This Coleman heater was made before my time. I'm taking a trip soon and I need a little help figuing this contraption out.

It SEEMS simple enough, but I didn't want to take the chance of lighting it "my way".

Thank you in advance!

I am not that old, really. The heaters usually came with a little measuring cup that you filled with Coleman fuel. This was dumped over the surface and ignited. We used to just sprinkle a little fuel on the surface ant torch the beast. Would recommend you do this outside of the tent!
I quit using one because they gulp so much fuel. I now use a 25# propane bottle and one of those small catalytic heater heads. Works super; 5 days of elk hunting uses about 1/4 bottle.
C.G.B.

I had two, that I picked up at garage sales, cheap. They still had directions printed on them, and readable. To light, turn upside down until you see a wet spot of fuel, about 2"-3" in diameter, then set upright. Light it outside, and after the flame goes out (10-15 min), the entire surface should start to show a faint red glow. Ready to go.

Mike

P.S. Forgot to add, the steel dome with the handle is to put it out afterwards.

[ 10-31-2003, 22:30: Message edited by: Dodis ]

Dodis has it right. Three major drawbacks to the things.
1. They stink like hell.
2. You need to have decent ventilation whereever you use one as they produce major amounts of carbon monoxide.
3. If the temperature is really low, they will not light. I had to use one at 36 below zero and it would not ignite at all. Fortunately this was not a survival situation. I brought it inside a heated building to thaw it out. It took two hours to get it to light up. Then I placed it under the transaxle of a VW bus that had the transaxle freeze up. Took another two hours before I could drive the damn thing.
This was the winter of 73, northern Nevada. came within two degrees of the all time low of minus 38 degrees.
It soon got traded off on something better.
Paul B.

The snuffer cap is great entertainment around the campfire.Wait until everyone has had a few drinks and then tie two sparklers to the wire bails to resemble antenae.Light them and put the cap on your head like a hat and run around like a madman.Mom would be so proud.Dont burn yourself.

Kenati,

That thing is great! I love old camping & hunting equipment.

Don't think I'd used it anywhere near my tent but, it sure would be good out on the ice chasing trout, lakers & pike!

Regards,
Dave

Make DAMN sure that you have enough ventilation if you use it in a tent or other structure! Here is my personal experience with one. My buddy and I were elk hunting and it was extremely cold. We had bought one new at a local sporting goods store with the assurances of the coleman rep on hand for the big promo sale that it was ok to use in a tent. The first night we lit the sucker and drifted off to sleep. In the middle of the night I woke up dry as hell and wanting a drink of water. (We were camped at about 9,000 feet)I tried to light the propane lantern we had in the tent and all the matches would do was fizzle, no fire or flame. After about 20 or so matches I kind of came to my senses and felt something was wrong. So I stumbled out of the tent and immediately got a rush as I inhaled some fresh air! Then the pounding headach set on immediately. I went back inside and rousted my partner and made him come outside too. Same deal with him, one hell of a headache set on immediately. We aired out the tent, had some water and aspirin and finally settled back to sleep after we threw the heater out into the snow. Our tent was nothing real fancy, just a basic 10 X 10 canvas type camping tent. The doors and windows were zipped shut and I guess we didn't get in enough air. We were lucky! Please be careful.

I love it. I post a question, spend about 3 hours at Cabela's, come home home and (in an Emeril voice) "BAAAAMMMM!!" You guys have it all figured out for me!

Thanks a million! I really appreciate it.

-Kenati

P.S. I'll be sure to bring some sparklers to go along with the Kentucky Bourbon Belly Warmer.

Razz,

Damn. Now you got me worried (that's a good thing). I've got one of Cabela's fancy Alaskan Guide model tents ("Bargin Cave"... 60% off) with all the flaps, zippers, panels, windows, etc. But I still wonder about that. I just took care of an elderly lady in the Emergency Department last week that came in with carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty furnace... near death... scary stuff.

Hmmmmm... I think the fire alarms in our house are also Carbon Monoxide beepers too. I'm gonna check 'em out. They're battery operated, so I guess I could just hang one in the tent as a precaution.

I originally wanted to use the heater for nostalgic reasons (besides warmth). It belonged to my grandpa. But a propane heater might be a safer bet.

Hmmmmm...

JOKE:

A guy decides to go skydiving. He jumps out of the plane and pulls the ripcord like he was told. Nothing happens. He pulls the ripcord for the emergency cute. Nothing happens.

As he's falling towards the ground, he passes a guy on the way up. He asks him, "Excuse me, but do you know anything about parachutes?"

The guy replies, "Nope. Do you know anything about lighting Coleman stoves?"

After the sparklers went out ,I always slept with that heater in the tent.Usually I let the tent warm up and then put the snuffer cap on it to put it out.Kept some matches close to start it again in the morning and let it run until it was warm enough to get dressed.The missus got some grill marks on her keister once while trying to get dressed in the tent.She accidentally crouched back to avoid getting a face full of canvas while pulling on jeans.What a yelp.I still tease her about it.I believe my Coleman Catalytic heater went missing shortly after that trip.Careful when starting it inside as they tend to flare a little untill they start glowing.I used to wrap cheese sandwiches in foil and cook them on top of that cover ring when icefishing.

With all the other stupid things I do, I swear my headstone will read:

"He learned the hard way."

So, on second thought...

I think I'll give the ol' heater as a gift to someone in the family who will never use it, only to cherish it as one of grandpa's old camping toys.

Kenati, I think we may have hit on some of the reasons that they are no longer making and selling them.

Kenati, I just went to look in my shed to see if I still had the one I bought new many years ago, and I do still have it! I only used it one time, and had about the same experience that RAZZ had, and never used it again. The one I have is as New, with only scratches from being moved from one place to another to get it out of my way!

The place I think it would be good is in a duck/goose pit,where birds are not effected by smell! or in the floor of a canoe to warm your hands over,where you have your head out in the air. In a deer stand, or blind the smell would be a real drawback I think. In a tent, not this boy!

Kenati: Don't give the heater to a loved family member

Seriously, get rid of that thing, or only use it outdoors. I have had similar experiences to those above.

What you want is a propane catalytic heater such as one sold by Cabela's. I think the name is "Mr. Buddy" (or something like that). It has a ceramic block through which the propane flows. It has a pilot light, and if the oxygen in the tent is too low the heater stops working.

There are other propane heaters you can use, but regardless of heater type it is not a good idea to leave it ON through the night. I use a small propane heater in my 10' x 9' canvas tent, but I turn it on for a few minutes before getting in bed, and again in the morning when I get out of my sleeping bag. Sometimes I turn it on to dry things inside the tent, but I never go to sleep when it is on, and always have air flow through one of the windows, and down through the door. The idea is to have air flow near the floor, and also through a high point such as a window.

Tent walls do not allow enough air to pass through. Every now and then in Alaska, somebody dies in a tent from carbon monoxide poisoning. This year a hunter from the lower-48 died in his tent near Toke. He was using a propane heater in his dome tent.

[ 11-01-2003, 22:24: Message edited by: Ray, Alaska ]

You just reminded me of some real unfortunate fisherman south and east of Calgary a few years back.They were fishing in the spring and we got a real heavy late snowfall.They improvised a rain fly out of some construction poly.The heavy snow plastered the poly to the tent fabric and needless to say no oxygen was getting in the tent.They had a heater on(I do not know which type) and were found dead a day or two later.Makes you think.

Sport jumper jumps out of plane...Chute doesn't open...reserve fails too...falling at 120 MPH looks down to see another guy coming up at him at about the same speed....
As they get close, jumper yells,"do you know anything about parachutes?"
Answer, "No, do you know anything about Coleman Heaters?"
Moral: Treat the damn things with respect.
Keeping this in mind, I love mine.