Heating a tent?

[huntfishlive]

I'm planning a mid to late Oct. bow hunt in the middle of our great state. I will be camping in my (older) canvis tent, I do tarp the roof really not sure if I could go with out the tarp (water proof ?able). I'm looking for a heat source for the nights while camping, I do have a knock off of a Mr Buddy heater that works great but I'm leary of running this thing all night. My tent does have two windows (that are upside down T's) for venting but really don't want to go with the propane heater. I've looked into getting a wood burner for the tent but that would cost a bundle, tent not set up for a chimney and cost to much to get a chimney sleeve sewed in on the tent. Plus that would eliminate the tarp.


So my question is, does anyone know of a heater (heat source) thats not run on propane or electricity?


Thanks for any info.
Bob

[Rupestris]

Have you considered a Bivy Sack with a good (0° F or better) sleeping bag? The Bivy should help in retaining some body heat and keeping moisture away.

Use your heater while awake and the bivy/bag should keep you cookin' at night while sleeping.

Chris

[dewman22]

Whatever you do, don't try a kerosene heater. A few freinds and I tried a K-heater in a tent about 20 years ago ( stupid kids ) while went hunting up in Irons, could of frickin died, we all woke up ( thankfully ) with migrain headaches from hell.

[CHASINEYES]

I use a small electric heater from wally world to heat my tent.110 volt Would maybe 2 auto/marine batteries wired in series connected to a power inverter hold up. Probably have to do research and math. Total capacity (amp hrs.) of the batteries and what the heater would draw through the inverter. Good old fashion jumper cables connected to your vehicle would charge them during the day. Use the propane for day heat. Done a quick search for inverters. http://www.invertersrus.com/

[tedshunter]

We used to go up to Drummond Island in Oct and we always used a Mr.Heater with no problems.Just make sure you have some windows open and you should be fine.And also we put ours in a milk crate(Had the kind that screwed onto a 20lb. tank) so there was no chance at all of it tipping over on us.If you want to go the no propane/electricity route bring the lady along:D.But that would just defeat the whole purpose of going hunting for the week though right?:evil:

[Chuckgrmi]

We used an army tent for years during November gun season in the Upper Peninsula. We had a propane heater vented out the side wall and then a 90 degree elbow upward to above the ridge line. Never interfered with the rain tarp. We took 2 pieces of 12" x 12" sheet metal and bolted them together (one on the inside and one on the outside of the canvas sidewall and cut a round hole in them and thru the canvas the same size as the chimney pipe). Supported the pipe and prevented the canvas from catching fire. Worked great.

Even if you turn the heat out at night to be on the safe side, you will be real warm sleeping in a quality sleeping bag in your long johns and wearing a stocking cap. The first one up is the only to feel cool for 5 minutes till the heat is turned back on. We also had a regular kitchen setup with a propane cooking stove in the tent and would light the burners first thing in the morning to spread some heat.

All the propane lights, furnace and cooking stove were connected by 15' of gas hose to a 30# propane tank outside and away from the tent. The sleeping bags were in a designated sleeping area cover with 4" of straw on the ground, an old moving blanket on top of the straw and the bag on top of the blanket. You were as warm as toast.

Don't sleep on a cot in the winter. Too much cold air under that cot will make for one cold night.

The winter tenting setup worked great for a lot of years until we got too old and moved to the inside of a cabin. But you can't beat waking up. Stepping outside and start hunting right from your tent. Those were great days filled with a lot of memories

[KRC]

At night I use an external propane heater from Zodi (zodi.com). Works well for me however it does require a 12v source. I pack a couple of small 12v batteries in with the heater - that gets me through a couple of nights. It is noisy and a bit costly but it is nice not to worry about any exhaust in your tent when sleeping.

Kelvin

[Ausable Junkie]

Considering your where you'll be hunting and when, A good sleeping bag will keep you warm with a good meal of carbohydrates before bedtime. If you have a fire, warm some large round-shaped rocks and use them as heat sinks in your sleeping bag.

And then there's the obvious solution, it lies within your avatar.;)

[WinMag]

Ausable Junkie said what I was going to say. Heating up rocks in the fire is the best idea for non-propane and non-electric heat. Just make sure the rocks are solid and heavy, about 3 pounds each. Wrap them in towels so you don't get burned. Get several of them and put one or two in the foot of your sleeping bag, one or two near your head on the floor and curl up with the rest of them. It works and the heat lasts several hours. Use more rocks for colder nights.

The other idea is battery operated socks and blankets. I don't like that as much because batteries need to be charged every night and the fire gives free energy. (Well, almost free).

[rocknut]

I second (or third) the good sleeping bag idea. I have a mummy bag that's good up to 0 degrees F, and I have NEVER been cold while camping in the fall--even when there was snow on the ground. The rocks are a great idea as well, just please be sure that you use field stones, and NOT ones that you pick up on the beach, or along a river bank. Rocks found in or near water may explode when subjected to intense heat (ie: putting them in the fire). Yes, I found this out the hard way while camping with a group of friends many years back...:o Luckily no one was hurt!

Having a woman along (or in my case a man, also works well...) ;)

[dtg]

I'll reinforce the good sleeping bag. I've had the same down bag since I was in the Boy Scouts many moons ago and it got me through the polar bear outting as well as some cold November nights where the water jugs froze solid overnight. The first morning, my buddy who was all wrapped up in various blankets wearing sweats looked over at me in amazement as I hopped out of my bag in my nothing but my boxers. He said, is that how you slept all night??????? Like a baby. He froze all night even with all those blankets.

[john warren]

look at the "zodi" heater designed for tents. im my view the only safe option.

[Mickey Finn]

Heres what I've used for the last 15 years or so.
Canvas tent, with a blue tarp over the top and angled off the sides. This channels the water and snow off. So, you don't come back to a flattened tent. For heat I use a Kerosun 23,000 BTU heater. Kerosene of course. About two gallons will keeping it going for twelve hours at a lower setting. Canvas tents are not air tight so there will be enough transfer of moisture to the outside which prevents condensation. I leave the windows open how much depends on the temperature.

My tent is 14'x10' It stays warm enough till you get in the single digits. Then it depends how tough you are. I usually pack it in about then. :lol:
Definetly use a tarp. It keeps rain and snow off and also traps heat that moves through the tents ceiling. I find that in the colder weather, the temp at the floor to 18" is still quite cold. This will keep your beer at the right temp. But can freeze your butt off. So, a cot is a must. This will also give you some storage space underneath.

If you are worried about Carbon Monoxide you can get a battery operated CO monitor and check out your set-up before you go. I did and found no problems even on the floor.

Have fun!

[stinger63]

I use the propane heater that fits on top of the bottle,I have a double burner which I dont have to use unless it gets down into the single digits.We just leave the windows open and stays warm and dont have to worry about Co2 killing you.

[Mickey Finn]

I use the propane heater that fits on top of the bottle,I have a double burner which I dont have to use unless it gets down into the single digits.We just leave the windows open and stays warm and dont have to worry about Co2 killing you.
My friend uses this type of set-up. He keeps waking up with head aches. I tell him the propane heater is buring up all the oxygen in the heat cone. Do you focus the heater directly on you?

[NittanyDoug]

I've used the Mr. Buddy heater in our tent before. I had it connected to a bulk tank. It has a CO sensor in it so it's safe that way. They make the "big" buddy that puts out more BTU's or you could probably run two mr. buddy heaters off of one tank with a "T".

[WinMag]

In addition to a few of the methods already mentioned, I also highly recommend a Mr. Buddy heater. I use the smaller one in my deer blind on very cold days. The problem with the propane heaters that fit on top of the bottle is that they are very easy to tip over. You need to make a stand that holds the bottle firmly upright or else you're an accident waiting to happen and Smokey Bear won't like it when you burn your tent down and possibly start a forest fire, not to mention that your life would also be in danger.

A few people mentioned another body for heat. That option doesn't work for me because my wife is a fair weather camper and she stays home in cold weather. As an afterthought, the Eskimos have been known to use their Husky dogs for heat. I'm told that the dogs generate enough heat to keep a man from freezing in arctic temperatures.

[Ogre]

Rather than going through all of that and worrying if you will be alive in the morning, if your tent is big enough, why not simply get a good tent heater and pipe the exhaust outside. Three inch double walled stove pipe will not harm a canvas tent. The propane stove type that is used in fishing shanties (http://www.nuwaystove.com/ [their made in Onaway] ) or the wood type that are capable of being purchased through Cabela's (http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0057539518548a&navCount=3&podId=0057539&parentId=cat550002&masterpathid=&navAction=jump&cmCat=MainCatcat20075-cat550002&catalogCode=QX&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat550002&hasJS=true).

[huntfishlive]

I want to thank all of you for responding, not sure what I'm going to do yet ( alot of helpful hits) but I'll respond to this thread when I do.
I'm thinking of a 5' or 6' X 8' or 10' enclosed trailer (storage for all my gear and me to sleep at night) with a small wood burner.

[Steve]

If you have some old pack boot liners you aren't using while hunting you can wear those to bed to keep your toes warm. Change all you clothing before you go to bear and wear poly propolene undergarments only. Cotton kills. Wear a warm wool hat as well. Do all this and sleep on the ground with a 0 degree bag. You can also throw in a couple of the large 12 hour chemically activated "body heat packs", in your bag, but they do generate some moisture. Do all of this and you won't need an external flamable heat source, but they sure are nice in the morning.

[huntfishlive]

"You can also throw in a couple of the large 12 hour chemically activated "body heat packs", in your bag, but they do generate some moisture."


I really like this idea, run the mr buddy heater till bed time-snuggle up in my cozy sleeping bag ( "new" 0 degree bag) and have the body heat packs close by just in case I need a little warm me up.

Thanks again for all the reply's
Counting down the days......