Battery powered fan for tent camping?

[dbarnes612]

I'm camping at Camp Scholler for about the 20th year, having stayed in dorms the past four years. My stays have gotten shorter over time. I used to bring an 11x11" cabin tent and stay for 7-10 days. That tent had great ventilation and was very comfortable in the heat. For this year's 2-3 nights, I'll be in a 5x8" pup tent with not so great ventilation. So I'm thinking about picking up a cheap little battery powered fan. It would have to be small and quiet. Something like this:


http://www.amazon.com/O2-Cool-Portab.../dp/B001AVMSEY


I've also heard of "fan homebuilding," people rigging up batteries to run small fans meant for PC cases. Something like that wouldn't be a problem (although it would be One More Thing To Do before leaving).

Your experience? Suggestions?

Thanks!

[AeroPilot]

I have that fan and I have it packed for my tent. Works well, reasonably quiet, and on low it lasts on the batteries.


Next week will tell if it works well on the evenings.

I picked mine up at the local Walmart.

[dbarnes612]

Thanks, Aeropilot!

[RickFE]

Brought one from Walmart last year. It was cool enough in the evenings in my 3 man dome tent (solo) that I didn't even really need it.

[dbarnes612]

Thanks, Rick. What's your read on the noise level from the fan?

[Antique Tower]

We bought a neat little rig - it's a medium-sized cooler with a fan imbedded in the top.

Fill it with a bag of ice, and it pumps out cool air for 4-5 hours. Enough to get you to sleep.... Runs on a cigarette lighter cord. Don't know where she bought it.

[dbarnes612]

Antique Tower, is this what you have?

http://www.kooleraire.com

Here are a couple of DIY things in the same vein:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUhs_1puHk0
http://www.instructables.com/id/Ice-...r-conditioner/

This also looks interesting (tho not involving ice):

http://www.sleepbreeze.co.uk/comfort...g-tent-fan.htm

[FlyingRon]

We have a couple of fans of the walmart (or at local sporting goods store). One is a little one similar to the amazon but it also has a light. We also have a "ceiling fan" for a tent.

[mcmurphy]

I bought one of those fans to use in my tent last year. It was cool enough at night that I never took it out of the box. I am taking it again this year, even though I am camping in a motor home since it doesn't have the ventilation that my tent did.

[dbarnes612]

Ended up buying the 5" battery powered fan. Found it at my local Dick's Sporting Goods store for $10. It's of extremely light construction, definitely not something to stuff into a corner of a duffel. But with reasonable packing and careful use, it should do just fine. Definitely a quiet little thing!

Thanks to all for the input here.