Space heater for a (4) person tent

Get a big 4 inch cast iron pipe about 6 foot and lay in the center of the fire before building it. Take a flex dryer duct and clamp on one end and then on the other end a 12 volt computer fan. Wire it to a thermostate in the tent to turn on and off the fan. With the feed on your truck battery. It won't pull enough to drain your battery due to the thermostate and you can keep warm without worry of CO2 in the tent or melting the tent. It won't get that hot with the dryer duct. The coals will stay warm all night. Just a thought.

 

But what about the children?

I hear REI now has solar-powered carbon-monoxide detectors for tents. You can find them in the aisle with the back-country ice-cream makers.

 

I made some things bigger so it'd be harder to ignore them a second time.

 

i am a professional at freezing my ass.

having said that..we have a Mr Buddy. love it. tip? get a hose for a big 20lb bottle. it will last forever. just so you know. a green 1lb bottle goes for about 6.5 hours and you will freeze in the morning. the green bottles are expensive and not easily refilled.

i paid $15 for an adaptor hose and it was a game changer. i now use this heater in a pop up camper during winter hunts. it works just enough to take the biting cold out of the air and keep your toothpaste from freezing solid.

the hose is a bit tricky. the heater is loaded with safety features. one of them shuts the flame off if the bottle tips up..so a hose is tricky..it wants to straighten out. you have to make the hose approach the heater with the same angle a bottle would sit. make sense?

you knock it over..it shuts off. it gets jostled, it shuts off. it is safe. i'd bring a 16" square tile to sit it on so you dont have to explain the hole in the tent floor to the kids..plus smoking tent fabric would suck.

 

Car condom?

 

I sleep in my boat and tent with my Mr. Buddy here in Idaho. No problems. They are awesome. In a tent first you have to get off the ground. I use an air mattress, with a doubled cloth bag as added insulation next and then my main bag which is 0 degree rated eider DOWN. If it's really cold like Nevada desert at 6000+ feet, I carry along an extra DOWN comforter to throw over me. Don't wear clothes within your bag; go buck or near buck. (obviously a woman works nicely if available and if she's got some meat on her bones) I'm good in single digits inside my tent or in my pickup bed and I go by one rule: Can't beat DOWN. Eider if you can get it. Goose if not. Duck if enough material is in there and dispersed properly.
It's the only thing that keeps me warm.
If you transplant to a cold climate from CA, FL, etc., etc., it takes a while and some money investment to learn how to stay warm. There are a lot of CA people moving into Idaho and I try to educate them on winter clothing. They freeze the first year or two until they finally make the required investment. Anti-freeze = good brandy; something with a lasting burn.

 

At one time I didn't need much more than a tarp, knife and magnesium fire stick for extended camping in the Olympic Mountains. With a family that all changes dramatically I can tell you what I have learned about camping with my 2 sons starting when they were young.

You have to keep your wife happy too. Get the best Stainless Steel coffee peculator you can find. And get up before anyone else and make the coffee. A 3 burner stove is better than a 2 burner if you guys both drink coffee.

Check the campground a head of time to see if they will have the water turned on. Many places turn it off once it gets close to freezing. If warm showers are available that is a huge plus. The personal shower kits for each individual are a huge plus in making things simpler for everyone. However if you don't have a way to dry your towels with heat it can be a challenge. Microfiber bath sheets are the next best thing to heat. You have to pat down with them instead of rub the skin but they dry much easier.

For bags don't let Bass Pro oversell you. You don't need much in Fl. especially the rest of the year and a flannel bag liner will add another 10 degrees. And you can use the flannel liner by itself much of the year down there. Bags that zip together commonly known as Adam and Eve bags work well for couples. And kids when they are younger. I like and have the Cabelas Alaskan Guide sleeping pads, they are about on par with the thermarest dreamtime pads. Those are 2 of the better pads you can buy IME. If you go the Adam and Eve bag route you can even get a double width pad so you don't have a seam between the 2 of you. But make sure you have room in the tent for it and the other pads. The Alaskan Guide pads have Velcro along the edges to do the same thing but there is a very slight seam even when connected together.

Light is important but never take a propane lantern into the tent. Someone mentioned propane killing people camping in Co. each year. What they should have said was propane sunflower heaters, stoves and lanterns. Take plenty of batteries.

A 4 person tent is small. Usually a 6 person tent is about right for a family of 4. During extended rain periods they get even smaller.... A 10'x10' canopy goes a long ways to extending your living and cooking space. Mine is a First Up and it is 7 years old. Been through straight line winds of more than 60 mph. I keep it up on my deck all summer, just took it down a couple of hours ago because we are expecting 5 inches of heavy wet snow tonight. Found my first rip in the top. They are well worth the money.

Have fun and good luck, hope that helps.

 

Yup, longjohns.

 

And a hat. Don't forget the damn hat.

 

So..... By me purchasing the tent that Beavis0076 recommended I am basically answering "YES" to DoorDings question.

I have never laughed & learned so much from one thread as I have with this one!

 

Welcome to the zoo that is TW...

 

We may bust your balls here at TW but we are full of knowledge and wisdom.

 

Which reminds me, don't forget a tiny hat for your balls, too.

 

Don't forget asshat comments

 

Yup. Longjohns and a hat cures a lot of cold problems.

 

I agree with all of this. I've always hated campgrounds and don't get the draw. Went as far as getting 2 shower tents 1 for showering with hot water and the other for the Loo to add comfort for the women I take camping. I purchased just the Loo lid and use my own standard 5 gal. bucket. But most women I have met just seem drawn to what they call the security of campgrounds no matter what I have provided in the way of creature comforts. It has left me with a lot of gear some of which sees some use, as long as I have it might as well. 9 days camping between Lake of the Woods and the Falls with my youngest son and a friend while hunting the shower tent also doubled as the Loo. And with the little buddy heater in there felt like I was chitting in high cotton. Setting up camp off the Sled Bed. Coolers can also be used to keep food and water from freezing solid.

 

Clearly camping with a truck offers so many more options for "stuff" than backpacking. When backpacking I used a "big" 3-person tent that could be heated with a candle inside a candle lantern. Small backpacking tents seem to heat up some with just heat from people.

From what I've read the Mr. Buddy heaters are engineered with a lot more safety features than basic propane heaters used to have. Like anything else in safety, with the right skills one person can be safe while an unskilled person is not. A canvas tent is far more flame resistant than nylon, and it was generally large canvas tents that had coal stoves and such.


REI has a bunch of videos that may help. They are my preferred supplier for all things camping and cycling. I have been looking for my backpacking Therm-a-rest but can't find it. A buddy of mine is an engineer for them. Good stuff.


I don't think that anyone mentioned that you are looking for a mummy bag. They are toasty warm for winter camping. Not much room. Pack small.


Another consideration is that the bigger safety issue is sleeping in the presence of combustion. You may not need the heater while in the sleeping bag. But perhaps it can make getting up in the morning nicer.


That said, in man my winter camping, I've never brought a heater.


I am reminded of when Kate plus 8 visited Sarah Palin in Alaska. The kids loved being there in the rain. But Kate had a meltdown. YMMV.

 

I figured Florida would be pretty warm in the winter. I camped in VA in early Nov @ like 20 degrees which was not bad with a good sleeping bag.

 

Being backpackers, we do catholes in general, but now with the teardrop, I might consider a Cleanwaste, which was highly recommended from the trailer builder. Looks like bag-handling may be a bit tidier.