As far as the odor from the Plat-Cat heater goes, yes there was always a
strange smell from them and it never went away with use so I don't think it
would be less obvious after burn-off but now that everyone mentions it we
will burn ours off outdoors first, just in case.

As I recall we only kept ours burning for a short periods of time just to
get the chill off, then turned it off.  We didn't spend much time sitting
inside the tent except for one two week stretch in South Woodstock NH where
it rained for nine days straight! hope we didn't give people the wrong idea.
We did not burn the heater during the night, just before we jumped into our
sleeping bags. I don't advise using it anywhere there may be volatile fumes
from anything-super glue, WD 40, Pam, nailpolish remover, methane,
etc.,...... well you get the picture. Even though it isn't a visible open
flame it is still combustion.  As for the need for fresh air while using the
heater, anything that works on combustion needs air, without it we ALL snuff
out!

Heads Up,
Keep Warm,
Happy Camping

Wendy & John
Cape Cod, MA

'85 Westy,   "S-CAPE"
'98 Passat - The Do Dah Machine
LiMBO members