Occasional Winter Camping??

[edgerelease]

I'm newer to truck camping so bear with me. I have a Palomino HS-8801, certainly not designed for winter camping but WHAT IF...I wanted to take it up to the ski resort for a night (or wherever). I'm assuming I'd keep it winterized and simply run the propane to stay warm for the night. Just bring my own fresh water...no toilet/plumbing/water use. Agree?

Also, probably a stupid question but you would only turn on the heater when you are with the unit, you wouldn't want to keep it on low during the day. I'm thinking it is not safe, or even if it was I'd suck the tank dry on a super cold day.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

[Bedlam]

When young, I would sleep in my car when I skied the Alps. I never had temperatures less than the single digits but awoke many mornings with the interior completely frozen up from breath overnight.

[valhalla360]

ppine wrote:
A hard question to answer. People live in RVs in the northern Rockies, but it takes some experience to be comfortable. You have to learn how to keep your plumbing working and stay warm.

We've done a fair bit of winter camping (as a kid we used to spend weekends in northern Michigan snowmobiling and the camper stayed there all winter).

In truly cold conditions (say lows below 10F), it can be "tolerable" but I wouldn't call it "comfortable".

In more recent times, cold weather camping is usually when we get caught somewhere in a cold snap or need to be somewhere for a short period of time. If we needed to be somewhere for a month or more, we would be looking at an apartment (which we have done on a few occasions).

[brholt]

Here is some pretty hardcore winter camping suggestions.

Winter camping iin an AF1150

[ppine]

A hard question to answer. People live in RVs in the northern Rockies, but it takes some experience to be comfortable. You have to learn how to keep your plumbing working and stay warm.

My point of view is that most RV people can be pretty functional down to around 0-10 above by doing the obvious. Especially if day time temps make it above freezing.

Spending the night at a ski area parking lot in the Rockies with no hook ups is not so easy. It can be -35 degrees F or more. I have slept in the back of my insulated pickup with no heat at around -20 degrees with few problems.

[StirCrazy]

edgerelease wrote:
I'm newer to truck camping so bear with me. I have a Palomino HS-8801, certainly not designed for winter camping but WHAT IF...I wanted to take it up to the ski resort for a night (or wherever). I'm assuming I'd keep it winterized and simply run the propane to stay warm for the night. Just bring my own fresh water...no toilet/plumbing/water use. Agree?

Also, probably a stupid question but you would only turn on the heater when you are with the unit, you wouldn't want to keep it on low during the day. I'm thinking it is not safe, or even if it was I'd suck the tank dry on a super cold day.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

so the first answer to this should have been "yes" I winter camp all the time with my 5th wheel and my camper and thats all I do. your camper has much better insulation than mine, and probably a ducted furnace. the website doesnt give you to much info about the options and the construction but with the water winterized and the furnace on its up to you how cold you can handle. take lots of blankets and have a good weekend.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

I spent a couple months on the road camping in winter before. My best improvement was putting a couple sheets of lattice fencing in the cab over for breathability with 1" RMAX foamboard on top under the mattress. That greatly helped keep the bed warmer. The other thing was to get a set of heavy flannel sheets. That was one of the biggest helps. Another trick I used was to sleep with my head at the foot of the bed, so it was more in the center of the camper and my feet out front of the cabover. That kept my head and body closer to the warm area of the camper and my feet in the colder area. I like having my feet cooler. I like my comfort, so My furnace is set to not less than 62 degrees at night and 65 or 70 in the day, whatever it takes to be comfortable. I have 400 AH of lithium and 675 watts solar on the roof, so power is of no concern excepting for clouds and shade. Charging gets better the farther south you go in winter. If I fall short of charging after a couple days, no matter because I'll probably be relocating to the next location and the 30-amp dc to dc charger will recharge the battery system back to full in the time it takes me to drive to the next location. If I stay at a site with electricity, I have a 1000-watt 3' wide baseboard heater that works well down to about 25 degrees, then I need to supplement heating using the furnace. I think 5 degrees F is the coldest I've camped. Keep in mind I have measured a 30-degree difference between the floor and the countertop in the TC. In the real cold conditions, I have a small fan that blows cabin air down into the basement for the holding tanks. The tanks do sit on top of 1/2" Styrofoam, so they have a little thermal protection. Get some really thick slippers and socks for hanging in the TC because your feet will get cold in those conditions. OK, those are my tricks. That's how I stay warm in the winter.

[happycamper1942]

I try not to winter camp unless I have an electric hook up. I don't like the noise or the sudden bursts of heat from the propane heater.
In the fall and winter I have a small oil-filled radiator which I keep switched on. This keeps the place very cozy.

[mbloof]

Ok so it has been nearly 20yrs since I've 'winter camped'.

- Single type #27 battery, (I don't recall if I had solar or truck-2-camper charging at that point or not)

- Temps in 20-30's, furnace was mostly on most of the time
- I had not winterized, no water system issues
- Admittedly after spending the night in the snow the next day I left for lower elevation (and less snow)

- Given that 1 day/night of running the furnace and 2000 era lighting would of used up my single battery, I must of had someway of charging the battery

Over the years I hear that most folks just drain their water (blow out excess with air on the city water intake), flush toilet with RV antifreeze and if staying more than 1 day/night have someway to charge the battery (for furnace+lighting) or have more than a single #27 battery (100Ah).

While it seems (and IS) counter productive, cracking the roof hatches and having a window cracked for ventilation to combat condensation is needed. (otherwise you'll find moisture on the windows and on/in the walls)


- Mark0.

[Grit_dog]

pianotuna wrote:
Let me be more descriptive.

-25 day time high during a four day blizzard in the city of Calgary

Four burner stove with each burner turned down as far as possible.

nothing flammable within 2 feet of the stove

A Kipor 2800 generator was used for 5 hours (3 in the evening and 2 in the morning) and furnace run during that time.

A heating pad run by a MSW 200 watt inverter with copious blankets.

I was at a convention during the day from 8 am until 8 pm. The stove burners were not run when I was inside the RV. The furnace was set as low as possible when I was not "home".

I will not sleep with a generator running.

“I left stove burner on unattended, but I am afraid to sleep with a generator running outside.”

Oh, that totally makes sense….:S

Dude, anyone who’s entertained even seemingly good advice from you should now be very wary…
Are you taking tips from how the homeless live or you come up with this stuff on your own?

[Grit_dog]

edgerelease wrote:
Oh man, some of you guys are funny as hell! I'll stick to my original common sense thought of keeping winterized, running the heater while sleeping, bottled water and call it good! Solar set up will charge batteries back up during the day.

(Electric heater? Keep burners on? Seriously? Yikes.)

Just keep reading. Rvnet is a great source of entertainment!

[edgerelease]

Oh man, some of you guys are funny as hell! I'll stick to my original common sense thought of keeping winterized, running the heater while sleeping, bottled water and call it good! Solar set up will charge batteries back up during the day.

(Electric heater? Keep burners on? Seriously? Yikes.)

[valhalla360]

Winter camping can mean many things depending on where you are and when:
- Down into the 20-30's, it's a complete non-issue. You can probably get away with blankets and no heat at all in a small truck camper.
- Down into the -10 to -20, it becomes more challenging

Also, do you expect to have electricity? With shore power, you don't have to worry about batteries running out and may even be able to supplement with a space heater. In our 25ft travel trailer a 1500w space heater is all we use down to around 30F. I would expect with a smaller space, you could manage even in colder conditions.

As mentioned, moisture is the biggest challenge (and a good reason to avoid the stove heating among others). The bubble foil insulation on the windows will help a lot. If only doing it for a few days, it's mostly a nuisance, just make sure to wipe down every interior wall you can before closing it up (inside cabinets also), so mold doesn't start growing.

[StirCrazy]

pianotuna wrote:
Let me be more descriptive.

-25 day time high during a four day blizzard in the city of Calgary

Four burner stove with each burner turned down as far as possible.

nothing flammable within 2 feet of the stove

A Kipor 2800 generator was used for 5 hours (3 in the evening and 2 in the morning) and furnace run during that time.

A heating pad run by a MSW 200 watt inverter with copious blankets.

I was at a convention during the day from 8 am until 8 pm. The stove burners were not run when I was inside the RV. The furnace was set as low as possible when I was not "home".

I will not sleep with a generator running.

thats old time thinking there, works even better if you put terricotta pots upside down over the burner.

I would not recomed any one use a open flame for heat in the camper with out a window cracked and never while you sleep. and like any other type once you have to crack a window and vent or what ever your kinda defeating the purpose.

Steve

[toedtoes]

I think camping in a blizzard is a lot different than overnighting at a ski lodge once in a while.

As long as the OP is planning on skiing during the day, then the temps won't be so low that the camper needs to be heated while they are away. The daytime temps will be above freezing. So, trying to warm the camper during the day is unnecessary (things won't freeze) and unneccessarily dangerous. Just winterize the camper and use bottled water as needed.

When the OP arrives back at the camper after a day of skiing, use the furnace to warm up. Make sure you have enough battery power or a generator to run the furnace fan for the night.

If the OP is uncomfortable running the furnace while you sleep, just run it right before bed then hunker down with lots of good bedding, then turn it on when you awake.

If the OP can hook up to electricity, use a space heater with a remote control - that way you can turn on, turn off, and adjust the heat level as needed without having to get out of bed.

If the toilet sits directly over the black tank, then you can use a pitcher of water to "flush" the toilet after use - that small amount of water going directly into your tank from the bowl won't damage anything if it freezes. And as it's only one night, the next day you can go home and add more water through the toilet and then drain the black tank.