Date:         Wed, 04 Oct 95 00:14 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Danke <JDANKE@macc.wisc.edu>
Subject:      Re: more heating ideas

Last December - January I drove from frozen Wisconsin to (at times) chilly
Arizona, and ports inbetween, with a friend from NY. This is in an uninsulated
'78 bus. I had the amazing insight to install an auxiliary fan at the junction
of the heater tube and the upright channel leading to the cab.
 
We had tried closing the rear of the bus with a curtain, but nearly running
over one of them itsy bitsy sports cars nixed that idea. The bus does have a
one-piece cabinet separating the living quarters from the cockpit, though.
 
Until we arrived in New Mexico, we had merely been a little chilly at night
until we climbed into our sleeping bags. But once we hit the mountains above
Ruidoso, NM, (two-wheel drive vehicles must carry chains. Chains? ...CHAINS?
...WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' CHAINS!) it became apparent that we needed some
source of heat. Especially after mountain biking into a snowstorm much, much,
too long. On a plus side, we got to wail past some RV who had tried to make the
lookout, but had to turn around in defeat. On the minus side, my tootsies were
frozen, and I was shivering so hard I couldn't get the sliding door open. My
friend Dave tackled that problem a little later on ...but I get ahead of
myself.
 
Anyway, in desperate need of heat, I lit up the Coleman space heater, which is
essentially a big wick a foot in diameter stuck in a can of fuel. I did this
outside, where the flames could shoot up. Once it died down like charcoal, it
was a little stinky, but definitely warm.
 
Since it was getting dark, we also needed light. This time I decided to light
the Coleman two-mantle lantern (which never really worked right -- did I
mention it was way old?) inside the bus. OK, so a little fuel sputtered into a
pool beneath the mantles. But once the flames started leaping near the
headliner, my good pal Dave noticed. With a generous show of concern, he ran
screaming to the bus and saved me by (and I am not making this up) completely
removing the sliding door.
 
That night the lantern hung from a bike rack attached outside of the bus,
while Dave & I played our own version of backgammon (can YOU remember how to
arrange the pieces?) in jeans & t-shirts. The coleman space heater made the
inside of the bus toasty warm, an we eventually got used to the smell.
 
Hey! We kept the wing windows open for fresh air. Besides, we had a brand new
fresh air vent which surrounded the (not quite) sliding door.
 
As time went on, the Coleman lantern regained our trust and got to sleep inside
with us. (OK! WAKE UP! Helpful heating tip content here!) Those coleman
lanterns provide enough heat and light to keep the inside of the bus
comfortable in below freezing/above 15F conditions. No magnesium-fired stoves
necessary. Just remember to rig up some foil above the lantern to diffuse the
heat/carbon to prevent unsightly blemishes on the headliner. Keep windows open
for fresh air. Though your air-tight wunderbus may *require* cracking open the
sliding door for an air source, I had little choice. Oh yeah, this technique
does not work with a Coleman lantern which requires batteries.
 
Even I, the guy who felt perfectly safe lighting the lantern in the bus,
hesitated when it came to driving with something burning inside the bus. Our
solution when driving north in a 15 degree (F) ice storm? Sleeping bag, man.
 
 
Joel D.
 
Coming Soon:
 
Further adventures of the Boy Who Would Not Learn:
 
Getting Lost While Biking Down Water & Ice Covered Fire Roads At Nightfall,
plus,
 
Thawing Frozen Toes by Wrapping Them In Socks Dipped Into Boiling Water,
and,
 
Have ANY Of Your Cars Had Heat?,
If The Temperature Is 69 F, Why Are My Toes White?
 
Soon to be a major motion picture:
Yeah, I Think Mounting a Six-Volt Gas Heater Inside My Bus Will Work Fine.