How to stay warm with out electricity?
I check the long term weather forecast for our mid-April trip. The first stop at Great Sand Dunes NP in CO is in southern CO but at an elevation of about 8,000 feet. We can expect low temp at night ...
Forum Discussion
If I did not have a heat source I would be in a sleeping bag rated for the expected temperature range, just as if I were in a tent and on the ground (I did a bit of winter tent camping years ago). A great comforter doesn't help much if you are losing heat through the mattress. It can take a lot of body heat to warm up a mattress; foam mattresses insulate better, a foam topper can help insulate an innerspring or air mattress.
All good outfitters rate sleeping bags by temperature. My collection includes a summer-weight bag, one for the 40's-50's, and one for 20 F (I still use it for watching meteor showers in the winter. An idea, two persons in a pair of bags zipped together will be warmer than each in their own bag. Another idea, a king-size fiber-fill sleeping bag, open flat, makes a pretty nice down-substitute comforter.
Comforters themselves are pretty generic, brand is usually irrelevant, similar products from off-shore suppliers get sold as many different brands, and they don't get temperature rated because that is not their market, comforters are sold for use in temperature-controlled sleeping spaces.
Down needs to be carefully maintained (regularly fluffed and redistributed) but with enough air space (3-6 inches loft) can be quite warm in cold sleeping spaces. I have a down comforter (probably a JC Penny brand) in my RV I can fluff up to almost three inches, it lets me get away with dropping the temperature to 60F. Much cooler, I throw a Hudson's Bay type of wool blanket over the top of it, for more insulation and to reduce air flow through the comforter. But at 20F, I would be in my 20F sleeping bag.
I bought a RV because we were getting to old to deal with tent camping comfort issues. Considering what we paid for the RV, and the cost of fuel to move it around, a few dollars a day for LPG to stay warm at night is trivial. Without electrical service, however, you probable won't be able to use the furnace for very long if you were willing to pay for the LPG, because the furnace is one of your larger consumers of electrical power, so you would need a generator to supply that, and pay for fuel to run it.
All good outfitters rate sleeping bags by temperature. My collection includes a summer-weight bag, one for the 40's-50's, and one for 20 F (I still use it for watching meteor showers in the winter. An idea, two persons in a pair of bags zipped together will be warmer than each in their own bag. Another idea, a king-size fiber-fill sleeping bag, open flat, makes a pretty nice down-substitute comforter.
Comforters themselves are pretty generic, brand is usually irrelevant, similar products from off-shore suppliers get sold as many different brands, and they don't get temperature rated because that is not their market, comforters are sold for use in temperature-controlled sleeping spaces.
Down needs to be carefully maintained (regularly fluffed and redistributed) but with enough air space (3-6 inches loft) can be quite warm in cold sleeping spaces. I have a down comforter (probably a JC Penny brand) in my RV I can fluff up to almost three inches, it lets me get away with dropping the temperature to 60F. Much cooler, I throw a Hudson's Bay type of wool blanket over the top of it, for more insulation and to reduce air flow through the comforter. But at 20F, I would be in my 20F sleeping bag.
I bought a RV because we were getting to old to deal with tent camping comfort issues. Considering what we paid for the RV, and the cost of fuel to move it around, a few dollars a day for LPG to stay warm at night is trivial. Without electrical service, however, you probable won't be able to use the furnace for very long if you were willing to pay for the LPG, because the furnace is one of your larger consumers of electrical power, so you would need a generator to supply that, and pay for fuel to run it.
