Car camping-how to warm up a tent

[milestogo]

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!

[babybear]

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.

[babybear]

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)

[Alaskan Rover]

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.

[SmokinRox]

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.

[detrusor]

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!

[leroy jenkins]

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.