Flameless heating

[Atg336]

Heading up to a "rustic cabin" in a NY state park in a week. Always wanted to do some Fall outdoors stuff that isn't all in the bush.

I'm a little concerned about warmth in the cabin at nights. There are no open flames allowed in the cabins and no electricity. My significant other gets chilled pretty fast too.
I'm thinking about heating up some rocks in the campfire outside and putting them in the cabin on a metal stand of sorts. Figure if I do this for a few hours it will keep the place warm over night, in addition to blankets and other nocturnal activities :D.

Interested in other alternatives to heating the cabin from everyone. This problem has become a pretty good head scratcher and I love a challenge.
Staying 2 nights.

[HeliPilot]

Edit: incomplete post

[HeliPilot]

I've heard of people heating rocks in a fire, wrapping them in a dense blanket (heavy wool) and placing the bundle in the sheets at the foot of the bed. The transfer of heat through the sheets due to conduction will likely be more effective than through a few rocks through convection in the entire cabin. Just make sure the rocks are dense and you don't pick them from a stream, otherwise they may explode when heated.

Maybe try it on your own before you go...

[thopkins22]

People used to take hot rocks/bricks all the way into the bed. Certainly doable. A hot water bottle would do more for your immediate comfort in the bed than a rock a few feet away if you aren't comfortable with one in the bed. The rock or hot water bottle will radiate enough heat to warm you under covers, it will not heat a room.

The little oxygen activated pocket warmers work well, if you can keep them close to your skin.

Personally, there's nothing I hate more than being hot at night. I'd much rather take an extra wool blanket(I like the weight when it's cold,) than put something in bed I couldn't regulate. Explain to your woman that regulating your body temperature is her job for the weekend.

[MistWolf]

Find out what they mean by open flame. I've camped places that allowed no open flames but camp stoves and catalytic heaters were fine

[wilson1911]

You do realize they make Battery powered clothing that keeps you all warm and fuzzy ???

I have not used any but am looking into at least socks for this hunting season.

[replacement]

get a couple of wool watch caps. having the wife sllep with a cap over her ears at night should keep her warm. I think it was 60% of your bodies heat loss is through the head.

[thopkins22]

get a couple of wool watch caps. having the wife sllep with a cap over her ears at night should keep her warm. I think it was 60% of your bodies heat loss is through the head.

I've heard numbers to this effect as well, and a cap definitely helps a ton and is definitely often overlooked. But the vast majority of body heat is lost from the core, not the head.

Try skiing naked with nothing but a watch cap on...and see if you'd take the cap off for a jacket and pants. Perhaps it means that 60% of lost heat when the person is already well bundled up.

[TahoeLT]

^ True; the whole "you lose most of your heat through your head" thing is a myth. You lost about the same amount as most any other body part, you just tend to notice it more in places like nose, ears, fingers, toes, etc.

There are plenty of heaters that do not use open flame--as MistWolf said, clarify what they mean by that. Catalytic, kerosene, propane, etc. are available that might not be considered "open". And unless it's going to be really cold (below around 10F), I've always found blankets/sleeping bags to be plenty.

[Atg336]

Thank you for the replies.

Hellpilot & thopkins22- that's a good idea. I remember that back in the 1800s there used to be these mattress warmers, like a frying pan with a loooong handle and a lid attached with a hinge, made of cast iron that they put hot coals in and stuffed them under the mattress, though I figure that probably led to some house fires.

I need to see what kind of stones there are in the area.

Mistwolf - I was wondering about that too, since I have a gas lantern which technically has an open flame, but enclosed in the lantern glass. I will give them a call.

Replacement - she has a warm cap - an orange tiger cap to be more specific, with the head of a tiger - that she can only wear during the curfew hours I prescribed (inside and in the dark...or on Halloween).

TahoeLT - I do have a kerosene heater that is small and safe(ish).

Got plenty of blankets, just in case. I will report back on what happens this weekend.

[Atg336]

Update:
Well, the weekend went well. It was actually warm enough at night and the cabins built well enough that we didn't need to do any sort if heating.
If I ever get the chance to do an overnight or two sometime later I will definitely use the ideas in this thread.

I did find that due to the cabins not having electricity, lighting was an issue, and I don't mean personal lighting. Petzls and other lights are fine for tents, but a cabin needs at least a medium to large lantern. There are new ones at EMS that are LED with 300 lumens running for 12 hours straight on 4 D batteries.
Also found that having a fairly comprehensive (but light) mess kit is essential when you are staying out for a few days as opposed to cooking while hiking.
Again thank you for the advice!

[Keith E.]

You do realize they make Battery powered clothing that keeps you all warm and fuzzy ???

Check out Gerbing for this.

Keith

[Armati]

Should this come up again, try this combo:

This http://www.goalzero.com/p/164/goal-zero-yeti-150-solar-generator

Or this http://www.goalzero.com/p/165/goal-zero-yeti-400-solar-generator

And one or two of these http://www.jcwhitney.com/maxsa-innovations-12-volt-electric-blanket/p2010968.jcwx?filterid=u0j1