Winter camping heating solution

I've been thinking about taking the electric blanket route. I've heard too many horror stories from ceramic heaters, and I don't winter camp enough to invest in a diesel one. If you settle on something and try it out, let us know!

 

Thanks everyone for the tips. I ended up buying a buddy heater to use for my spontaneous trip over the weekend. 70 bucks at Great Wall of China mart, couldn’t pass it up.

Cracked the vent windows on both sides of the shell. And it worked great. We turned it off before bed. We woke up freezing at 4 am Sat morning and cranked it on got warm, and went back to sleep. I believe it got down to 16 or 17 degrees.

Worst thing about it is that you can’t get anything within 20 inches or so of the front, it gets hot! Which is hard to do cause it’s so cramped back there.

 

Yeah I got mine last year since our local ski resort closed their lodge, so everyone was hanging out inside their rigs for warmth. I'd set it up on top of the swing out box I have, and we'd huddle up and have lunch and get dressed and whatnot in the front half of the bed with the tailgate open but the camper closed, still kept it pretty toasty inside.

You could always keep the window cracked and the buddy on low to regulate the temps (you might run out of fuel though) ..

Or you do know they make a 0F 2 person bag if it's with a friend you don't mind getting snuggly with. This thing

https://tetonsports.com/product/fahrenheit-mammoth-0f-sleeping-bag/

Wife and I usually use this one if we're going together (otherwise I use a USGI ECWS bag)

 

I will have to try the water bottle thing. I have friends that said it works wonders.

 

Here’s a novel idea…. Not sure it would heat up the bed of a truck … cheap to make though..I like the ingenuity….

https://youtu.be/6ZnayOUQN28

 

I watched that too!

His little sled shed looked pretty insulated, but a little non-contact candle stove might work pretty well if you insulated the cap/bed.

Bolt the stove to a chunk of plate that fit into the slider

 

Double sleeping bag. All the heat you’ll need.

 

My cdh shit the bed this winter in about -22c. I was well prepared with a -40 bag and helly hanson winter poly wool gear. On a whim I remembered that I had a 12v heated blanket from Amazon kicking around in my bag. I plugged that in to my home made jackery (50ah lifepo4 battery with 12v recepticals) and it kept me warm all night long.

I have now since just used that 12v blanket and haven’t even bothered to fix my diesel heater. Sure it’s cold outside the sleeping bag, but it’s served it’s purpose of keeping me warm and alive all night long. I guess the moral of the story is, if you’re going winter camping and you have a heat source planned. Always plan for a backup..

 

All of this- the heat loss through the glass is ridiculous so insulation of some sort is a must. I did the same thing as far as cutting Reflectix covers for all of the windows. At first I put some Velcro on them and stuck them to the shell's carpet but then I cut them to just press fit in the windows and they seem to work about as well (I was worried about repeatedly pulling Velcro off the carpet since all of the shell manufacturers seem to use the cheapest stuff they can find). I've got a piece cut that Velcros to the front of the bed as well (I sleep head in), I used some spray adhesive to glue a piece of felt to it so it isn't cold to the touch. I've tried doing the same on the tailgate but the blanket works well enough.

I have a carpet covered piece of plywood that sits on the bed floor instead of being raised (to maximize space) with a carpeted side cabinet on the driver's side. Seal all of the leaks in the bed before putting any sort of additions in the back; this was done primarily to reduce the dust intrusion. I had a friend get in the bed of the truck looking for light as I climbed around under it shining a light all around. During the winter or when traveling to colder areas, I put down some of the closed cell foam pads with an old wool blanket on top. My usual pad is one of the old Cabela's Alaska guide pads from the days before Bass Pro ruined Cabela's. I'm usually alone and the passenger side of the bed usually has four Rubbermaid storage boxes (the three gallon size) stacked along with a duffel, backpack, whatever- another blanket gets tossed over all of these. I have a tailgate gasket, again to help with dust but it also helps to keep out drafts near my feet.

I have mummy bags for backpacking but really don't enjoy sleeping in them as I tend to move around a lot in my sleep so in the truck I use a rectangular bag; since I'm not worried about weight, I like the heavy flannel lined base-camp style. Bonus, blankets don't slide off of them as easily as they do off nylon bags. I carry at least one wool blanket to throw over it, and again depending on where I'm going, usually two (so we're up to four at this point). The old Italian officer's blankets are some of the best I've ever used outside of real Hudson's Bay blankets. A down comforter is really a luxury item but man are they nice. Make sure the foot of your bag is covered because if your feet touch the tailgate and compress the insulation in your bag you'll know it.

Clothing, some form of comfortable and non-constrictive socks, thermals and one of the most important pieces, a hat or balaclava (especially if you're near bald like me). I'll wear wool or fleece gloves sometimes as well.

Stay well hydrated and you'll sleep warmer (alcohol will actually make you colder). No need to get out of your sleeping bag for emergencies if you have an appropriate bottle- I would strongly suggest using an odd shaped bottle so that you won't accidentally confuse it with any other bottles in the truck. Heat water just prior to going to bed, fill previously insured leak free potable water Nalgene bottle with hot water and toss in bag, preferably towards the foot. This also ensures you have drinkable water in the morning. If you're paranoid about water in your bag you can always use the instant heat packs for the same purpose. I use a small butane heater bought off ebay to warm the back before going to bed and again as soon as I wake up. I've got a couple of other heaters but this was the smallest I could find at the time; these days I'd get one of the Koveas. I do not sleep with it on but I still keep a CO/smoke detector in the back along with a fire extinguishers (in addition to a larger one I also have one of those small style that doesn't blow powder everywhere; it's a Tundra brand but there are a couple of brands out there). If I'm going to be in an area with power I'll carry a small ceramic heater and I don't mind leaving it on all night. I always have at least the front window cracked to allow for some fresh air although I shut it in inclement weather. Even a small candle lantern like a UCO can help to take a little of the edge off the cold.

Two last tricks- one of those Thermacare back heating pads over your lumbar region not only feels good, it helps warm the blood going through the kidneys. The newer versions last a lot longer than they used to. The other thing I'll do in really bad weather, like single digits, is build a tent fort. I've got rings attached to the bolts for the Yakima tracks used to hook a small gear hammock or get fishing rods out of the way but I can run paracord to suspend a blanket over me thereby reducing the space I'm trying to heat with just body temp.

Usually I'll toss my clothes for the next day into the foot of my bag, one of the reason I buy the larger size even though I'm under six feet, otherwise I put them under my legs. I hate putting on freezing cold clothes in the morning. I'll often fire up the Jetboil in the back of the truck and get some coffee or tea before climbing out as well.

You'll produce a lot more moisture than you think, especially if you do any cooking, so be sure to air out the back, your bags, blankets, etc.

 

Quite the writeup. What sleeping bag do you use? Im the same way with the mummy style bags. I have a nice -30 rated down bag that has kept me warm (enough) down into the low single digits, but again the whole mummy thing can be a bit annoying.

 

Uhm, I'm honestly not sure. I know one is an older North Face Cat's Meow, one is an older North Face down mummy bags that I very rarely use it and can't recall the name of (it's a zero degree bag IIRC from back when TNF actually made outdoor gear) , one is a older Slumberjack summer weight, rectangular down bag and one is a Cabela's outfitter's rectangular (probably the most comfortable but heavy). Yeah, I'm getting older but if you take proper care of them they'll last a long time.

I think the coldest I've slept is around zero or maybe a bit colder plus whatever the windchill was. I've got a silk sleeping bag liner (mainly for travel) as well as one of the ones that adds extra warmth and they work well but with big feet and rolling around they're kind of a PITA. If I'm in the truck I'm much happier with the heavier flannel lined bag and a couple of wool blankets piled on top (the ex had the down comforter and I haven't bought another).

I can't recall who told me about the tent thing, might have been a Scout master but I think one of the guys I used to climb with back in the '80s who had an old VW bus. I was a panel van, not a camper and he'd just build himself a nest and drape blankets over it. When I got a VW Westy I started doing something similar, keeping the top down and draping a blanket from the top bunk and around the bed to reduce the heat being lost through all of the glass. I've done the same thing in the Tacomas I've owned. The van really was a lot more comfortable to camp in and I keep thinking about selling the Tacoma and buying a full sized van since I don't do as much "serious" off-roading anymore. A 4wd van with some recovery gear would get me almost everywhere I want to go these days.

 

Whatever the option you choose, put the electric blanket under you. Under the air mattress or other method of padding your bottom. She'll love you for the rising warmth. I put one under the 22"-tall air mattress when tent camping. Does not get hot, but it does not get COLD either. That's the point!

 

I scored mine in a roundabout way. I got up one Sunday morning and looked in the bed of my daughter's truck and there it was. She and her friends had been to a woodsie down on the sandbar the night before. One of the guys got drunk and passed out. When he came to he got up and was driven home, leaving the massive mummy bag in the wet bank sand. Megan took it home for him. He never asked for it back, and she never took it to him. Took 4-5 washings before I realized that such a bag cannot be effectively washed in a home washer. It STILL had sand in it. Took it to the laundry and had the girl wash it until it was clean: 3 more washes in a commercial-grade washer. I've been down to 15 in it. Still too warm of a bag: I spent the night covering up, then throwing the cover off. This is a serious sleeping bag. I'll take my North Face Inferno 0. Packs down to about a tenth of the size of that Green Monster.

 

https://youtu.be/VwAC5ZcRRkA