Keeping warm in a tent. | Squat the Planet

Keeping warm in a tent.

couchissatan

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Does anybody have any good ideas for insulating a tent or any thing like that? The tent I have is 6x6 basically. And I will have a Mr.Heater Little Buddy.

Also what's the beat way to keep water from getting through the bottom of the tent?

I havnt stayed in a tent where it is going to lightly snow in the winter yet.
 

creature

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carefull with the little buddy..

they turn off slowly when tipped, & the grate gets hot..
even though they are catalytic, they are NOT.. repeat ***NOT*** safe for very small enclosed spaces..

they DO produce carbon monoxide, and they WILL create an oxygen deficit.

the heat column from the is *intensely* hot, and will char fucking wood..
my van has a bit of charcoal in the back to attest to this, despite no direct contact.

it will melt the fuck out of your tent quickly.

a good idea, but not very actionable, unfortunately..


if you have nothing but organic materials, and are NOT using a heat source in the tent, then yes, leaves & grass will do well..
find the driest you can & apply as Xenji indicates.

what do you have access to, in terms of material?
any old buildings?

if you want to use your buddy, build a two sided lean-to, or a teepee, instead.
not a large one, but big enough that you can keep the buddy 2 feet from the wall.
do NOT use dry timber, but green. try for a 6' diameter.

if you want to use the buddy with your tent, build a reflector lean-to about 5' away at the front of the tent.
place the buddy 3' from the tent.
id you can get aluminum foil or a space blanket or a car sunshield, but it behind the buddy.

one of the main traditional methods, is to build a lean-to with a hot rock & soil base.

i've done catalytic converters & tents, & i've done lean-tos & i've done fire & tents & i've done lean-tos & fire.. what will be critical also is *where* you pitch your shelter..

find a creviceor a culvert or a tree row or whatever, perpendicular to the prevailing winds.

post a few pictures of where you are, so we can get an idea of what you have to work with..

also, among the most critical issues will be your sleeping bag..

what do you have for gear?

good luck!!

C
 

angerisagift

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well i would get an air mattress or search CL 4 free/cheap futon mattress to get off the ground. i was in a tent in Loveland.Colorado in Fall 2013/Winter 2014 and it snowed alot. i had an air mattress and plenty of blankets/sleeping bags but my tent was just little bigger. this other dude had a futon mattress and plenty of blankets in hi tent. we both made it . just layer up. personally i would b scared of any heater btw blankets/extra clothes. u should b fine.imo
 
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I concur.... I'm thinking that little heater [which I had to google...] would make your tent a fire/death trap, and it might be better to as the others mentioned get a good air mattress set up and lots of blankets.

However, if you got cash at your disposal..... check these people out: http://www.reliabletent.com/indian-tipis/

If you go to the Tent/Camp Equipment ta, you'll find a whole section on camp stoves.

That's the route I'm going - a tipi with maybe this stove http://www.reliabletent.com/product...ni-co-stoves/the-alaskan-junior-kni-co-stove/

but again, I'm going to be doing primitive wilderness camping out of a canoe so I'll have the means to carry this gear.

Good Luck and Be Safe !!!
 

LostHobo

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Here are a few tips for winter camping. Shake your boots off before you go in the tent!

For water seeping through, avoid dips and down hill situation as much as possible. They are also frost pocket and get colder faster and longer. If you are planning on staying a while in the same spot, go mid hill opposite to prevailing wind, take time to flatten the spot as best as you can. You can also dig a small trench shape like a U with two exit point on the side of your tent and the third one on the up hill side. If you decide to put a tarp under your tent, make sure all of it is UNDER the tent, otherwise water will collect in pools in between the tarp and the tent. Generally speaking you should also keep away from water source. The dampness from the condensation at night will chill you like you can't believe if you are to close to a lake, river, stream or bog.

Also, take two water bottle with you. One with sand paper taped to it, the other without. Take a wild guess, the one without sand paper is for water, the other one so you don't have to get out to pee. The sand paper is so you know which is which when you wake up tursty at night and can't find a flash light... If it is real cold, pee takes your warm away from you, so evacuate, and keep the thightly shut hot bottle in your sleeping bag as a hot water bottle. Try and find a water bottle with a wide mouth to pee in, otherwise practice outside first so you don't spray your sleeping bag (valid for males too, I found that out myself :( )... A funel might be advisable.

If you are in a situation where you can make fire safely, put a few rocks in your tent in the morning to make sure they are dry, then once you are certain they are dry, you put them in your fire in the evening. If they are still wet, water expend too fast as it warms up and can cause the rock to explode. Don't want you losing an eye in the bush, or being hit by flying hot rock shards generally speaking... Once you pull them out of the fire, make sure they are not too hot to burn cotton (you shouldn't be able to pick them with your hand, they would burn you, but if you touch them with a towel you shouldn't smell burnt fibers either). Make sure you wrap the rocks with no exposed surface in ALL NATURAL fibers, cotton, bamboo, lin, pure wool. Even better if you can, shove them inside ovenmits. They will melt any petroleum based fibers if in direct contact but will diffuse a nice warmt through the night. Make sure you can handle them bare hand once wrapped so they don't melt the floor of your tent. Use safety pins if you are to shove them in your sleeping bag with you, so that they don't come undone and burn you in the middle of the night.

Also be careful with grass for insulation, if it gets wet it will start to compost and can reach temp of 75 celsius within a few days, which would melt both the plastic bags and your tent... As long as it is dry you're grand though.

Good luck to you, hope this comes in handy
Stay safe and dry
 
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That dry leave filled idea is awesome man! Great tips everyone. I will do the bag trick, for the inside walls or something
 

Desperado Deluxe

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To avoid moisture from seeping in on the bottom make sure you post up on high ground. If your using a tarp as ground cover make sure that it is completely under the tent so that no water will pool up on it resulting in it getting under your tent. Id recommend putting pine straw or some other thing underneath your tent. This is from a less stationary standpoint. Id build some kind of hut or something with a fire pit if I was staying in one place.
 
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Dmac

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do a google search for "camping with a hot tent" or "making a hot tent" there are many videos on DIY ways of doing it. Here is one I found in less than a minute.
 
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WanderLost Radical

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The only thing I'd like to add to LostHobo's post, is you should try to stay away from waterpoints. At night at least. The humidity coming from those can make the temp drop 5 degrees.
 
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If your gonna bum out in the woods, you should do it right. Haha

But get on YouTube and search "Primitive Technology" that guy is awesome at what he does and can show you ways to build a shelter both long term and short term with literally nothing to start with and end up with a "master piece"
 
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couchissatan

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So here's what I'm working with. I've got wife plastic on the bottom and wrapped up the sides and a wool army blanket over the top to keep me and my pups(scored 3of them at a thrift store for a few bucks each) body heat in. The zipper in the door broke so I had to make a new door with a smaller tarp. Rained really hard for the last 24hrs and things are fine so far haha.
 

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