Camping is a recreational outdoor activity indulged in all over the world. It usually sees people from different parts of the country come together to have fun during different times of the year.
When camping is done during the cold winter season how do you keep a tent warm without using fire? This is important because some camping sites have rules against lighting fires and smoke. So having alternative heating options before embarking on your camping trip is important.
Planning ahead on how to stay warm is important because if you ignore this and do not take proper steps to keep both yourself and your camping tent warm – health issues like frostbite and hypothermia might become a problem.
Staying Warm In The Winter In A Tent
There are a lot of options for keeping yourself and your tent warm while camping. We are going to take a look at a few ways you can do that to give you a smooth camping experience.
Your Body Comes First
Before looking at other external factors to keep your tent warm, you must ensure that you are keeping your body warm with the type of clothes you have on. You must ensure that your clothes, especially the clothes that you sleep in are kept dry at all times.
This is because if your clothes are not dry, there is every tendency that you will get cold from such clothing and even your warm tent will not help much then.
Also, try as much as possible to avoid clothing made out of cotton material because they can lose body heat a lot quicker when compared to other materials.
Have a stash of clothes made from wool material.
A good, thick pair of socks is also very essential to keep your limbs warm, as well as a head warmer that covers your ear areas properly.
Layer Up Your Sleeping Mat Properly
You should have enough layers to separate you from the ground in your camping tent.
The bare ground draws a lot of heat from your body when you lie on it, making you prone to cold if you are not dressed up appropriately and if there is not enough separation between you and the bare ground.
You can use wool blankets and foil blankets to increase the layers of your sleeping mat to prevent you from freezing and getting cold in your sleep while camping. These foil blankets for the entire family are a great bargain as they retain body heat while also protecting you against wind and rain. These blankets can be used for so much more than to just keep you warm.
Ensure Your Tent Is Well Insulated
Insulating your tent goes a long way in keeping all the cold out and keeping the tent warm all through your camping expedition. A properly insulated tent coupled with the body warmth of the camper in the tenth goes a long way in maintaining the warmth in the camping tent.
If you do not already own a tent, then you should consider getting this highly rated one from Coleman. Designed for two people, it is also ideal for camping, hiking, backpacking or festivals.
If you already own a tent, then you can insulate the walls of your tent by attaching a reflective foil to the inner wall and roof of your camping tent. Reflective foils especially air bubble reflective foils are very flexible and fit easily to the walls and roof of your tent. This method is very effective as heat is reflected on to you thereby keeping you warm always when you are in the tent.
The floor of the tent also needs to be insulated for you to get great results in warming up your camping tent. Either using an all-weather tent carpet or a tent mat that is specifically designed for cold weather camping can do this. Alternatively, you can use foil mats or blankets and get a foam-sleeping mat to keep you off the ground and help you stay warm.
A tent tarp is also a great option for keeping the floor of your tent insulated. However, you should consider the size of your tent while picking it out. This is because if you do not get the proper size and you get one wider than your tent and set it up, there is every tendency the aim of insulating the floor of the tent will be defeated.
The exposed part will absorb cold into the warm parts and ruin the warmth of the tarp thereby spoiling the warmth already generated within the tent floor.
Hot Water Bottles
Instead of lighting a fire beside your tent and risk a fire outbreak while asleep, you can consider using hot water bottles to keep warm in your tent. As simple as this method sounds, it goes a long way in keeping the cold away from you. It also serves as a means of preventing illnesses that may be occasioned from lack of blood flow to certain body parts.
The trick with using hot water bottles to keep yourself warm is putting them close to the body parts which are more prone to cold, like your feet and your side. If your sleeping bag has an allowance, the hot water bottle can be tucked in them, thus keeping you warm for a fairly long period of the night.
Last update on 2024-10-15 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
It is important to note that this is not a long term solution to cold as the hot water bottle is only hot for the time the water in the bottle stays warm. However, it keeps you warm for a relatively long period to enjoy a good night rest.
While looking to purchase hot water bottles for your camping trip, ensure you buy those with high quality and high heat retention levels. Most importantly you should get one that has a fleece cover to retain the internal heat for as long as possible.
How Safe Are Catalytic Heaters Inside Tents?
A catalytic heater is a type of heater that uses chemical reactions as opposed to flames to generate heat to keep a tent warm. They often rely on using gas or propane fuel which does not generate any flames. This works in tandem with a platinum surface heating element to create a chemical reaction that heats up your internal space.
With regards to the question of whether they are safe to use inside tents? The answer is an emphatic YES.
The chemical reaction used to create heat in catalytic heaters does not produce any dangerous fumes or gases that are harmful thus making them a 100% safe option for heating your camping tent. As with anything, you need to be safe when using anything that gets significantly hot.
I found the catalytic heater below to tick many boxes for outdoor heating options.
- 3,000 W.
- Ignition button.
Last update on 2024-10-15 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
When deciding on a catalytic heater, there are a number of factors that you need to take into consideration
– Tent Size
The size of the tent that you want to use the heater is a very important factor to consider before purchasing a catalytic heater. If your tent is small there are handy, small and portable heaters to fit that purpose. There are also large-sized catalytic heaters for large-sized tents.
If you use a small heater for a large-sized tent you might not get the results you require for the warmth of your tent. So size plays a major role in your selection of the heater to use for your camping tent.
– Fuel Type
You must select a catalytic heater that uses the same propane bottles as your other camping gear. This is because, with this, you would not need to buy and pack separate multiple bottles for your camping trip.
– Usage
The purpose for which you intend to use a heater must be taken into cognisance when selecting the heater for your camping tent. Any normal heater can do the job of keeping you warm outside your tent before you get into your tent for the night.
However, users who require warmth inside the tent all through their camping expedition with the use of a heater must consider parameters like the power output, safety features embedded in the heater and fuel consumption. These are necessary to pick out the best heater for your camping.
A good heater for your camping must have some or all of the following safety features:
Automatic Cut-off: This feature turns off your heater after a couple of hours of use to keep the user safe during overnight use especially. It is inadvisable to leave your heater on overnight especially during camping. So, you must get a heater that shuts off automatically after a period of uninterrupted use.
Overheat Protection Feature: It is important your heater has an overheat protection feature to limit overheating during usage of the heater. With this feature, a sensor in the heater automatically detects the temperature level of the heater to shut it off when it gets too hot during usage.
Tip–Over Switch: This feature automatically turns the heater off when it tips over to prevent fire incidents that may be occasioned from such. It is very compulsory to get a heater with this feature because tipping over objects in the tent is bound to happen 80% of the time during your camping trip. So a tip-over switch is an indispensable feature of any heater you intend to get for your camping trip.
Wrapping Up.
Using fires to stay warm during camping ensures a high level of warmth but how do you keep a warm tent without using a fire? It is vital to consider other means of maintaining warmth during your camping trip.
In this article, we have looked at a number of alternative options that will ensure you stay safe while keeping warm during your camping trips.
Be sure to practise and apply them and stay safe on your next camping trip.