*THE RTT Owners Thread (With BS)*

You could get get warm sleeping bags, or dutch oven your tent. That tent can get stinky, though, and your wife may not like it.

 

Another vote for Mr. Buddy heater

 

I always get worried about a propane heater in a tent, have heard horror stories on the news too many times. Are they really safe? Where would you even put it in the tent? It couldn't rest on the "floor". It would almost have to hang with the size of the RTT...

 

I've used mine in a both an outfitter extreme weather tent that was 10x10 (put it in a corner) and also my RTT. With the RTT I just put it in the annex and leave the inner tent door open.

 

I've used our Mr.Buddy numerous times inside the rtt. We turn it on while we are getting ready for sleep, changing clothes, getting in the sleeping bag. Then right before we go to sleep, we turn it off. We will turn it back on when making a nature call and turn it back off before falling back asleep. In the morning we turn it back on to warm up the tent before crawling out of the sleeping bag.

Having a nice warm tent when changing clothes is nice. It doesn't take long to warm up the rtt. Less than 5 minutes and I have a 4 man rtt.

I don't trust the carbon monoxide sensor with my life, much less my wife's life to a cheap little sensor. Best advice is to use common sense, unzip one window a little and open one bottom vent to allow a little ventilation while using your Mr.Buddy. You will still feel cozy and warm, via being safe at the same time. Get out and winter camp I say. .....

 

Do you have an overhang? Attach annex and put it on the floor. They also have an auto shut off carbon monoxide detector.

Edit: Plus I always have windows partially unzipped to help with moisture in the tent.

 

I put mine in the corner of the tent on a small length of 2x10. Turn it on for five minutes before bed and turn it off when we go to sleep.

 

I will also say that mine releases a small burst of propane about 10 minutes after I shut it off; presumably what was left in the line...pretty unpleasant. Does this happen to any body else?

 

I haven't noticed that happening with my unit.

 

Do you just place in the floor of the tent?

 

With the buddy heater I would be far more concerned about a fire hazard than a carbon monoxide problem. For the carbon monoxide just vent a window.

I saw somewhere on the forum someone made a smaller annex that attached some how to the window facing over the cab of the truck then he put the heater in there sitting on the roof of the truck which is what I'm thinking about doing.

 

The little buddy heaters are good but like others have mentioned I wouldn't trust it running through the night, despite what the specs may say. Fire hazard is also a concern so make sure it's not in contact with the sides of the tent or other objects. Venting CO through an open window kind of defeats the purpose of using a heater to heat a tent in cold weather since the heat will just escape through the window.
@duvinclunk Your 1 year old may be a little too big to sleep in a car seat but when my twins were small we would winter camp with them and they slept in thick hooded fleece sleepers with a blanket tucked in around them and we found some cool car seat covers to zip over that that kept heat in as well. This was years ago using a ground tent but this was in February in Utah. This is what I woke up to. Twins slept soundly all night and woke up happy as pigs in mud.

 

That's pretty awesome. Maybe we'll go by a snow suit he could run around in in the tent and would be okay if he slept in too.

 

I place a 2X12 15 inch piece of wood in the corner that I sit the heater on. It works, but I don't keep the heater on all night. I turn it off before going to sleep.

 

CVT recommends keeping a window cracked to help keep condensation at bay. Does tepui not say the same thing?

 

this is what I have done in the past. I have the Tepui Ayer (no annex) so I'd turn on the buddy heater about 10 minutes before I went to bed, made sure to vent the windows a bit. Once i got in, turned it off and got in my sleeping bag. When I'd wake up, turn it back on long enough to warm up the tent, then I can start moving. I wouldn't leave it running all night, mainly because I'd be worried about knocking it over and starting a fire.

 

cracking a window to reduce condensation is fine. My point is that opening a window enough to properly vent CO would probably be more than just a crack and release too much of the heat you're trying to generate. That's all.

 

So, for the record, I need a better way to get my Tepui off by myself lol. Scratched my bedside a hair trying to slide mine off the with All Pro Bed bars still attached. Calm down calm down, it was unpainted fiberglass bedsides lol, but I need to figure something out lol.

 

Imagine what it's like for those of us who have it on the roof! I don't even try to put it on/take it off by myself. Pretty sure it's impossible without some kind of lift/winch. I just offer a neighbor or friend a brewski

 

Have you tried using the tailgate? Worked well for me. I was able to do this solo without much trouble.

Stand the tent on the back end leaning up against the open tailgate.
Lift the tent straight up so that the back end is resting on the tailgate and the bottom of the tent is leaning against the bedrack.
Tip the tent onto the bedrack and bolt it down.