Mini Survival Heater

well that might be saying to much but I thought I would post a photo of this Gaz lamp. from China by way of Ebay I have been using it on my canoe trips this year.



in the past I have used my Primus Gaz lamp to warm/heat the
inside of my tent and shelter on cool damp evenings.
then I saw this and decided to try it out.it's a copy of the
Gaz lamps with metal mesh globes.made for hard use those are over twice the price.rather than mesh this just has a "globe" of metal with holes punched thru it.it puts out plenty of light for
working around the camp but for me I used it as a heater.
the metal top and sides get very hot,the top red hot when running at full blast.turned way down it still throws off enough heat to warm up my tent.i keep it in the vestibule with the inside door open and the outside closed.
on my Fall trip I got caught outside in the rain.i was pulling my chow bag up a tree,bear country here,when some nasty
weather I had a eye on came down lake in a wall cloud and in
a few seconds I got wet.
inside the tent I got out of my wet clothes and turned the heater on.i was starting to shiver but in a minute the inside
of the tent was warm to the point I turned the heat back and let it run just enough to keep the burning mantle white.
a word of warning!!!! this will burn thru nylon in a flash and scorch even canvas it touches.in a make shift shelter that you might have this in keep it away from anything that might burn.

That looks like a handy little gadget, canoedogs. Nice and compact. Any worries about fumes? How loud was it?

And I'm REALLY glad that you got warmed up quickly. Those storms can wreak havoc!

no noise,just a very low hiss at full blast.no fumes,it seems to burn very clean.i would think all that very hot metal acts like a after burner.and yes I make sure I have a fresh air vent.
I had been watching that storm build all afternoon and told my self it was moving off to the north, HA!!

Hi,
I see on ebay this "Mini Portable Camping Hunting Lantern Gas Light Tent Lamp Torch Hanging 80LUX"
comes with a chain for hanging/suspending the lamp,

have you tried that?
does the canister just dangle from the nozzle?

It's amazing how a little heat can make the difference between misery and comfort -- especially if you get damp.

Would you consider this more efficient and effective than a campstove? The same safety precautions apply.

I took the chain off,it's really long at a foot or so.i also did not trust the brackets that hold the top down with the weight of a full Gaz cartage.i never had any intention of hanging it up in my small tent where it would be in the way.it seemed to work great at ground level where the heat would rise up and into the tent.i have used a stove in the past to warm up my Baker shelter.
that was a Peak Feather Coleman fuel stove.it put out plenty of heat inside that big shelter but when I turned it off that stove gave off some nasty fumes while the generator cleared out.
that little metal lamp is perfect for the job.

Not worried about CO?

Tjin..no,the tent is well vented,in fact i'm most likely losing a quarter of the heat thru those vents.

Nice find. What kind of run times have you gotten out of those canisters?

Jeff..hours! I have never kept track just how long they last.
i'm kind of a Gaz hog and on a 12/13 night canoe trip i'll use four full 8oz cans and maybe 1/2 of a fifth that was used on 4 meals.the last breakfast just being coffee and oatmeal.
the other meals are sort of Gaz heavy making pancakes,bannock,
a big egg and rice breakfast.dinners are rice packs with freeze dry meat that call for some simmering.
the night I got wet and ran the burner in the tent for several hours. full blast for 15 minutes and then low for a couple more.there was enough Gaz left for breakfast and dinner.
I don't try and squeeze every bit out of a can and i'm sort of sloppy like letting it burn for 10-15 seconds at the start when I adjust the flame without a pot over it.
a couple buddy's made a light weight trip into Canada and using one of those Orange Box stoves went for 10 days on one cart and a bit of a second.they had cold breakfast and lunch's and just boiled water for freeze dry meal bags.
I would say I get three full days out of a cart which I refill at home from the Asian butane bottles.
I always have a back-up cart in the bottom of my gear bag but have never used it.
I moved from Coleman fuel a few years ago and was using just over two quarts with a pint back up that did get used a few times.
if I was hiking rather than canoe tripping which goes out heavy,two 35/40 pound Duluth packs, I would be a lot more careful on fuel use!!!

You use butane bottles to refill your canisters?

I'm not really impressed with butane performance in the cold to say the least...

I'm not actually sure that refilling is cheaper and i don't think it's recommended either. I found canisters at the BBQ section which are butan/proane mixes which where per gram almost as inexpensive as puncture style canisters or butane canisters.

(BBQ and DIY stores sometimes seems to have inexpensive butane/propane lindell valve canisters)

Not the best choice for really low temperatures for sure. But I doubt that's a serious issue for most people, at least as long as we're not talking polar expeditions or hardcore climbing. A liquid fuel stove would be better for that kind of stuff but it's fairly expensive and not nearly as user-friendly.

I actually already have issues at around 10 degrees celsius. I have stoves with full butane canisters, cranked full open and only had a flame which look more or less like a candle.

I refill from the Asian butane bottles just as part of my hobby and not to save money or try to get better results.
in the winter when it gets sub zero here in Minneapolis I put the empty's outside and the bottles in hot tap water.
In a few minutes the refill is done.on some old carts the Lindal valve has been used so much it won't work.
this Fall I had a cold morning and the stove was a hard light so I put it under my jacket and that was enough to warm up the butane and after it lit the heat off the burner kept it roaring.
if I went off in really cold winter weather I would take my old multi fuel Optimus 111. stocking up for an emergency I would buy all the best brand new.

how about this example of Gaz at low temps!
on a cold evening I could not get the water to boil.
I ended up spooning warm water out of the pan and onto the baseplate.that was enough to heat the cart to the point where I got a good flame that kept the Gaz running.

A great idea, but I'm not comfortable with an open flame in the tent.

no real open flame with the lamp/heater. a small Gaz lamp mantle inside that metal cage is putting out the heat.
any problem would be the hot cage touching nylon and melting a hole thru it.

Can you use a Coleman 1lb cylinder in place of the Gaz canister?

Different thread pattern on the cannisters, I think. Also designed for a different fuel mix, so straight propane would probably burn too hot and damage the unit.

Mr. Heater makes a catalytic heater that mounts on a 1-lb. propane cylinder, which would be a better choice for people using that fuel source.

plus the idea on this little lamp as a heater is that it is so small it could fit in a jacket pocket or a BOB.

comment about the GAZ cylinders... used to use the little hand grenades with the Bunsen burner top... one day a student in a next door class unscrewed the burner and popped the legs off... the next door teacher brought the cylinder into my room spewing butane... luckily I was able to put it in my spark proof vent hood to clear the room... we immediately switched to units with a sealing Schrader valve

Sounds like you've found an inexpensive tent heater.

But flame + inside tent (meltable, if not directly flammable) + carbon monoxide + pressurized flammable gas + confined space with no rapid exit + apparatus and seals made in China (not the most safety-conscious manufacturing location!) + probably far away from medical help = I wouldn't do that myself.

Treat that setup with the utmost care, and stay safe.

You mean those 190gram puncture style canisters? Well I noticed that they have a flapper valve added to them on the inside. (often marked quite clearly on the outside) Too many accidents with those canisters. Now we have a valveless puncture canister with valve.... Also made them more expensive.

That's what I expected. I've got half a dozen left from an old gas table top grill and thought this would be a good alternative dual use if they fit.

P.S. The gaz canisters are an EN417 thread. The Coleman style cylinders are larger threads.

The Coleman-style cylinders stay fresh forever (it seems) as long as humidity doesn't rust the connection surfaces.

You could probably sell them on Kijiji/Craigslist and get at least half your money back. It's pretty obvious if they're full or not.

They also have the same thread as the standard hardware store propane torches (bernzomatic or other brands). Handy for soldering, fire lighting, unseizing rusted bolts, all sorts of stuff. Or making creme brulee if you have culinary inclinations.

My stash includes some that are at least ten (more like twenty years) old. I used some of them last month and they worked quite well. I stock both the Coleman cylinders and the smaller Lindal valve cylinders, pretty much standard for backpacking canister stoves.