mr heater...safe in a coleman instant tent?

[jcrew6311]

Camping season coming up soon here. My wife, our toddler, and 2 dogs will be in weather ranging from probably 35-60 degrees out. So far our camping experience has been less than optimal and my wife is about to give up (i cant blame her). Ive decided to splurge on some grizzly connectable sleeping bags, the +25 ripstop kind. I was sold on a mr heater connected to a propane tank outside our tent based on the fact it turns off if high (but still safe) levels of co2 are detected and if it tips over. it seemed perfect, but then i began hearing people say they wouldnt use these things for safety reasons. my familys safety is the most important thing to me, so i dont want to even remotely risk anything possibly happening.

we have a coleman instant tent w zipper down to mesh capabilities on all 4 sides. if all 4 sides were completely open would we run any risk AT ALL of co2 problems? thanks.

[James.]

Re: mr heater...safe in a coleman instant tent?

I dont think you have anything to worry about. Just remember that you cannot put anything directly in front of the heater and you cannot put the bug propane tanks inside the heater as well.

I bought on of those heaters for the same reason as you. My wife was cold. We bought it on the way out of town and learned a few things.
1. For the size of our tent (it is monsterous with 3 rooms) the little colmen bottles dont last.
2. For whatever reason the hose we bought to hook it up to the big tank didnt work. I dont really remember the specifics but it think I needed an adapter or something simple. I just couldnt make it work with what I had in the woods.
3. My wife said it helped (even with the small tank) and she slept through the night. However, I hardly got any sleep because I was worried about the stupid thing starting a fire.

We took it back when we got home but more because we will probably try the bigger size next time.

For what its worth it worked fine. We didnt even come close to a firey death.

I did buy a battery powerew CO detector and keep in the tent Just in case.

[MacGyver]

Re: mr heater...safe in a coleman instant tent?

jcrew - I'll give you the same warning here that I gave someone else. I don't think CO is going to be a problem, although a CO detector is always a good idea when using a heater in a tent. The problem with the Mr Heaters is the clearances you need to be safe. They recommend 30 inches from the top, 24 inches in front and 6 inches from the sides. Those are minimums that I'm not comfortable with. Even with the Big Buddy on medium, 3 feet from the front was pretty toasty and good for drying out my boots quickly. They don't mention underneath as an issue, but I've even taken to putting a sheet of aluminum foil under and in front of the heater because of how warm the floor gets. In your case, unless you've got something like an 8 person tent, I think you'll find it pretty tricky to find a safe place to put the heater. The dogs might also be an issue if they're either the hyper or clumsy types and prone to bumping into things.

[terasec]

Re: mr heater...safe in a coleman instant tent?

heater can be used in tents,
but they do have to be used carefully,
when empty a 10x10 tent seems huge,
but when you have 2 adults a kid and a dog not as spacious as one would think,
clearance around is an issue,
also not sure how they base clearance specs,
do they base it on a hardsided structure? if so fabric heats/burns/melts alot easier than any hard structure
i would use the heater carefully,
plenty of clearance all around,
never leave it unattended,
only use it sparingly, such as to heat the tent before bed, then shutting it off
and use it in the morning to take off that morning chill

if wife gets cold easily, best recommendation is other factors,
proper bedding, insulate yourself from the ground, extra blankets,
individual bags hold heat better than large zipped together bags,
proper sleep wear,
snack/food before going to bed,
urinating before going to bed,
holding in your pee, actually makes you cold as body uses energy to hold the pee that it would otherwise use to keep you warm,
maybe a hot water bottle to put in your bag ,
can also use a thermos filled with boiling water for a hot drink during the night

[James.]

Re: mr heater...safe in a coleman instant tent?

I think she was just angling for the joined sleeping bags. 😉

[Chantel]

Re: mr heater...safe in a coleman instant tent?

I went camping recently and when the cold became too much my husband went and purchased a buddy heater. We have a 8 man tent and it warmed it up nicely. It was two adults and the children, and I had to change the tank 2 or 3 times. Believe when I say that if you look at it too hard it cuts off, and I tried many different scenarios.

[RONSAB]

Re: mr heater...safe in a coleman instant tent?

I've used mine in six person Coleman tent. Not the instant but worked just fine. Except sometimes it got to warm inside.