Feb 6, 2022

Wintercamping without parking heater - Tips for cold nights

#Wintercamping #Tipps

Written by Anna 

 

The question about the parking heating is probably one of the most frequently asked questions when camping in cooler temperatures. But: it also works without! :-) 

While some of our community, including Nadine and Carina, have equipped their Caddies with parking heaters, I, like many others, rely on other options. 

And these are very diverse, as a short survey in our community revealed: 

 

Warm sleeping bag and blankets

A warm sleeping bag is a basic piece of equipment when camping in colder temperatures. That's why it's advisable to pay attention to the temperature ranges specified by the manufacturer when buying. In addition, I always take my duvet with me for cold nights, which I then put over the sleeping bag. 

To keep the cold out from underneath, I often wrap a fleece blanket around my mattress on cold nights.

A little anecdote on the side: Last summer I was standing at 2300m in the Dolomites, and since I was actually prepared for warmer temperatures at the beginning of August and was correspondingly poorly equipped in terms of warmth, I followed my sister's advice, which was actually meant as a joke, and helped myself with the rescue blanket from the first aid kit. So it turned out to be a pleasantly cosy, albeit rather crackling night. But necessity is the mother of invention ;-) 

 

Warm clothes, hat & socks

For me, hats and socks are a must for winter camping if you want to snuggle up really warm. It cools down quickly, especially over the head, and even if the hat sometimes slips over half the face while sleeping, I don't want to miss it on cold nights. 

Warm pyjamas or generally warmer clothing, for example made of merino wool, also help. 

 

Hot water bottle

Besides blankets and warm clothes, the most obvious tip is probably the hot water bottle. Thanks to a gas cooker, you can boil water without electricity, so the hot water bottle is also an easy solution when you're standing on your own. Sometimes I even filled two hot-water bottles and put one on my feet :-) 

 

Electric blanket

At the Caddyroamers Meet Up 2020, I heard from many people that they use an electric blanket on cold nights - there are even models that run on 12V. If you have a second battery or power station on board, you can also use a normal electric blanket with 230V. However, please pay attention to the voltage and wattage specifications. 

 

Fan heater

For cool nights on campsites, a fan heater can help: Most models only run on 230V electricity, so this is not a solution for freestanding. Even though it is best to turn the fan heater off at night to avoid accidentally dropping a blanket over it or similar, it is still very pleasant for getting up, changing etc. as a mini camper with a small fan heater is also warmed up quite quickly. 

 

Insulating mats

To prevent it from getting cold in the camper, you can help yourself with insulating mats for the windows. Especially for campers that have normal windows and are not covered like a van, this is certainly helpful. 

 

In case you have any other tips for cold nights without a parking heater, please feel free to let us know :-)