Mr. heater "Little Buddy" experience?

[Rath]

Hey everyone, I'm looking to get a little heater for the back of my truck for cold weather camping trips. Being such a small space, I was looking at the small, little buddy heater.

My plan isn't to use this while I'm sleeping in there, but rather to heat up the space for a little while before I crawl in there. So no need to turn this into a "is it safe or not" thread.

More so just looking for user experience with this model, as reviews online seem very mixed, but also majority seem to be coming from people with larger ice fishing shacks, who probably should have been using the next larger sized heater.

So. Has anyone here used the "little buddy" heater in their tent, or back of their truck before? Does it hold up to colder weather? Does it take a long time to take the cold out, etc.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Dr Gil]

I have a little Buddy heater, have used in my truck, and for your intended purpose, it's perfect. You'll soon get those that will chime and get off topic and tell you it's dangerous because of the CO. Just use common sense and keep it away from anything flammable.

It's perfect for heating up the truck just before you go to sleep, and right as you wake up to warm up you and truck a bit.

 

[Rath]

I have a little Buddy heater, have used in my truck, and for your intended purpose, it's perfect. You'll soon get those that will chime and get off topic and tell you it's dangerous because of the CO. Just use common sense and keep it away from anything flammable.

It's perfect for heating up the truck just before you go to sleep, and right as you wake up to warm up you and truck a bit.

Thanks! Yeah, main plan is to use it just to take the chill out of the bed and sleeping bag before crawling into it. And then in the morning to take the chill off my clothes before putting them on.

 

[Rath]

Ended up ordering one for $60!! (Regular 99.99 up here) so I'm pretty stoked about that. Excited to try it out, maybe do a driveway camp test this weekend.

 

[Traxx]

Used them for quite a while in hunting blinds. Works great, it will heat up a small space pretty quickly, and when I turned it to low it would go out.

 

[janders]

We bought one for the exact same reason. However, I don't like the little 1lb green propane throwaway bottles so we hooked it to a 5lb refillable propane container. It struggled getting enough gas delivered to the heater to run. I had a 15 foot hose and I'm wondering if that was part of the problem. Playing around with some different shorter hoses to get it to work this week.

The other tricky part is how to secure it in such a way that it won't fall over. We bought the regular Buddy because it has a big handle that we can use to hang it from the inside of the truck canopy to keep it from tipping over or pushing blankets next to it. Still working through that too. If someone else solved this problem, I'd love to hear what you did.

Still dialing it in but I have high hopes that will solve our winter camping problem. We absolutely froze our asses off in Death Valley last Christmas and I'd like to not repeat that.

 

[Kent R]

I have had one for a long time originally for my feet in a drift boat but now use it more and more in the tent. As for issues with the long hose I have found if you bleed the hose and re-hook it up then turn on the tank very slowly it tends to work. Something about the check valve being slammed with pressure to fast.

 

[janders]

As for issues with the long hose I have found if you bleed the hose and re-hook it up then turn on the tank very slowly it tends to work. Something about the check valve being slammed with pressure to fast.

Thanks for the that. I'm gonna go give that a try today.

 

[Tango Tiger]

As for issues with the long hose I have found if you bleed the hose and re-hook it up then turn on the tank very slowly it tends to work. Something about the check valve being slammed with pressure to fast.

I have used a Mr. Buddy Heater for several years to heat up the tent. It works great and takes no time to heat up a relatively small space. For longer trips I have used a hose to connect to a 20 lbs tank and have not experienced any problems. I recommend giving Kent’s advice a try. A few years ago I was having trouble with my propane grill at home and came across discussions online recommending exactly what Kent stated. After trying that method I had no problem problem getting flow from the tank to the grill. I assume it’s this same style valve.

 

[Kent R]

Thanks for the that. I'm gonna go give that a try today.

Good luck cant say it will work for you but it did work for me. And yes DV can be very cold.

 

[FishinCrzy]

Anybody got any advice for operating Little Buddy at higher altitudes? Saw a disclaimer about issues above 7000+ feet. Like, when you may really need it! Is it an oxygen thing or a pressure thing?

 

[Tango Tiger]

Anybody got any advice for operating Little Buddy at higher altitudes? Saw a disclaimer about issues above 7000+ feet. Like, when you may really need it! Is it an oxygen thing or a pressure thing?

I have only one experience using it at higher elevations and it was 5 years ago. I camped at approximately 10,200 feet on back-to-back nights. I don’t recall having any issues. Of course only two nights by one person is a small sample size so take it for what’s its worth.

 

[Lou Skannon]

We use the Little Buddy in the back of the truck. It’s hooked up to a 20 lb tank. Having the tank outside and running the hose through an open door saves worrying about lack of oxygen.

 

[janders]

As for issues with the long hose I have found if you bleed the hose and re-hook it up then turn on the tank very slowly it tends to work. Something about the check valve being slammed with pressure to fast.

Tested this in my shop and it totally worked. Thanks for the recommendation! Now for a real test on our next fall trip.

 

[Rath]

The other tricky part is how to secure it in such a way that it won't fall over.

My plan for that is to simply use some velcro on the bottom of the mount. I'll just be using the 1lb bottles, so im hoping the base has enough flat spots to attach velcro, so I can velcro it to my storage unit. I already have some velcro there for sticking other things to as well.

 

[JackA]

We have been using this heater in our Hiker Trailer to take the cold edge off before getting out of the sleeping bags. Our Hiker is a 5X8, in 10 minutes it will raise the temperature enough to comfortably get out of the bag. The wide base plate provides adequate stability when placed in a corner (ours is sitting on a 6" foam mattress). We use Flame King refillable 1LB propane cylinders with out any problems.

 

[Utahrootbeer]

Just got back from 2 nights both 26 degrees. Used my little mr buddy thought the night whenever I would wake up, rewarm the tent, shut it off and go back to sleep, didn't use a sleeping bag only thermals and blankets. Used exactly 3/4 of a pound bottle each night.
Lots of condensation on the walls. This was a pleasure trip and next time I will be in my mummy bag and not as spoiled but will still use the heater. I believe with a small usb fan to circulate the warm air I would only run the heater for 3 min at a time in my arb xl tent.

 

[sterling may]

This is the one that I have and its great because it take up so little space when your not using it. https://amzn.to/2HBWID8

 

[Tundracamper]

How bad is condensation on the vehicle walls from all the extra moisture in the air? For my purposes, I could see that being an issue.

 

[genocache]

You can get one of the 48oz Nalgene bottles, fill it with HOT water and put it in your sleeping bag, will keep you warm all night!

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