Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Mr. Heater Portable Buddy in a tent?

I've used one in a pop-up camper many times. The main problem I've seen with them is that they dump lots of water into the heated space which will condense and freeze on the inside of the tent. Generous ventilation helps but does not completely solve the problem.

None of my heaters have a low O² shutoff, as if I'd trust my life to it if one did. Like a safety on a firearm, I consider such features as a backup in case I do something stupid.

Get one of those small Honda generators, then you can have elec heat. No worries then

Do any of you have a vent free heater in the house or shop? Those are the same as a Buddy Heater except they aren't portable.
Propane combustion normally produces CO2 and water for exhaust. If the gas-air ratio is off a little, either high or low, combustion is incomplete and CO is produced. A CO detector is a very good idea for both a tent and your home if you have a vent free heater.

If they were deadly there would be thousands and thousands of dead Rver's by now as catalytic heaters are very popular in the RV world.I have owned and used the wave 3/the wave 6 and the wave 8 (which is running right now in my house and has all night long)..I also own the big buddy and the portable buddy, that I use in my Lance camper.If you follow the instructions you will live another day.(laughing)..Crack a window and especially one by your bed and you will be just fine!..I used the big buddy heater in a 10X12 tent and the only problem I had was the moisture it created.When 9-1 happened I was in a tent with the big buddy on low as we scouted for hunting season.

I use the wave 8 in my house when it gets into the 30's at night to keep the heat pump from kicking on the expensive electric furnace before I start using wood, when it's really cold.I crack the window just above the heater and my wife always has the window above our bed cracked..Same way we do it in any of the RV's we have used them in for many many years.There the cat's meow for rving.They use no electricity and consume no battery power unlike the rv furnaces!

Reference your source please.

KC,

Please read the entire thread. You'll find it to be a proven fact.





Dave

I use a catalytic heater in my house whn it just is not cold enough to fire up the wood stove.Sometime I use the big buddy heater with more btu's and like now,I am using a Wave 8 catalytic heater for those not cold enough for a wood stove mornings.

I use on in my tent for about ten minutes before getting in my sleeping bag. Knocks off the chill while changing once in my sleeping bag, I turn it off until the morning. Then in the morning, I will simply reach over and turn it on a few minutes before I need to get up. Once I am dressed and ready, I turn it off. No ill effects as of year from years of use.

I do set it on an over-sized tile from a remodel to keep the heater off the floor material in the tent.


We have used them in deer blinds for hours on end without any ill effects as well.

I have a Big Buddy in my camp trailer as the sole heat. I have it on a hose from the bulk tank. I only use it at night to keep the pipes from freezing when the outside temp gets down below 25. If it stays above 25 outside, the camper won't go much below 40. A CO detector is mandatory, of course.

I have been investigating these Mr. Heater Buddy heaters ever since this year's gathering in Armijo Springs.

As those of you who attended know, I brought the entire family of four and a Cabela's XWT 12x12 tent, which was both dry (it rained off and on all 3 days) and roomy. The XWT has mesh vents in the ceiling and a full rain fly over that. (The only downside was that this tent is very bulky, but my 18-yo son did the main work of putting it up and down and seemed to enjoy that.)

The one mistake I made was to assume that summer weight sleeping bags would suffice for late July in the mountains. We were all cold at night.

One solution I've found is to pick up several of those $20 Costco down throws that so many rave about on YouTube and use in or out of sleeping bags, in cars, for watching outdoor sports, etc. They are light, but so cheap that one can use two or three together. You can order them online if there isn't a Costco near you. When I wanted them, that is what I did as my ABQ store did not stock them, though now it does.

I do think that a Buddy heater would be even better. However, the Amazon and other sites say that all models may have trouble functioning at over 7000 feet altitude and may shut off. Have any of you experienced that?

The biggest model requires TWO one--pound propane tanks (or, I suppose, a hose and a 20 lb. tank), which seems more than I need even though it is claimed to be portable. OTOH, the Amazon "Best Seller" is the 4,000-9,000-BTU Indoor-Outdoor version, which uses only one of the smaller tanks. Each seems to have the same safety features. Comments?

Final question: The Massachusetts/Canada-legal version, most expensive of all, is described as approved only for outdoor use. Why would anyone want that one, other than to make bureaucrats happy?

Norm

I suspect that the difference with the MA and Canada versions is an 'outside only' sticker on them. MA doesn't allow vent free heaters in bedrooms. They likely consider a tent to be a bedroom. CA doesn't allow vent free heaters anywhere.

Here's a rundown of state regulations: REGULATIONS

I run a portable big buddy heater in my tent on colder trips. Even on low setting, it does a nice job of keeping the tent relatively comfortable (45 to 50 degrees or so).

I make sure I have cross ventilation high and low in tent. Opening a window on one side isn't enough, IMO. I like to have a window flap opened up near each sleeper's head and pinned back with spring clamps so there is no chance of flapping or getting sucked closed in the wind.

I also run two CO alarms in the tent. A dedicated CO alarm, and a combo CO / Smoke alarm. Combo smoke / CO gets pinned at the top of the tent, the other CO gets pinned at head / cot level somewhere in the tent.

Cross ventilation and two CO alarms (tested nightly before sack time). Short of using both of those, you're taking unnecessary chances. Alarms are cheap.

Daver do the same

I have both!..The big buddy has two places for portable/thow away 1# tanks or on the one side there is a quick connect fitting for a larger tank.I use a 10 and 25 gallon tank when out in cold for a long time like hunting...The little buddy or now called the portable buddy is exactly the same except it only has one burner and one place for a throw away tank.I bought the hose to an extenernal tank for it and had nothing but issues trying to plumb it into my camper...The problem was and is the little buddy heater already has a regulator where you screw in the bottle so I was running it through two regulators...I ran it direct to the tank and it works like a charm.

The features are the same on both..

That's good to know. I just picked up a Little Buddy not long ago

I also have both with hoses for bulk tanks.
The big buddy's hose cost three times what the small one does due to the attached regulator which recently quit working. The little one works fine for my needs and I have no desire to pay $35 for a new one so I'm just going to sell the big one.

I understand your frustration trying to figure out the problem running the little one off your camper.
Sounds like something I would do.

Dave:

I have read the entire thread. I see nothing to support your assertion that "entire camps of Coloradoans are wiped out every year." In fact I have yet to read even one verified factual report that anyone has died as a result of using Buddy Heaters. You ought to have some facts before you make such provocative statements.

KC




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KC,

You can't read very well.

Try again.




Dave

I'm done with this pointless discussion.