Customer Reviews

Coleman BlackCat PerfecTemp Catalytic Heater with InstaStart Technology

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I took this heater camping in Delaware on Columbus Day weekend (October). I used it in a well-ventilated 4-person (medium-sized) tent. The first 2 days were cold and rainy, and I was VERY glad to have brought it.

Now, this heater is not going to make your tent into a sauna on a very cold day, so don't expect to get in the tent and lounge in your skivies like you might do at home! But after burning for about 10-15 min, it should raise the temperature in your tent several precious degrees making it bareable; even comfortable. For instance, it did keep me from having to wear my heavy coat while inside the tent, which pleased me.

Since it would certainly heat a smaller, less-vented tent better than a larger, more-vented tent, your results may vary. As for me, the results were not dramatic, but certainly noticable, and well worth the money spent.

Note: This kind of catalytic heater requires those mini propane tanks. It works by a chemical reaction between a meshy platinum filter and the burning propane gas, so while there's no obvious propane smell and no open flame, there's still a very hot surface that could catch objects on fire if they are placed directly in front of it for too long. FYI, when you first light it, you may indeed see an igniting flame, but that is just upon start up. Once the starting flame vanishes, put your hand gently over the heater - if you feel it eminating warmth, you'll know you've started it successfully.

Warning: Just as the instructions warn you, I do NOT recommend leaving this heater on through the night when you and your family are asleep. It is both a breathing hazard, and an obvious fire hazard. But warning stated, I did just that and I didn't have a problem. I slept very comfortably on a couple cold nights and I didn't die in my sleep. Again, your results may vary.

However, I should note that my own tent is extreamly well ventilated, with the entire ceiling being mesh under the rain fly. In addition, the night was windy, and I could actually feel a breeze of air circulating in my tent. In truth, if I had brought a less-ventilated, cold-weather tent with me that weekend, the heater may not have been needed at night, but since I was stuck with a drafty tent, I took the calculated risk that this would also lessen the threat. In addition, I took every possible precaution to ensure that nothing was near the heater before going to sleep. Even so, it's a risk that I could not blame anyone for not wanting to take. Also, if you do this, expect the propane tank to be empty by morning.

All in all, other than the obvious handle-with-care factors, I could not find a downside to this product. In fact, I could not imagine cold-weather camping without it. P.S. They also sell a slightly cheaper version, which is the same in every way, except it does not have the self-starting switch, and you start it manually with a lit match.

I bought this before a camping trip I was taking in late September in Wisconsin where the weather is usually cool and damp at night. I have a large 8 person tent and was pretty impressed on how well the heater kept the tent warm. With the temp outsite the tent in the lo 50's, I was very comfortable inside with just shorts & a t-shirt.

I did some investigation into the heater before I purchased it and one of the recomendations was to burn a tank of propane thru it before you really need to in order to get rid of an odor that seems to come from the new ones (in which it is a funky odor). I don't think you need to burn a whole tank, but maybe half a tank. I had a half a tank laying around so I used that and it seemed to work.

Another thing I noticed is they say it will use a whole bottle in about 8 hours. I would say maybe 7. If I started the heater around 9 PM around 4 - 4:30 it would start getting chilly in the tent because the heater ran out of gas. I would just quick change the bottle and start it back up and just go back to sleep. It does have a lower setting and it would have probably lasted longer if I would have set it on that.

One more thing I did before buying the heater I Googled catalytic Propane Heaters and was given a link to the Consumer Product Potection Agency investigation on propane heaters and I was very confident about putting this in a closed space and not worry about Carbon Monoxide.

I've only had the opportunity to use the Procat 3000 BTU heater once when it was 25 degrees overnight in middle Tennessee in a two-man tent. The heater worked great with minimal odor and maximum warmth. I warmed up the tent before I went to bed (never leaving it unattended) and turned it off after snuggling into my sleeping bag. The electronic ignition was great! In the morning I simply reached out of my sleeping bag with one hand and turned on the heater about 30 minutes before I arose. It did take several clicks of the switch to ignite the heater as described in the instructions. It also takes a few minutes for the whole 'pad' in the heater to begin to glow but it was worth the wait! While there is no open flame, per se, the heater gets HOT so you must ensure you have adequate space in your tent for all of your `stuff' to be clear of the front of the heater to reduce the risk of fire. This heater is made to use safely inside a tent, however, carefully read the instructions regarding proper ventilation of your tent while using the heater to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. I left a small opening in the front and rear tent flaps to allow adequate airflow. I read one review on another site that said you had to use Coleman fuel as recommended by the manufacturer; however, I used the cheapest fuel I could find with great results. If love camping but you hate the cold, this product is for you!

I bought this because we were going camping while it was still pretty cold outside. When you get it you need to burn it to get rid of the initial fumes. It lights easily and does project a warm area in front of the unit. If the air is still you can use it outside. If it is windy forget about it. It is still not clear if it is recommended for use inside a tent while sleeping. I found conflicting information. We have a large 16X8 dome tent with an open mesh top covered by a fly so I felt like it would be OK to run inside. I'm still alive so it didn't kill me. It did warm the tent but in reality the heat is going out the top of the tent. It helped keep us warm during a very cold night. We actually got some sleep; everyone else in our group was groggy the next day because they were so cold. I woke up at 2 am with a frozen face and replaced they empty cylinder then relit it.

There are heaters that burn outside the tent and warm inside but they are big and expensive.

My wife and kids liked the comfort. Is it worth the cost of the unit and a few cylinders of gas to keep you warm at night? For us the answer is yes in the right situation. When it's cold and you have kids or a frozen wife it's worth its weight in gold.

The quality is decent, not great so I give it 4 stars.

This is a nice item. I crank mine up and in a short period of time my 2 man blind is nice and warm. The bottles will last several hours on high temp. The only problem I have with it is that it sometimes takes as many as 20 attempts to ignite with the built in starter. I now have lighters in the blinds and light the heaters with them. A lot less noise and a surefire start.

I also have the older model of this. The key feature I like on this new one is the ability to adjust the output. I haven't yet decided whether to buy the new one for the adjustment feature, as the old one works great. But I am about to set out on a 30 day winter camping trip, and the ability to run it at a much lower rate is tempting.

We originally got the old one to use in a boat for winter overnights in our MacGregor 26X. It was so WONDERFUL!! It took a would-be miserable situation of being cold and dark in early evening at anchor, and wanting to play a game rather than trying to read or sleep through a bunch more winter hours. This warmed the cabin of our little sailboat up in about 20 mins to where you could take off mittens to hold cards.

We would then let the heater run for about an hour, get it fairly toasty, then turn it off and head off to bed and reading in the sleeping bag only after it got to cold to hold cards again.

If I didn't aready have an older model that works perfectly, I would buy one of these instantly. And guys, if you want your gals to do more camping and be happier doing it, get her one of these.

This is a review from a hunters perspective and rates the performance of the Coleman BlackCat EI Catalytic Heater heater according to the environment it is used in.

Why I purchased the heater:
- To use in my Primos Ground Max Eclipse Hunting Blind (http://www.amazon.com/Primos-GB2500-The-Eclipse-Blind/dp/B001P5G6TI), which has the dimensions (L x W x H): 77.0 x 77.0 x 70.0, while deer hunting

- Because I do not have adequate cold weather footwear (I should buy some) and my toes get too cold very easily
- I hunt in Texas where the wind is always blowing and because so, it can chill you quiet quickly even with our mildly cold winter weather
- To have a portable heater for tailgating events and to play my guitar on my back porch in the winter w/out freezing. How stereotypically hick of me :)

How I used it in context to this review:
- I used it in my Primos Ground Max Eclipse Hunting Blind (http://www.amazon.com/Primos-GB2500-The-Eclipse-Blind/dp/B001P5G6TI), which has the dimensions (L x W x H): 77.0 x 77.0 x 70.0 while hunting deer.

Pros:
- Heats well for the reasons I bought it. I keep it right at my feet and it heats up my feet and legs warm which in turn keeps me warm all over. Does not keep the hunting blind warmed up as I have the hunting windows open preventing any real heat build up in the blind.

- It is very simple to operate. You turn the knob to high for about 30-45 seconds so propane will feed out and then you press the electric striker to fire up the heater. I have seen other portable propane heaters that need a match or that force you to prime the device for 1 minute, then you strike and hold the knob in a pilot light ignition position for another minute, then you reset the knob and turn on to the desired heat level. That is too much trouble.

- The heater is very quiet. An animal within 5 yards will likely not hear the sound. The closest encounter I have had is a deer 20 yards away and it did not hear or smell the heater. Even the strike of the ignition switch is not much louder then when I bump my rifle against my chair leg or my shooting stick.

- Works well on high and low settings. I used it on both settings in 12F temperature, where everything was covered in frost, and with 15 mph wind blowing from the north. Had no issues keeping my feet and in turn my body warm. When my fingers got a little cold I just put my hands down between my legs to catch the rising heat and they warmed up nicely.


Cons:
- Has a very slight propane burning odor on high setting. It was only noticeable when I bent down to warm my hands and the heater was on high. I did not really notice it when the heater was on low or when I was sitting completely erect in my chair. If you are hunting you should be upwind of your prey anyway making this slight odor a non-issue.

- Takes 30-45 seconds to start up. I would stop the heater after I would warm up and then start it up again later when I was getting chilled. I would become impatient waiting the 30-45 seconds and click the starter a few times making noise and taking my attention away from hunting, etc. This is basically a "me" problem and could be solved by just being more patient.


Concluding Statement:

I have not used the heater in a great deal of situations so I cannot give you any information on the life, durability, and exact efficiency of the heater. All I know is that it works well for my hunting needs and I would buy another if I needed it. I also think that it would keep my feet and legs warm even in an open tripod hunting stand or a tree stand.

For non hunters this would work fine for direct heat in a camping or emergency situation. It would not effectively heat an uninsulated space larger than the dimensions of my blind.

I hope this information is helpful :)

Coleman BlackCat PerfecTemp Catalytic Heater

I bought this heater for my 9x9x7(height)tent after reading many reviews and researching it's safety. The main purpose I wanted to use it for was heating my tent. As I am in Australia, Coleman for some reason state that this heater must not be used inside any sort of enclosed structure. Other parts of the world seem to have different regulations regarding this. I read a test regarding catalytic heaters and it seems as long as there is adequate ventilation, there shouldn't any major health risks. As my tent has a mesh ceiling that is exposed to the vestibule (which has a 10cm gap around the perimeter at the bottom) I wasn't too concerned with not having enough ventilation. I did also opened the bottom of the door at the back of the tent a few inches as I read propane is heavier than air and could pool in the bottom of an enclosed area.
The temperature during the night dropped to 37F and using the heater brought the temperature up to 72F. I seriously didn't think it was going to be very effective and was happy to be proven wrong. When I went to sleep I turned it to low and it maintained a temperature of around 57F. Obviously the colder it is outside the less effective it will be but it would still make a huge difference to most campers. The best part of having this heater was waking up and it being warm. I always hated getting out of a warm sleeping bag straight into the cold.
I wasn't too keen on buying the small canisters to power this heater as they were expensive and only lasted a a few hours. Coleman sell a hose for their water heaters to connect them to a bulk propane tank. These hoses also fit the Blackcat. I connected my heater with one of these hoses and kept the bottle outside the tent. Although Coleman state not to do this, I did and wasn't too concerned with any serious safety issues. Refilling the canisters seemed more of a safety concern to me that connecting it to a bulk tank. I did have to make a small stand out of a piece of poly pipe to fit where the canister usually fits but this was very easily done. Connecting to a bulk container makes the gas around 75% cheaper and it could also run the heater for around a hundred hours on high with a 20oz tank. I didn't want to have to get up in the night and change the small canister Coleman suggest using.
Before using the heater in my tent, I ran it for an hour as at home to remove any smells. I strongly recommend you do this. It's has a very strong smell when first lit. After wards I didn't notice any smell while using the heater. Using a match was quick and easy to light this heater so I wouldn't bother paying for the extra piezoelectric ignition which often fails anyway.
Make sure you keep a a reasonable perimeter around the heater as it will burn most things it comes into contact with.
Happy Camping!!

I used this a lot last camping season. For the first several uses there was a strange toxic smell in my tent. I thought something was wrong with the heater. Now I realized I think it was the toxins coming out of the plastic of my tent! Now it doesn't make that smell anymore. It has low and high settings which are really great. I turn it off before I go to sleep. I like that it has an electric start. I was considering another model but reviews said that sparks came out upon lighting it! With this model, I've felt very safe each time I lit it. It's true as others say, the legs are kind of cheapy, but once they got loose and the thing collapsed, I realized I just needed to tighten the screws and it was fine. Now I just keep a screwdriver in my tent.

Works as advertised, but it's all about how you use it. The bigger your space, naturally, the less effective this is. In our experience, you've really got to have this thing within 3-4 feet of you to feel it. Again, with a smaller tent, more heat will likely be trapped.