26 Hacks to Help You Stay Warm When Camping in a Tent

I love nothing better than a warm nights sleep, so how to stay warm when camping in a tent is one of the first things I looked up when I started camping. Below are 26 hacks to help you stay warm when enjoying the great outdoors.

Setting your tent up for a warm night sleep

Preparation is key when it comes to getting a good, warm nights sleep when camping. There’s no point just hoping that your sleeping bag will do all the heavy lifting.

Whilst your sleeping bag, camp mat, etc will directly impact your warmth, there is also your tent to think about. The following tips will get your environment set up the right way for a warm nights sleep.

Use a tent that is the right size

We all know that choosing a tent with enough space can be a bit of a minefield. When a tent says it’s a 4 person tent why is it that only 3 of us can fit inside?

Whilst it may be tempting to go for a tent that has plenty of space for you all to sleep lying like a starfish, this can be bad for the temperature in the tent.

The air inside a tent is effectively warmed up by our bodies (or a heater, which I will come on to). The more air or space there is in the tent, the longer it will take to warm. This means that the tent will feel much cooler when the tent is larger than needed.

If you are planning on camping in particularly cold weather, having a tent just big enough for you to sleep in is perfect as the air trapped inside will warm up much quicker than if you take a big family tent.

Use a footprint under your tent

A tent footprint is not only a good way to protect the bottom of your tent from rips and tear from the ground, but it can also help to keep you warm when sleeping in your tent.

One you might not realise is that the temperature of the ground will transfer to the material sitting on top of it. If you have your tent directly on top of the ground, this will make the bottom of the tent cold.

Using a tent footprint in between the cold ground and your tent will reduce the transfer of the cold to your tent material and therefore help to keep the camping area slightly warmer.

Set up your tent out of the wind

If you’re camping in cold weather, trying to set yourself up out of the wind will help to keep your tent warm.

A cold wind whipping against your tent will cool the exterior material. When the warm air inside your tent rises, it will come into contact with the cold tent wall and cool down quickly. This will therefore make your nights sleep a little colder too.

Set your tent up in the best place you can to avoid the wind blowing directly against it.

Ventilate your tent properly

This might sound counter-intuitive, but making sure you have your tent ventilated correctly will help to keep your tent warm.

As the warm air rises in your tent and hits the cold outer material, condensation will form on the inside of your tent.

Dampness inside your tent is not your friend. Dampness will lead to coldness.

Allowing a small amount of air to flow through your tent will help to reduce the amount of condensation building up in your tent, therefore helping to keep the tent just a little warmer.

Put a tarp up over your tent

We all know that you can’t predict the weather (or control it). I’m sure you have been camping before in the summer on a lovely summers day and then suddenly heard the pitter-patter of rain on the tent.

Whilst you might be inside and protected from the full brunt of it, the rain drying from the top of your tent will cool down the outer material. This cold material will cool the air inside the tent and therefore reduce the temperature inside your tent.

One way to stop the rain from getting to your tent is to put a tarp up over it. This will keep your tent dry and should improve the temperature inside it.

Setting you bed up for a warm nights sleep

Put a carpet under your mattress

The more layers between you and the cold ground the better.

In order the help reduce the coldness of the ground transferring through to you and your sleeping bag, try putting a tent carpet underneath the mattress/roll mat you are using.

Don’t use an air mattress when camping in colder weather

For some, the thought of sleeping on the ground in a tent is enough to put them off a camping trip altogether. Using an air mattress is one way to try and make your nights sleep in a tent a little more like being at home.

However, when camping in colder weather, a big air mattress can seriously impact your warmth.

The temperature of the air inside the mattress is heavily influenced by the air temperature around the tent. If it’s cold in the tent, your mattress will be cold too. The more air inside your mattress, the colder your night’s sleep will be.

Try using a thinner mat or sleeping pad to warm yourself up while you sleep.

Use a blanket under your sleeping bag

Earlier I mentioned the idea of putting a carpet under your camping mat to stop the heat transfer between the ground and sleeping mat. Whilst your camping mat will now be a little warmer, it still won’t be that warm.

To reduce the feeling of cold against your body, try putting a camping blanket between the mat and your sleeping bag. This extra layer will reduce the cold transfer between the mat and your sleeping bag, keeping you warm whilst you sleep.

Use a sleeping bag with the right thermal rating.

Not all sleeping bags are made equal. Just like duvets have different tog ratings, sleeping bags are also designed to be used at different temperatures.

A summer sleeping bag for instance, like this one, is designed to be used at a temperature of around 11°C to 14°C. Whilst it can be used at temperatures as low as freezing, this is only recommended for survival purposes.

A winter sleeping bag, like this one, is designed for much lower temperatures. This is achieved by increasing the insulation inside the bag, with this one usable at temperatures of between -1°C to 4°C.

Picking your sleeping bag will be key to how you stay warm when camping in a tent.

Don’t use a double sleeping bag

I love my wife very much, but when it comes to sleeping we both need our space. On our first camping trip, we thought it would be nice to zip our sleeping bags together to make a double sleeping bag. This was the last time we did this as we both had a cold nights sleep.

The reason for this is that as we both pulled against the bag on each side, a gap formed between us and allowed the cold air to get into the bag.

The next morning, back to our individual bags.

If you’re a snuggle sleeper then no worries, but avoid the double bag if you are keen on a back to the back sleeper.

Use a blanket or sleeping bag liner inside your sleeping bag

Putting a blanket or liner inside your sleeping bag is another way to keep warm when camping.

Adding extra layers inside your sleeping back is an effective way to increase the insulation inside your sleeping bag without needing to buy another sleeping bag to cope with different temperatures.

A liner will not only keep you warm whilst camping but will provide you with the ability to increase and decrease the warmth inside your sleeping bag as you need it.

During the day

Your activity during the day can really help you keep warm when camping. The following tips should stop you from getting too cold in the evening as well as during the day.

Dress in layers

Dressing in layers is a great way to keep you warm whilst you enjoy the great outdoors.

Depending on the activity you are doing during the day, you might find yourself getting hot and sweaty. Our bodies sweat to help cool us down when we are too hot and this is where dressing in layers can be really beneficial.

If you find yourself getting too hot, instead of allowing the sweat to cool you down, simply remove a layer of clothing. This will cool you down quickly and hopefully stop your clothes from getting sweaty too.

Remember, dampness is not your friend when it comes to keeping warm.

Get out of sweaty clothes

Getting out of sweaty clothes will also help improve your warmth.

Staying in wet clothes will cool your bodies core temperature down as the water evaporates off your clothes. Get out of them as quickly as you can to make sure you don’t cool down too much.

Eat and drink a lot to add calories

If you are camping in cold weather, did you know that you will burn more calories than in warmer weather?

In colder weather, as you breathe in the colder air your body uses more energy to warm the air up. This means you need to take on more calories when exercising in the cold.

You will also burn a few more calories from the extra weight you carry wearing more layers, however, the effect of this is negligible.

Eat and drink more calories during the day and stoke your internal fire burning to warm you up.

Don’t drink to soon before you go to sleep

This one is more about making sure you get a full nights sleep and don’t have to venture out into the cold of the night to use the toilet.

The more liquid you consume before going to bed the less time you will have for it to pass through your body. This is going to increase the chances of you needing the toilet in the night and losing all the warmth from inside your sleeping bag.

Keep warm with a campfire

A great way to keep warm when camping is to have a campfire.

I’m sure I don’t have to explain that fires are hot and therefore warm you up. Being warm before you go to bed is very important as you don’t want to rely on your sleeping back and tent to do the hard work.

You can also use fire to warm up any liquids, so you can have a warm drink to help the body warm up.

Before you go to bed

Doing the right things just before you go to bed can make a big difference in how you sleep. The following tips will help you get a good, warm nights sleep.

Exercise gently before bed

Exercise is a great way of warming up your body just before you go to bed.

Some gentle movements just before you go to bed will get the blood pumping through your body. As the blood flows through your veins it will warm up the muscles and therefore warm you up as well.

I’m not talking about doing 100 jumping jacks before diving into your sleeping bag, in fact, this would be counterproductive as you will start to sweat. Sweating will actually cool the body down rather than warm it up.

A short walk around would be a good way to warm up or even a little dance on the spot. Basically, anything that will warm you up without getting you sweating will work.

Add a hot water bottle to your sleeping bag

This one is a simple tip really, but a hot water bottle can make all the difference to how you sleep.

The key with a hot water bottle is to put it around the core of your body, like your belly. By warming the middle of your body up you are more likely to feel the benefit throughout the rest of your body

There’s no point in having warm feet if the rest of your body is cold!

Put hand warmers in you sleeping bag

Putting a hot water bottle will warm you up in the night, but what if you don’t have a stove to warm some water?

Hand warmers can be your camping hero here. They work in a very similar way to a hot water bottle and can help to keep your core warm when you need to warm up.

Whilst they are single-use, they are significantly more convenient than having to fill a hot water bottle.

When you go to bed

By now you should have done everything you can to go to bed warm. The final step is to do that, but even here there are some things you can do to keep yourself warm.

Have separate day wear and night wear

It can be very tempting to just stay in the clothes you were wearing during the day when camping. Getting yourself changed in the cold can be a very daunting idea.

Changing out of your day clothes is important as it allows you to dry them out (in case of sweat) and put on some nice dry clothes for the night.

Choose the right camping sleepwear

Keeping separate day and night clothes is one step, but the next one is wearing the right clothes to sleep in.

You can also buy some extra warm pyjamas for sleeping in. Fashion shouldn’t be your main concern here. Function over fashion any day.

Whilst you might be a birthday suit sleeper at home, this won’t be the best idea when camping if you want to stay warm.

Cover your extremities

Keeping your hand and feet warm during the might is key to keeping warm. For me, there is nothing worse than waking up in the night with cold feet.

A nice pair of bed socks will work a treat here. You’re looking for socks that are thick, warm and not too tight as you don’t want to cut off the circulation to your feet!

Keep your head covered

It is often said that we lose 80% of our body heat through our head, however, this is an extreme estimate.

This doesn’t mean that we don’t lose heat from our head. In fact, if you are wrapped up in warm clothes everywhere but your head then you will lose a significant amount of heat through your head.

My tip here is to wear a hat to bed. Invest in a good beany hat and you’ll lose significantly less heat and stay warm when camping.

Take a flask with a hot drink to bed

There’s nothing like a warm drink for warming you up when your cold.

If you get cold during the night, having a warm drink you can sup will warm your body up well.

The best way to do this is to bring a flask or insulated mug with you and put a hot drink in it before bed.

Just make sure you don’t drink too much as you don’t want to get up to need the toilet.

Snuggle up with a loved one (or friend)

As I mentioned earlier I prefer sleeping back to back, but in times of need sometimes a snuggle can be a good thing.

I would recommend doing this from still inside your own tent so that if you do need to turn over there is no risk of an air gap forming between you and your snuggle buddy.

It doesn’t have to be a loved one though, I know two people who became better friends than they thought they would be after a cosy night together to keep warm. No judgement here!

Heat up some rocks

If you’ve been having a campfire before you go to sleep, some heat rocks might just be a good way to warm you up at night.

To create heat rocks, simply find some nice smooth stones and stick them on the fire. Allow that to cool off a little before handling them then put them inside a blanket or towel.

These hot rocks will work just like a hot water bottle, giving off heat that you can use inside your sleeping bag.

Geology rocks!

Use a camping heater

If you really want to boost the heat inside your tent, you can opt for a tent heater.

To be honest, this is really only an option if you have an electric hook up near your tent as tent heaters usually require electricity to work.

Do not be tempted to use a fire or gas heater inside your tent as you could potentially give yourself carbon monoxide poising, which can be deadly.

If using a heater, the safest way to do so is to turn it on before you go to bed to warm the tent up and turn it off before you go to sleep. This significantly reduces the possibility of an accident leading to a fire.

Keeping warm when camping Frequently Asked Questions

How do I keep warm camping without a fire?

As mentioned above you can do the following:

• Set up your tent out of the strong wind and on top of a tent footprint
• Use a carpet underneath your camping mat and a blanket on top of the mat
• Don’t use a thick air mattress as the air inside will be very cold when the air outside is cold
• Buy a good sleeping back with the appropriate thermal rating. Use a liner or blanket inside for extra warmth
• Wear the right pyjamas for bedtime
• Get plenty of calories in during the day to get the internal fire burning
• Use a tent heater if you have access to electricity

How to keep your face warm when camping?

Whilst a beany hat will help your head keep warm, it won’t cover your face.

To keep your face warm, you can use a balaclava. Favoured by bank robbers in crime films, this type of hat will cover your whole face, keeping it warm on a cold night camping.

What’s the best camping sleepwear?

For camping, try and avoid wearing the same clothes as in the daytime. Any sweat of slight dampness will have a cooling effect during the night.

Wearing fleece pyjamas are a great way to keep warm whilst camping, as well as adding extra layers to normal pyjamas (I’m a big fan of a hoody for this).

How do I keep an air mattress warm when camping?

• Try not to use a tall air mattress as the air inside will have a similar temperature to the air outside the mattress
• Put a tent carpet underneath the air mattress to reduce the heat transference of the cool ground to the mattress
• Use a blanket on the top of the mattress to give you a warmer (and comfier) surface to sleep on.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you have enjoyed my hacks on how to stay warm when camping in a tent. Let me know if you have any other hacks that I have missed. I hate being cold during the night, so the more tips the merrier.