suggestions: heat for winter car camping?

J

jdm-v35

Member
Been trying to get a good amount of camping in with the wife over the past year since buying the 4runner and now that its getting colder here in Colorado I have been trying to figure out efficient ways to keep from freezing. And also for future hunting trips.

We have a 3 season tent, but it would be way too cold for camping in the winter and also would be a mess to clean/fold up if it snows.

Just got back from a hunting trip(wall tent) and realize that freezing in the morning makes it unbearable to wake up early. I slept in the 4r during fishing in february as well, and realize it gets pretty cold in there when its <20 outside. I bet waking up in a warm environment I would feel much more motivated and ready to go.

I also do not want to spend a fortune yet on it as I want to make sure we could go camping enough to make it worthwhile, and slowly up my camping game over time with proven use.

I have searched the forums and I saw someone mentioned using a lasko heater on an aux battery. I was thinking a heater like that with a dual battery setup may be a good solution.

The other I was thinking about is using a mr buddy heater mounted onto a molle rack too keep it off the floor/away from fire hazards. I have not seen anyone using a mr buddy heater inside the 4r though. The molle rack would also be handy to store gear in bags and keep it off the floor.

I would leave the windows cracked a bit for ventilation, but not sure how dangerous this still would be. This seems like it would put out more heat, more efficiently, and still be cheaper than a proper dual battery setup.

the sleeping bags we have are 0 degree bags and it is warm inside, but I would like to make it comfortable enough to come out of the bag in the morning.

I have been trying to make things as efficient and simple as possible for camping in general and also slowly attain more gear and add mods to the 4runner as necessary to safely get to places we want to go(no crazy offroading - yet).

I am sure many people here car camp in cold weather and am wondering what others do for heating solutions?
 
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I use use a nice duck down sleeping bag and a wool blanket on top of that. Have kept me more than warm enough both backpacking and in the back of the 4R.
 
I'm not comfortable running any sort of fueled heater in confined spaces. Even if it was comfortable I don't think I could sleep out of fear and anxiety. A trick I used when I was in college and lived in a leaky cold apt was to set a space heater on a lamp timer and have it turn on ~15 min before I needed to get out of bed. Maybe you could do something similar with an Arduino, a relay and a 12v heater? Mind you those little electric heaters pull a TON of current. Without doing the math I virtually guarantee an overnight draw would drain even a dual battery setup.
 
I have two different twin down duvets for car camping. One is a heavy winter only, the other is lightweight. I also use down duvets in my house. Heavy winter duvets are amazing. Unfortunately if you overdo it, being drenched in sweat in a cold vehicle is a very serious issue. I use it on top of a thermarest mondo king with a flannel fitted sheet.

When the going gets tough, I’ll idle for 30 mins.

I’ve done one -20C night, and a few ~-10C nights
 
I have used the Mr Buddy in my roof top tent. I didnt have to run it too long and the RTT did a good job maintaining heat thorough the night.

I ran it 15mins before getting into the tent and turned it off before sleeping (it got quite warm inside).
Never tried it inside the truck though..i wonder how the heat holds up inside.
 
This is from the Mr Buddy Manual

"This heater requires a vent area of 9 square inches
(example 3” x 3” opening) minimum for adequate
ventilation during operation."

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the responses. running a fueled heater inside does concern me as well and not sure I would really want to do it, even with the rear windows cracked open a couple inches. Though from experience with it in an ice fishing tent, it does work very efficiently.

The guy i go fishing with uses a small one and runs it all night when he sleeps in the back of his pickup under a tonneau cover, covered in a tarp to enclose it. I know he has been doing it for 20+ years that way, and is still alive, but I bet he has enough leaks that it ventilates properly all night.

Other people do mention it briefly in other threads, but I have not seen anyone go into detail about it and the safety issues.

We do have pretty good sleeping bags and stay warm throughout the night, its getting out of the sleeping bag that is more of an issue. I would say especially when I go hunting. When it is 15 degrees outside the sleeping bag, it is hard to get the motivation to get up at 3am to start hiking when it's that cold.

hotel would definitely not be an option, because it defeats the purpose of camping, and also there would likely not be a hotel within 50 miles or more.

I will probably continue looking down the path of an electric heater inside running of an aux battery. In another thread a guy said he runs a lasko 106 off a marine battery, but did not specify how long it would run etc.

Maybe even just running a mr Heater to initially warm it up, then for a quick heat up in the morning may be a good safe option. It is much faster/easier than trying to heat a large wall tent with a small wood burning stove.
 
Last edited:
Pat_reek said:
A good read. I myself went on a camping trip to Yosemite in Sept. and damn it got cold at night. I looked out a good sleeping bags and tent heaters. I looked at this one on amazon to use on my RTT. But just worried on safety reason since I'm camping with my 17 month old son, a 10yr old and my wife.


https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-MH...2312&sr=8-3&keywords=camping+heater+for+tents
Click to expand...

That is what I would buy for a tent or RTT. for the car I would go with the smaller version.

Also I happened to come across this video of the exact electric heater I mentioned

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnKxsAXRoiQ

I guess it does not work so well.
 
Invest in some clothes. Here in BC many of us sport Icebreaker marine wool clothes. Expensive but worth every dollar. Breathable but keeps u warm. Couple that with your sleeping bags and you will not be nice and warm sleeping, but also when you get out your already clothed for cold temperatures right out of the sack. No need for a heater when you have proper clothing coming out of bed.

My wife hated the cold, but after investing a few hundred dollars in new clothes, it doesnt stun her anymore coming out of the truck after sleeping.
 
So what about a small quiet generator like a Honda outside the vehicle with an extension cord running to a small electric heater INSIDE the vehicle? I know you need a generator and they do make some noise but no worries on emissions inside the vehicle.
 
1jzgte said:
how much fuel does an idling 4runner overnight use up?





serious question
Click to expand...



Simplest solution is usually the best. That said, I hear a candle can take the edge off the cold. Some say a candle should be part of an emergency kit when driving in the winter/snow especially in remote areas.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
1jzgte said:
how much fuel does an idling 4runner overnight use up?


serious question
Click to expand...

Unnoticeable for my occasional use. Off and on 4 or 5 times. But maybe 10’s of dollars if run continuously... I wonder too.
I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep with the engine going though.

As for lack of motivation for getting started in a cold 4runner in the morning,
That’s legit. But turning the key makes it comfortable within 5-10 minutes. Prime time snooze


.
 
nb rob said:
Unnoticeable for my occasional use. Off and on 4 or 5 times. But maybe 10’s of dollars if run continuously... I wonder too.
I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep with the engine going though.

As for lack of motivation for getting started in a cold 4runner in the morning,
That’s legit. But turning the key makes it comfortable within 5-10 minutes. Prime time snooze


.
Click to expand...

Yea I was thinking, if there is a way to sleep and keep the inside of the 4runner cozy all night I would feel more ready to hike into the woods at 3am. Camping with the wife is in our regular 3 season tent or in the 4runner.

When going hunting, my friend has a wall tent with wood stove. Though it takes forever to get the wood stove started and is cold as hell once out of the bag. This year it was especially cold and we would wake up every morning with the condensation from our breath frozen to the ceiling of the wall tent.
It is just a very large space to heat quickly, vs the back of the 4runner.
 
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