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Comfort Tips For Cold Night Camping

Updated March 26th, 2024

The camping season can expand in surprising ways. In Quebec, in spring and fall, the nights are cool, but that does not stop us from exploring our magnificent regions. Even when our travels take us to the southern United States in late fall, we have to deal with temperatures hovering around freezing. However, thanks to a few tips, our converted minivan becomes a comfortable cocoon. One of the advantages of traveling out of season? Tranquility, even in the busiest tourist sites, because we are often the only ones there!

Comfort Tips For Cold Night Camping

The interior of the minivan naturally remains warmer than the exterior, particularly if the windows remain closed. This is due to the basic insulation of the vehicle and our own body heat. This advantage creates a considerably more comfortable environment than that offered by a tent. By following these tips on cool nights or days, you will be able to camp with all the comfort you need in our minivan.

Comfort Tips For Cold Night Camping


1. Eliminate moisture

Comfort Tips For Cold Night Camping

One of the advantages of the van is its ability to warm up quickly thanks to its built-in heating system. Before you settle in for the night, it’s easy to eliminate moisture inside the vehicle, creating a much more pleasant environment. Even in heavy rain outside, you can stay warm and dry inside our van.

Discover our conversion kits.

You’ll be glad you say goodbye to your tent. Especially on rainy days.

2. Thermal insulating curtains

Comfort Tips For Cold Night Camping

Thermal insulated curtains make all the difference in keeping the heat inside the vehicle and keeping the cold out when temperatures approach zero degrees Celsius. On average, their use causes a temperature difference of 11 degrees Celsius between the interior and exterior of the vehicle. They are quickly becoming essential for travelers.

3. Get warm blankets

Comfort Tips For Cold Night Camping

In a minivan, there are no restrictions on the number of blankets you can bring and use depending on the weather. Sleeping in a real bed is much more comfortable than in a camping sleeping bag. Opt for alpaca wool blankets, comforters and, if necessary, cover everything with an open sleeping bag.

4. Remote starter

Comfort Tips For Cold Night Camping

If your vehicle is equipped with it, it’s a very interesting function, especially for nights below zero. Although it may seem extreme to camp at these temperatures, it happend to us many time to sleep in high altitude or even in snowy environnement. We often used it when we came back to Canada in December, for example. While we had several hours to go, we made sure to put the maximum heat just before stopping for the night. This allowed us to fall asleep in a warm cabin, well wrapped under our blankets. In the morning, before we even got out of the blankets, we have only to press on our key to start a heating cycle. I can guarantee that it had often made the alarm clock much more enjoyable!

5. The hot water bottle under the covers

Comfort Tips For Cold Night Camping

Another little thing that makes a big difference is to travel with a silicone hot-water bottle that can be filled with boiling water. It may seem trivial, but I can guarantee that this little accessory makes a HUGE difference. As I said, we often had to sleep under zero when we came back from the United States in December. On the road, just before going to bed, we stopped at a gas station, we filled our hot water bottle. Slip it under our blanket at our feet and enjoy. This allowed us to have a comforting warmth, diffusing throughout the night.

6. The UCO candle lantern

Another trick to counter the chilly nights is the UCO candle lantern. Not only will this lantern help combat humidity in the vehicle, but it also gives off good warmth, so you can sleep well even at temperatures approaching 0°C. Candles last about 9 hours. You’ll also find refills in our store to extend the life of your candles by several hours.

Comfort Tips For Cold Night Camping

A customer even provided us with a trick to leave it overnight without being bothered by the light produced, you can use a large can of tomato juice, you have to cut it to the desired length with a metal shears, then you file three notches in the inner rim opposite the three small aluminum-colored “tabs” which are used to hold the upper cover of the lantern.
All that remains is to thread the box onto the lantern, lining up the notches with the “tabs” and rotating the box a little to lock it in place.

7. Small electric heater

Comfort Tips For Cold Night Camping

If you sleep in campsites with electricity or if you have an auxilary battery, having a heater is amazing. Added to a temperature controller, the temperature throughout the night will stay the same. Attention: choose your heater according to its electricity consumption and especially make sure it got a security check allowing it to stop if it fall. An extinguisher is also necessary. In addition, if you use this solution in campsites, remember to bring an extension cord!

Comfort Tips For Cold Night Camping

Finally, don’t hesitate to write to us if you have discovered other tips to keep you warm at night!

Along the same lines, here is an article that will show you how to properly store the battery of your charging station.

Laurence Dufour, co-founder of Roadloft

 

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