Select The Right Spot To Set Up The Best Hot Tents
Commonly, people dont look much before choosing their spot to set up a hot tent. Well, this is one of the most common mistakes that most campers made and it can lead to trouble as well. People always tend to check the ground only but forget to check the direction of the wind, rotten tree branches that can fall and destroy your tent, and other similar things.
So, before setting up your hot tent, choose a cleaner, wider, and securer space as possible.
Benefits Of Hot Tents
Many campers looking for the most comfortable winter camping experience choose hot tents for good reason.
First of all, it is very suitable for families to visit outdoors. It is very difficult for children to camp in winter because they are more likely to catch a cold and are less likely to enjoy it in an ordinary tent.
A hot tent, even if you plan to hike in the cold winter, the hot tent can provide you with enough heat.
Another advantage of hot tents is that they are usually much more spacious than most standard camping tents. These tents require additional space to accommodate firewood stoves and many people, so there is usually enough space to carry additional food or books without having to fill them.
More importantly, you dont even have to carry a propane or gas stove, because a wood stove is very suitable for cooking! Whether its the boiling water for baking marshmallows or boiling oatmeal, the wood stove is as suitable for cooking as any campfire.
Do Hot Tents Stay Warm
The canvas allows the moisture to escape. When you light up the wood stove inside the tent, the heat literally pushes the moisture out through the canvas walls keeping you dry as well as warm. Back in the day when I first tried hot tenting the majority of tents, including mine, weighed well over 27 kilograms.
What tent is the warmest?
- #1 CAMPROS Tent 6 Person.
- #2 AYAMAYA Winter Cold Weather Ultralight.
- #3 ALPS Mountaineering Tasmanian 2-Person Tent.
- #4 Mountain Hardwear Trango 4 Tent.
- #5 AYAMAYA Camping Tent for 6-8 Person.
- #6 Black Diamond Firstlight 2 Person Tent.
- #7 Naturehike Cloud-Up Lightweight Tent.
- #8 The North Face Mountain 25 Tent.
How can I keep my tent warm at night?
Use sleeping pads, mylar blankets, tarps, a foam yoga mat, or even a bed of pine needles under your tent where the mattress will be placed. Investing in a quality sleeping mat can not only save you room, but it can help keep you warmer in your tent.
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Is Hot Tent Camping Safe
Hot tent camping is perfectly safe as long as you take some basic precautions and use common sense. The biggest risks are:
Fires. Obviously, with hot tenting, theres a fire inside your tent. If youre not careful, this could obviously lead to disaster. Besides making sure you dont put any gear within two to three feet of the stove, make sure you know how to use the damper and draft control on the stoves door to regulate the amount of air flow, and never leave the fire unattended.
We also really recommend using a spark arrester like this one on the opening of your stoves chimney if you plan on setting it up vertically . The spark arrester will help prevent any stray sparks from escaping the chimney and landing on your hot tents canvas roof, which could obviously lead to a fire.
Carbon monoxide. As with any enclosed space with a burning fire, theres a risk of carbon monoxide buildup if youre not careful. Thats why its important to make sure your tents air vent is open and the stove is properly vented so that the exhaust gases can escape.
Although carbon monoxide poisoning in hot tents is extremely rare and almost unheard of, we still like to play it safe by using a battery-powered carbon monoxide detector in our hot tent whenever we have the stove going. We recommend you do too.
Be very aware of the stove at all times, and if youre hot tenting with young children or dogs, make sure you keep an eye on them at all times and never let them go near the stove.
Cons Of Hot Tent Camping
Before we dive into some of the cons, its important to mention that hot tent camping is not for everyone.
It requires a lot of planning and preparation, and you need to be mentally and physically ready for it.
Needless to say that you also need to take some hot tent camping safety measures to ensure that you have a safe and enjoyable trip.
Lets now take a look at some of the cons of hot tent winter camping:
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Are Tents With Stoves Safe
You have to worry about two things when using tent stoves inside winter tents fire hazards and toxic pollutants. Using a tent stove port helps alleviate polluting tents, but you still need to keep the area around the stove clear. Otherwise, the heat could melt camping gear like coolers, cloth, sleeping bags, tent walls and more.
Moving In To Your Heated Tent
Once you have your platform established, stove installed and your tent set up, you can then get organised with your group kit and personal kit.
When we are camping in the winter, my groups all have a personal duffel bag, which we call a tent bag, containing our sleeping equipment, some spare clothing for inside the tent, wash kit and anything else we might want inside the tent such as a book. We organise ourselves so that each duffel fits at the top of our individual sleeping areas.
As soon as we have laid down the tent flooring usually the canvas tarps from our toboggans we lay out our sleeping mats too, which has several advantages. First it provides protection for the snow platform from feet, knees and hands breaking the crust as we move around inside the tent. It also provides insulation for us from the snow underneath.
You will necessarily have to be wearing your boots while getting in and out of the tent, then removing your outdoor footwear before proceeding to the sleeping/living area. This means its useful to have an area near the door that it is OK to stand on with boots. If you are only staying overnight you can just have the snow platform showing. We have found, however, that if we are staying in area for several days, then it is worth putting down what are effectively roughly hewn floorboards.
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How Do You Set Up A Hot Tent
The setup process depends a lot on what kind of hot tent youre using, and especially its shape. For instance, some hot tents are shaped like traditional A-frame tents, while others have more of a pyramid shape.
We have a pyramid-shaped hot tentspecifically the Esker Classic 12×12, which can sleep four to six people.
To set it up, we typically lay it flat on the spot where we want it, making sure its positioned so the door is in the right place. The centre peak point of the tent is held up by a sturdy pole and a tent pole base like this one.
I usually stand under the tent, holding up the tent pole, while Ross goes around and stakes the four corners into the snow. You cant just use any old tent stakes with a hot tentyou need heavy duty iron stakes that can be staked into the frozen ground. We have these ones.
Once the four corners have been staked into the ground, its typically safe for me to come out of the tent. Hot tents typically include several sewn loops all around the outer walls of the tent to tie guylines to the surrounding trees, which is the next step in the setup process to help lift the walls and increase the overall space inside.
Lastly, well adjust the large flaps that line the bottom edges of the entire hot tent so that theyre facing outward, and then shovel snow onto them to secure the tent in place. Hot tents like these are floorless, so this final step is necessary for keeping the heat in and the cold out.
Organising Your Camp Around Your Tent
In addition to an area to pitch the tent itself, you are going to need to organise your camp around it.
Have an area near to your tent where you can keep spare logs, ready to section and spit as well as having the space to do this safely. We generally extend the tent platform to create this space.
We also prepare an area of snow where we can store our toboggans and spare equipment duffels. Once the extended platform is frozen solid, we can process fuel, access equipment, go to the toilet, collect snow and generally move around directly outside the tent, without having to put on snowshoes.
Around the perimeter of this area, you should also designate a place where people pee. This should be strictly adhered to. As the old saying goes, dont eat the yellow snow. Yes, the yellow snow is obvious. Until it snows or drifts. Hence, the need to have a designated pee area.
You should also have an area for brushing teeth, which can be the same area as for peeing if you want. You dont want everyone spitting in your communal water supply.
Away from these areas, you should have an area that is designated for collecting snow for melting into drinking water. This area should not be used for anything else.
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Whiteduck Regatta Canvas Bell Tent
This is a smaller tent than the Whiteduck Alpha we profiled above. The Regatta embodies all those things that make the Alpha such a great hot tent, but because its a little smaller and lighter, you have more options regarding where you can set it up.
The regatta is fashioned from 8.5 ounce cotton duck that has been waterproofed and treated with a fire retardant. The integrated stove jack is rugged and wont let water in. Theres plenty of ventilation and the tent sheds snow like a champ.
Hot Tent Camping Guide
Camping in freezing temperatures has often been left to mountaineers and folks living in northern regions, such as Canada, Alaska, and Norway. But more people are venturing into the outdoors in the off-season to escape the crowds. Yet, its still icy cold. Thus, some people have turned to hot tents.
Hot tent camping involves a wood-burning stove inside a canvas tent. There is a chimney or an exhaust pipe to avoid asphyxiation and a removable floor, so the tent doesnt freeze to the ground. This setup allows you to cook indoors safely. However, the tents and equipment are heavy.
People gravitate to hot tent camping over using a floor heater for two main reasons. The first is the unbeatable aesthetic. The other is the ability to cook indoors. It can be dangerous to bring a regular camping stove inside a tent without proper ventilation, but a hot tent has a chimney or exhaust pipe.
So what is hot tent camping? Read on!
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Preself Tipi Hot Tent
If youre heading into the wild alone or with one other person, the Preself Tipi Hot Tent is an excellent choice. Unlike some of the bigger hot tents, one person can set this puppy up in about 10 minutes. Its light enough to carry some distance, in case setting up near the car doesnt interest you. But keep in mind you, or your companion, will have to carry the stove too.
The ergonomics of the tent are first-rate. Even with the stove set up 2 people should not feel crowded. The stove jack is robust and fire-retardant. Its also designed to stay flexible in the cold. The bathtub bottom is fashioned from waterproof PU2000, and the tent as a whole stands its ground in strong winds. With everything it has going for it, its amazing it doesnt cost twice as much.
Best Cheap Tent For Hot Tenting
Two tents are highly affordable, costing around 200 dollars or so. Our favorite of the two tents is the Onetigris Smokey Hut tent, which is built for backpacking. A big reason for the lower price is that the tent doesnt come with a floor, so you get less fabric overall. That said, this hot tent works for pretty much all conditions, as long as you can clear a space on the ground for your sleeping bag and other gear.
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How Warm Is It In A Hot Tent
60-70* in subfreezing temps. Above freezing and you can easily heat yourself out, or sleep on top of your bag.
Do you need a hot tent for winter camping?
Use gear thats right for winter camping: Youll need a sturdy tent, a warm sleeping bag, two sleeping pads and a stove suitable for cold temperatures. Bring warmer clothing: Midweight base layers, fleece pants, a puffy coat, and a waterproof jacket and pants are standard.
Can you survive winter in a tent?
A tent that can survive the winter must be durable and insulating as well as water repellent to keep out moisture and condensation. Winter camping also requires more gear than youd generally need in the warmer months, so a tent large enough to accommodate you and your gear comfortably is crucial.
How cold can you survive in a tent?
30 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit is generally considered too cold for camping in a tent, especially for those less experienced or not equipped with the right gear.
How do you keep a tent warm without electricity?
When Youre Hot Youre Hot
According to the Sierra Trading Post, a hot tent is defined as an oversized tent with a portable, wood-burning stove. Some of these set-ups are amazingly luxurious and sophisticated think high-priced African safari enclaves that emulate portable luxury hotels.
That stated, the staff youll likely employ to carry everything you need to set up your temporary paradise is more likely your family and/or friends, but conceptually, protocols are the same: All of the supplies and structural material required for your adventure must have the ability to fold down, pack up and fits into the bed of a truck or camper.
Pre-fabricated hot tents usually come with removable floors already in place, but some adventurers prefer to make or use their own their own bases of fireproof tarps or logs culled from a forest floor. Its your hot tent so customize it any way you wish.
As you can see from the aforementioned Coleman reference, the type of stove necessary to put together your structure must feature some sort of venting vehicle so fumes generated by the stove have somewhere to go rather than filling your tent with smoke. Do-it-yourselfers can make their own stove vent, but make sure you know what youre doing. Otherwise, leave the job to experts by investing in a combo.
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Benefits To Using A Hot Tent
If its going to be wet or cold, odds are, Im going to be in a toasty tent.
1. The experience isdownright fun. Sitting by the woodstove with friends, cooking awesome food, & watching the fire is a life highlight for me.
2. Staying warm in the cold.
Ive been in freezing conditions & have been forced to strip down to just my base layers because of how hot our tent was.
3. I just did a 12-day hunting trip in some pretty nasty conditions.
It was so nice to get back to base camp, soaking wet & dry out wet gear. Your sleeping bag can dry out too.
4. You can easily boil water. I love that I dont have to buy or bring fuel on these trips. Just throw your pot or pan on the stove & utilize the fire.
5. It creates the ultimate base camp.
Always having a warm sanctuary to come back to is where the hot tent shines the most. This is a game-changer in consistent inclement weather.
6. You can cook real food.
A frying pan comes on most of these trips & we eat better than I do at home. Always a highlight of the trip.
7. Free ambient light. It gets dark way early in the wintertime. The glass panels on your stove will allow for a subtle glow throughout the tent.
Russian Bear Hot Tent
The last of our best hot tents is the Russian Bear. For a dome tent the Bear is extremely spacious with near vertical walls and a peak height of 6 2. Theres a pair of windows, an insulated multi-layer floor and an umbrella design that opens quick and sets up in just a few minutes.
The stove jack includes a stainless steel ring to pass the pipe through. This reduces the odds of a heat-related incident. The shell is treated with a fire-resistant coating that will withstand up to 1,200 degrees F, and the camo exterior eliminates the need for constructing a blind.
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A Note About Shaping A Stove Pipe
Before the first burn, you may need to shape your stove pipe. This process involves cutting and bending your stove pipe into shape so it fits snugly on your stove. Shaping your stove pipe also makes it easier to roll into shape when youre ready to use it.
There are a couple of different stove pipe designs. The most common is a rolled piece of thin titanium or steel. Shaping a stove pipe usually involves rolling the long, thin sheet of titanium into a tube shape. This can be a difficult job the first time you do it. It can be helpful to use a piece of PVC pipe as a form to roll the metal around.
The pipe should be roughly the diameter that you desire for your chimney. It can also help to have a second set of hands. This can be an annoying and tedious job. You dont want to do this job around camp. Its best to do it at home before you use your stove for the first time.
Its important that you use your chimney after shaping it. The heat from the fire helps to set the shape of the metal. In other words, the metal develops a memory. It will roll itself into shape on future uses. Over time, the chimney becomes easier to roll into shape.