tent camping in the heat

[maxiesmom]

I am looking for any tips or tricks you have to keeping cool when you tent camp. I have a fan. That is all I have. What else can you do to keep your tent cool? I am mostly concerned with staying awake all night because it is too hot!

 

[disfanRN]

We went to the Fort in June and the people next to us were tent camping and had one of those portable A/c inside the tent with the exhaust hose going out the door.

 

[jonimce]

We have tent camped twice, for two weeks each, at the fort in August. We used the cheep box fans but many people use AC. We are in the parks all day and never came back to the tent untill after dark, when it cooled down abit. Never had a problem sleeping. I would turn the fans off in the middle of the night, and DGD would have a fit. She needs the noise to help her sleep. Maybe we were just so tired every night that we didn't noticr the heat.

 

[dsneygirl]

We camped last year in Oct and would have been fine with just one small fan but we didn't realize we were on a site with no shade. So it was blazing by 8 in the morning. So look around and don't be afraid to ask to move.

We have tent camped in May and Oct and were fine, I don't think I could do it in the summer though.

 

[luvalldisney]

If you put up a tarp over your tent it not only helps with rain, but helps to keep the tent cool. Make sure there is a gap between the tarp and tent, the tarp will help deflect the heat this way. We also put fans in the tents and run them 24/7. In the day it heats up a little, but at night we sometimes got cold!!!. We have been camping at FW for more than 15 years over the 4th of July and with tarps and fans it was always bearable. We still camp there, but have had to move into cabins because of the age of my parents (80's) they can't handle the cots anymore. I'm seeing more and more tent a/c's there every year...

 

[maxiesmom]

If you put up a tarp over your tent it not only helps with rain, but helps to keep the tent cool. Make sure there is a gap between the tarp and tent, the tarp will help deflect the heat this way. We also put fans in the tents and run them 24/7. In the day it heats up a little, but at night we sometimes got cold!!!. We have been camping at FW for more than 15 years over the 4th of July and with tarps and fans it was always bearable. We still camp there, but have had to move into cabins because of the age of my parents (80's) they can't handle the cots anymore. I'm seeing more and more tent a/c's there every year...

I know this is a stupid question, but what did you put the tarp up with? Did you buy seperate tent poles and use them?

 

[luvalldisney]

yes, my tarps have seperate poles and ropes. I have lived in FL most of my life and have ALWAYS put up tarps over my tent. In the hot summer it keeps things cool whether we are in a drought or there is ample rain. Some of the stores like Sam's and COSTCO sell EZ shelters that go up quickly, have their own poles and weather proof top that stay together, fit easily in a bag, and fit over my tents. A couple of years ago I replaced my tarps with EZ shelters, and replaced my tents with pop ups that have their own poles semiattached. I know our camp looks funny, but we have EZ shelters over the 2 tents, as a dining fly and over the van that we use for all our stuff.
When I was doing tarps, the tarps went up first, the tent was opened up under the tarp. With experience, you know how high your tarp has to be to go above your tent. Be sure your tarp is slanted toward the rear of the tent so water does not build up on it, and when water runs off of it the front door is not where the puddles form. We also found that if we set up tarps, pulled out the fans and put them so they were blowing on the shaded area, it cooled the area down quickly so we didn't sweat so much in putting up the tents.
We set up our van with a TV and DVD and move the captains chairs around, so that during storms (or in the evening) we can go into the van and watch TV, we also have fans in there. If we need to close up the doors because of storms or bugs it can get a bit hot, but it sure beats trying to stay in your tent during a thunderstorm. Nothing like camping when you have electricity!!!

 

[druidia]

We're one of the AC tent campers, and it makes a HUGE difference in the summer. We camped last August and it would have been unbearable without it; a fan would not have done much good against the humidity.

I thought the idea of an AC was pretty silly at first, but it was great. We bought one for about $70 that cools a 100-150 sq ft room and it froze us out of the tent!

We're camping this weekend (alas, not at FtW, a real state park instead), and we will have electricity, so we will have the AC!