Bongo Fury

And of course I have a question . . . it plugs into the cigarette lighter (all of which now come off the leisure battery).

I know it won't be a problem when I'm on hook-up - but my question is, how long will it last when running off the leisure battery? The only information I have is that it is thermostated & it says "low amp draw" - but doesn't specify. Can anyone hazard a guess about the worst case scenario re. how long the leisure battery will power it?

The worst you could do is give it a trial run.......!

I know - but I'm sitting in the warm & I can't be bothered to go outside. But you're right - I guess that is what I am going to have to do. It was only £10, so if it works it would certainly be nice on hookup and with an extension, I could sit outside & stay cosy (I really feel the cold)

The ones I have seen are around 50-60 watts, so they would totally flatten a leisure battery over night. I would not expect them to get that warm either.
I suppose they would be OK when driving....but then your heaters will be good then also , and when on hook up, possibly a mains one would be more effective.
A few of the guys I camped with a week or so back were using proper electric blankets and they were really warm.
I suppose you could be OK with it when on hook up, but I wouldnt try it without.

I have an electric underblanket for the Bongo on chilly nights and it's perfect. I got it in a charity shop for £6, it plugs into the mains when I am on hook up (which is always in the winter). I've camped all year round for two years and wouldn't be without it.

Bongo Tong

I have a 12v electric blanket and made a temp and low voltage cut off for it. Seemed to go 2 nights on test in my room but have never tried it in anger in the Bongo.

They have some heated under blankets at Lidl right now..spotted em last weekend but too skint to buy one....

We've tried a couple of them and yes there about 48W or 4 Amps, they work fine for heating but a terrible quality inside, which you will find out about after about a couple of dozen nights or so. They have both been thrown out now, but did do the job for a while.

I've got one of the Lidl ones but only use it on hookup. The Umbongos, Cat and Chris had a electric blanket at Llangollen a couple of years ago that lasted about three to four hours on the leisure battery. It was supposed to be on hook up but it turned out theirs was not working. Spectacularly amateur Welsh electrics.

Doubt if there are any electric blankets that would run off a leisure battery for longer than a quick snooze.

We got a mains powered heated over blanket from Tescos for about £12. It's only a single, but covers the full width nicely. It got about 9 settings, a timer and is machine washable. It sheds its fluffy bits now and again, so I'd probably buy a better quality one when the time comes.

We haven't looked back since deciding to sleep on top of one duvet and under another.

This experiment came about as a result of having to transport two duvets to where we frequently stay and not needing any other unused bedding cluttering the van once we get there.

If we are on a hookup, a quick blast into the duvets with a hairdrier on the lowest setting is more than adequate. I like the hair drier because you can apply a quick burst of warm air locally with it, like up sleeves and trouser legs or down the neck of a sweatshirt.

We also have some small electric pads and wrap around body warmers in our useful clutter collection. I no longer heat my house in winter due to silly gas prices. Instead I heat myself with a body warn pad with a quick disconnect if I want to walk around. In practice, it only needs to go on for a few minutes every half an hour or so. The house temperature usually hovers around 8°C with some free heat from low sunshine/infra red from the sky in the mornings and a warm party wall.

I don't think there's too much chance of dying of cold in a Bongo if you wrap up well. Don't forget hot water bottles either if you have access to hot water, even from a flask prepared earlier.

As a dedicated cheapskate I can also recommend immersing forearms in a basin of warm water if one can be found in better quality toilet blocks. Saves using up a lot of food calories.

Frank

Some neat tips there, Frank.

If I have to get into a cold sleeping bag I pull it over my head then breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth, good big breaths.

Surprising how quickly that warms things up.

Bob wrote:Some neat tips there, Frank.

If I have to get into a cold sleeping bag I pull it over my head then breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth, good big breaths.

Surprising how quickly that warms things up.

Baked beans a couple of hours before going to bed also works well .......

Hi
MMmmm....8 degrees...still "T" shirt weather outside...I only don coats at 5 degrees, and gloves when it gets freezing.....Minus 30 C outside last year...nippy when walking the dogs...our German Shepherd loves it!...the lurcher wears a coat!!!!
I've never wanted a leccy blanket...or electric gloves on a motorbike...my favourite time was riding in the cold...empty roads!
If we don't have cold for comparison, how do we know that warm weather is pleasurable ????
Cheers
Helen

As Mary said, ours lasted 4 hours on the leisure battery. Great for when you have hook up though