What to heat my 6 man ice shelter with? Has anyone used THIS heater?

[tool]

So I just bought a new to me Rapala Sherpa-6, 6man pop up ice shelter.

I want to have a heater to accommodate friends and guests. The cold doesn't bother me much since I work outside in all weather anyway, I'm not that concerned about it being room temperature or anything, just comfortable for people to fish, especially the lady folk.

I know some guys use the sunflower style heaters, singles or doubles?
I also know guys like the Buddy heaters, Big Buddy or regular Buddy?

My local Canadian tire has single sunflowers on sale right now for $47, or doubles for $80 or so I think, different Buddy Heaters on sale for Boxing Day as well.
I'm not looking to spend any more than I have to as I have bought enough ice fishing gear this year and have yet to get fishing, last season I went once and the year before I went once as well. So price conscious but I don't want to waste my money on something I regret later down the road.

I saw a Heater advertised in the latest Princess Auto Flyer that is supposed to double as a cooking device, which I think would be awesome because I want to cook my fresh caught fish in the tent.

At Princess they call it a 2-in-1 Propane Heater and Stove.

Has anyone used one?

I see it is rated for 4,000-6,000 BTU, I'm not sure if that is enough to be beneficial in a 6'x12' tent?

If anyone has one, can you hook up a long hose and use a 20lb tank or are you limited to the little 1lbers?

Open to all other suggestions, my preference for something you can cook on and heat with.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

[joker2010]

We use a mr heater double sunflower 32000 btu heats our 6x12 very sufficiently in -25 to -30 on medium heat setting was melting the ice we were fishing in t shirts

[35 whelen]

Get the Big Buddy Heater it has sensors and tip over shut offs on it you can buy a hose for a 20 lb bottle also

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

[RavYak]

You want 10-15k btu for a 6 man tent. Maybe even a bit more on really cold days. Single sunflower or big buddy are my recommendation. Double sunflower can be nice to have if you go out when really cold or like to have tent really warm.

[HuyFishin]

Big buddy is 50 dollars on on boxing day at cabelas

[tool]

Dang, maybe my dual heating/cooking appliance idea isn't going to work?

I was wondering to myself tonight why I couldn't take one of my derelict BBQ's that still have the piratically new side burner on them and use that to make a little, hot plate/cook stove setup for cooking fish on.

Edit:

Cabela's has the big Buddy on Boxing Day Sale starting on the 26'th.
$139.99 for anyone who may be looking for one.

[GMX]

Beer whiskey tequila brandy....

[pikeman06]

Single sunflower is all I ever needed screwed right on to 20 lber. The big buddy I had was good but that hose cracked when it was super cold and let me down. Sunflower is cheap enough and I always get 2 or 3 years out of one and I take it on some rough trips behind the sled. Just don't screw it onto the bottle till you get to where you have to go because it makes the bottle top heavy and prone to falling over which can wreck the orifice tube. Just my two cents.

[7magtime]

Single sunflower is all I ever needed screwed right on to 20 lber. The big buddy I had was good but that hose cracked when it was super cold and let me down. Sunflower is cheap enough and I always get 2 or 3 years out of one and I take it on some rough trips behind the sled. Just don't screw it onto the bottle till you get to where you have to go because it makes the bottle top heavy and prone to falling over which can wreck the orifice tube. Just my two cents.

X2 on the single sunflower. I’ve used one in my Eskimo 9416 for the past 3 or 4 seasons on top of a 20lb’er and it has always kept friends and family comfortable. Most of the time the low or medium setting is enough and as said the price is more reasonable than the buddy/big buddy’s. I second being careful to not subject the sunflower to shock when on top of the bottle, it can affect their operation once you need it....

[curtz]

I have a 6 man tent and my big buddy works fine. I just use the 1lb bottles and have a adapter to refill them, instead of packing around a 20lb bottle.

[tool]

Anybody use a woodstove in their pop up?

I've seen a few guys on youtube doing it.

Princess Auto just had some on sale for like $59 or something. Never made it into the city to get one.

I like the idea of wood heat in the shack but I don't like the idea of lugging all the firewood around with the rest of your stuff.

Also, in a portable shack isn't the thing going to take a while to cool down before you can load it in the truck?

[RACKER]

Anybody use a woodstove in their pop up?

I've seen a few guys on youtube doing it.

Princess Auto just had some on sale for like $59 or something. Never made it into the city to get one.

I like the idea of wood heat in the shack but I don't like the idea of lugging all the firewood around with the rest of your stuff.

Also, in a portable shack isn't the thing going to take a while to cool down before you can load it in the truck?

A wood stove wouldn’t be a good choice for a pop up. You eyes would be burning and how would ya vent it out? The portable propane models are your best choice.

[Dewey Cox]

Those sunflower heaters are bad news.
For years I used one, and stayed incredibly warm.
But I'd get home feeling sick.
Eventually I'd feel sick for the rest of the weekend.
Heat your shack with something that vents to the outdoors, and save your brain cells.

[RavYak]

With any type of propane heat make sure you have the tent ventilated. At a minimum every ventilation flap needs to be open.

I have never got sick from a sunflower but know one guy who did. Never did hear the full story but my guess is that it wasn't running quite right.

Big buddy style is probably a safer style but lots of guys do use sunflowers.

[Dewey Cox]

I used to bring chunks of pipe to put under the walls of the tent to draw more fresh air in. It didnt help. I think I was over exposed between fishing and working on sites with temporary propane heat.
I've been told that carbon monoxide is a cumulative thing, and every time you get sick from it, you'll feel sick from it sooner next time.
Propane is deceiving. It burns so clean, you dont mind it at all. But breathing the products of combustion is not good for you.
I dont mean to sound so negative, or wag my finger at anyone. Just keep in mind that those heaters burn a ton of oxygen.
And, merry Christmas everyone.

[tool]

I used to bring chunks of pipe to put under the walls of the tent to draw more fresh air in. It didnt help. I think I was over exposed between fishing and working on sites with temporary propane heat.
I've been told that carbon monoxide is a cumulative thing, and every time you get sick from it, you'll feel sick from it sooner next time.
Propane is deceiving. It burns so clean, you dont mind it at all. But breathing the products of combustion is not good for you.
I dont mean to sound so negative, or wag my finger at anyone. Just keep in mind that those heaters burn a ton of oxygen.
And, merry Christmas everyone.

What did you decide to go with after the Sunflower?

[tool]

A wood stove wouldn’t be a good choice for a pop up. You eyes would be burning and how would ya vent it out? The portable propane models are your best choice.


I've never done it before or anything but I think there are quite a few guys doing this is you look around on YouTube or whatever. Some guys make a bent or angled chimney pipe such that it can be vented out a window which removes with velcro. You make an aluminum or whatever insert to keep the pipe centred in the window and the heat off the tent.
Some guys install a "Stove Jack" through one portion of the tent ceiling and run the pipe straight up.
It's not really any different than a stove in a wall tent or other winter camping application.

[Dewey Cox]

What did you decide to go with after the Sunflower?

The cold (lol)
For the shack I put in a propane heater from a camper that vents outside.
For the tent, I bought a buddy heater, as I've been told it's supposed to have a low 02 sensor. I havent used it yet though, (two years now, and havent put a match to it) I usually decide that cold feet is better than feeling sick for a day (or more). I should really try it out, but I'm scared that I dont have enough brain cells left to risk to that experiment.
When I was 18 we used to sit in a two man shack and blaze a sunflower. It would be -30, and we'd be in our shirt sleeves.
When someone went to light a smoke and there wasn't enough oxygen to light the lighter, we'd open the door for a bit. Needless to say, we didn't learn that technique at a mensa meeting.

[tool]

When I was 18 we used to sit in a two man shack and blaze a sunflower. It would be -30, and we'd be in our shirt sleeves.
When someone went to light a smoke and there wasn't enough oxygen to light the lighter, we'd open the door for a bit. Needless to say, we didn't learn that technique at a mensa meeting.[/QUOTE]

^

Now that there?

That there is funny!


In all seriousness, I knew two young girls that gassed themselves to death inside a horse trailer on may long weekend in Yaha Tinda, in fact I was supposed to be on that trip. I'm sure there are lots that will remember that tragedy.

[kbobbeck]

i have tried several types of heaters over the years...have found the big buddy to be the the best of the bunch...cant beat the versatility...big heat, little heat, fan, safety shut off, easy to adapt for cooking

[tool]

i have tried several types of heaters over the years...have found the big buddy to be the the best of the bunch...cant beat the versatility...big heat, little heat, fan, safety shut off, easy to adapt for cooking

How do uou fry a fish on your Big Buddy?

[RavYak]

How do uou fry a fish on your Big Buddy?

Easy. Take a camp stove with you too lol.

[tool]

Easy. Take a camp stove with you too lol.


Except I own neither of these items, hence was hoping to find something the most versatile and economical, especially since I only got ice fishing once last year. :(

[dutchpirate]

Whatever heater you get, invest in a tent fan. The one I got from Cabela's is battery powered with foam blades so you can't cut yourself, and has LED lights as well. Hang it from the ceiling over your heater and set the fan on low. Just that little bit of airflow distributes the warm air very nicely throughout the whole shelter.

[kbobbeck]

How do uou fry a fish on your Big Buddy?

you can buy a paint roller cleaner from home depot that adapts to your big buddy heater..then put small pan on it...just do a search on this site....lots of pics of big buddy used for cooking

[tool]

I've seen roasting marshmallows and warming hot dogs?

[RavYak]

Except I own neither of these items, hence was hoping to find something the most versatile and economical, especially since I only got ice fishing once last year. :(

So buy a cheap heater and a cheap camp stove? Lots of sales right now, and even some used options on kijiji.

In short what you would like(heater/stove combination) doesn't exist so unless you want to get creative and build a pan holder that will sit above a big buddy or sunflower heater then you are better off buying both a heater and stove/bbq.

A camp stove is going to be far superior to any heater modification for trying to cook on and most stoves shouldn't be used as a heater.

[PlayDoh]

Don’t skimp or get inventive with a heater. Dozens of people die every year from CO poisoning. It’s no joke.
The Buddy heaters have a ceramic burner and burn very clean. Personally I wouldn’t trust a sunflower.
I have a battery powered CO detector, That I hang from the tent pocket to try and be as safe as possible. I also go out and check on my tip-up or JJ every 30 mins.
I put tent heaters in the same category as winter tires, and things you don’t mess with. Get a quality product and don’t risk your or others lives saving a few bucks.
I got an adapter for $20 and can fill the 1 pound bottles from a 20 pounder. You have to learn how to do it properly, but I find it more practical than the long hose and adapter. I have a long hose and kept the 20 pounder in the truck, but dealing with the hose is a pain.
If you fill the bottles, use a pair of forceps and pull the vent valve while it’s filling. Put the 20 pounder upside down after you’ve connected the 1 pounder. Tighten the 1 pounder so while upside down the valve is at the 2 or 10 o’clock. Pull the valve and open the 20 pounder to start filling. Once you have a steady stream of liquid propane coming out the valve, your done.
Don’t store the bottles in somewhere warm if they’ve been filled in the cold. In fact, don’t store them inside to be completely safe. The risk is overfilling and when their warmed they will vent.
After connected to the heater, your good. Since if it was overfilled a bit, it would empty by the time it warmed enough, and likely wouldn’t warm up enough in a tent.

[Dean2]

How do uou fry a fish on your Big Buddy?

Check out the thread on cooking racks for Buddy heaters. Real easy to rig one with an old Hibachi cooking grill with the wood handle.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=355569&highlight=grill