Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Canvas Wall Tent heat options

We did one year during deer season. We were short on beds and I slept in the cook tent with the pellet stove. I'm not sure if it was designed poorly or it was malfunctioning due to operator error but it sure liked to smoke up the inside of the tent. The hopper with the pellets would clog up and then the fire would smolder up into the hopper. I woke up twice hacking my lungs out b/c the smoke filled the entire tent. The owner said he had if figured out but we have used the old sheepherders stoves since.

Unless your much above 8,000 feet in altitude,there is not a better propane heater than the Catalytic,for both heat output and safety..10 zillion RV'ers can't be wrong...

They use it daily and at night without issue....

Jayco

http://www.pioneerspaceheaters.com/trekker.html

I use the heater in the link above, diesel. No more wood stink and rated for indoor use, safe. Would not go back to anything else.

I agree. Also take a Mr. Heater Big Buddy. Set Buddy next to your head and turn him OFF when you go to bed. When you wake up just stick your arm out of the bag and light Buddy. Tent will be warm in minutes. If you have a big tent with lots of folks, use two Buddies. I have the long adapter hose that goes to larger tanks outside the tent. If you need to dry wet clothes during the night, just run Buddy and lay on top of the bag. Buddy has three heat settings. Also a CO sensor and battery-powered fan built right in. Shuts OFF automatically if tipped. Can't say enough about my Buddy.

If you want a wood fire to burn all night long, burn hardwood. That's what we burn in MI. You couldn't sell any kind of coniferous or soft firewood here. People would not buy it, and would laugh at you for trying to sell it.

Although I burn diesel in my truck I don't like the smell of it inthe tent.No amtter how hard you try, a few drops always get spilled and seems to me that smell permeates everything.
Reminds me of those old Kerosun heaters that were popular back in the 80's

Run a Mr. Heater off a 5-gal Propane tank. Make sure their is window, near back of tent open 1-2" near top and another open 1-2" near front bottom to insure flow through air. I was given this tip by a Coleman rep and it has worked great for me even camping out mid winter. So warm, I run around the tent in my underwear and throw off the top of the sleeping bag, even when the heater is on the lowest setting.

Alan

I have switched to the Big Buddy, run it till bedtime and light it when you wake.

I have been fortunate to hunt a pack-in wilderness area for many years with two much better men than myself. These are do-it-yourself trips, from shoeing horses you raised to making much of the gear needed, often from lack of money, sometimes from the lack of availability. The need of good tent heat is paramount for comfort and health but as important, or perhaps more, is the ever present need to dry things out. These needs compelled the design of a wood stove that could be loaded at bed time and burn all night long with enough coals in early morning to be loaded again. Fact is, on hunts which wet conditions prevailed the stove ran around the clock drying gear splendidly. If there was a secret it was making the stove air tight rendering the ability to control it. It's light, not very big, fits a horse well and uses much less wood.

lutheran

Luthern.I have a Simms fold up stove as you descibe.It is not 100% air tight,but after a few nights burn, ashes are built up it last quite awhile. It weighs 17 lbs, including chimney.It has been on many pack ins with me and is stil in good shape. Spraying with a vegetable oil after the season to inhibit rust is the key to long lufe in additin to adding an inch or so of dirt on the bottom before burning.
I miss the pack in hunts and it loooks like the stove has out lasted me for sure

Myself and the guys I hunt with are getting to the age where we have to get up at least a couple times a night to relieve ourselves, so keeping the stove banked isn't that big of a deal. ..

I was just gonna say that 2 or 3 lumps of coal at bedtime and an elder member of the crew who has to get up at least once and we stay snug as a bug all night long.

Hey Saddlesore, I think we are on different pages due to my poor description. The stove I posted about is a homegrown job made from a standard pannier design and converted to a wood stove. I'll try to get some pictures of it if it will rain and give me a day off. It's a busy time of year.

lutheran

Coal is great, but it's getting tough to find here locally.

GW- You obviously aren't from Richfield...

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=16054153&cat=&lpid=&search=coal

Here are some pictures of the stove I poorly described earlier. Use wire through the lifting eyes tied to stakes driven in the ground to secure and throw about 1" of dirt in the bottom to seal. The door is sealed with fiberglass giving accurate control of the burn. It can be set very low to burn all night with pine wood. When needed to dry gear, it runs continuously with long intervals between loadings depending on how hot you set it. It doesn't cook food well as setting it hot enough to do so is too warm for the tent. It works well to warm food at normal tent-comfort settings. It burns wood very thoroughly leaving little ashes.
It has quite a bit of space for packing extra stuff; rigging ax, hobbles, picket stakes, wire, pliers, etc.
Stove shown in the bottom picture with a mate box pannier.

lutheran

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I would never use a ventless heater. You're going to be breathing at least some carbon monoxide, you'll have high CO2, and there'll be a bunch of water vapor which will dampen everything and form frost on the tent walls. The key to overnight heat is 1) use some high density wood, not aspen, overnight; 2) use a warm bag so you don't to worry about it. All I want is enough of a coal bank to fire up in the AM. Friends of mine thought I was nuts about CO, since I didn't even want propane lanterns in the tent/ Then we did a camp my way, battery lanterns, and sure enough, no s#$@, none of us had headaches and we could actually function and climb hills. At high altitude, you need all your blood cells available, not bound up with carbon monoxide. It's crazy to camp at high altitude and then breathe polluted air in the tent. It takes more than a week to clear CO out of your bloodstream once you have been slimed.

Remember that commercially available CO monitors only alarm after you have had a high level of exposure for a few hours. If you want a real time readout of what you're breathing, get a fast, low level CO alarm like they sell as Aeromedix.com (no affiliation).

http://www.aeromedix.com/Carbon_Monoxide_Detectors

I must be dead and don'tknow it.Been using both propane vented,and ventless and wood stoves for at least 40 years.Where we hunt, pine and maybe some aspen is about all there is for wood.Never have used coal.Stinks too much. Been using the ventless in the stock trailer and tent for at least 5 years. There are two propane lanterns burning most of the time ,morning and evening.
I live at 7600 ft and hunt 9-10K

Before some surgeon put a bunch of screws and rods in my back,I could out walk and out climb most 40 year olds ( 15 years younger).Today I can still keep up with them and that is with COPD and asbestosis scarred lungs. No headaches,except when Jack Daniels vists.

Do it right and the previous is all BS.Sort of like the ones on here who preach about all that bad lead contamination we eat from lead bullets.Yes there is some humidity,but it isn't raining in your tent. You want to see humidity do a early Sept. sheep hunt camping at 10,000 ft when it monsoons every after noon and you have to use spurs on your mule to get to a lower elevation before the lightening starts.

Heck you get more CO from sitting in traffic.

No matter what fuel you use,there are always trade offs.What works for one won't necessarily work for some one else. That is why we all give unsolicted advice.Throw out the chaff and use what works for you.

If you want a more dense wood then you'll have to bring your own. I cut up pallets made of oak and maple a couple months before season. They bundle up nicely, burn all night, leave coals for a quick morning start and you can use some of the slats to level up cot and tables.

Huntinut

We use a wood stove in ours and one of these to move the heat,
http://www.worsleyschool.net/science/files/stove/fan.html

Buy a cylinder stove. If you have good wood and some practice, It will burn all night. 10:00pm-5:00am. Buy a beenie for your head and a good bag inside a good bag. Good for -20 in comfort.