i'm going camping north alabama mountains next weekend. the weather is suppose to be anywhere from freezing to mid 20's at night with some gusty winds in the 30mph range so probably wind chill down below 20 deg F

i have looked at some coleman heaters, but they are not saying if ok inside a tent and have looked at Mr. Heater Portable Buddy Heater. they say it is safe for tents, but i am little hesitant because of CO but my tent has big mesh screens

has anyone used these or have other suggestions to keep inside of tent warm at night. i have a mountain hardwear 3 seasons tent

 

so the colemans apparently are ok to use inside of tent

any info appreciated

 

I've used a propane heater several times. Kind that screw on top of the bottle. Get a reg tank one though,(tanks like for a BBQ grill) the tiny propane camping tanks only last about 2hrs. The bbq pit one will last through the night and then some.

 

thanks mk, yea those tiny 16 oz tanks were looking kinda small. i'm starting to find more products that are safe for tent use with O2 and CO sensors. probably end up with one of the colemans if i can find one that holds a larger tank

 

Be VERY careful of heaters in tents.

I've spent a lot of time in tents in some pretty nasty conditions. The only time we used heaters was just before bed and first thing in the morning. As long as your tent is somewhat vented, you should be good to go with just about any heater. If your looking at conserving space / equipment, you can just light a naptha stove/lantern and leave it on max for 10-15min. This usually does a good job of heating up a small tent.

If you have access to a power supply and space/weight isn't a concern, look for a small forced air heater. They use propane and make AWESOME heat.

 

I just gotta ask..........don't you have good sleeping bags?

 

The whole idea of putting a heater in a standard backpacking tent scares me. Please, please, please make sure you don't have any kind of leak and that it is impossible for the heater to tip over and burn the tent.

 

Some people can't sleep in good sleeping bags. I'd feel like a mummy and wake up. But then again without one my arm freezes and I wake up from the pain.

 

I used to use the little coleman heater with the screw on propane tank. It did a good job in a small tent. I had a two man 4 season tent and it worked fine keeping that warm. You just have to make sure you have a low/high ventilation thing going on in the tent. That small tank would last for about 4-5 hours, which was enough for me. What got me away from it was waking up one morning after a pretty good wind storm to find the side of the tent melted away from blowing into the heater. Scared the crap out of me.

So I went out and bought a good Mountain Hardwear 0 degree sleeping bag and I am fine, if not a little too warm, on very cold nights up around the Missouri/Iowa border in November/December for deer hunting. No heater needed anymore.

 

I work at a Bass Pro Shops in the Camping Department. Dont buy that coleman one its a piece. But the Mr. Heater (brand) Heater Buddy, there are two models. One has a round heating element and puts out 3,800 BTU/hr, the other is square heating element and is adjustable* 4-9,000 BTU/hr. The 3,800 is 69.99, the 4-9,000 is 79.99 on sale from 99.99 at Bass Pro..atleast at the one I work at.. dont get mad if it isn't on sale at the one nearest to you.. haha.


...and yes.. for safety's sake.. get a decent sleeping bag and bring warm clothes first..if that doesn't keep you warm ..then go buy a heater..ha