Winter camping tents

Hello Monkeys, I’ve done a bit of digging on this site and I can’t find a thread on winter camping tents. I will be bugging out this November possibly sooner depending on how it looks (and it will be for a few weeks+). The place I am bugging out to has no building or utilities, I will be camping. Even though Texas tends to not get below freezing until January-February I want to be on the safe side and get a warm dry winter tent.

Any cold weather Monkeys on here that would like to suggest a tent? What do you use for your winter set up?

Feel free to offer other suggestions too- the tent is just a good idea if I can’t make it there by car.

 

Costco garage

cheap. Add a stove jack. Add a stove.

live large and enjoy it.

 

Kodiak canvas tent I have one easy set up well built keeps the wind and rain out the down part is it is heavy you will not pack it in on your back

 

Tents are temporary living structures at best. The material will degrade with time and will give out. Usually in the middle of the night, in a raging storm, in the middle of the winter. They also require strict fire precautions. A tent will go up in flames in a heart beat. Given the cost to life expectancy of a structure, a modified shed type structure could be an option for you. I know of an elderly couple that lived in one until they got their dream house built. And can be picked up from local builders at reasonable cost.

A yurt is another possibility for you to consider. Especially with a raised deck to place it on.

There are several sources for surplus tents similar to this one.

Surplus Tents

Yurts

Pacific Yurts – Modern & High Quality Award-Winning Yurts

Home - Colorado Yurt Company

5 Yurt Kits for Modern Nomads

 

You carrying the tent or is your rig?

Budget?

 

I can construct something on the land ahead of time but I want a backup tent that I am carrying just in case I can’t get there by car. It is a bit of a drive so it would have to last me a few nights in the cold.

using the car as a shelter might work too? Heard cars are terrible on insulation.

 

Get yourself a tarp,, and some paracord,, 12 x16 should be plenty big,, and build your own shelter ,, tarp, limbs ,leaves , a little practice before you head out and you'll be good to go. Just a thought.

 

Tent Budget = under $850

Any construction on the land (including a toilet) budget= $2,000
As the year goes on the budget will continue to grow on the land bit. I don’t see a very good reason to buy a $1,000+ tent...

 

Beckle canvas !
You might have to dig a little, but they are one of the best there is! I have one of their older ones, will sleep 12 easy, and we have used it to temps below 0°

 

Yup, thar be the one! Great stuff, well worth the price! Better order quick though!

 

That nice one for $800 reminds me of those expedition tents seen in old frontier movies.

 

People freeze to death in cars every year. All that metal is basically a heat sink in all directions. If you shelter in a car make sure that you have enough insulation to prevent hypothermia. Keep in mind that whatever is under you will compress and be far less effective.

Regardless of shelter get a sleeping bag rated for the worst temp you are likely to experience. Also have an insulating mattress. At that point any 4 season tent will be good. In my backpacking days where I did a lot of snow camping I could heat the tent with a small candle lantern. If your tent is big enough you can use a cot, but I've always gotten by well with thermarest and closed cell foam mattresses.

Best way to stay warm is with a snuggle bunny.

Keep your eye on Craigslist. A canvas tent with stove capabilities sold here recently for $75 that would have been perfect.

 

The temperature in your car will drop like a rock within minutes of you shutting the heater off. Used to sleep in my truck all the time back when I showed horses. Hauling in the winter meant taking an electric blanket and an extension cord and finding somewhere I could plug in, and then the truck fogged up and got super humid and it sucked all around.

If you're looking for something you can backpack obviously weight is a huge issue so things like cots and stoves aren't really an option. Check out the cheap yoga mats at the big box stores. Lightweight, roll up nice and compact, and can be laid under your sleeping bag to provide insulation against the ground which will steal your body heat faster than you can say BRRRR.

The area of Texas you're looking at, the low temp isn't the issue. It's the wind. Joke is that the only thing between us and Canada when a blue norther rolls in is a barb wire fence, and it's down.

 

Ok sleeping in the car is not the best idea.

From all the reading a double wall tent will help with the wind chill(?) I hate air mattresses (I’ve experienced one that not only froze whatever body part was laying on it but also had a leak and I would end up on the ground long before morning)...I’m sure camping ones are better but I do fully intend on getting a foam pad or yoga mat or SOMETHING just in case the new air mattress wants to deflate too.

At least I know I am a cold sleeper from that experience since that mattress made it uncomfortably cold and I was sleeping indoors in a/c set at 70.

I already got the sleeping bag and its rated for 20 degrees but is nice and warm (company said so) at that temperature. I refuse to freeze my body parts.

Actually the last time I camped with my family was about ten years ago and I got the Summer sleeping bag but we were on the side of a mountain so at night I was so cold I was curled up into a ball....I refuse to have that happen again.

 

Air contracts as it gets cold. That's why air mattresses go flat in winter. They're also cold AF to sleep on so if you use one, put the yoga mat on top of it. We went camping years ago with a nice big air mattress, woke up about 1 am with chattering teeth. It was 50 outside, and apparently 50 inside that air mattress as well. Ended up with our sleeping bags under us trying to keep that cold away.

 

NEW & UNUSED Wiggy's Sleeping/Over Bag Navy XL with Bag | eBay

or

Sleeping Bags - Wiggy's

 

Insulation requires dead airspace. The reason the car gets cold is there is no dead air space between the inside and out. Putting a tarp over the car all the way to the ground with something to keep the tarp off the car will change all that. Do not run the car while doing this. do not use candles for light or heat.
This will be warmer and more comfortable than a tent.
There are a number of car enclosures available that will serve as you tent as well. even a green house can function for this depending on the size of your vehicle.