Pop Up Soft Side Campers in the Winter

Thanks for all the replies. I am learning a lot.

I hate to sound like a caveman here, but it is really possible to live comfortably with the internal temp at 50 during the morning and evening and at 35 at night. We have done this many, many times while snow-camping. We use a down comforter at night and we bundle up when we are out of bed (breakfast and dinner).

The only time we bring the internal temp up to 70 is for a few minutes during shower time, in the evening, for obvious reasons. Otherwise, the furnace is usually off.

My point is that a pop-up truck camper will be just fine for mild snow camping (down to the single digits). As the Eskimos say, "There is no bad weather, just bad clothing." ;)

I have a Northstar 850. I use it every week of the year in NH. Temps at night typically in single digits to teens through the winter. I use it plugged in. I use a small 1500 watt electric heater. Usually it's on medium and keeps it in the low 60's inside. I rarely use the furnace as I don't like the cycling on and off. I do have what they use to call an Arctic Pack which is slide in reflective panels like you put inside your windshield on hot days. These go all around the inside of the canvas. That's it. No insulation covering skylights or windows. I stay toasty.

I am a little suspicious that the guy equating it to a tent has never actually used one in the cold.

I've only taken mine to the upper teens and we use warm bedding and set the thermostat around 60 at night. Our furnace only kicks on a few times overnight in those conditions. If we were to do actual winter camping, we'd get the insulated stuff that goes around the soft walls. And bring an extra propane tank :)

Seconding outfitter/hallmark being next level insulation. Zero degrees and windy and we were able to keep it 67 inside the camper. When we put up reflectix the walls feel warmer than our old eagle cap, although the furnace does cycle slightly more often. We had no condensation issues with 2 huge dogs and 3 people in the camper but we're also in CO where it's awful dry. We'd keep it closed up all night the pop the vent in the late morning once it starts to warm up a bit outside.

I had a Hallmark Milner for several years and their softwall is much better insulated than my buddy's Northstar. Outfitter also has a nicely insulated softwall. The furnace kept up even below 0F but condensation can be an issue when it's below freezing.

I currently have a Northstar hard side- warmer, quieter, more room...

It can be done. I camped in winter conditions during hunting season first with a NorthStar T-800 then a NorthStar TS-1000. The smaller on with less space was easier to keep warm whereas the 1000 took more time to heat up.

Essentially, the furnace was a tool to "take the chill out." When inside, I was usually wearing a sweatshirt over flannel and had good arctic sleeping bags. Mornings would involve running the furnace a bit longer before hopping out of the sack.

A big downside of the pop-ups in winter was that there was more condensation due to the less insulation- any nice days involved airing it out as much as possible and on the days when breaking camp, I would run the fan to air it out while packing away outside chairs, stoves, etc.

A pop-up can provide for winter camping, but it is not the best in my opinion if you plan on doing it often.

depends on your idea of well.better than a tent yes,but you'll burn through a heck of a lot of propane and battery running the heater.and the condensation will be considerable,but it's totally doable.we camp in the early spring as soon as the lakes ice off and well into late fall.

A speck better than a tent...you are off the ground and have some heat.