Mr Heater Buddy Flex – Has anyone tried one out?

Greetings All!

First post here. I’m setting up for hitting the ice this winter with my son. We’ve got very limited experience but we’re committing to making a solid effort this season. I picked up an Otter Vortex Lodge, haven’t set it up yet…work and the weather have worked against me! I’m looking at heaters and I was all set to pick up a Little Buddy when the Flex Heater caught my attention (I had originally dismissed it as a gimmick and wanted to get a proven device). As I look at it more though I’m intrigued by the 180 degree heating area. Has anyone fired one up and compared it to the standard Buddy models? Do you guys think that the 180 degree feature will help distribute the heat or will the difference be minimal?

Thanks for your thoughts and feedback!

Welcome. Haven’t seen one in use but I can’t imagine more is really needed to heat your shack than a buddy. They stay pretty toasty. Might be more efficient but temp wise you will be pretty comfy with buddy or big buddy.

You will never be disappointed with a big buddy heater 6ft hose connected to a 20lbs tank out side the shack

Wouldn’t 360 heat be dangerous in portables or deer stands? You couldn’t put them against a side or corner. I’m I missing something?

3rdtryguy wrote:

Wouldn’t 360 heat be dangerous in portables or deer stands? You couldn’t put them against a side or corner. I’m I missing something?

I think its 180 degree not 360 but its expensive and It has a Cooktop on it. But cant heat and cook at the same time

The Flex Cooker is actually a separate/additional accessory for the Flex heater.

https://www.mrheater.com/buddy-flex-cooker.html

$111 for the cook top? You could buy yourself a pretty nice camping stove for that….

Wtf thats a additional 111 bucks.
Yeah I’d go with big buddy and be golden for the next few years

I’ve played with it and it does seem to heat things fairly evenly and the 180 degrees does send the radiant heat in all 180 degrees well. It does what is says it does. Does that mean I’m going to go buy it and scrap my standard buddy heater? No. I can fish in a sweatshirt no problem in my Yukon with that.

If the cooker was built in then it might be a different story.

Thanks for all the information and feedback. I almost made it an impulse buy today but backed off. The choice between a proven standby and newer, better(?) is always tough for me. I’m actually not really interested in the cooker but the 180 degrees and the heating element….I read somewhere that it is different from the other Buddies and not as fragile, intrigue me.

Please keep the input coming, it’s all helpful!

Even 180 degrees wouldn’t work in most deer stands or small houses. Might be ok in a big pop up style. Buddies sure seem more versatile. That is a crazy cook top price. IMHO

I have a couple of hunting buddy heaters and I prefer them to the big buddy. For the Yukon a little buddy would be fine, unless it is just brutally cold.

When using the larger hubs my friend has this one,

https://www.mrheater.com/45-000-btu-540-degree-tank-top-heater.html

If you are looking to also cook on the ice grab a cheap white gas single burner, that this works all the time.

I did buy a jet boil last year to make coffee on the ice but the adapter to use a pot is not as good as a decent white gas one burner.

With the little buddy or hunting buddy you can grab one of the many grills attachments for hot dogs or what not, but they do cook slow.

I use the Mr Buddy portable size in my flip over. I have found the heat rises and the top of my flip over gets measurably warmer than the bottom. I use a small fan to circulate the heat and try and keep the inside temp uniform. I live in NE Illinois and our air temps rarely go under zero. Good luck.

Still haven’t pulled the trigger. Funds got diverted to other more immediate needs. I will be space challenged and as such I have eliminated the Big Buddy (It sounds like overkill for my hub anyway). I’ll probably end up with the Buddy as the cost difference is significant and I overspent on a stove. It’s getting cold up here in the north country and I’m looking forward to putting all the new toys to use!

Have you checked out the Dewalt heater? Its basically a Hunting Buddy with a fan and LED light, also has usb ports… I used one in my Otter Cabin, its toasty warm and kept the holes open. I have also used it for the light when we had a power outage this past summer…

I fish either an Otter XT X-Over Pro Cabin or an eskimo insulated hub style (it’s 7ftX7ft not sure which model).

I’ve stopped bringing my big buddy. With all the insulation a regular size “portable buddy” has been just fine for me in all temperatures. I think above zero even the little buddy would be just fine but I have no use for one with 2 regular buddies and a big buddy at home.

Big buddy works great for heating the garage!

That’s what I fish out of, I also use an Eskimo hub 767i, in warmer weather (20+) I will use a lantern only… and I agree with the new insulation you don’t need much to stay warm… I plan on getting rid of the Eskimo soon… not sure what to ask, I’ve only fished out of it a few times…

iceager01, I have looked at the Dewalt but I’m already heavily invested in the Milwaukee battery universe with some Bosch stuff too. I really don’t want to get into a third set of chargers and batteries. Looks pretty good though.

I like the Flex but the price is driving me to the regular Buddy.

As you guys are saying, when I set up my Otter Vortex Lodge Hub the insulation seemed substantial and I’m guessing that it won’t take much to keep it warm, except in extreme conditions and I don’t expect to be out in that kind of weather anyway….