Sleeping inside the truck (Winter camping) heating needs

Plenty of idle hrs on my 2.7. Oil change every 3000 but I'm not dealing with -40° every day. Cranking it out of the deep cold sleep is probably the worst. Slow grinding frozen metals and pray!.

 

...EMS?

Good grief....


And just to remind all, the topic is how to stay warm in a vehicle in the Arctic, and the gear required to do so.

Nothing to do with fire arms. He has chosen to take this adventure on without firearms. I'll respect that. I'm sure he knows that it is not advisable, and may be limiting to some respects, but lots have and lots currently survive day to day in the Arctic without. Let's let that one rest, and bring this thing back on topic for him. How to stay warm in your truck??

Wear on the engine is negligible, IMHO, there is a lot more wear and tear on cold start ups. If you're going to be concerned about it, I'd be more concerned about CO2 build up in the cab. You can buy alarms for this as well. 12v. Meant for campers with heaters. But I'm sure you could rig it up.

FYI. I also read today, that this winter is being predicted to be the warmest winter on record. El Niño effect they say. Just passing it on to the OP. if true, as in last winters warm up, which by the way, we were walking in t shirts in Feb, a couple of times.... Be careful of ice conditions in Dec.

OP, Anymore thoughts on your plans? thought about the ice roads up the Dempster while your up north?

 

Bump!

I joined TW just to bump this.

Even read Jack London's short story "To Build a Fire" to my kids.

Can't wait to find out how it went.

 

Nobody has mentioned how all the snot in your sinuses freezes when its -20 outside and it's hard as hell to breathe through your nose, and it hurts to breathe with your lungs..

Your hands don't function like normal if you're not used to those temps.

There are a lot of things to consider and things you will over look.

Over prepare by a lot.

 

I have no idea if this thread is still on topic but the only time I've winter camped it ended up dropping to -30. Preparing for it I considered buying a sleeping bag rated for winter conditions but I already had a good mummy style 3 season bag so instead I went to Walmart and bought at $20 barrel style to put my mummy in. I didn't have any heat source while sleeping so I wasn't super comfy but I didn't loose any digits!

 

This happened to me in upper NE Idaho. -25°. Thank god I brought that other bag and some road flares.

 

74-75 I was a truck driver stationed at Ft Richardson. I also spent six months at the Arctic Test Center at Ft Greely. Civilian vehicles get plugged into the ac outlets that are in the parking lots to run the battery warmers and oil warmers. In the motor pools, all military vehicles were started every two hours and they are allowed to run for twenty minutes then shut off. During the indoc I received when I got to Alaska, I was told that when sleeping in the tents on the ground, you should take off your uniform, and your boots when inside of the sleeping bags.

I did what they said once. After I froze my butt off getting dressed, I always went into the double sleeping bags fully dressed and my Mickey Mouse boots, while loosened, went into the bottom of the bags still on my feet. Gloves off, and belt loosened as well. I only used the face mask when I was actually walking around. I slept like a baby. As a truck driver I had to be able to move in a hurry, and getting dressed while it was 30 or 50 below is a deal breaker. I've heard lots of stories about drivers being run over in Alaska during the winter. It generally be dark most of the time. The sun comes up about 12 PM and goes back down about 1230. The few times I actually got hot were solved by opening the bag for a few minutes and letting self generated heat out, then zipping back up.

As for sleeping in a truck? Not me, they are too cramped on the inside. The seats are made for sitting on, not sleeping on. Use a tent and have a wool blanket handy to throw over the bag(s) if you start to feel cold. The bears generally won't be out when it's 30 below, unless you are north of the Arctic circle. If you are, well sleeping in your vehicle won't be a good idea. Cars and pickups then are the fresh meat lockers for a determined bear.

 

back in the late 70's I lived in the back of a ford truck one entire winter in Oregon, family of three with a big ol Akita dog and we used a Kerosene heater, made the canopy out of plywood and canvas. A bit tight but we did it.

 

It's very easy get some long johns, a hat,and soft mattress to insulate you from the ground, oh yeah one more thing


A warm AF sleeping bag and your all set people been doin it like this for some time. Heat up some rock and stock em at ur feet

 

Subd. Here's hoping that the OP goes on this adventure and returns with a greater understanding of himself and all of his digits............I can't help myself, P L A N for the absolute worst case scenario of everything failing and you're injured. "What if" the shit out of this thing. This is not a trip for the faint of heart. I'm sure that you are taking this seriously and I absolutely mean no disrespect. Hoping for pics and a report of adversity overcome. Good Luck and God Speed.

 

This thread is a year old. The OP was there and back. Details of his trip are somewhere.

Found it. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...a-to-arctic-and-back-in-winter.405408/page-15

 

My bad..

 

Thanks guys for helping me out. I was able to "check-off" one of my bucket list last year ( exactly around this time/week). Read more details on Arctic and back here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/arctic-travel-california-to-arctic-and-back-in-winter.405408/

Fortunately, I never had to sleep in my truck other than practice runs.