Camping in cold conditions brings a whole new set of challenges. There is some great equipment out there now that will keep you warm but there isn’t much advise on how to keep your tent warm.
Last winter I wanted to come up with a way to keep my tent warm. I was sick of waking up with a frozen nose and seeing my breath in the air. The thought of getting out of my sleeping bag was less than appealing. It got me thinking though. Is there a way that I could heat my tent and keep in warm. Or at least warm enough to have a comfortable night sleep.
After some research I found that insulation is the key. Having good ground insulation is very important to stop the cold rising into the tent. Also finding a way to stop the warm air from releasing from the tent is key. There are several ways to improve this, all of which I will explain below. And then we have to find a way of actually heating the tent. Again there are several ways to do this which I will also talk about. By the end of this post you will be an expert on keeping your tent warm.
Let’s start with the tent itself
When buying a tent you should always consider the time of year that you will be using it. You can now buy tent with built in insulation that are very good at keeping you warm on the coldest of night.
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- One season tents are very light and or only suited to warmer weather..
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- Three season tents offer more insulation and offer good heat retention
- Four season tents are heavy tents and are designed to be used in colder weather.
Crua tents are supposed to be very good but I must admit that I have never used them.
Heavy canvas tents are also very good at retaining heat. The heavier the better. Although these type of materials are pretty good at keeping your tent warm and cosy, you definitely won’t be hiking too far with them. They are ideal for car camping.
For hiking in cold weather it is likely you will has a basic tent to keep weight down. Basically the more insulation you have then heavier your tent will be. The usual thing to do here is to make sure you have enough warm clothing and that your sleeping bag is good enough for the task.
Having the right gear will make sure the can endure the night but read on to find you a few tricks that you can use to make sure your tent is as warm as it could be.
You should also consider the size of the tent. If there are only two of you then use a two-person tent. Having extra room may seem nice but it is just more area that you have to try to keep warm. The heat released from your body/bodies can sometimes by enough to heat a small insulated tent.
For a more detailed post for choosing a tent then read my post here. I have also created a post to help you buy the right sleeping bag here.
Why is ground insulation so important
Ground insulation is important to try to stop the coldness of the ground entering your tent. During cold weather the ground becomes cold. If you were to just lie on the ground then the heat from your body will transfer into the ground, leaving your feeling very cold very quickly.
By placing a barrier between you and the ground it ensures that any heat accumulated in the tent wound be leaving through the floor.
There are other reasons to have a tarp under your tent which I discuss here.
What types of ground insulation can you use?
The first thing you need to prevent is dampness. So a good waterproof layer is essential to start with. If you’re car camping then try using a tarp as a ground sheet. A large plastic sheet will also work.
The next layer you should try to use is a thermal barrier. This is normally used on construction but its really easy to work with. It’s not that expensive and you can cut to whatever size you need. For wider tents you can place two rows together. The important thing here is to make sure the entire footprint of the tent is covered or this step will be useless.
After that I set up the tent as normal but that’s not all you can do. Once the tent is up you should place a heavy blanket or blankets over the entire floor. I have a piece of wooly carpet that I have cut to size. When I have that rolled out it even looks warmer.
And finally there is your bedding. If you have a camping cot then great. This is ideal for keeping you off the cold ground. However, if you don’t then a camping mat or a padded exercise mat will also work great. The extra padding gives even more insulation and it is really comfortable.
Do NOT use inflatable mattresses in cold weather. The air in the mattress will keep you cool and the thicker the mattress the worse it is.
But what if you’re not car camping. I’m sure you’re not going to be hauling a roll of mattress up a mountain. Thankfully there are solutions.
When picking a place to camp choose somewhere as dry as possible. If it is raining then everything will look wet but there may be drier areas under trees or behind large rocks. Don’t presume one area is as wet as the next.
If I am going for a hike in cold weather I normally take enough thermal barrier with me to cover the surface of the tent. It is also waterproof so will help prevent moisture rising into your tent. I wrap it tight and keep it tight with tie wraps. It can be quite bulky but it doesn’t weigh much at all. You will be glad of it during the night. I then just pitch my tent on top and use a regular camping sleep mat to sleep on.
So not as comfy as my car camping setup but its not bad for a cold night in the wild. It’s just a fact that if you’re going the be camping in cold weather then you’re going to need more stuff.
Why insulate around your tent?
Heat will always transfer through the walls of you tent. The rate of this transfer will depend on the material and the outside temperature. Basically, the heat from inside your tent heats the wall fabric, then the cold air outside will cool the fabric. This happens continuously.
Now, if the fabric was able to hold some of that heat then this would stop more heat from escaping. However, because the cold weather outside is constantly cooling the walls then the heat will constantly be heating them. This is why heavier materials are able to keep you warmer for longer. They are able to retain more heat within the fabric.
By insulating your tent you are either reducing the amount of coldness hitting your tent or/and slowing the rate of heat loss. Reflective insulation actually works be reflecting the heat back and not letting the heat through.
What type of insulation could you use?
Okay, so we have stopped the heat from escaping through the floor now we are going to look at ways of stopping it passing through the tents canopy.
I will, again, start with the car camping methods. If I know that the weather is going to be cold then I always take my kodiak canvas tent. The thicker walls allow it to retain heat a lot more than modern materials.
That said, when I’ve been out in my dome tent, I have been caught off guard a few times when the temperature dropped as the sun went down. In all of these occasions, the skies were clear and there was no chance of rain so the quickest solution was the throw either a tarp or heavy blanket or both (if I had them) over my tent. This is instant insulation but I wouldn’t like to try is in damp conditions. It would more than likely result in dampness getting into you tent.
I have seen other inventions that work really well like using the thermal insulation that we use under the tent. The best way I have seen this is for the tent to be placed on the thermal sheets but have the sheet extend out one side. Then wrap that sheet around the tent until it meets the thermal sheet again the other side. Once that is set you will have to cover the front and back. Cut the thermal sheet to size and then use Velcro tape to hold it in place. You will then be about to take it off and on very easily. This might not look the nicest but it will keep the heat in your tent. Having anything touching your tent wall isn’t ideal but if your tent has an external frame then this will work well for you.
I have also seen someone pitch a tent into a larger tent. The occupants swore by it. It work by keeping the cold air away from the tent they were heating.
As for wild camping, you will have to be much more resourceful. If your tent isn’t a 4 seasons tent then you will want to add some more insulation. Simple laying leafy branches up against, over and all the way around your tent will improve to insulation. The more layers you have the better. This may not sound like it will do much but I tried this just last year and I was very impressed with the results.
Again try not to have it touching your tent. You can do this by camping near a large object, such as a cliff, and lean a few heavy (not too heavy) branches over your tent to hold the light leafy branches. This will keep the cold weather off your tent allowing your to keep whatever heat you have inside it.
And just when I’m talking about camping close to a cliff I want you to be aware that they too will take your heat the same way as the ground. Make sure you are not right against it for this reason.
Try the use what is lying around. Don’t go cutting down branches. Remember, you want to work with your environment, not against it.
Heating your tent.
So now you know how to keep your tent warm but how can you get it warm in the first place. Well, you have some options here and, again, it will depend on where you are camping.
Electrical heaters
If you’re in a campground that has power to your plot then use an electrical heater. This is my prefered way of heating my tent. It is silent and doesn’t give off any poisonous gases.
Gas heaters
There are two types of gas heaters and I don’t like using either of them. Both natural gas and propane heaters are very effective at heating but they can be lethal. In fact, they take over 30 lives a month just from recreational use.
Now I don’t want to scare you as I have seen many people use them with no issue. However, if you’re using them make sure you have adequate ventilation to get rid of the toxic gases and never go to sleep with it left on. You might not wake up.
Water bottles
These are a great way of getting some heat into your tent. Three or four of these and it will keep you warm for hours.
Hot stones
No water bottles? You can use hot stones the same way. Have three or four stone placed beside your campfire all evening and before you are going to sleep roll them away so that they cool enough so you can move them without being burned. Once they are cool enough wrap them in a blanket or clothing and place them in your tent. They will provide hours of heat.
Body heat
I was at a wedding recently and the ceremony with held in a room that was supposed to hold 150 people, however they decided to squeeze in 200 people. 10 minutes in to ceremony the heat was unbearable. They had to open all the windows and doors. There was no heat on and it was a cool day. All the heat generated in the room came from body heat alone. Don’t underestimate this.
So the more people in the tent the warmer it will be. If you have a dog, put it into the tent a while before you are heading to bed to get a head start on taking the chill out of the air.
Thanks for reading how to keep your tent warm. I hope it has brought you some ideas into keeping your tent warm for your next cold night in the wild.
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