How To Stay Warm While Camping In Cold Weather

A great light weight way to add some heat – bring a mylar thermal blanket– also called an emergency blanket. Simply attach the thermal blanket to the ceiling of your tent with duct tape and it will reflect much of the heat inside the tent back down at you. Just make sure you still have ample ventilation in your tent. But note that many rental companies winterize their RVs when temperatures drop to the 30s. This means the water system is turned off and filled with antifreeze to ensure the pipes don’t freeze or burst. Plan on bringing some extra water, and know that you won’t be able to use the sink, toilet and other water features inside the RV.

Don’t worry – the temps don’t have to drop below zero for these hints to be useful. Remember, you don’t have to obsess over size and weight when you’re sleeping in your car. (Within reason, of course.) We recommend packing a minimum of a 0º sleeping bag along with secondary layers in case of extreme cold. If you have the headspace, why not bring a thick sleeping pad or blow-up air mattress, too?

Hand & Toe Warmers

Cotton traps moisture and can freeze, making it a potentially dangerous material to be wearing or sleeping under in the cold. Sleeping on top of a wool blanket can protect you from cold coming up from the floor, and wearing wool is, of course, a great way to stay cozy. To avoid the itch, we recommend also adding merino wool long underwear to your packing list. Answers range from 30 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 to 4 degrees Celsius) being too cold to 30 to 40 degrees being too cold for those who are inexperienced or have amateur gear. Kozulj suggests cold weather camping is any camping below 0 Celsius . Double up on hats.Most people know to dress in layers, and that includes your head.

However, when it comes to winter and cold weather camping, the insulating performance of a sleeping pad is of greatest importance. Your body can loose a lot of heat through the ground. If you think the best way to stay warm in your tent is by wearing several layers of clothes and simply staying inside, then you are wrong. There is more to surviving in the cold than bundling up inside your tent, which is more than just a place to stay and sleep at night. It is one of the important factors to survive the night.

All sources of heat that produce through composition produce the odorless and poisonous gas, CO. If you are planning on using any sort of heating system in the close-corners environment of your car, make sure you open a window slightly on either side of your car. Switching to a good quality SIM will make a huge difference to your warmth at night.

Insulation Of Air Mattress

These aren’t practical if your going hiking as the stoves can be bulky and weight a lot, but for a static camping trip they are a warm and fun option. The tents they go in are just the same as any other, except they have an opening surrounded by heat-resistant material that stops the canvas setting on fire from the chimney’s heat. They weigh from 1.5 kg up to 7 or 8 kg for the bigger ones, but apart from keeping you warm, they provide a fun way to cook food and make hot drinks. We have led hundreds of first-time winter campers on dogsled camping trips through Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge. Cover your head and neck, and block drafts, but don’t burrow your head into your sleeping bag. I have a friend who sleeps with three hats and a neck gator.

These are some of the very best options to expand your camping room. Hand warmers and heated gloves can go a long way if you’re prone to cold fingers and toes. But, you can keep the tent from frosting covering all of the stuff you keep inside it.

You can always take a blanket off if you get hot, but if you are cold because you do not have enough, there is nothing you can do. Once you have taken the time to improve the insulation of your RV you will drastically have improved your winter camping experience. However, the insulation you do at home will never be as good as the insulation installed by professionals for 4 season RVs. So, there are still things you can do to improve your experience after installing insulation. Try to keep your bag from touching the wall of your tent. Conduction occurs when molecules increase in temperature; they vibrate, and this vibration and movement passes the heat energy to the surrounding molecules.

Free Tools For Staying Warm In Your Car

But tapping into the splendor and solitude of the wintry backcountry comes with real challenges. Mother Nature this time of year isn’t quite so forgiving as she is in the balmy summer or early autumn. The stakes when camping in cold weather go up considerably. Aside from our clothing, our surroundings are the next biggest factor to improve to stay warm in cold weather. Once you have called it a night and decided to go to bed, it is important to stay inside the tent, especially if temperatures drop to freezing or below.

Liners can add as little as 5 degrees F of warmth with a microfiber liner to 17 degrees F with a flannel or merino wool liner. Then use some everyday experiences to figure this out. Do you sleep with your down comforter on your bed through May? Are you the type of person that wears a long sleeved fleece zipped up while hiking in 70 degree F temperatures while all your friends are hiking in shorts and tank tops? You need to keep this in consideration when figuring out what you need extra to keep warm – and no one is going to know this better than you.

Amy and I really like a double bag system because it provides flexibility. If it is 0 degrees we can sleep comfortably with just one bag; if it is 40 below zero we can be fully ensconced in both bags. Two bags allow us to regulate our temperature easily. You should always keep a collection of gloves, socks, and hats in your car for multiple people, as well as a flashlight, extra batteries, wool blankets, and extra food. As a closing thought, here is a list of the most important things to remember when you are planning on camping in your car in a cold area overnight.

Resist The Temptation To Use Your Cars Lights

It’s helpful to have one designated place in your car where you always store your headlamp. The Dyrt PRO ensures easy trip planning and helps you deal with last-minute cancellations. With the upgraded version of The Dyrt app, you can access campgrounds, maps, and photos for offline use during outdoor adventures. Few things are better than some warm food when it’s cold outside. Mac and cheese is one of my go-to warm meals because it’s easy to prepare. Use terrain, buildings, and even the layout of your tents at your campground to block the wind you’re exposed to.

If you run warm, you may want to use a vapor barrier to prevent your perspiration from reaching the down in your bag. If you are waking up to recurring condensation, ventilate your tent with a small opening. Hot or cold, whatever you do, dress for the occasion and leave your cotton clothing at home. In the end, the more comfortable you are, the more rest and energy you’ll have to tackle your winter endeavors and enjoy the solitude of camping in the snow. A little extra help from technology goes a long way toward confronting the cold with confidence. While you can’t bring a space heater, can you bring compact solutions to keep your fingers and toes warm, well functioning and ready to handle the tasks before you.

Remember too that a close fitting mummy bag is your best option for keeping warm. Lots of the time the underside of the RV can be a huge weak spot for insulation. Therefore, RV Skirting like in the picture below called AirSkirts can keep your RV or camper warmer for longer so you don’t burn as much propane trying to heat your camper. Ensuring that the underside of your camper is well insulated is essential before you head out on your next cold weather trip. To be safe, go with a sleeping bag that’s rated 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the coldest temperatures you expect to encounter. You can always throw an extra blanket over the top of your sleeping bag to seal in the warmth, or purchase a sleeping bag liner which can add a few degrees of warmth to your bag.

Heavily padded clothing and sleeping gear might not help you much if you fail to keep heat inside your tent. Cold is relative and has more to do with what you are used to and what you are prepared for than the actual temperature. If it’s 30 or -30 degrees the next time you are preparing to sleep out in the cold, I hope these tips and tricks will help you stay warm. If you wake up too cold or too hot, try to remember it happens to all of us.

For inspiration, check out our list of the best 4-season tents with a stove jack. Your first line of defense against the snow is your tent, so it’s important to select one that’s well suited to the job. Somewhere between 50 to 60 Fahrenheit would be considered cold but comfortable to most.

How Do You Keep A Tent Warm In The Winter?

State parks and city campgrounds vary in their rules about sleeping in your car. In fact, in some Texas State Parks, there are specific rules against it–many popular parks in fact will have rangers going from site to site to ensure compliance with rules. Call before planning a trip at an established campground if you don’t want to bring a tent.

Besides creating a nice ambiance in the tent, tea lights are an excellent hack to avoid moisture and damp in your tent. The little flames of the tea lights extract moisture. Just make sure you light them where they can’t catch anything else on fire. Frostbite commonly affects the fingers, toes, ears, nose, chin, and cheeks. Exposed skin in extreme wind or cold is most susceptible to frostbite, although unexposed skin may also be susceptible. If they aren’t wrapped/winterized, they still need to be blown free of water each time before freeze up.