Algonquin Adventures / A Couple DIY Reflectix Projects

**Posted by Steve E** 5/12/2020 2:27 pm

I ordered a roll of 6" Reflectix and have been having some fun with a couple diy projects. I wanted to make a couple pot cozies for winter camping and rehydrating my meals. I also wanted to make a heat reflector for the back of my Helinox One chair. I added a velcro tab for folding up the reflector and it just clips onto the chair with a couple heavy duty paper clippy things....If nothing else it kept me busy for the afternoon

**Posted by BarryB** 5/12/2020 3:37 pm

Yea Steve! Nothing worse than a cold backside while your frontside is toasty warm. This should help even things out around the fire!

**Posted by SwiftPaddler** 5/12/2020 3:52 pm

Nice job Steve! Great idea for the back of the chair.

Those pot cozies work great and can take a real beating! I use mine all the time for rehydrating meals. They even keep your water hot enough if you want that second cup of coffee in the morning.
I made one for each size pot I have. I used the aluminum foil tape instead of duct tape.

**Posted by RCSpartan** 5/12/2020 3:54 pm

Nice.
I actually need a mosquito deflector for the back of my Helinox. It's the one place they seem to be able to bite through for some reason.

**Posted by Steve E** 5/12/2020 4:10 pm

Thanks guys Ya I probably should have used foil tape but I didn't have any lying around so I just went ahead with regular duct tape..We'll have to see how it holds up.

**Posted by scratchypants** 5/12/2020 5:17 pm

I'm just admiring/in awe of the seemingly spotless, light-coloured carpet. That would last less than a week at my place.

**Posted by Steve E** 5/12/2020 5:55 pm

scratchypants wrote:
I'm just admiring/in awe of the seemingly spotless, light-coloured carpet. That would last less than a week at my place.

Lol it's our basement and we had a flood a couple years back so we had new carpet put back in

**Posted by nvm** 5/13/2020 7:31 am

Those both looks great, I’m going to keep that product in mind for projects down the road. The back warmer reminds me of a product Lee Valley sells. I’ve never used one but it looks pretty good.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/home/outdoor-recreation/camping/44957-campfire-back-warmer

**Posted by Steve E** 5/13/2020 7:33 am

nvm wrote:
Those both looks great, I’m going to keep that product in mind for projects down the road. The back warmer reminds me of a product Lee Valley sells. I’ve never used one but it looks pretty good.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/home/outdoor-recreation/camping/44957-campfire-back-warmer

My dad picked up two of those years ago from Lee Valley! They worked pretty good but didn't attach well to the chairs we had and there was a lot of gap space, but you could certainly feel the difference...

**Posted by nvm** 5/14/2020 6:45 am

I’ll be interested to hear your review of your product, as it is reflecting body heat rather than fire heat, right? It’ll be neat to know what works better (assuming you were going to build a fire anyway).

**Posted by BarryB** 5/14/2020 8:32 am

It looks like the Lee Valley product's lower section can be allowed to drop down at an angle to the ground, so it can direct radiant heat from the fire up to the underside of the seat.

The problem with a cold backside is that the campfire sucks cold air in from around the fire .. heats it upward, generating quite a chilling incoming ground wind to deal with .. thus the cold backsides.

So we've got a number of variables to deal with .. cold incoming ground wind, blocking that wind chill, redirecting the body's heat back to it and trying to maximize radiant heat from the fire.

I prefer the Refletix type of material. In cool weather, I place a short wide strip of it under the chest area of my sleeping bag. Its foil and bubble-pack-type structure provide a double warm benefit. And for travelling, I place it in the rear of my pack up against my back to provide a bit more cushioning.

**Posted by Steve E** 5/14/2020 8:54 am

Ya with the one I did up I can unclip the bottom two clips and let the Reflectix drop to the ground. I'm hoping this will create a channel for the warm air from the fire to go up my backside Who knows it may not work at all but I'm pretty confident it will help. I've never worked with Reflectix before but it's an easy product to work with. Seems very forgiving, you can fold it easily and it's easy to cut, etc. I'm trying to think of more uses for it around camp!