Will i be warm enough?

[AaronTC05]

I have a Eskimo 949 insulated hub shelter I bought last year and have only used a handful of times.  I have a day time ice fishing trip planned with my dad for MLK day and the forecast is for temps only a few degrees below and above zero during the day.  Will we be warm enough if we can pack snow around the floor skirt to keep the wind out and with only a little buddy 3800 BTU heater inside?  So far about the coldest I’ve been out in is about 15-20 degrees above zero.  I’m thinking if we’re dressed warm we’ll be okay, I’ve just not been out in that kind of cold before with my equipment so I’m just wondering what others have experienced. 

We’re both going to be driving a bit to meet and fish so I don’t want the day to be shot if we drive out there and get frozen out in an hour or two.

Thanks!

[Wanderer]

That depends on what you consider “warm”.  I fished in my 767i with a little buddy on NYE and I thought it was warm but my fishing partner was cold.  And he is a concrete worker that has been working outside at times this winter.  I did have the heater on low.

I didn’t know he was cold though until my daughter made fun of him after we were back home.  I told him he coulda turned it up!

How cold tolerant are you and your Dad?  I wouldn’t, and am not planning on letting MLK day temps keep me off the ice.  Hub or wheelhouse, I don’t know, but the hub will be fine.

Disclaimer: I did some hole hopping on NYE also and I have two frost bit fingertips so I might not be the best judge of this topic! 

[Toasty]

bought a 949I this year, fished Alex area Dec 28th, 29th, 30th.

I think these were the temps, 28th - High of 9, 29th - High of 1, 30th - High of -8?

We fished till 8-9PM so it was colder then those temps. with the wind chill it could have been -30 outside.

3 guys with a sunflower set on low. We had no problem. Dress warm since you can take clothes off.

[tinker]

One thing that has helped me Is an small rug I put on the floor to keep my feet off the ice. It's a great help when moving around in the shelter also . I thought it would stick to the ice and would be hard to pick up. But so far no problem.

[icepike 1]

I would suggest a sunflower heater on top of a 20 lb tank. My first purchase was a little buddy heater and it won't keep up on cold days in my clam Yukon. The sunflower should keep up just fine and at a affordable price.

[brrrr]

the little buddy is a bit small for that amount of space and those temps.

during the daytime if you have bright sun shining  on the shelter you may get by with out any heater or the little buddy fired up.  at dark with temps around zero a single sunflower will be about the minimum size to stay comfortable.  

I use the heater/cooker variety in a quickfish 6.  its fine above zero during the day,  below zero or after dark we have to fire up a second heater.  

lots of people love the big buddy heater too.  

 

[ozzie]

try your best to stay away from sunflower heaters unless you like headaches and dry eyes!!  Invest in a big buddy heater and you won't need to worry!  But I think with the little buddy you should be decent.  like mentioned keep your feet off the ground and that will help a little too!

[nofishfisherman]

Keep in mind if you're using the bare minimum sized heater you'll really want to limit how much you're opening up the house.  If you're in and out a small heater won't be able to reheat the house very quickly.  You'll want to set up once and button things down and then don't get out again until you're packing up.

[AaronTC05]

23 hours ago, Wanderer said:

That depends on what you consider “warm”.  I fished in my 767i with a little buddy on NYE and I thought it was warm but my fishing partner was cold.  And he is a concrete worker that has been working outside at times this winter.  I did have the heater on low.

I didn’t know he was cold though until my daughter made fun of him after we were back home.  I told him he coulda turned it up!

How cold tolerant are you and your Dad?  I wouldn’t, and am not planning on letting MLK day temps keep me off the ice.  Hub or wheelhouse, I don’t know, but the hub will be fine.

Disclaimer: I did some hole hopping on NYE also and I have two frost bit fingertips so I might not be the best judge of this topic! 

Yeah I’m usually not terribly tolerant of cold, usually my feet are the worst when not moving.  I find it hard to take advice from someone with a fresh case if frost bite, LOL!

[Wanderer]

30 minutes ago, AaronTC05 said:

Yeah I’m usually not terribly tolerant of cold, usually my feet are the worst when not moving.  I find it hard to take advice from someone with a fresh case if frost bite, LOL!

Skepticism can be healthy!

[HookedUp]

The little Buddy might do it, but if it is as cold as forecasted you are not going to get overly warm.  Keep in mind, in really cold temps, the Little Buddy will struggle to use a complete canister of LP, the can gets cold and the LP will not flow out of it so make sure you have plenty of canisters with.  A sunflower will definitely keep you warm but as other stated, keep you shelter vented or you will get a headache and sore eyes.  We had an uncomfortable encounter once using a sunflower, we felt fine but a lantern would not stay lit so the oxygen had gotten low without us realizing it.  A big buddy is what you need but you may not be sure if you want to invest.  If possible, find one to borrow which will give you a chance to use one and decide if you want to invest in the future and if so you can than keep an eye out for sales or at the least take advantage of the 11% of rebate at Menards some time.  Good luck and enjoy your time with your dad!

[SaintPaulPaul]

Contrary to the advice of several posters, I wouldn't use a sunflower heater. Unless your goal in life is to die fishing. You say you have the insulated Fatfish...I've heard good things about them, but I bought the uninsulated one due to weight. If you minimize going in and out, you should be alright. Good luck and have fun.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

1 hour ago, SaintPaulPaul said:

Contrary to the advice of several posters, I wouldn't use a sunflower heater. Unless your goal in life is to die fishing. You say you have the insulated Fatfish...I've heard good things about them, but I bought the uninsulated one due to weight. If you minimize going in and out, you should be alright. Good luck and have fun.

This is so inaccurate! Have you ever once heard of a story where some ice fisherman died in a portable shack using a sunflower heater? All I have ever used is a sunflower and I'm still here. The only thing a sunflower has ever done to me over the years is trim my beard and nose hairs on a few occasions.   Just be sure to have some doors/windows cracked to allow air to move. I personally would never even consider buying a Buddy heater.  All you ever hear about is people having issues with them, especially when temps dive well below zero.

 

To the OP: Sunflowers are the way to go. They're affordable, dependable, take up less space and kick out way more BTU's than a Buddy. My advise to you is go buy one, bring it with, leave it packaged up (save the receipt) and try using your Buddy heater.  If the Buddy doesn't cut it, you have your answer and a back up plan. If your Buddy works fine, then you know and you can return the sunflower. 

[Mike89]

love my heater/cooker, sister of the sunflower....   so I 2nd the last post............

[Wanderer]

Nope, can’t say I recall a person dying in a portable with sunflower heaters but I think they have in hard houses.  Ventilation IS the key.

I’ve run sunflowers, heater/cookers, and the little buddy.  They all have their best times and places to be used.  The sunflower and heater/cookers will outheat Buddy’s any day of the week but I’m sticking with the little buddy in my insulated hub.  I’ve had too many headaches from using the heater/cooker in my non-insulated flip over to believe I’m not guaranteed another by using it in the hub, even with vents fully open.  Why bother if I’m warm enough?

My worst experience with a sunflower was a solo night fishing trip where I considered sleeping on a cot in a suitcase style portable.  I opened up the door zipper some for ventilation and thought I’d be fine.  At some point I stuck my head out to look at whatever was making a noise and instantly said said to myself, this air smells funny.  When fresh air smells funny, you know you’re not where you wanna be.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Yeah, I'd never plan on sleeping in a shack overnight with a sunflower heater going. That's where a Buddy is the better option, but even with that I wouldn't ever be comfortable.  Hence why I don't ever plan on spending the night on the ice in a portable shack!  

I don't have a ton of experience around Buddy heaters, but that's because they are usually broken and don't work, so out comes the reliable sunflower/heater-cooker.

 

[1968]

The hate for the big buddy always cracks me up. I don't know if I've been lucky, but mine has always been rock solid. Takes plenty beating behind the sled too. A friend's has performed just as good. That one was even sent skidding across the ice at 75mph still attached to a 20lb'er and spinning like a bola!

Always have more heat on hand than needed!  I even go full overkill with the big buddy in my reflectix lined Trap2 now. 

 

 

[Wanderer]

My little buddy has been beaten up pretty good too.  Dropped off the wheeler a few times, bent grill, cracked case.  It even took a swim in the spear hole one day.  Still going...

Its terrible in drafty conditions though.  That’s sunflower territory all the way.

[PRO-V]

Have a big buddy also and it will put out 18,000 BTUs on high which is 6000 more than a sunflower. Both need fresh air as they both produce carbon monoxide. 3 of us almost tipped over in a portable one winter from a sunflower. As it got way cold we kept zipping up the portable tighter. Got to where we could hardly talk and run out of breath.

[going4it]

A small fan hanging from the ceiling moving the warm air might be benificial. Seems to help in my clam. 

[Wanderer]

@AaronTC05

Well, um, how did it go?  Did you fish and did you stay warm enough?

[AaronTC05]

I upgraded from my Little Buddy to a Portable Buddy (not a Big Buddy which seemed like over kill for a 2-3 man portable).  I figured that would work best for my needs.  Turns out I was right.  The heater warmed my 949i enough that I could fish with my gloves off which was nice.  I definitely noticed though as soon as a tank ran out, it got chilly quick since I had a few holes open to allow some fresh air in.

My dad chickened out since he would be coming from WI and it was snowing over there still the roads were slick (as they were here also).  Also made sense since we didn't know how well the shack would stay warm.  So I stayed close to home.  I was going to head to Cedar Lake near New Prague since it appears to have a healthy pan fish population to keep me entertained, but the guy I talked to at Prior Lake Bait & Tackle said Prior was a better bet, so I took his advice.  I started fishing about 10 am after finding a spot and getting setup in about 20 FOW in the basin away from the crowds.  I only managed to connect on a few dink perch, one that was borderline keeper size that I threw back just before heading home about 5:30. 

I didn't mark a single suspended fish in my spot.  I drilled some holes in various depths not far from my shack but still didn't find any marks and got cold and headed back into my warm shack.

I had a fathead on a tip up in case a hungry walleye came by but had no takers.  A tip I heard recently was to hook them through the butt and out the side, which makes them sort of upside down which they hate so they continue to struggle and move in the water the whole time trying to right them selves.  I dropped by camera down and watched this and it seemed to work to keep it moving, although I didn't catch anything so who knows if the fish actually like it.

[leech~~]

Well hopefully you can still get out with Dad another weekend yet this winter. Building memories are things that last.

[SaintPaulPaul]

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 7:50 AM, BRULEDRIFTER said:

This is so inaccurate! Have you ever once heard of a story where some ice fisherman died in a portable shack using a sunflower heater? All I have ever used is a sunflower and I'm still here. The only thing a sunflower has ever done to me over the years is trim my beard and nose hairs on a few occasions.   Just be sure to have some doors/windows cracked to allow air to move. I personally would never even consider buying a Buddy heater.  All you ever hear about is people having issues with them, especially when temps dive well below zero.

 

To the OP: Sunflowers are the way to go. They're affordable, dependable, take up less space and kick out way more BTU's than a Buddy. My advise to you is go buy one, bring it with, leave it packaged up (save the receipt) and try using your Buddy heater.  If the Buddy doesn't cut it, you have your answer and a back up plan. If your Buddy works fine, then you know and you can return the sunflower. 

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/12/18/thin-ice-carbon-monixde-dangerous-minnesota-season Yes, I have heard of people dying from these heaters. If they were safe, you wouldn't get headaches, tired, watery eyes, etc. I used one for years, so I know firsthand. The buddy heaters (I've had the same one for 15 years, never had problems with it, has an auto-shutoff for CO2 presence) have made the sunflower heater obsolete. But, I'm sure I won't convince you;  hopefully someone else finds the FACTS helpful.

[PRO-V]

I'm in agreement with you Paul. Only time I use a sunflower is out in the open to warm my hands since it is more windproof. A regular buddy puts out same BTUs as a sunflower. Never had a problem with mine.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

On 2/15/2018 at 6:58 AM, SaintPaulPaul said:

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/12/18/thin-ice-carbon-monixde-dangerous-minnesota-season Yes, I have heard of people dying from these heaters. If they were safe, you wouldn't get headaches, tired, watery eyes, etc. I used one for years, so I know firsthand. The buddy heaters (I've had the same one for 15 years, never had problems with it, has an auto-shutoff for CO2 presence) have made the sunflower heater obsolete. But, I'm sure I won't convince you;  hopefully someone else finds the FACTS helpful.

Simmer down! I said PORTABLE shack. By that I mean a tent style/flip over, etc.  Yes, if you use a sunflower in an enclosed space, it won't usually end well.  I would definitely suggest a Buddy heater for use in a camper/cabin enclosed space with minimal air exchange.  

Edited February 16, 2018 by BRULEDRIFTER

[sunniewally]

Hard to beat a buddy heater and the big buddy. Mine have been rock sold for years with no special attention.

[anyfishwilldo]

On 2/15/2018 at 6:58 AM, SaintPaulPaul said:

The buddy heaters (I've had the same one for 15 years, never had problems with it, has an auto-shutoff for CO2 presence) have made the sunflower heater obsolete. But, I'm sure I won't convince you;  hopefully someone else finds the FACTS helpful.

actually it does not have an auto shutoff for co2.  It has auto shutoff for low o2(oxygen).  If it shutoff for co2 (carbon dioxide) presence it would shutoff when you crack a beer or soda.  Im thinking you were meaning co (carbon monoxide)