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mikejr112

Cold weather tent camping

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39 minutes ago, eddielasvegas said:

Give us a few more details like how big a tent you will use and your wife's experience with cold weather camping.

I just returned from a 4 night trip in 18A.  First two nights were easy.  Lows were in 40's IIRC.  I did not have a seeping bag as I left it home by mistake, but did not need it.  I made a special trip Saturday to Kingman to buy a SB as the forecast called for much colder temps.   I bought a 20-30 degree bag and it was $60.  It was a worthwhile trip even if it took a few hours.   There are higher end bags that can make a world of difference but they are usually several hundred dollars.

The last 2 nights were cold, with the last night the low being about 25.  I had multiple layers on and the Buddy heater on low and I still got cold at times the last night but overall it was passable, but not what I'd call comfortable.  I also hate being cold so YMMV.

Here's the tent (10x14 Kodiak) I was in and the heater I used.  This model heater is 4k/9k BTUs.  On a standard 20 pound (or 5 gallon) propane tank, it will burn ~110 hours on low and 45 hours on high.  Last year, I was in 7E in this tent and heater set to 9k and lows in single digits and it was cold.  Like I'm not doing it again cold.  I suspect if I had a better sleeping bag, it would have helped a lot.

Also, as another member mentioned, if you'll be below 7,000 feet, the heater will work fine, and maybe even a little higher.

Lastly, in a big tent like I had, the heat is very localized w/o a way to circulate the warm air.  The down side if you sleep too close to the heater you run the risk getting burned or starting a fire.

Good luck,

Eddie

 

 

Kodiak_tent.jpg

Buddy_heater.jpg

Same tent I've got.  So far so good.

The Big Buddy heater has a circulating fan built in.  Though the fan on mine bit the dust some time ago.  Now I just use one of these put on a box right behind the heater or clamped to the heater handle, and it does a good job of distributing the hot air throughout the tent.

 

O2COOL_5_Portable_Fa_7805_0_res.jpg

 

 

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Thank you all for the great advice. Definitely going to try and make sure my wife is the warmest. Happy wife, happy hunt! 

Our tent is a Eureka 4 person A-frame. (here is a link:  https://shop.opticsplanet.com/eureka-timberline-4-tent-green.html?_iv_code=155-TBK-EUR-78006&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=CjwKCAiAkan9BRAqEiwAP9X6Uet7YniGzPxA2REse0s13cZaBuW1qxmLOtQPFMtKFVSjdAGtqDNolRoCPmEQAvD_BwE )

 I have owned it since my boy scout days, and it has served us very well. Although, the cold weather was a lot more bearable when I was a scout living in the cold Midwest. This Arizona weather has thinned my blood! A canvas tent would seem to do a better job of holding in the heat. 

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one more suggestion you might consider in addition to the many great ones above, we used to tent camp on cold weather hunts (before we got our camper😁) and

used a nylon tent with rain fly similar to yours. I went to home depot and bought several of those water heater blankets, the silvery ones that are insulated, and draped them

beneath the rain fly as well as clipped them to 3 sides of the tent. looked a little like a hoopty space vehicle that crashed, but with the buddy heater, the reflective heat inside of the tent

made it very warm. good luck on your hunt

goma

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3 hours ago, mikejr112 said:

Thank you all for the great advice. Definitely going to try and make sure my wife is the warmest. Happy wife, happy hunt! 

Our tent is a Eureka 4 person A-frame. (here is a link:  https://shop.opticsplanet.com/eureka-timberline-4-tent-green.html?_iv_code=155-TBK-EUR-78006&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=CjwKCAiAkan9BRAqEiwAP9X6Uet7YniGzPxA2REse0s13cZaBuW1qxmLOtQPFMtKFVSjdAGtqDNolRoCPmEQAvD_BwE )

 I have owned it since my boy scout days, and it has served us very well. Although, the cold weather was a lot more bearable when I was a scout living in the cold Midwest. This Arizona weather has thinned my blood! A canvas tent would seem to do a better job of holding in the heat. 

Canvas will not hold the heat any better.  It still escapes too durn fast.

The heater I posted might be too big for that tent.  They sell a smaller version of it which might work better and be safer.

Good luck,

Eddie

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I have the 10x14 and 12x9 kodiaks. I sewed in a stove bib for each and stoves for each. Ultimate comfort and drys wet clothes and boots out quick. Had to run buddy heaters tho last week due to fire restrictions.

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22 hours ago, eddielasvegas said:

Give us a few more details like how big a tent you will use and your wife's experience with cold weather camping.

I just returned from a 4 night trip in 18A.  First two nights were easy.  Lows were in 40's IIRC.  I did not have a seeping bag as I left it home by mistake, but did not need it.  I made a special trip Saturday to Kingman to buy a SB as the forecast called for much colder temps.   I bought a 20-30 degree bag and it was $60.  It was a worthwhile trip even if it took a few hours.   There are higher end bags that can make a world of difference but they are usually several hundred dollars.

The last 2 nights were cold, with the last night the low being about 25.  I had multiple layers on and the Buddy heater on low and I still got cold at times the last night but overall it was passable, but not what I'd call comfortable.  I also hate being cold so YMMV.

Here's the tent (10x14 Kodiak) I was in and the heater I used.  This model heater is 4k/9k BTUs.  On a standard 20 pound (or 5 gallon) propane tank, it will burn ~110 hours on low and 45 hours on high.  Last year, I was in 7E in this tent and heater set to 9k and lows in single digits and it was cold.  Like I'm not doing it again cold.  I suspect if I had a better sleeping bag, it would have helped a lot.

Also, as another member mentioned, if you'll be below 7,000 feet, the heater will work fine, and maybe even a little higher.

Lastly, in a big tent like I had, the heat is very localized w/o a way to circulate the warm air.  The down side if you sleep too close to the heater you run the risk getting burned or starting a fire.

Good luck,

Eddie

 

 

Kodiak_tent.jpg

Buddy_heater.jpg

My buddy and I spent 2 nights in 7E in December a few years ago with the same setup except we had 2 buddy heaters. It was probably 10-15*f plus wind. We ran 1 heater on high off a BBQ tank, and the other on low off green cylinders. It kept it probably 30-40*f in the tent. It wasn't too cold, but when the heater on green cylinders ran out you felt the temps drop. In the morning we ran both heaters on high and it helped make getting out of your bag much more pleasant. 

We run CO sensors as well to be safe. After that season though we bought a toyhauler...

If I had to do it over I would have covered the top and sides of the tent with packing blankets or something to help insulate it. 

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Coconino NF repealed fire restrictions at dispersed camping sites today 

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Back in Japan and Washington during the winters we slept in the back of the Truck with blankets and sleeping bags. on year we were elk hunting up north of Bumper lake, south of chinook pass and it was freaking cold.since there was 4 of us the adults slept in the back of the truck, me and my buddy slept in a tent. Just the week before it was just dad and I and we slept in the back of the truck. and it was really cold "but thats part of hunting" Thats what we were told as kids.

Anyway buddy and I got really cold, so we got up in the middle of the night, grabbed the chainsaws and cut a  bunch of pine limbs and saplings(his idea) made kinda a shack around the tent. I bet it raised the temp 20-30 degrees. that morning we were just fine, Dad and his buddy were freezing. over the years we found putting a tarp all the way around the tent or around where your sleeping will keep the cold way down. I generally dont sleep in a tent even in the snow and cold. just a few tarps set up with 1-2 foot spacing in between each one and in the brush not in the open. Never slept in the back of a truck since during the cold. wind blows under it around it and over it, even if you have a mattress in there its going to be colder than outside.

Other nice thing about tarps is if you layer them you get plenty of airflow (cause nothing is zipped up) and a heater would be much safer to use.

if it was just the wife and I we just grab a motel room, much easier and way more comfortable, hot showers hot food., tried that with the kids but they wanted the OUTDOOR experiance.

 

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Wear a beanie that covers your ears and forehead and also a neck gaiter. I like fleece, nice and soft and not to tight. Also flannel pillow cases feel warmer than cotton. No matter how good your sleeping bag is, you need to keep your head warm to be warm.   

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1 hour ago, azbow said:

Wear a beanie that covers your ears and forehead and also a neck gaiter. I like fleece, nice and soft and not to tight. Also flannel pillow cases feel warmer than cotton. No matter how good your sleeping bag is, you need to keep your head warm to be warm.   

THIS

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