


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I've used mine a few times in a large 10x20 and a smaller 7x10 tent, on low it will keep the frost off you in the smaller tent, the larger tent it took med to high, burns through gas like crazy so get a adapter and use a 20lb tank. Make sure to vent the tent some, Mr. Heater has a low O2 sensor but no CO detector. Or you could play it safe and get a good sleeping bag and just use the heater to warm up the tent in the morning.
 
The two downsides are humidity build up in a tent, and the risk of CO2 poisoning if you do not vent the tent properly. These are best used at night to "pre-warm" the space and in the morning again to knock down the chill before getting out of the bag.

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Dave said:
The two downsides are humidity build up in a tent, and the risk of CO2 poisoning if you do not vent the tent properly. These are best used at night to "pre-warm" the space and in the morning again to knock down the chill before getting out of the bag.

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That's the info I'm looking for. I got her a fleece sleeping bag liner. She should be good with that. That's what I use when it's really cold which just makes it harder to get up and pee in the middle of the night hah


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I used one for a while. I've used it in my Oztent RV-4 and my 1.2m RTT :eek:. If you are going to use one definitely vent your tent. I had my the side windows on both my tents cracked and also had a CO detector in there with me. I ended up buying that sleeping bag that was reviewed on this board and stopped bringing the buddy along. Amazing how much better/safer it is just having the appropriate gear for the weather. Heres a shot of how I had mine setup at MRV2012. Opposite side of the with the window behind it cracked like half way and the window next to where I slept on the opposite wall open too.
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I have the same kodiak tent, it will keep it warm. I keep a CO alarm in the tent, and the heaters are supposedly safe, but I still dont trust them. We will run it for a few min when getting into the sleeping bags, then I will turn it on for the wife when i get up in the morning.
 
Had same size Springbar 10x10 tent and the Mr. Buddy will keep it nice and toasty. Agree with all the other comments and advice. It'll burn thru a small propane bottle in less than a night, so the adapter to a 20 lb tank would be necessary if you run it all night. Vent the tent is a must, even on the coldest of nights if you leave it on through the night. I did in the Springbar and still do in my Globetrotter, turn on the heater about 10 minutes before I plan on turning in and then again in the morning to take the chill out of the tent. With a good warm sleeping bag, that's all you need. I do not leave it on all night.
 
I used the Mr. Buddy heater in my RV2 with attached front and side panels on 2 occasions this last winter. I did not die from asphyxiation.

First event was 3 days in length and the temperatures were in the teens at night and single digits from the wind-chill. The second event hovered around freezing with brisk winds that brought the temperature lower and was plagued with a driving rain for about half of the 5 days there.

The unit is fueled by a bulk cylinder of propane of which I have a duplex splitter and run 2 lines - one to the heater and the other to the stove. I didn't feel the need to heat the tent while I was asleep. I used it to warm up the 2 spaces then hit the sack (both bags of the military issue sleeping system only) in comfort. The switch to turn it on was close enough to reach from my rack with self-inflating sleeping pad, so I'd turn it on when I got up - waited for the temp to rise, and carried out the plan for the day. My OZ-Tent is not air tight - there are enough gaps from joining the panels that there is always sufficient venting I didn't feel the need to heat the tent while I was asleep. The only condensation inside the 2 spaces was noted on the front paneled space on the peaked roof panels, but I could also attribute that to my respiratory exchange and not necessarily the evening and morning warm-up.

I assert it's important to have a space between you and the ground and/or a decent insulating pad with closed air cells... oh, there I go again with that whole air gap thing.

Much like my wife, a good piece of kit.
 
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We use the little buddy version in our popup camper. It does a good job keeping the chill off as others have noted, and thats in a pretty large and drafty popup. In the popup I have no problems running it at night since we are on the bunkends and well above any CO that might accumulate. Plus there are enough leaks and cracks that its not a problem. The little buddy does get a bit hard to start when its cold out though.

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Brian
 
We used it once in our large Coleman tent before switching to the RTT, and I felt like it wasn't remotely worth the propane we burned through. Temps were down in the low 30's and I still spent most of the night trying to keep our little one warm. We wound up abandoning the tent the next night and rigging it up to sit in the window of the Xterra with the other windows down for ventilation. Now THAT was a comfortable, toasty night!
 
Having tried all possible options in all conditions (Korea, Alaska, the high Sierras or Death Valley in January come to mind), experience has taught me a valuable lesson: The best way to keep warm is two bodies in a high quality sleeping bag. A good bag removes the need for any heater IMHO.

YMMV ;)
 
I worry more about my youngins and wife than me but with that said she's not stealing my warmth!! Suck the life right out of ya!! ER I mean I don't get cold just her lol.


Brett C.
IronworksTactical.com - owner
 
For younguns, an oft overlooked item is the 12v electric blanket or mattress warmer that truckers use. Turn it on 30-45 minutes before bed time and - BAM! They go right to sleep and everybody is happy ;)
 
Dave said:
For younguns, an oft overlooked item is the 12v electric blanket or mattress warmer that truckers use. Turn it on 30-45 minutes before bed time and - BAM! They go right to sleep and everybody is happy ;)
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Sweet means I won't have to share the whiskey . Hahaha jk


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I use my Buddy heater every weekend during ski season in the back of my truck (canopy). Some nights I run it all night others just to warn it up a bit. Windows cracked and I am elevated above the heat a foot or so. Since I have insolated the side of my truck bed and the thin spots of the canopy I am sure I will only need to run it to warm up the shut it off before bed time.
 
I have a Overland roof top tent on my trailer. Over the Thanksgiving weekend we had temps down to 24 degrees at Stage coach Trails camp ground. Need less to say but I will say it anyway everything outside the tent froze even my truck doors. We run a HS2000 Proplex heater for the tent. We ran it both nights with out shutting it off and we were extremely warm both nights. No problems at all. I must say I am very impressed with the set up we have. The sleeping bags we have are rated for -10 we even had a comfort on top of that and we were not cold by any means. Just my 2 cents.
 
I have used my little buddy in my older cabin style tent and now in my "woods condo" tent. It is mostly used to take the chill out of the tent before changing and climbing into bed at night and as a little bit of encouragement to get out of bed in the morning, but I have ran it all night before with some good ventilation and before I upgraded my sleeping bag. A few things to consider; Make sure you have plenty of clearance space around the heater, and if possible, keep it off the tent floor on a solid, hard surface. On a tent floor, especially if set up on grass, even a footstep could cause it to tip. While designed to turn off if that happens, the metal cage can melt your tent floor. Also make sure that the heater is far enough away from the side of the tent, taking into account that wind could blow the tent sides in a lot farther than you think. Try to keep a few feet between you and the heater, to both help even out the warmth and to prevent flipping a bag, blanket, or body part onto it. And, always vent. Even if you plan on just warming up before bed, there's always the chance you'll fall asleep before turning the heat off.

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Makes a rainy night cozy too

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I
Ironworks Tactical said:
Any of you guys ever use one of these? I have a 10x10 floor plan with 6 foot ceiling canvas kodak tent. I can easily open vent areas etc. My wife is a pansy for cold lol. I hunt year round in a small tent and never worry about cold but if she's cold I'm awake too lol.


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I have a 10x10 canvas wall tent with an 8ft peak. It works well but those 1# bottles lasts half the night. Buy the hose adapter and run a real propane tank. Sure good bags help, we also travel with heavy wool blankets, but with kids aged 5 and 4 a warm tent helps when they flip and roll out of their bags and off their cots.
 
I have found running a fan from the ceiling of the tent helps in keeping all the hot air from staying at the top tent.
 
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