I started backpacking as a kid in the Boy Scouts doing overnighters. In the last few months, I have had a desire see things that relatively few people have seen. This has drawn me back to backpacking. I have found it to be the most enjoyable thing I know. I have gotten my wife involved and we get out and hike at least once a month. I have my pack weight down to about 20 lbs (9 kg) when it is loaded for a weekend.

The XtremeCat heater has worked well for me during the field test period. It has been easy to light and has given warmth as expected. We have used it during an overnight trip camping and have used it at numerous football games for keeping our hands warm. We have used it for various other uses that were designed to keep us warm.

During our overnight trip we placed the lit heater inside our tent about 30 minutes before we were going to go to bed. When we opened the tent, there was a definite odor that was experienced from the heater running. It was a bit between a cross of a candle being extinguished and the smell of the new tent. We will monitor the smell in future outings. We allowed the tent to air out a bit and went in. The heater did not warm our sleeping bags, but the air was definitely warmer than the outside air. Being concerned about the odors, we turned off the heater when we climbed in our sleeping bag. I assume the heater is safe, but due to the fact that we were in our bags, the heater wasn’t necessary beyond this time. The next morning, we wanted to get right up and going so we did not light the heater. We were testing in temperatures above freezing and will have some opportunity in the long-term test period to test the heater in conditions below freezing.

We used the heater on numerous occasions during tailgating and at high school football games. It is a great hand warmer and was appreciated by those around us as well as us. Its size was a definite surprise to those around us who mentioned that they were impressed by the heat output of the heater. It would be nice to not have to use a flame to light the heater. This is one drawback to the design. Lighting a burning device in a crowded area like a football game can get a little dicey, though we didn’t run into any trouble. I don’t think this would be an issue on backpacking trips. I believe that having a device that warms my hands as well as the tent will be useful in winter camping scenarios. There are cheaper and lighter handwarmers, but the dual usage does add to its value.

I also lit the heater before cleaning the rain gutters on my house. This has always been a cold, wet job that makes my hands go numb. I used it to warm my hands after that chore. It did fine for this task, though it works better on dry hands. I should have used a towel to dry my hands prior to waving them over the heater. This may translate well to using the heater after gathering snow for melting for water or after filtering water from a cold stream. I can also see myself offering a warming break to other hikers on a trail.

Test Conditions

This heater will be used on two overnight camping trips by me, my wife, and my 7 year old son. We will be testing how long it takes to warm our tent before retiring for the night. Also how long before we can comfortably get out of our sleeping bag in sub-freezing temperatures. It will be used to warm hands after snow play and for whatever other uses we can find during the test period. We will be using this appliance to help us get acquainted with winter hiking and camping. The temperatures will be colder than freezing in the days and nights where we are testing this heater. It will be tested at elevations of between 1500 ft (457 m) and 6000 ft (1829 m). Hopefully the added comfort of having a heater will make the time more pleasant for our family. We will be using a Coleman Exponent Krypton 2 tent during the test period.