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Tent Fans & Lights

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  • #16
    Re: Tent Fans & Lights

    Lots of power consuming solution to cooling off when camping. I like to go as electricity free as possible.

    I find that either swimming in the evening or taking a cool shower of some kind will cool you off enough to make it through most of the night.

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    • #17
      Re: Tent Fans & Lights

      Those Frogg Togg chilly towels are a good low-tech solution
      http://www.froggtoggswarehouse.com/p...FbDm7AodmWgA1A
      - Laura
      Coleman Dome/Instant Cabin Tents, Kamprite IPS, Shasta Oasis 18ft Travel Trailer

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      • #18
        Re: Tent Fans & Lights

        Recently got a second O2 Cool 12V fan, as my first (still working well after some four years of heavy use!) is getting a bit noisy - I expect the bearings to go eventually, which has already happened to the 3V and 6V O2 Cool fans. Always good to have spares.
        Longtime Motorcycle Camper. Getting away from it all on two wheels! :cool:

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        • #19
          Re: Tent Fans & Lights

          Originally posted by actad View Post
          Those Frogg Togg chilly towels are a good low-tech solution
          http://www.froggtoggswarehouse.com/p...FbDm7AodmWgA1A
          This is an excellent suggestion. These cooling towels are all the rage in Japan right now where it is hotter than it has been in many decades and they are concerving energy because their main power plants were wiped out by the tsunami.

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          • #20
            Re: Tent Fans & Lights

            I'm at an age where I try to avoid camping when it's super hot out. Not being able to do anything but sit because it's too hot to do anything else just doesn't cut it for me. And yet, every once in a while, there comes a night when the air is very still and it's just a bit muggier than I like for sleeping. That's when I break out the 120mm computer fan, hook it to my gel cell and I'm good. It's quiet, doesn't draw much current at all and kicks up just enough of a draft to make things tolerable. The fan also does double duty - sitting on the edge of the fire ring, it brings the flames right up.

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            • #21
              Re: Tent Fans & Lights

              Have you ever tried your fan as an exhaust fan in one of the fly vents? I bet that would work well to clear out some humidity.

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              • #22
                Re: Tent Fans & Lights

                Originally posted by hwc1954 View Post
                Have you ever tried your fan as an exhaust fan in one of the fly vents? I bet that would work well to clear out some humidity.
                If the fan were smaller or the vents larger, I'd probably do just that. Fortunately, my 3-season tent has more than enough mesh to get decent airflow with having to do it that way.

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                • #23
                  Re: Tent Fans & Lights

                  I love lights! LEDs are great for camping, often I surf eBay and Amazon for cheap LED lights and find some real fun items! I bought a string of about 15 small LEDs on a 5' string, basically miniature Christmas lights, they were battery powered and less than $6 shipped. They were designed to be used in floral arrangements or as a decoration. I strung them inside my tent for ambient lighting at night. The only draw back to these items is the shipping is typically from overseas and really slow and if the burnout I can't return them, but the cheap price makes it worth it to me!

                  I'm also a fan of my string of Budweiser Bottle lights look just like normal Christmas lights only tiny Bud bottles! :cool:
                  sigpic

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                  • #24
                    Re: Tent Fans & Lights

                    I use a Ryobi 18v lithium lantern from Home Depot. It's a fairly bright LED unit but has the typical bluish hue. Rugged, nice handle on top. They also make a fan that uses the same battery packs which I don't have yet. Been thinking of buying that. Also have the 10" chainsaw, drill and radio. all use the same battery packs. 1 hour charger requires 120 volt AC. At camp have a solar power unit with inverter to charge. I've constructed small tent fans for summer camping using salvaged computer cooling fans. With 12 volts and a speed controller to slow it down a 4" fan does a decent job at circulating air while sleeping.

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                    • #25
                      Re: Tent Fans & Lights

                      Originally posted by Element 79 View Post
                      1 hour charger requires 120 volt AC
                      Why not buy the 12 volt Charger? Using a converter to take 12 volts up to 120 to charge at 18 volts is inefficient and a needless drain on your battery. I've never timed it, but I'm pretty sure it charges just as fast as the 120 charger.

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                      • #26
                        Re: Tent Fans & Lights

                        I was wondering if Ryobi made such a charger. Had not seen it before. Thanks. Still, in order to charge an 18v battery with a 12V DC source you will have to step up the voltage which requires similar circuitry as an inverter and there will always be some loss. Probably not as dramatic as a 1500 watt sine wave inverter At camp with the solar, I've always charged batteries during the day when there is usually a surplus of power.

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                        • #27
                          Re: Tent Fans & Lights

                          Originally posted by Element 79 View Post
                          I was wondering if Ryobi made such a charger. Had not seen it before. Thanks. Still, in order to charge an 18v battery with a 12V DC source you will have to step up the voltage which requires similar circuitry as an inverter and there will always be some loss. Probably not as dramatic as a 1500 watt sine wave inverter At camp with the solar, I've always charged batteries during the day when there is usually a surplus of power.
                          I think Ryobi was a little late in bringing the the 12V chargers out. Either that or Home Depot wasn't carrying them at first. Yeah, they can definitely beat a battery down but it's still better than the 12/120/18 setup. And I'm with you on the solar - definitely one of my favorite gadgets I take out with me!

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                          • #28
                            Re: Tent Fans & Lights

                            If cost is not important Home Depot sells Ryobi 18 volt lithium battery tools and they make a nifty portable fan. I don't have it as have built my own fans but do use other ryobi 18V tools for camping especially the 10" chainsaw for firewood, the 130 lumen lantern, radio, vacuum and another homemade lantern adjustable 200-2000 lumens that all use the same battery packs and can charge in just 1 hour for the small 1.4ah pack 2 hours for the P108 4ah battery. Very portable and convenient. Another fan idea if you just need a slight breeze on you for sleeping on those muggy nights, A USB power bank and mini fan work great. Recharge the power bank with a portable solar panel or cell phone car charger.

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                            • #29
                              Re: Tent Fans & Lights

                              Originally posted by Element 79 View Post
                              If cost is not important Home Depot sells Ryobi 18 volt lithium battery tools and they make a nifty portable fan.
                              If you do buy that fan, be prepared to modify/glue the shaft inside the blade hub. I had mine for about half a day when the blades fell off. Turns out they're just pressed fit onto a slightly knurled shaft. Just about the only things I mind MacGyvering are new things. I took mine back.

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                              • #30
                                Re: Tent Fans & Lights

                                If you can get past the horribly-written/translated description, I've found this to be a nearly perfect tent light for weekend campouts. I typically get about 5-6 hours of light and 2 full recharges of my phone (2013 Moto X) out of the two 18650 lithium cells with plenty of juice left. I'm hoping to try it out for a longer trip next year to see how long they last.

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