Kayaking with HEAT

Marine Battery
What is the amp rating on the battery? What is the weight of the battery? Is it a deep cycle?

You are talking about a 9 amp draw. It would take a heavy battery to supply that much power for any length of time and starting batteries wont hold up to recharging. I use a 4AH sealed battery ala deer feeder to power my depth sounder and it is more than sufficient. Some people use a 7AH if they are running additional gear like lights. Skip the heater and use packs. Why carry 50 lbs of extra weight.

Lots of Chilli the night before
A little (lot) of hot gas will keep you wanr throughout the day.

Match or lighter to light the gas helps

arrgh
Beat me to it! :slight_smile:

I kayaked one time …in HEAT

– Last Updated: Mar-28-08 6:00 PM EST –

and if you saw who I was paddlin'with...you would have been too.

...and quit yelling, I can hear just fine.

Paddlin' on
Richard

I was just thinking
Burritos and a drysuit.

seriously, is it just april fools
why dont you get some warm clothing and immersion gear, instead of the equivilant of perching a radio on the edge of the bath tub

Ya know,
a 12v light bulb gets pretty warm, and may not draw as much power. In an enclosed space, it just may be enough…

Always enjoy backyard engineers. We’re a dying breed :wink:

Let me know if it works, or not.

Best of luck, we’re already running the AC here…much harder to rig in a kayak.

T

TEST Drive WORKS GREAT
Well, I did a test drive of my heater system and it works GREAT. The heater did drain my battery a little faster than I expected. But all in all it preformed great. The water temp was 35-40 degrees and air temp was 45-50 degrees. The lil heater kept me toasty warm. THere were NO FIRES, contrary to what some folks here thought. Sorry to piss off the purists, but I had to give it a whack. To many people ,I believe, are not willing to explore and invent. If everyone thought this way we would still be using smoke signals.



If you have an idea to make your paddling more enjoyable for you, TRY IT!!!

MonRiver JOE

Way to go Joe
See my first comment to your original post.



Paddlin’ on

Richard

THanks
Thanks for the encouragement. Even with all the apprehension I had in the beginning and a few negative posts I recieved, I had to give it a try. Much to my amazement it worked as advertised. I know that this is not a mod most people will try, but it was well worth it for me. If you don’t try something you will never know. Since the cost of the heater was VERY CHEAP, I figured what could I lose. I did do a dry run for a few hours before paddling, to make sure I would not be a floating candle,HAHA.

If anyone wants to know in detail how I accomplished this send me an email and I will send you the schematics that I used. Total cost for this was less than $20. Well worth it to me.

MonRiver JOE

I use a fish finder and trolling Motor
Well since I already use a 12v battery whats the harm? The only major problem is the drain on my battery.

Have those just like to tinker
I understand what you are saying, but I constantly tinker with my boats. I have a 9’ pontoon boat that I also trick out. I just like the inventive side of things. Who knows could make a million dollars, HAHA.

Also wouldn’t it be nice NOT to have to pay alot of $ for fancy cloth and just be able to get in you boat in any clothing and still be warm. Living in Pittsburgh with Three Rivers at my door step. I know there are days when I will not have my stuff with me, after work on way home say. I always have my kayak on my roof, so I want to just beable to go what ever the temp. THanks for you advise though

MonRiver JOE

I use a OPTIMUM BATTERY
I use the same battery for my 40 thrust trolling motor on my pontoon and it will last 6 hours on med-high.

I hope you installed
a ground fault cutout or something like it.

A fuse will protect only the device if you are the ground.

Have fun with it!

Kaps

heat packs
For those of you who don’t want to mess with a full-on heater, skiers’ heat packs are a dollar apiece, last for 6 hours, and work great. They’re good safety gear to have with you, anyway–I’m surprised more kayakers don’t carry them. We always carry them on backcountry ski trips–just in case.