Heater type for Kodiak Canvas tent?

[The_Dude]

I have searched but can't really find a definitive answer. What kind of heater would serve my need best? I am ok camping in the cold but a heater would make the wife much more willing.

I have heard of ventilation issues with propane. I don't camp in places where I can plug in an electric heater. Don't have a stack outlet for a small wood burning stove. What would be my best option?

This is my tent. It has two vents at the top and we could leave the tops of the doors unzipped. Just curious if this would provide enough ventilation for a propane heater?

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[Crom]

Use a Buddy heater, you need 9sq inches of ventilation. Works great.

 

[Thean]

Ive come across a couple threads on hunting forums where guys are modifying the tent for a chimney stack. Some of them turn out clean, others pretty ghetto. But because those guys are living in them for a week to two in the fall, they make it work with a small wood burner unit.

 

[THATSALEXUS?]

We have a 10 x 10 Springbar and two Buddy heaters to choose from. We never attempt to run the heaters all night, just to improve the livability when necessary. I can tell you that at 20°-30° outside, the Little Buddy will keep the inside comfortable at best and the Big Buddy can pretty much cook you out of the tent, probably regardless of the outside temps

 

[thefishhawk]

It doesn't take a whole lot to warm up a tent. I think a propane one is fine if you already have one and are just using it for the 10 mins before to get into bed and rolling over in the morning to heat things up to get out. Any more than that you want something rated for indoor, I think they are called catalytic heaters that run on propane, Mr Heater and Coleman sell little ones that would work.

The fancy ones are Zodi, the heater is outside and there's a tube to pump the hot air inside. You need some kind of 12v batt to run the fan too. Way more expensive.

 

[The_Dude]

So you don't run it all night. Got it. Just until the tent warms up. Mr buddy sounds like the best option right now.


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[98roamer]

Mr Buddy is plenty for use to use in the morning and getting ready for bed.

 

[gsdog2]

Tested my single burner Little Buddy inside my new Oztent RV5. It was about 52 outside and dropping. Before entering I could feel heat coming from the two upper front door vents. Once inside, it was probably too hot for running it for long lengths of time. Intermittent use, like before going to bed or waking up in the morning seems it would be perfect.

 

[All Points]

I have a 10x14 and use a Big Buddy when camping in cold temps. The canvas holds the heat well and we've only had to use the half-heat setting, except on one bitterly cold night where the temps dropped into the teens and it snowed.

 

[kmlacroix]

We have a 10 x 10 Springbar and two Buddy heaters to choose from. We never attempt to run the heaters all night, just to improve the livability when necessary. I can tell you that at 20°-30° outside, the Little Buddy will keep the inside comfortable at best and the Big Buddy can pretty much cook you out of the tent, probably regardless of the outside temps

My setup is similar to this. I can use the smallest MR Heater and the tent warms up enough. I never run the heater unless someone is awake.

 

[outdoornate65]

Heater Buddy in my Springbar T5.
Makes for a cozy canvas cabin.


Nate

 

[proper4wd]

I've run a Buddy heater all night without issue several times. This was in a thin wall coleman style tent though. In something canvas like a Kodiak, it probably wouldnt be necessary... but it would still be safe. Get the bulk adapter to a 10lb tank and stay warm all night. Life is too short to be cold for the sake of it.

 

[spressomon]

Have used our Big Buddy (18kBTU) in our 10x10 Kodiak and as others report it works great. The only time it didn't work so well, and not the fault of the Big Buddy, per se, was when on an elk hunting trip a number of years ago where I was using it to heat my then Kimberly Kamper (a little more volume than a 10x10 Kodiak) and we had 6" of snow, it was very cold and we were camped at 7,500' and I didn't have the bulk tank set-up (I have it now ). The 1lb propane canisters would get so cold (along with diminished performance of propane at higher elevations) they'd freeze up and slow the flow of propane ... especially at 1/2 full or so.

I've accidentally dropped it a couple times but it keeps on working as designed even with cracked plastic housing . Although I'd like to have a Propex set-up, I'd buy the Big Buddy again given its a fraction of the cost and works very well for our application.