How to insulate a tent for winter camping

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  1. I have taught high altitude winter survival for 40 years. My father was also a survival instructor for the military. All of this information are good suggestions. However for anyone who is choosing to challenge Mother Nature in the snow, practice with your gear first. Set up camp in your backyard and have your kids just spray your camp with the garden hose for one hour! This is a good test. If you got wet you are in trouble! Warm and dry, live or die.. Survival kits, the milar sleeping bags, ferro rod, all great stuff for unexpected emergencies in the mountains. But if you head out looking for a survival challenge, you need to bring as much as possible and test it before you go!

  2. Agreed with a lot of the suggestions.

    However, most of the options that trap heat in a tent also trap moisture, which will lead to high humidity and condensation on the inside of a tent. That humidity and condensation will get your gear wet and could potentially compromise your safety. Down is especially vulnerable to losing loft when wet.

    It’s counterintuitive, but a properly vented tent will keep you warmer/safer in the long run because tents are intended to keep you dry; sleeping bags are what keep you warm.

    Invest in a suitable winter sleeping bag (that’s rated below the forecasted temperatures) and a sleeping pad with a high R-value. Those are the components that will keep you warm.

    Winter camping is something to respect. It can be fierce. Before committing, know that your gear is suited to the conditions, have an understanding of the risks involved, and build the skillset needed to safely manage those risks.

    Start gradually in the back yard and, when ready, transition to short, overnight backpacking trips. Do your first multi-day winter camping in a campground with a car nearby. Learn the capabilities of your gear, build your experience at every step, and you’ll be ready to safely take on the next set off challenges.

    1. You make a good point. But there it isn’t that simple. According to Claudia Hammond (BBC), “when the head is allowed to get cold and the body is effectively insulated, the body’s core temperature drops a lot more rapidly than most people would expect.” Also, “It is a curious physiological fact that people do not shiver when only their head is exposed to the elements. Because shivering slows your rate of cooling, not shivering makes you cool quicker than you otherwise would.”

  3. Another item I have found extremely useful is a throw away dehumidifier, they absorb the condensation from your breath whilst asleep preventing cold moisture within the tent!

  4. These are good suggestions but I will definitely take and try out on my tent next time I have to camp which will be in a few weeks, one thing I was thinking though is if I have a big enough tarp that I’ve waterproof really well and conditioner for dry and all the Dead leaves only ground or dry can I use a mylar blanket as a first layer on top of my tent, a day 6 in buffer of Dead leaves and then add my tarp over the top of it kind of like a well insulated wall? But how I was going to do it would be to steak down my tarp on two sides start filling those two sides with leaves and not really compacting and down so much that it’s collapsing my tent but just enough to push a lot of air pockets out plus with the steaks or tucked underneath the tent it would create an airtight seal, then once those two signs start getting decent enough filled I’d stake down the third side and fill it all them up, and leave enough tarp hanging over the door then I can pull both sides around and pull the center down in the between them two and make a waterproof enclosure and if you’re wondering about the door it not being insulated with a layer of leaves I’d put two mylar blankets draped from top of tent down to the bottom

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