How To Keep A Tent Warm

Camping is fantastic - it gives you your own little home away from home to enjoy, whether that’s alone or with friends and family. With that being said, it isn’t without its downfalls.

Getting a whole army of bugs in your face first thing in the morning, and having to waddle 2 miles away for the nearest bathroom isn’t fun.

How To Keep A Tent Warm

One of the biggest problems though? If you’re camping in a colder month, your tent can get cold really fast.

So, how exactly do you keep your tent warm so you can have a restful night’s sleep? Here are just a few of our suggestions.

Keeping Yourself Warm

Before you even try to heat up your tent, there are some things that you can do to keep you warm that can make all of the difference.

Here are just two of them: 

Try Not To Get Cold In The First Place

This probably sounds like an incredibly dumb thing to say, but it’s totally true. When you’re camping, it’s best to try not to get cold to begin with. When you are cold is can sometimes be a challenge to get yourself warm once again.

Make sure that you are also warm before you go to bed. In addition to this, you should try not to get wet. Being wet can cool you down quickly, so if you do manage to get wet while camping, grab a towel and a spare change of clothes. This should help to warm you up, even if just a little bit.

Grab Your Thermals!

Sure, thermals aren’t exactly the most attractive things on earth. Perhaps they remind you of your elderly relatives or something.

The truth is though that when it comes to camping, a good set of thermal socks and leggings are essential. You could even get thermal underwear - we won’t judge.

The goal is to be as warm as possible, and sometimes that involves looking like you’re camping in the arctic. 

Keeping Your Tent Warm

Use Hot Water Bottles

Grab a couple of hard plastic or metal bottles, then fill them up with a bit of boiling water. For this reason, your water bottles need to be exceptionally durable.

Make sure that you also have a way to heat the water. Once you have filled these bottles with water you can then spread them out around your tent to heat it up for a decent amount of hours. 

Use Electric Heating

This is best for larger tents, but you could also invest in an electric heater to go in your tent when it’s cold outside. Now, it’s very important to ensure that you’re safe doing this. For instance, you could get underfloor heating carpets.

Simply put a heat reflective mat underneath the carpet to ensure that none of the cold air from outside manages to get in.

You can also use a portable electric heater, but this will eat up a lot of your power. In this case, a camping generator may be helpful.

Station Yourself on a Protected Campsite

It’s very important to ensure that you buy the proper campsite when you are using a tent.

Try to stay away from any lower lying locations as cold air can settle more easily in these locations. Look for locations that are higher up to stay warm, and try to avoid sites with a lot of wind.

Hot Rocks

The power of rocks shall be harnessed when you are going camping! Geology is a powerful tool when you’re freezing and want to warm yourself up. Find a couple of larger stones around the size of your hand and put them in the camp fire that you have set up nearby.

Then, let them heat for an hour, then let them cool down for a short while afterwards. When they are cool enough to be handled, get yourself a towel and wrap the rocks up inside of it. Then, put the rocks in the towel at the bottom of your sleeping area or in the middle of the tent.

Alternatively, you can dig a trench - this is basically a hole underneath the tent where you put the stones. Then cover the hole with some soil and you should have a heated tent! Just don’t try this if you have unsupervised children or if you aren’t experienced at camping as you could get injured if you aren’t careful.

Make Sure Your Tent Is Well Insulated

You don’t necessarily need to have a heater to make your tent warm. You can also just make sure that your tent is insulated well. Get yourself an all weather carpet or a tent mat that is designed for camping in hot weather.

You can also insulate the tent by getting a foam sleeping mat. This is also ideal for helping you to get a restful night’s sleep. This is just one simple way to heat up your tent when it’s cold. 

Get The Right Tent

Would you cut corners when trying to meet the man or woman of your dreams? Well, you shouldn’t cut corners with your tent either. You need to make sure that you buy a tent that can handle to cold weather, as some just simply aren’t cut out for it.

Sometimes it’s worth spending just a little bit of extra money on a tent that can cope in any weather. Look for 4 season tents, and ensure that they are waterproof and check for insulation. This can help you to get a tent that will keep you warm.

Conclusion

So if you were looking for ways to keep a tent warm, these are just a few! Of course, aside from keeping the tent warm, you can also do things to keep you warm.

Make sure that you increase your calories when you’re out in the cold and that you dress for the occasion.

Otherwise, you can enjoy your warm tent without worrying about anything so long as you follow the advice above. Happy camping!

Andrew Mullen

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