A Little Nervous! How do you stay warm tent camping in this weather?

[CLynnJones]

We are planning a trip for next year at this time and coming with us will be my dm 61, her friend Peg about the same age, my sister 38, her 2 dd's 18 and 11 and our family of 4-including dh, dd 18 and ds 16, plus dd's boyfriend 19. That is a grand total of 10 people!! We have a 24 ft motorhome that can handle maybe 6-7. Noone in my family has ever tent camped before and now I am worrying if the weather is gonna be like this again next year! I said I would sleep out in a tent but my husband said after driving for 18 hours straight he doesn't want to. 4 of the kids will be between the ages of 16 and 19, I guess I'll tell them they have to. Boy am I gonna hear some grumbling!! I thought about looking into a cabin but if I would do that even with an AP discount, we'd be looking at AT LEAST $1120!! That's why we got a motorhome in the first place to save money on things like that. It's a releif to know that for our 6/01 trip, it will only be our family..so we will have a bit of room----even though I will miss the rest of course. Any hints on camping in cold weather would be appreciated.

FW 6/79
Off-site 5/82
Off-site 5/95
PO 3/98
FW 11/99
FW 6/01
FW 12/01
FW 6/02

 

[We4mickey]

For cold weather camping make sure you have air mat,or some type of foam you can put on the ground in the tent.Then you can put your slepping bags on top of that to stay warm.Also put a tarp over the tent this will keep heat some what in the tent and keep most of the cold out. You can also get those little elec heater and use them but use with care they can start a fire.I have done the winter camping in my younger days wer you move the snow around and put down straw then tent and sleeping bag ect,now that winter camping it was fun..PS... If you are taking your motor home have dm and her friend sleep inside of mh and kids outside.....in tent. they will make it.

{Dreams Do Come True at Walts Place}

 

[CLynnJones]

I really appreciate it. I cut and pasted to my tip page I'm putting together. And beleive me the kiddies will be the one in the tent not my dm and her friend!!! Thanks again.....

FW 6/79
Off-site 5/82
Off-site 5/95
PO 3/98
FW 11/99
FW 6/01
FW 12/01
FW 6/02

 

[bianca]

If it is kids sleeping in the tent, I would set them up with electric blankets. If you use an air mattress, sleeping bag, electric blanket and blanket on top to trap the heat, they will stay very warm. We've done it before with great success and did not have the worry about the electric heaters with the kids!

 

[Colleen A.]

When we used to tent camp (we now have a camper), we used air mattresses to keep us off the cold ground and we got a small electric heater (the "ceramic" ones) that has a safety tip over switch and would shut down if it got over heated. The ceramic ones blow warm air, but the unit itself will not burn you if you touch it.

Sending a little pixie dust your way to brighten up your day!

 

[jsmith]

My family is from Wyoming and are hunters-I promise I have camped in weather colder than you will ever see in Florida. Be sure your sleeping bags are cold weather rated- to 0 or colder. This ensures that the bag will maintain body heat even if the exterior temp drops this low. Buy your campers thermal underwear in lieu of pj and polar fleece socks-both can be had fairly inexpensively at Walmart or Target. Stick with foam pads rather than air mattresses-air mattresses get cold and don't get warm. The tarp over the tent is very important-not just to hold heat but to turn water as well. I do not like the idea of electric heaters or blankets because this requires cords to run uncovered outside to the power source and if it rains or snows (ha ha) it will become dangerous. If sleeping bags have slick liners place flannel sheets inside-body heat warms these quickly and they are comfy. I'll ask the guys who really sleep out cold-down to 15 below or so for some more tips and post again

 

[CLynnJones]

Thanks so much for all of the replies. You have really helped me out alot!!!

FW 6/79
Off-site 5/82
Off-site 5/95
PO 3/98
FW 11/99
FW 6/01
FW 12/01
FW 6/02