Cold weather tent camping

[CatfishKev]

Only the buddy heaters are safe.  For insurance i always bring a battery powered carbon monoxide sensor.  Not sure what your budget is but a cot will keep you off the ground, camofire has sleeping pads for sale prerty often

[25-06]

Get a bale of straw. Bust it open and spread it out on the ground. Then set your tent up on it. It works great.

[Delw]

33 minutes ago, krash73 said:

Plan on taking an extra layer for sleeping.  Take a couple wool blankets just in case the weather changes and it gets colder.  

 

14 minutes ago, 25-06 said:

Get a bale of straw. Bust it open and spread it out on the ground. Then set your tent up on it. It works great.

both of these work very good. done alot of cold weather camping in az mainly up on the north rim,

we always put a tarp and cloth blankets under out sleeping bags and one inside. wool blankets over the top, I always sleep with sweats on and never my clothes or a shirt. cots are ok but air travels under them. A tent will help keep the warmth in. wont use a heater been there done that wasnt fun. did it it and old canvas outfitter tent a few times and real wood stove that was sweet just didnt want to go out and hunt after you wake uplol.

[SonnyK]

2 minutes ago, Delw said:

 

both of these work very good. done alot of cold weather camping in az mainly up on the north rim,

we always put a tarp and cloth blankets under out sleeping bags and one inside. wool blankets over the top, I always sleep with sweats on and never my clothes or a shirt. cots are ok but air travels under them. A tent will help keep the warmth in. wont use a heater been there done that wasnt fun. did it it and old canvas outfitter tent a few times and real wood stove that was sweet just didnt want to go out and hunt after you wake uplol.

Hay works great for a base under the tent as long as there are no livestock around...  1 stray hungry cow makes for an interesting night/hunt.  🤣

[knothead]

Lots of good advice from many different people listed above. Livestock will not eat straw but they will eat hay if it's available.  

I can't believe we still have red flag warnings in November.   Those late hunts are even going to seem colder without the ability to sit around a good warm campfire. 

2020 sucks in so many different ways.

[forepaw]

Have a way to keep your water thawed.  Single digits and below, keep a couple liters in your sleeping bags.  Even in cold weather, you have to stay hydrated (clear urine), and it is also nice to have some water to sponge off with.  You can easily wash from head to toe with  two or three coffee cups full.  Use lotion on exposed skin, and powder in socks and skivvies.

You may want to set up two tents - one for sleeping, and one for cooking and warming.  Also, start your vehicle daily if possible, to keep the battery charged and oil fluid.

Another handy trick is to have two each Jone hand warmers and fuel.  In bitter cold, it makes a world of difference to have one in your shirt pocket and one in pants pocket.  Have a dry pair of socks in your pack at all times, and a dry change of clothes in the tent.  Recognize what early hypothermia looks like, and don't let yourself get into that condition.  Build a fire, drink something hot, put on extra layers, whatever it takes to avoid uncontrollable shivering.

Your menu should include high-calorie, easily digestible food items and snacks. 

Lots of good comments on this thread re: sleeping warm and portable heaters.

[AZBIG10]

37 minutes ago, forepaw said:

Have a way to keep your water thawed.  Single digits and below, keep a couple liters in your sleeping bags.  Even in cold weather, you have to stay hydrated (clear urine), and it is also nice to have some water to sponge off with.  You can easily wash from head to toe with  two or three coffee cups full.  Use lotion on exposed skin, and powder in socks and skivvies.

You may want to set up two tents - one for sleeping, and one for cooking and warming.  Also, start your vehicle daily if possible, to keep the battery charged and oil fluid.

Another handy trick is to have two each Jone hand warmers and fuel.  In bitter cold, it makes a world of difference to have one in your shirt pocket and one in pants pocket.  Have a dry pair of socks in your pack at all times, and a dry change of clothes in the tent.  Recognize what early hypothermia looks like, and don't let yourself get into that condition.  Build a fire, drink something hot, put on extra layers, whatever it takes to avoid uncontrollable shivering.

Your menu should include high-calorie, easily digestible food items and snacks. 

Lots of good comments on this thread re: sleeping warm and portable heaters.

Great advice

[creed]

7 hours ago, CatfishKev said:

Only the buddy heaters are safe.  For insurance i always bring a battery powered carbon monoxide sensor.  Not sure what your budget is but a cot will keep you off the ground, camofire has sleeping pads for sale prerty often

this ^^^^

I use 2 carbon monoxide sensors just in case one goes bad. Leave some ventilation

[wildwoody]

Alakanak, heater stove,  cowboy roll, -20bag, works

[daverp]

19 hours ago, creed said:

this ^^^^

I use 2 carbon monoxide sensors just in case one goes bad. Leave some ventilation

That's how I do it as well.  CO sensor about head level, and a combo CO / Smoke up high.  In addition to cross ventilation.   I've had a couple Buddy heaters (a little buddy and a big buddy).  I won't stake my life on the low oxygen shut off on those.

A big buddy on low or medium takes the chill off quite nicely even on the coldest nights.  By "take the chill off" for me, I mean, if it is 15* outside, and the heater takes me to 45* or so inside the tent, I'm a happy camper.  Lean over, crank it up to high about a half hour before it is time to leave the sleeping bag, and all is good.

[Ed67]

17 hours ago, wildwoody said:

Alakanak, heater stove,  cowboy roll, -20bag, works

This is my setup and we are heading up in a few days for my sons 6A ML bull hunt. I’m packing a heater buddy also. Unless things have changed the Coconini NF is not allowing fires, charcoal, wood burning stoves right now. Maybe this storm changed things. 

[wildwoody]

Things may change, getting wet up here..

[Riesop]

Yep all of the above.  Stay away from air mattresses.  Wool army blankets, good sleeping bag with cot and a buddy heater will do the trick.

[AZbowhntr]

Make sure your wife is as comfortable as possible.  I give her the best of everything when we are camping.  we used to have a trailer until I bought a side by side and couldn't tow both.  So I sold the trailer and bought a wall tent.  I have the big Cabela's cots and the big foam pads.  It is almost as comfortable as sleeping in my own bed.  Mesa Sales has the foam pads pre-cut that they sell for a decent price.  I also have a Mr Heater that I warm the tent up before we go to bed and in the morning when we wake up.  I don't run it all night because I have never needed to.  The extended forecast looks pretty good for the late hunts.  I am hoping clear and cold.

[eddielasvegas]

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