Mr. Heater models - What am I missing?

[PerchJerker]

For years I've used Mr. Heater Cookers with 1 lb tanks or a hose to a 20 lb tank. I have a 1-man Fish Trap and an Otter Lodge and the Cooker works good in either house.

Lately I've been looking at the Mr. Heater Portable Buddy and the Mr. Heater Big Buddy, and I'm wondering what the advantage is with these compared to the Cooker.

The way I see it the Cooker is cheaper, lighter, and higher BTUs (the Cooker is 8, 12, or 14 BTUS, the Portable Buddy is 4 or 9 BTUS, the Big Buddy is 4, 9, or 18 BTUs). I realize the Big Buddy is a little higher in BTUs and has a fan, but it's also more than twice the price and 15 lbs heavier than the Cooker.

So ..... what am I missing? Why are the Buddy heaters so popular compared to the Cookers? Thanks.

[DEADhead]

you won't burn your shack down, there is an anti-tip safety device where the heater will shutoff if knocked over ,the heater is "safe" to run indoors, it has a CO safety cutoff switch, the list goes on.

[huntnfish]

I have a big buddy and like it. I still use my cooker, but not very often and only when I need a little more heat on the very cold days in my big portable. The things I like the most about the buddy heater is that it doesn't make any noise and you can put it right up against a canvas wall and not have to worry about melting a hole. The fan on the big buddy does help to get the heat moving also.

[hanson]

I have yet to make the switch to the world of the Big Buddy Heater too.

The reason is I haven't been very impressed with the performance of my Little Buddy Heater. I was using my Little Buddy out on Devils Lake in January in my Otter Den and I about got froze out of the shack. Then again, it was way below zero with 20-30 mph winds too. However, if I had my Mr. Heater or my Heater Cooker with, I would have been fine.

I end up fishing in a lot of nasty weather and I guess that is a part of fishing in northern MN in Jan & Feb. I know that I can depend on my Mr. Heater to keep my shacks (Otter Den & Lodge) warm on the bad days. At this point, $120 for a Big Buddy is too much money for me to experiment with.

Lots of guys are raving about these things, but I bought into the hype over the Little Buddy as well and have been pretty disappointed with its use in cold weather. The Little Buddy works awesome in a 1 man shack when its over 20 degrees outside but how many days in northern MN do you get when its over 20 in the winter.

So for now, I'm sticking with my Mr. Heater and Heater Cooker.

I guess if I bought the Big Buddy I'd own 4 different heaters now. Yikes!

[Jim Almquist]

the biggest reason that I love my big buddy is how quite it is. Now I can hear what is going on outside and can talk with friend that are fishing with me. Plus when the walleyes take my bobber down I can hear that sploosh.

[harvey lee]

I also bought into the Little buddy heater. It is a nice heater in warm weather but when it gets cold out so am I. I use a Paulin heater hooked to a 20# cyl. and it always keeps the house warm. A little more noise,but boy am I warm.

[fishingguy]

I, as many others had bought into the little buddy craze. Had the same issues as in the last few posts. Got cold on real cold days. Plus it would go out every 10 to 15 minutes and I would have to relight it. I thought it might be the low oxygen level or the co2 sencor kicking it out. But I even tried it in my 3 stall garage and it still went out. I contacted Mr heater, and they sent me a new one, and that one did the same thing. So since then I've just used old reliable. The cooker heater, and chalked my little buddy experiment up to another waste of money. You'd think after a while one would learn! hehe!

[Jeremy airjer W]

Besides safety and being a lot quieter, there’s less odor.

I've used all three and all three have there advantages. The sunflower heaters are by far lighter and more portable. The Buddy heater and the big buddy can be put just about anywhere without having to worry about burning up your canvas. The backside of either unit doesn't get hot.

The sunflowers offer little in safety features. The buddies offer a tip over shut off and a low oxygen shut off.

The sunflowers are not as prone to shutting off if there is a draft. The buddies can and do, although I rarely have had this happen with either of mine.

Like I said I've had all three. I just prefer my Big Buddy at this point. Stick it in the corner and forget about it. Less noise, less smell, a little safer. On the other hand less "portable", more expensive, takes longer to set up and put away.

[iffwalleyes]

I have both a cooker and a big buddy and little buddy. I do not like the buddy heaters. The big buddy is way better than the little buddy but there is so much plastic on them and with you are ice fishing it isn't exactly warm so the plastic is brittle and it breaks. Of course I am pretty hard on equipment too but I don't have that problem with the cookers. So my heater after one season looks like it went though a war. With that the benefits are that you can turn the heater down to pilot rather that haveing to relight every time. The recirc fan in the unit make the hear much more uniform through out the house. The bad part is it does chew up the d batteries. Another nice thing is though that you can put it right next to the wall of the house and have no problems with it burning a hole. Now with that said I still like the Cooker better because it is dependable it lights in a snap the buddy lights when it decides it is ready. you have a place to cook. It is lighter and takes up less space also. So that is my take on the mentioned heaters. Stick with what works.

[hanson]

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The recirc fan in the unit make the heat much more uniform through out the house. The bad part is it does chew up the d batteries.

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How bad are you talking? The one feature that I would be interested in is the fan, but if I'm going through a couple D batteries every trip, that would be a big turn off for me.

[thrasher]

Been dissappointed in my Big Buddy. Bought one the first year they were out. Very rarely can get it lit. Always keep a sunflower with me just in case.

[PierBridge]

The little buddy "have not tested big buddy" as some of us have learned is not going to heat a big shack like an Otter Lodge, my regular buddy for the most part could heat my Fishtrap Guide but on those real cold days it couldn't keep up.

For long weekend trips I always bring a Mr Cooker with just in case.

I use my Buddy's 95 percent of time for the reasons listed above, quietness, odorless "no headaches", lack of danger/damage "CO,fire damage" and better gas mileage.

The fan works great I just use it occasionally in short stretches though, I think I changed Battery's once last year the key is not hitting the fan switch by accident and draining your battery's when not in use, there is a 12v DC input on the BB to run the Fan also.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Chris, 4D batteries will last 6-8 hours of continuous operation.

The plug in is rated for 6 volts not 12

[Borch]

I's still on my original batteries. Although I only use them during the coldest days. I'm should I've got at least 15 hours. But I rearely use the fan more than 3-4 hours per trip. It just gets too hot with the setup in my Otter Lodge.

One thing I don't like about it is that it's hard to get started at times. Usually a few repositions of the Big Buddy and it goes. Unit needs to be pretty level to get it started.

[iffwalleyes]

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The recirc fan in the unit make the heat much more uniform through out the house. The bad part is it does chew up the d batteries.

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How bad are you talking? The one feature that I would be interested in is the fan, but if I'm going through a couple D batteries every trip, that would be a big turn off for me.

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A set of battery will last me a full weekend. The biggest problem I have is I forget to shut the darn thing off. I found that I ended up not using it as much as I thought I would. Like Borch said it does do a really good job of heating.

[bmeier]

They had a recall on the big buddy heaters the first year they came out if you are having problems give them a call.