heating the back for camping

I'd consider gluing aluminum bubble wrap insulation (the kind used for HVAC work) to the inside of the topper. Use headliner cement and if you want to get fancy, you can put some sort of light carpet over the insulation. Some sort of foam in the bed will keep the ground cold out.

Someone already mentioned the low O2 cutoff heaters. I suspect that with insulation, it will be so warm that you'll want to crack a window.

 

Get a deep cycle battery. Connect it in parallel with your vehicle battery. Have a fuse and a diode in the circuit between the two batteries to prevent fires or discharging the starting battery. Plug the heater into the deep cycle battery.

 

Here is an interesting report to read about those propane heaters:

http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia05/os/co03.pdf

They do not use a flame, there is a catalytic reaction between the propane and oxygen in the air. However, after reading the report, I wouldn't feel comfortable using it in an enclosed space. The main reason being that it uses up a substantial amount of oxygen and also sends a lot of unburned propane into the air. Not really any better than filling the air full of CO.



What I would like to use is some sort of a miniature hot water heater with a circulator pump built into it. Set it outside to heat the water, run some water tubing along the bed and you have a nice warm radiant heating system. Unfortunately, that still requires a battery for the circulator pump.

Maybe an electric blanket powered by a deep cycle marine battery? Will have to run some calculations to see if the batter would last long enough.


Sure, I have a 0 degree sleeping bag, but when it's 0 degrees, windy and snowing outside, it sure would be nice to have some heat.

 

If it helps a twin sized electric blanket runs off the 400w plug in the bed but not the 100w when it's in gear.

 

12v electric blanket and bring along a second battery. You need to figure out a charging method though. Dual battery setup with isolation independent batter with a solar panel loads of options to charge that sucker.

 

This is something that I have been toying with too. For short trips Coleman makes a wall charging emergency car jump battery that will run an electric blanket for a couple nights. Long term I think I am going to run a separate battery to the bed to run a electric blanket and maybe a small heater like the one from harbor freight, and maybe if its possible rig a recharging mechanism from the engine.

 

I just got a duracell power pack. It has a 400w inverter but I believe they make one with 600w. In the instruction manual it says the jumper cables can be used to extend the length of the battery. It charges with the cig lighter so you can charge as your car goes. With a decent battery plus the battery in the power pack it should last a while.

 

I do a bunch of Truck Camping up here in tahoe ( 6500 + feet depending on trip ) and I have found that an air mattress that stays between wheel wells, a camper shell or a low tarp ( I used just a bivy sack the first time and during a storm used a tarp & bivy ), and a 20 degree sleeping bag with a simple liner did me just fine. I experienced sub 20 degree temps due to wind and had a ton of snow around the truck in the morning. If you keep space open in the truck it will effectively create a cold well ( first thing they teach in the army or survival training ) and will keep the temp + by at least 10 degrees.

* Also a friend of mine who has a tundra and does a bunch of hunting up in alaska and wyoming said that popping open the slider window and running the heater in his truck on high on defrost for about 30 minutes was enough to give him a nice temp before bed and held ok through the night.

 

Get a Bedrug for insulation. You don't have to do the whole box ... they sell the bed portion by itself. It's about 1" closed cell foam with a nylon spun carpeting on top of that. Add a good pad on top of it, and you have plenty of insulation on the bottom, which is where you lose most of your heat (as your sleeping bag is compressed under body).

 

Check out this thread from another website I frequent...lots of good discussion on this topic from people who know a lot about sleeping outside in cold weather.

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169864&highlight=camping+truck

 

+1 on a rechargable seperate battery pack. I have a Motomaster Eliminator. Can be used to jump up to a V6 (V8 models available) engine, and run either generic AC or DC appliances. Charges via AC or DC connecter.

Have a look, there are many brands available. Just check to see what it is you want to run, and for how long, they come in a variety of sizes.

 

I have used a Mr. Heater Buddy heater and it works pretty well. Doesn't put of any fumes, and has an auto shutoff in case the unit tips over.

 

i ahve used the small catalitic heaters in my s-10 that i had halloween. frost on the ground. i had both side windows about half open for fresh air, and my thermometer i had in there said 78. i was sleeping well.

 

I have used a mr heater big buddy. Let it warm the bed up before I hit the sack and turn it it off when I sleep. Turn it back on when I wake up. Propane gives off water vapor on combustion so there is an extra amount of condensation in the cap. I usual don't bring it with since I have a 3" matress I got from Cabelas.