Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Mr Buddy Heater above 7,000 ft???

rost495,

I saw you just bought a tent from Davis. Great choice. I bought ours 2 seasons ago on their Feb. Scratch and Dent sale for a great price.

As for wood heating, it depends on what size tent you bought. We have a 14x16' and bought the biggest wood stove Davis had. It comes with the coal grate, water tank, and 2 extended shelves. The coal grate is important, but a guy can make his own if need be. We have burned coal at night and it is nice. While in camp during the evening we burn the wood to keep warm, cook and such. This will leave a nice bed of wood coals by the time it is time to go to bed. We bought lump coal, about the size of 3 softballs, and will put one or two of these lumps in before lights out. At 4:00 am it is still warm inside the tent and makes getting dressed for the upcoming day nice.

We too had good bags and slept cold for years and years. If need be we'd do it again, but there is a redeeming quality about not having to speed dress on the mornings its well below zero. Just a few thoughts.

Interesting, I'm gearing up for a later hunt in WY next year... so I have time, maybe the wife can find a job again before I buy a stove.
Might be worth investing in a good one like you say.
Our tent is only 12x14... but I wasn't really sure I wanted a huge one.. we generally have 5 folks but 3 of those are barely 100 pounders and we are all used to sleeping tight.. figure a 12x14 will be like a mansion to us. And regardless we'll have plenty of room.....

The only problem I see is in where to buy coal at that time.. I'm sure I can figure it out but its not around here unless I talk to the guys at our local power plant.....

For what its worth, we slept 4 in the 14x16 with cots. It was enough, but tight. Cabelas does have those bunk bed type cots that may be just the item one needs for a set up like you are talking. The reasoning for the biggest stove, was you can always make a small fire in a big stove, but if your stove is too small and you hit a really nasty patch of weather, well it might not be enough. Our stove is about 16-18" in width and 28" long without the additional warmer trays attached. Not too big at all.

Downside to calling your buddies at the power plant is most of the coal is crushed into smaller rock size pieces by the time it hits the plants. I had the same idea since I'm in the power business. Luckily I made a few phone calls and most farm and ranch stores carry lump coal in their bulk yards. Paid $15 for a 70# bag that lasted us 6 nights during elk camp. I still have a 1/3 bag left I brought home. We did like you and bought the tent and then 6 months later got the stove. My dad, I, and one other elk camp regular split costs. It helps if you have that option. We all reserve the right to buy out the others share if they no longer want to hunt with us. Not a problem thus far since we've all been hunting together for 20 years.

Our party uses a collapsing sheep herder stove to heat our 12 x 14's. We, however, sleep in another unheated unit, and use the big tent for meals and socializing. That way bedding, clothing, etc does not have to be stowed during meal prep etc.

As to coal, yes it's a little difficult to run down. Something that will burn almost as long, but would take a little prior planning is pine knots. If one is out and about in a forested environment, kick the knots free from any rotted logs one passes. They are as hard as rocks and have almost the same heat yield as coal. Many of them are so dense they will not float. Mountain mahogany is another long-burn wood, but few of us live where it's available. It's not something I want to challenge with my chain saws either, as it's about like cutting granite. Good luck, 1Minute

My guess is propane heat of some sort:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=6892743

Ok guys you have me wondering, I have an Outback lodge tent from cabelas a 12'X12'. What is a good source of heat? I used a very small heater last year(one of those real small colemans) that was not supposed to put out carbon monoxide. It ws not effective at all probably because we kept the vents open enough for a good air flow and the wind was pretty steady at night. I may just try a propane style for use in the mornings and evenings before crashing. BTW the tent worked pretty good with the snow and blowing winds. Bad part is there are no provision for a heater or wood stove.

You are going to have a problem with condesation no matter what if you heat that with anything but wood. Maybe you could have a stove fly sewn in?

The Mr Heater two burner would work well for heat, Just don't do what I did, and forget it is on and through your jacket over it.

Anything that combines oxygen with carbon to yield heat has the potential to generate carbon monoxide.

I seldom sleep in enough to avail myself of its abilities, but a couple of my buddies simply fire up their 2 burner coleman gas lantern to knock the chill out of their 8 man dome tent in the morning. It does a fair job in just a couple of minutes and puts out enough heat to expedite drying if one plans to pack up a potentially damp tent prior to leaving.

I would still not use something like that as a primary or overnight heat source in a well sealed tent. From memory, I believe hemoglobin has about a 9 or 10 time greater affinity for carbon monoxide than carbon dioxide. That's one of the reasons that CO recovery takes a while. Cabon dioxide leaves the body in a hurry, while carbon monoxide hangs on for all it's worth.

Life is too short to expedite departure. If flame is involved, always have a vent for it's emissions.

When hunting in CO Rockies I usually use a Coleman one- or even two-burner propane heater in my tent. I leave the bottom of the tent door open and a window open a crack for ventilation, and have never had any problem with carbom monoxide, and the ten stays pleasantly warm, but not hot or cold. Only thing is that the propane bottle or tank and hose need to be inside the tent, too or the propane will freeze in the hose and not flow to the heater.
In extreme cold, when propane won't work, I use an old Coleman catalytic white gas heater, but only when I have to as it's fumes and noise are objectionable to me. Again, with a little ventilation I've had no problems with co buildup.

Simply ain't worth the risk to me.

On this subject, can anyone recommend a portable CO detector/alarm? Thanks.

JV

You guys running propane all night are crazy.

Nobody has a problem until they do have a problem.....know what I mean?

This isn't like buying the wrong rain gear. A mistake can, and frequently does cost lives.

You won't know you have a problem till you are dead!
You will just fall asleep....forever!
The reliability of things like sensors,flashlights,lighters etc just seems to change at elevation.that crap always breaks down.
I would not trust one if I had one.
A properly vented/dampered(flue damper)wood stove always has been and always will remain the best and safest heat source for a tent in the mountains.

How is this for a near death experience?

First ever elk hunt, me 18yrs old.
Camping in my 1967 jeep wagoneer back seat removed.
After 1 week of driving all over creation following my Dad he says lets throw everything in your vehicle and drive around in mine.
Well that made a mess of the inside of my jeep got gas spilled in there and it stunk.
So a storm is rolling in and we set up a pup tent and three of us crawl in with a lantern and a coleman catalytic white gas heater.
I wake up in the morning (luckily) and try to light a match to light the lantern (they keep just fizzling) so I grab a lighter and it just sparks but no light.
So I figure I will go out to the truck and get my flashlight, when I unzip the tent door the match on the floor bursts into flame with the rush of oxygen from outside.

Thats part of why I like the canvas wall tents, you don't have to worry about it being sealed up to tight with ridge pole vents , no floor and stove jack.

I have a Mr. Buddy Heater and it does not work very well above 6500 feet.

There are quality portable propane heaters avaible for RVs that work great; however expensive.

Another reason to use poly tarps on canvas tents.Once the canvas gets wet and freezes,it pretty much seals everything

Tried two different Mr. Buddy heaters at about 7500 ft. It was difficult to keep them lit, they would go out in an hour or two, and were hard to relight. Did have a battery powered CO monitor. Never did alarm.

We tried one last fall at 9000 feet and it would not stay burning. Two cold nights til are buddies showed up with the big tent and wood heater, MUCH BETTER.

I have a Mr.Buddy heater and use it to heat up the tent in the morning and evening and shut it off prior to going to sleep. I have used it with no problems in Colorado at 10,500 feet several years with no problems. Thought maybe the O2 shutoff didn't work so I stuck it in a trash can and it went out after a few minutes so I guess it is working.

Rob

I purchased my first Buddy Heater for this falls hunt. When I purchased it I was advised that the old style hose causes the heaters to clog and are difficult to keep burning. A filter was offered to help keep it clean. The dirt or impurities came from the older style hose, not the propane. I purchased the new "green" hose and it is not suppose to release the clogging "stuff". Just offering this as some possibility as the heater not functioning properly.
I am also curious if the ones who have had difficulty keeping the heater lit are keeping the tank outside in the cold or inside the tent? I had planned on keeping mine outside, but now I wonder. Also, what temperatures are the problem starting. Would the problem of keeping the heaters lit be the same in bow season as it would be the last rifle season?