At this time of year it is EHU and a fan heater with a trip switch on top of the living room table. We have groundsheet, SIG, tent carpet, airbed, double sleeping bag, then we sleep under a duvet. Never cold at night, if I was I'd sure as heckerty change something. We camp during the summer without EHU and we sleep the same, minus the heater, in fleece PJ's.
We camped over easter & overnight it got down to 2 degrees. We had EHU so took the fan heater, I'm the one in the family that always feels the cold so wore pj's, bedsocks, thermal top, fleece hooded onesie (with hood up) the wrapped myself in another fleece blanket before getting in my sleeping bag (vango serenity - season 3-4). We have coleman airbeds, with fleece picnic blankets underneath & fleece fitted sheets, then another fitted sheet on top of this. We also took the hot water bottles but didn't use them. We slept well considering! Can't stand being too cold it would definitely put me off!
Quote: Originally posted by TraceyD on 04/5/2014If you have EHU, take a hairdryer with you and blow it into your bed before you get in!
Please dont do this, you'll wake up small children and not be very popular the next morning!
Hairdryers are very quiet these days, never had a problem yet!
Not something Id consider quiet at night on a campsite with other people potentially asleep a few metres away. What db level are they out of curiosity? Quieter than a 'silent' generator?
Crikey I'm usually in bed by 10!! Wouldn't do it outside the 'quiet time' anyway!!
What db are the children who run around campsites at the crack of dawn?
Dunno, you'd have to get 1 to scream into a meter. They're getting their own back
Simplest solution is a HOT WATER BOTTLE! (or two - one for the feet, and one for between the shoulder blades ... aaahhhh!)
If you're caught out feeling cold without one, just improvise with a 2 litre plastic drinks bottle - I even used to fill it from the hot water taps at the loos to save on gas!
You should always have something insulating between you and the airbed, sleeping bag over your airbed, fleece blanket (these are cheap at primark) it forms a barrier from the cold air in your airbed. Cardboard on the floor under the airbed definitely works. A good warm pair of socks and a hot water bottle made with boiling kettle water put in your bed half an hour before you get in. I have ehu and it's been known for me to take an electric blanket (luxury lol). There's nothing worse when camping and the temperature drops right down at night and you can't get warm
Went camping in our tent at easter, woke up to a frost one morning. Had our 1 yr old boy with us. Slept on sims. No problem with cold wore what we wear in the house - PJs, tatty old 2kW fan heater running all night on either 1 or 2 kW depending on the temperature of that night. Just get a EHU and £10 heater IMO, cheaper than loads of new bedding :)
I'm approaching this problem from a different angle, as you say that you're usually the one to open the windows at work or turn the heating down.
You mention that you're a fidget in bed so could this be the cause?
Once you are settled into your three-duvet combo and snug as the proverbial bug, I wonder if your fidgeting creates air-pockets that allow fresh, cool air into your little personal nest. As the temperature is likely to be quite at odds with your the temperature you have created whilst asleep and keeping still, this change of temperature may well wake you up.
Once cold, it is difficult to warm the body's core again, so perhaps keeping a flask of hot soup by the bed in case of early morning unexpected wake-ups may help?
Getting up twice in the night to inflate the airbed did not help in maintaining your body temperature either - just highlighting to you just how cold you were. Then the battle is not just physical, its the mental aspect of fighting off the feelings of coldness. Being in the (pitch black?) in the middle of the night also compounds the feelings of coldness.
Would any herbal remedy assist with getting you off to a good, restless free nights sleep?
I believe that Mrs 'D' has used herbal or natural remedies to assist her get to sleep. (Lavender?) but I will ask her tomorrow to confirm. Otherwise, she says that she wears a jumper or two, socks, a hot water bottle and an electric blanket, often all at the same time! She also states that she has two, winter (13.5 tog) duvets over her; and this is indoors!
Was camping at a motorbike rally in East Yorkshire that weekend. Compulsory to go on bike so limited to what you can carry. Forecast was for minus 2 on the Friday and it didn't disappoint (we have some good pics of frost coated bikes and tents!). I always swear by using a good quality four season sim and winter bag. Room in my pack for a small fleece blanket for the floor of the tent, thermals, hat and gloves and I was sorted. Not sure what it was doing down South but the Saturday was fabulous up here with people walking around the rally in shorts, temp plus 9 overnight. Rain shower packing up on the Sunday so we had the lot!
We have been using EHU in tents since 2010, which we got first for better lighting after using both battery lights/wind up lights.
We then starting taking the laptop and then 2 years ago purchased a fan heater. We normally turn on the fan heater about 19:00 in the evening, occasionally turning it off. However we leave it running in the night.
I find if I'm cold before bed, I'll never warm up, so I get into pj's (thermal ones) with fleece pj's over the top if necessary, well before bed. If it's nippy, I add tracky bottoms and a fleece on top of that. I look like Mrs Michelin, but I stay warm.
I use foam backed picnic mats under the air bed (they're silvery on the underside too, which may help), and a fleece blanket under a fitted sheet on the air bed. We then have 2 very warm kingsize sleeping bags zipped together, with an assortment of fleece blankets over the top, depending on how cold it is. If it's really cold, I pop 2 hot water bottles into the bed before bedtime, and wear a fleece snood thingy. Generally though, I find I peel off layers as I warm up and rarely wear more than just pj's.
Two small dogs to snuggle up to makes quite a difference, too.
I'd like to try a camp bed/SIM combination, but have yet to find a double folding camp bed that makes snuggling together comfortable. They all seem to have a bar down the middle.
I think the key is that it's easier to stay warm than get warm so make sure you're not getting cold in the evening and keep the tent zipped up. If I'm reading this right you're a single person rattling around in an 8 man tent so it will be harder to stay warm than our family of four in our Kalahari 8. We have camped in Feb, March and April this year without EHU and been fine and I'm definitely someone who feels the cold. Thermals, fleece hooded onesie, fleece hat, fluffy socks, fleece sleeping bag liner and 4 season bag, on a fleece blanket on an airbed works for me. Make sure whatever you wear to bed is dry and clean, make sure you're not sweaty (wet wipe wash for the win!), don't breathe (moisture) into your sleeping bag - leave yourself an airhole, and have a hot drink before bed. Hat / hood and socks are most important as most heat is lost through head and feet.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Abandoned camping trip :(
