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I go car camping in the sierra's with my family, two kids,2 and 5. Nights go down below freezing, the kids get somewhat cold and the wife can't sleep because she worries.
As a result, most trips are cut short.
Any ideas how I could warm up the tent a bit?
I use a big ass tent, rei kingdom 8, which is part of the problem, since it is huge, and is hard to warm up just with body heat.
Any advice would be highly appreciated.
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Since your car camping and have the room. You could get one of those small hunting camp wood stoves if the tent has place to run the pipe out. For their size they put out a lot of heat.
A candle, hot water bottle in sleeping bag, sex with the old lady.
Catalytic heater.
Better sleeping bags.
Blankets over your existing bags.
Better sleeping pads to insulate you from the ground.
You need better sleeping bags and mattress pads. Don't use an air mattress in the cold since water vapour will condense on top soaking your sleeping bag. Getting off the ground with cots works too. There's a few catalytic propane heaters that are safe for indoor use. perfect for warming up in the morning. Don't run them when sleeping unless you can guarantee that sleeping bags will stay clear.
Or buy a camper.
Pop up camper...
Have the kids share a sleeping bag? Or share a blanket pinned into a sleeve over their sleeping bags. Heating a big tent is dumb. A wife/mother in the mix makes common sense a losing argument.
Get a smaller tent for inside your tent...
Down comforter...end of thread.
this ^^Quote:
Originally Posted by krp8128
If temps are getting below freezing, you need either heat reflective pads like Neoair all seasons or down air mattresses.. you can have a zero degree bag and if you're on a simple roll up closed cell foam you are going to be cold.. if you are on non-insulated inflated pads you are going to freeze... You could consider a small wood burner, it would keep you warm, but with a 2 and 5 yr old would need to be quite dilligent to keep them from touching it... Well sealed hot water bottles work well.. and a nice down comforter over their bags will help a lot too
Get a smaller tent.. even a 3 person tent will be sufficient for a few yrs...
Do what you need to keep them warm so they enjoy getting out...
I highly recommend the exped synmat or downmat sleeping mats. Not only are they the warmest mat I've ever used, they are also the most comfortable. They are kinda expensive but I consider them worth it.
Going camping with a 2-year-old, 5-year-old and a wife in sub-freezing temps sounds like a sure-fire recipe for plenty of unpleasantness no matter what you try.
Damn dude who the fuck brings kids winter camping lol... Who are you, Les Stroud?
To be more clear, this is may and june camping, but at high elevations on the eastside of sierra, you still can have sub freezing temps at night.
But even 40 degrees is cold.
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We went this route with our 8, 6, and 2 year old kids. It's been great. Kids stay warm and dry at night and have a place to hang out if it rains. Here in the PNW, camping in May, June, July and Oct. (really any month) means be ready for rain.Quote:
Originally Posted by iamchappy
If you can't swing the pop-up (really, you should just get one for car camping with kids), heavy blankets over the sleeping bags worked well for us when we didn't have the popup.
This was my thought! Imagine the fun of the middle of the night or early morning "i gotta peeeeee..... NOW!" Or do you make the 5 year old wear nighttime pullups, just in case??!!Quote:
Originally Posted by wolfelot
maybe stop being such pussies?Quote:
Originally Posted by rod9301
I tried this with my kids, but not much luck so far.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugh Conway
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Make sure they are warm going to bed and have a warm cup of cocoa before tucking in?
Stay warm in a tent? There's one solution.
Copious amounts of lovemaking.
hose to exhaust, other end of hose into tent. how has no one suggested this yet.
This may not be feasible, but it's something I've considered. small boat stove.
http://www.marinestove.com/sardineinfo.htm
Or just a hudge pile of salvation army wool blankets. But the stove will make it easier to get out of bed. With of ton of blankets, you'll just want to sleep in:rolleyes2
from my (limited) experience, catalytic heater warm, but throw off moisture. So you're tent best be well vented, or figure out some exhaust.
We tried those in a campervan, and found the heat was not worth the moisture buildup, but that was the PNW. Sierras might be drier, so moisture less of an issue.
Fartssssssss
Definitely better bags and mats. If it's 100% purely for car camping, look at the thermarest neoair dream mat. Has a couple inches of memory foam and is ridiculously warm and comfortable. The thing could probably fill most of a 75L pack.
When we do cold car camping (adirondacks in the late fall), kids sleep in the minivan with all the above mentioned extras (pads, blankets, etc) and my wife and I sleep in a tent (rooftop tent next year!)
No one asked what you sleep in as far as clothing is concerned. That can make a huge difference. My kids sleep in thick thermals and warm hats. They do pretty well in the minivan. I sleep in my old North Face superlight from 1992, and my wife sleeps in my newish EMS -20 bag. She's got to be warm for any of us to be happy!
We picked up some sweet insulated big agnes sleeping pads and they make a big difference winter camping.
That said, we went ahead and just bought a eurovan weekender and that solved the problem for most camping situations. we don't have kids but a bunch of friends with kids went this route as it can get down to the freezing point even during summer here in the tetons. It also doubles as a pretty decent everyday driver too.
oh another idea- how about those sleeping bags that zip together? you could do one for the kids and one for you and the mrs. nothing like communal warmth (and easier for the parents to get in some nooky as previously mentioned)
I realize this thread is damn near a year old, but I'd be VERY apprehensive about using any sort of heater in a 8ft nylon tent. I've used small woodstoves in a double-walled canvas wall tent but these tents are a totally different animal, weigh about 100 lbs and most importantly are BUILT to be used with a small woodstove.
You'd be much better off focusing upon good four season bags and proper sleepwear. With a good bag, you need only decent polypro long underwear. What gets you cold is the condensate build-up from breathing. You can alleviate some (but not all) by puting a good heavy wool blanket over the pairs of sleeping bags. Like someone said, air mattresses (even thin ones like Thermarests) make a huge difference too. Also was good advice was to have the two kids sleep in same bag ( get a rectangular bag for this).
Stay away from heaters in small tents...you're asking for dangerous trouble.
Go to fucking Costco
Buy a giant fucking box of hand warmers.
Put wool socks on, and put one in each sock. Put some in pockets. On real cold night use the body warmer sticking pad to chest.
8 hours.
Heats up sleeping bag real nice.
We put the kids (3 and 5) in a sleeping bag, then a winter bag over that w down comforter. A heavy blanket over the good sleeping pads. Works great.
Killing it with the 3-5 year old crowd!
If you can't figure out how to keep your little ones warm in 30ish degree temps with sleeping bags, long underwear, balaclavas, sleeping pads, blankets, hot water bottles, and hot drinks before bed your DNA probably isn't worth passing on anyways. Tents are supposed to shelter you from precipitation, wind, bugs, and the prying eyes of neighbors when you're trying to bone. They are not supposed to retain warmth.
The biggest thing you could most likely improve is insulated sleeping pads. You can either buy one with insulation in it, or just put another blanket on top of the existing pad.