Unlike a lot of Kiwis, I really feel the cold, and as I get older, I am enjoying less and less the prospect of climbing into a cold tent and sleeping bag at the end of a hard day’s driving.
I’ve also been away a lot with my friend Aaron Rich and his family and have always been envious of them with their large family tent and diesel heater.
About a month before my final guiding trip of the season, Aaron and I were discussing our various projects and he told me that he was seriously considering producing diesel heaters for the NZ market.
Answer to my prayers
He asked me what I thought, and I immediately said that it would be the answer to my prayers and signed up for the first prototype for my last trip to Central Otago, where we had snow in January!
Aaron has created XpeditoNZ to sell this product and it looks great. Everything is contained within a box made of marine grade aluminium and certainly looks the business. I finally picked ‘my’ prototype up the afternoon that I was leaving to join my clients in Fairlie. I received rudimentary instructions, a few ‘dos- ‘n-don’ts’ and set off South.
For those unfamiliar with diesel heaters, they have been used on boats and in caravans for years. Unlike a gas heater, for example, the only thing that enters the tent is dry hot air. Before Aaron would let me take it away, he tested it for carbon monoxide to make sure that it was perfectly safe to use. It passed with flying colours.
Comes with a remote!
The first night of the trip, I was keen to try it out and it did not disappoint! The final model comes with a remote control. Yes, a remote control, just like with your heat pump at home! It also comes with a control box which comes into the tent. It is simplicity itself. The controller has an on/off button and two buttons that control the temperature.
Can you imagine going to your tent and simply pressing the “on” button, waiting a couple of minutes and then being toasty warm? Honestly it is the very best piece of kit I think that I have ever had! So much so that on the last trip, my guests were coming onto the radio asking to hear about the heater if they hadn’t heard me rave about it before 10.00am. It really became a standing joke.
Sadly, I’m going to have to return my prototype to Aaron for him to make some final modifications, not because it doesn’t work, but to make it even better. I honestly can’t imagine ever sleeping in a tent again without it.
Register your interest now!
Aaron is still working on getting everything just perfect and hasn’t yet fixed a price, but if you’re interested in having one, you can contact him at aaron@xpeditionz.co.nz to register your interest.
Over the years, I’ve probably used the phrase “game changer” too often, but this is definitely just that and the best piece of Overlanding kit in my current arsenal.
