:wave Hi all! Kim and I are starting to (again) talk about tent camping in TP this year. We need your input as to how to stay the warmest on those nights that I’m sure it will get a little chilly. It is extra important this time because Jo (kim) will be coming off of 6 months of chemo and staying warm will be super important! :clap Any suggestions of heaters, what best to use as a thermal barrier, etc will be greatly appreciated. We will be using (I think) a double height air mattress. Hope all is well with all of those we met in "09. It truly changed us…for the better!
I know, I know…it’s tent camping not teny camping!
Helloooo! Okay, here is what works for me:
Carpet on the tent floor
A cot
A foam pad on the cot
Good sleeping bag
Sleeping bag liner (adds approx 10 degrees more warmth)
Catalytic tent heater (Coleman makes a huge one. The smaller ones won’t warm a bigger tent)
Email me on the side for more details. Love you guys.
I sleep on a cot with a 3 inch foam pad and a down comforter. the only cold part is my nose if I let it out from under the comforter. a heater or lantern in the tent about a half hour prior to bed time warms things up. nothing keeps you warmer than a friend though.
“nothing keeps you warmer than a friend though”
Has anyone found a cot big enough for two? I’ve lloked in some past posts as well as on the webb and have not found anything yet. Some extra wide cots but nothing that gives me an actaul dimension.
I’ve looked for 2-person cots several times over the years, and could only find the ‘tent’ types. You could get one of those and just remove the tent-shell, but thats like throwing away a couple of C-notes ;). What I have seen in the past, is taking two of the wider cots, put them together (attach with rope at top of legs by frame in ‘center’), and then place a firm twin or full-size foam pad, and then the twin/full air mattress, etc etc. (twin/full, depending on width after connecting the cots).
Also, placing one of those inexpensive ‘fire blankets’ on top of the mattress before any bedding or sleeping bags will provide a stellar barrier against the cold air coming up from the ground as well as radiate heat back up.
For additional warmth, they make inverters that are used with a car battery that have a single outlet … like for an electric blanket, for instance ;). That’s kind of counter to ‘green initiatives’, I know. (Maybe some ‘rocket scientist’-type can provide plans for a wind turbine or small, portable solar array to generate the electricity to charge the battery to power an electric blanket. hmmmmmm.)
Hope that helps.
/r
KevinKevin has the right idea with the space blanket… Remember to put insulation under you as well as on top of you. The catalytic space heaters are wonderful, except for the obvious extreme fire hazard. Make sure you have a fire extinguisher and shovel on hand. I also use a smaller expedition style tent for camping, it is much easier to warm up the smaller space. I’ve always found the best way to keep warm on those high mountain nights is a nice warm naked body to snuggle up with. sur
:peace
“Has anyone found a cot big enough for two? I’ve lloked in some past posts as well as on the webb and have not found anything yet. Some extra wide cots but nothing that gives me an actaul dimension.”
I found a really killer, inexpensive 2-person cot at REI 2 years ago, check them out 
this cot isn’t 2 person but it is huge. I have 3 of them. and the pad. I have a great story to tell about this company. last year at Telluride, the center support leg on one side of the cot sunk into the sand under my tent eventually causing the leg to bend and collapse. when I got home I called around to see if I could buy a replacement leg for the cot. I was eventually put in touch with the company, and in fact the owner answered the phone. I explained what happened and what I was looking for, he told me he knew of the weakness and that they are working to strengthen that area. he then said they don’t have replacement parts. he offered to ship me a new cot free of charge! no proof of purchase, he knew mine was at least 4 years old, yet offered to replace it! less than a week later a brand new cot was delivered to my door. just what is right about this picture? if anyone is looking for a great cot with a great company that stands behind their product look no further than Teton XL cots
Use the Hot Water Baby method.
Worked for me multiple times when I slept in my van down by the, uh, parking lot at Wolf Creek ski area in mid-winter powder season.
It goes like this…
Buy 2 large Nalgene bottles, like 1.5 liters each. Bigger if you can find 'em.
Before you go to bed, fire up your Coleman stove and heat a kettle of water but don’t let it boil.
Fill the Nalgenes with hot water, wrap them in a fleece shirt (otherwise you’ll get 3rd degree burns) and pop the little hot water baby into the bottom of your sleeping bag. (1 is enough for one person - get 2 Nalgene’s for 2 sleeping bags)
If you happen to be sleeping in your VW at Wolf Creek on a powder day, that hot water baby might be the only non-frozen water you can find for making coffee in the morning. Telluride isn’t quite that cold. But careful you don’t burn yourself; always wrap the baby in something.
Classic hot water bottles are a great way to keep warm at night :thumbsup
They’re a classic stable back in the UK where I’m from, and having introduced them to the US via my husband, they’re a great success! :medal
Me and Dayton like to think we’ve started TBF training early, as the temperature dropped to 11°F this week in Boone, and with all the snow and the air blowing in through the cracks in our wood cabin, the bedroom at night wasn’t much warmer! So we’ve taken to sleeping inside our double sleeping bag, with an extra comforter on top, hot water bottles at our feet, and fleece pyjamas, and we manage to get close to toasty! :thumbsup
So by the time TBF rolls around, me & my hubby will be fully trained and ready to go!
Now who’s afraid of camping again?!? 
After a few Air Mattress disasters of every possible kind we realized how bad an idea that was for Tride. Now we use some 4" foam pads we got from Kirham’s, topped off with some 1.5" luxury Thermarest pads, and strap the whole thing together with webbing to make a queen-sized mattress. Add a foam EggCrate pad, a wool mattress pad, some Flannel sheets and a down comforter, and we’re downright toasty.
The older kids do well now in some bunk-style cots we got from Cabella’s and super sleeping bags.
With kids along, we’ve never used a space heater (safety issues) and never felt like we needed to