camping when it's cold at night

[Haywire]

Forecast very chilly at night over the bank holiday, what are your best tricks for keeping warm and toasty? Over many years we have got a few aces up our sleeve.

We always take hot water bottles and put them in beds/sleeping bags a few hours before bedtime.

Think I read this on here long ago after tea time put on Pj's under your clothes then when it's bedtime you don't have to get changed just take top layer off.

Go mad with the warm bedding; flannel pillowcases, sheet and duvet cover - cotton gets cold and clammy overnight- we take a thick duvet and have a mattress topper underneath sheet on a thick SIM with blanket between Sim and groundsheet. Is flipping comfy set up, takes up waaaay too much space in car but is non-negotiable.

Take woolly or fleecy hats and gloves and socks for outside in evening ( and overnight if needed) seems like overkill perhaps but won't be regretted.

Campfire if at all possible!

Put a large stone to heat in the fire, wrap in a towel at bedtime. Holds the heat for ages.

We have a double sleeping bag, and sleep in the tent with ice on the outside but wearing just a tee shirt and underwear. We use a blow up double mattress with a fluffy blanket under us.

Foil blanket under the SIM.
Down sleeping bag.
Minimal clothing.
Wool hat just in case!

Late afternoon/ tea time, go have a shower and put on thermals, fluffy socks, pjs, joggers and hoody. Even if it's still warm outside.

(I've seen many of my favourite bands perform live dressed like this 😬)

Later, as the sun goes down, put on hat and gloves. The trick with camping I've found, is never let yourself get cold- warming up when you've become cold is a nightmare, always aim to stay warm. Have a duvet, mattress topper and at least one other body to snuggle up to, to keep toasty during the night.

Thick blanket, or better yet a proper duvet over the sleeping bag, sheepskin under it on top of the SIM. Dog to keep the feet warm.

Not one for sub-zero in a tent though. When it's that cold I prefer the MH with the luxury of Truma on low overnight.

Yeah I'm team fewer clothes.
Foil bedroom under air bed. Fleecy blanket and cotton sleeping bag, not one of those sweaty shiny things. Layers to put over me but sleep in knickers and top, maybe socks. I camp alone so no warm body to snuggle.

Also travel John so I don't have to go further then the porch for a pre

Thermal base layer and hot water bottles. Also loads of snacks as hunger = cold.

Wear layers, a hat and extra socks. Don't wear jeans in wet weather. Twice as many layers under you as above you at night.
Put tomorrow’s clothes in the sleeping bag so warm for the morning.
Don't drink too much - you don't want to be going to the toilet more than necessary.

Do not, under any circumstances, put anything that gives off carbon monoxide, like a disposable BBQ even if extinguished, inside the tent.

There is no shame in giving up and going home if it's too cold.

Don't go camping.

I'm only half joking. We arrived at out campsite today to find the tent was covered in mould having forgotten to air it after last year's outing. DH was adamant it would be fine, I thought it was a biohazard and wouldn't be waterproof. The campsite owners offered to lend us a tent but given there was only one shower we decided to call it a day. I've never appreciated my bed so much in my life.

If you use a sleeping bag it should be 3/4 season for UK camping. I sleep in thermals as well. Last resort a wool army type blanket.

Take me! I have about ten hot flushes a night - you'd all be baking 🤣

Seriously, change well before bed, stay warm, sheepskin, hot water bottle - you can get really long skinny ones now that fit in a bed

As in lengthways

What is SIM please?

Oh yeah got it. Self inflating mattress!

Yes TimeTruth I think that's the key getting ahead of the game so as not to get cold. Plenty of food and warm body next to you also helps!

The SIMs are a closed cell kind of foam that is more insulating than an airbed which is a big heat sink of cold night air. But the inflation gives more cushioning that a plain foam mat of the D of E type. I expect a foam mat on top of an airbed would be cheap and cheerful option.

When DS1 got hypothermia (he got so hot with all my cold weather preps that he took his clothes off and got out of his sleeping bag...) we decided we'd never di non-EHU again.

Now we have a dedicated set of camping electric blankets!

SIM = Self Inflating Mat.

I am fine with a SIM and a good quality 3-season sleeping bag.

Don't buy your sleeping bag from a supermarket, Halfords etc. Get a reputable camping brand one.

We turn the heating up (see other thread) and have been known to take an electric blanket in winter.

As an ex Guider, with hundreds of nights camping year round, I’d suggest always have as much bedding/blankets under you as above you. 3/4 season sleeping bag with a silk liner is lush. Always dress in many layers, always have a hat & gloves (especially if you can’t use a mummy bag as you sleep on your tum like Spider-Man climbing a wall, like me). It’s easy to take a layer off than fumble around looking for a pullover at 2am. And socks. Thin & thick ones.

Definitely take a hot water bottle. Helps aches & pains, fill with cold water on a hot night or hot on a cold one.

As a seasoned home camper, I like a bit of comfort, so I pop a foil blanket under my tall king size blow up bed, with a mattress topper. I’ve never heard of camping electric blankets (pops one onto Christmas list!), we always have an electric hook up pitch!

And, for us ladies that swell up like the Michelin man & wee every 30 seconds at night, a she-wee & bottle (or bigger tent so you have a spare big-pod) is far preferable the campsite scurry or crouching behind your car with your moon looking at the Moon.

And hot drinks. Lots of them.

Stay dry. Don’t wear jeans as they’re heavy when wet & wont dry. Lighter cotton kecks with Fruit of the Loom or leggings underneath. And plenty of socks. Make sure any boots are properly waterproofed - cold, wet feet are miserable at best & can cause injury or limb loss at worst!

We’ve been to busy to camp this year & miss it, have fun this weekend!

*bog-pod. Or tent en suite, in polite speech.

Get off the floor, so use a camp bed, and sleep in a onesie - the more ridiculous the better 😂

I put my thermals (long legs and long sleeves) on under my clothes after dinner before it gets cold. If not too cold, I change outer clothes to pjs at bedtimes. If it is quite cool, I put pjs on under clothes or wear comfy tracksuit for evening and sleep in that (or maybe just change top for warm dry jumper if there is any damp).

Once in tent after ablutions etc complete, change socks from ones worn for evening to dry, warm ones only for sleeping. (I have usually thrown hot water bottle into sleeping bag as I start ablutions/changing so socks have warmed by the time I change into them).

I wear a woolly hat in bed, sometimes pulling up hood of hoodie as well.

Floor of tent has a could backed picnic blanket as carpet, then sim, 4 season sleeping bag, and a couple of spare blankets in case I need an extra layer below some to insulate from ground and/or extra layer above me. I usually find the layer below is more important.

I use a hot water bottle as we often have a burco going for hundreds of cups of tea waiting for Cubs to go asleep - I take the end of that once we’ve washed the cups. And I fill a flask with spare hot water at the end of dinner preps if family camping - me and DD (or will light gas for a small kettle full - warmth is important for me to sleep and I am always the person most likely to be woken in the night so every bit of sleep is important)