Heating you Tent/Camper

[Red Rabbit]

With the rifle bull elk hunts next week and late cow hunts afterwards, be cautious of how you heat your tent or camper in the colder weather. Don't leave a propane heater, catalytic heater, charcoal stove burning all night, you may not wake up. Be wary of where vehicle exhaust is going. Use both CO and CO2 sensors- they are inexpensive. I would not trust the sensor on a Mr Buddy.

 

http://www.carbon-monoxide-poisoning.com/symptoms.html

 

Just read a tale on another hunting website, so decided to pass the warning.

[stanley]

VERY, VERY GOOD WARNING DOUG!!!!

 

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

S.

 

[Browning'sCustomMeat]

Good Reminder.....Also remember not to buy a combo Smoke/CO2 detector....pointless! Buy separate detectors, smoke rises and CO2 sinks...position the CO2 detector down low and the smokie up higher!

Good Luck to all that hold tags. Be safe and God Bless.

 

-Jeremy-

[CouesWhitetail]

Thank you for the reminder!!

 

[rclouse79]

I was very surprised to read on my Mr. Buddy Heater that it was approved for indoor use due to its CO2 sensor. I will be up north hunting elk in December and plan on it being VERY cold. I have a huge 8 man tent. I was thinking we would be safe to use the heater as long as we had some decent ventilation and shut it off before bed. Has anybody tried using it in a similar manner that is still alive to type a response?

[coyotekid]

I was very surprised to read on my Mr. Buddy Heater that it was approved for indoor use due to its CO2 sensor. I will be up north hunting elk in December and plan on it being VERY cold. I have a huge 8 man tent. I was thinking we would be safe to use the heater as long as we had some decent ventilation and shut it off before bed. Has anybody tried using it in a similar manner that is still alive to type a response?

 

 

yeah I think there are plenty of people alive and warm thanks to Mr. BUDDY heaters, we use them in the wall tent alot. In the big wall tent you will have to push and shove to huddle around it! we don't sleep with them on and usually only have them on for a half hour in the morning waiting for the coffee to perk and the truck to warm up; and then for a hour or two at night. like most wall tent ours is NOT air tight and has nice peak vents. we have used a old LP boiler burner in a small barrel wood stove with a chimney to heat the bigger tent. it beats having to cut a cord of wood while your trying to focus on the hunt. Good luck on your elk hunt.

 

I'm not trying to high jack this tread but if any one has some clever ways they keep warm in a wall tent besides a wood stove and an Eddie Bauer down coat, I would love to hear about it.

 

RR, thanks for looking out for everyone. CO sensors are a cheap insurance policy.

 

-sam

[CouesWhitetail]

I slept in a tent with the heaters on all night on my javelina hunt since I was sharing a tent and they kept it very warm...really nice! I lived to tell about it It is supposed to be safe, but I was a bit tense about it, but he said he did it all the time. I like the idea of adding CO2 sensors for more security.

[stanley]

Yikes Amanda! Don't know if I could have slept...... Hear too many horror stories! I'm especially careful with my new tent, which is the Ultimate Alaknak, which doesn't breath quite like canvas.

 

My heater & stove (for coffee/cocoa) are ALWAYS off when we sleep. I Just put an extra wool blanket over each kid while they sleep, and we're fine. Of course they end-up staying in their bags in the morning waiting for me to warm the coffee/cocoa, and hence the tent!

 

Be safe all!!

 

S.

 

[DesertBull]

I sleep with the Mr Buddy on all night all the time. Propane tank is outside with hose running to the heater through the zippered opening in the door. I have peak vents on top of the tent and a couple of smaller vents at the bottom. Leave one of the windows on the opposite side of the tent partially open too.

 

 

[nanoHunter]

Last year up in Flag for the Dec Cow Hunt. First night did not have it on, I slept terrible shivering all night. I have an army grade extreme bag too. Next night ran the Mr Buddy all night (I am pretty sure) but we ventilated it like DesertBull mentioned.

 

Doug I appreciate the warning! Until you mentioned it today I really never gave it that much thought. We mostly tried to ventilate last year because of me and my cousin's memories of the old heater that my dad used to run when it was cold. You would have to wash out your mouth with coffee in the morning so did not have the taste of Coleman fuel in your mouth. Really did not think about CO@ poisoning.

 

I am going to get a CO2 detector this year, that is very cheap insurance for me and my cousin and make sure that the tent is well ventilated like last year but maybe even more so...

 

Thanks Doug and JeremyB for suggestions. I am always glad to see when other hunters look out for other hunters...

 

 

[Dan]

You want a CO detector that goes of at 35 ppm. Don't buy a cheap one !! Most cheap ones go off at 75-80 ppm. A good one will cost 75 -100 bucks . Make sure it's a CO (carbon monoxide) not a CO2(carbon dioxicide) detector.

[Bucks N Bulls]

I sleep with the Mr Buddy on all night all the time. Propane tank is outside with hose running to the heater through the zippered opening in the door. I have peak vents on top of the tent and a couple of smaller vents at the bottom. Leave one of the windows on the opposite side of the tent partially open too.

 

 

+1 I do the same thing with my baja tent trailer

[Santana Outdoors]

 

In 1976 at a motorcycle race in California, my Mom, my older brother and I had a heater in a tent. My brother woke up freezing and sick, then he woke up my mom who was also sick, checked the heater and went back to sleep.

 

i didnt know about any of it until morning. They told me they asked me if I was ok, I said yes and went back to sleep, we knew nothing about Carbon Monoxide! Surprised we were are not dead from that.

 

Had a good friends father die on an antelope hunt in Seligman from this. I think about that every time I start it.

 

Thanks for the reminder, I run my Buddy Heater too in the morning and have fell back to sleep (not a deep sleep, maybe one eye open) , I open a top vent, and a lower vent.

 

I am going to get me a CO detector, Thanks!

[bonecollector]

Just a little tip about CO detectors. Always zero the detector out in the fresh air, not in the area you will be using it in. Stay warm and be safe.

[reaper]

I have a Springbar canvas tent and I've always hesitated to keep a gas heater on overnight. However, Zodi makes a HotVent heater that's outside the tent. Two small propane canisters will keep the heat on without the risk of poisoning for as long as 8 hours or so. Cost is more than a Mr. Buddy, but you get a better nights sleep if you know what I mean.