Community Forums

JD & Beastlet · 09-06-2006, 01:41 AM

Fellow pop-uppers (now that just don't sound right)

Being new to the culture (we are) late in the season (is it?) and from Ottawa, I'm wondering how long we can stretch the season in the colder climes. I understand a lot of the provincial parks close in October...

JD & Beastlet · 09-06-2006, 01:41 AM

Fellow pop-uppers (now that just don't sound right)

Being new to the culture (we are) late in the season (is it?) and from Ottawa, I'm wondering how long we can stretch the season in the colder climes. I understand a lot of the provincial parks close in October...

George Miklas · 09-06-2006, 02:02 AM

Does your Sun Valley have a furnace?
Do you have a couple electric ceramic heaters?

We have camped in the 2nd week of October in a PUP before.

GM

JD & Beastlet · 09-06-2006, 06:41 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Does your Sun Valley have a furnace? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes it does.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
Do you have a couple electric ceramic heaters?
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No we don't - never heard of 'em before - what are they?

Thanks.

We have camped in the 2nd week of October in a PUP before.

GM[/QUOTE]

jperry29 · 09-08-2006, 06:29 PM

Furnace or no furnace, a ceramic heater is a must-have for campers whishing to extend the season.

A ceramic heater is an electric heater. The heat source comes from a ceramic disk rather than the traditional heating coils. Their effeciency is quite good. Most ceramic heaters are no more than 200mm square but are rated at 1500 watts. The biggest thing is the safety. You can literally take a piece of tissue paper and touch it to the ceramic disk without it catching fire. And of course since it is electric you do not have to worry about fumes.

Two of these heaters can keep a pop up relatively comfortable at temperatures as low as 0 C. If there is wind, it is a little trickier.

My wife and I spent an abnormally cold and very windy weekend in Tampa, Florida one January, the overnight temperature getting as low as -10 C. We had both heaters up in the bunk with us and even that was not enough. If we had had a furnace, it would have been running full blast.

But there are all kinds of things you can do for cold weather camping. Sleeping seems to be the big thing. If you are up and dressed warmly for the day's activities, it does not take a lot to be warm. But at night, when trying to sleep, that is when you need to be creative/high tech. Electric blankets are a corner stone of your arsenal. Depending on how cold it is going to be or how warm you want to be, you should plan on putting one electric blanket under the mattress and another one on top for you to snuggle under. This sandwich effect can ward off a lot of cold.

Like many, I too thought that the "space blankets" looked like a bunch of hooey. But after reading about them in dozens of posts on this forum I decided to try one (one of the heavier duty ones, not the thin film ones) and wow, they really worked. In the winter you put one around the inside of the bunk and reflect heat back in. In the summer you can put the reflective side out on the outside of the bunk and keep the heat off the bunk.

This is enough to get you started towards stretching your camping season as long as you can. I have seen lots of great tips on this site, maybe they will check in and offer their experiences.

Kablewizard · 09-08-2006, 07:59 PM

When we used to go out in our pop up the only thing that stopped us was a closed park. We like Water and electric when we camp, and used electric blankets on top of the mattress. The kind you can sleep on. they didn't have to be turned up high. We also used a electric heater to keep the chill out. We even camped in Indian, just outside Indianapolis in March. and worked our way back to Arizona. be aware of water lines that might freeze.You didn't reallyanswer the do you have a heater in your camper, but the other thing I did was added a second propane bottle with auto switch over. There is nothing worst then crawling under the front bed at 2 AM and 30 outside and fumble to change over a empty bottle

j2detoit · 10-27-2006, 06:31 AM

We have camped until late Oct up here in Northern MN this is quite a challange as most campgrounds close in mid oct A few can be found but it takes some digging up here It definatly gets cool that time of year and special warmth considerations should be used We found that putting electric blankets on top of the mattress under the sheets is very comfy The over hangs tend to be very cool because of them being out in the elements the warmth of the electric blanket keeps it nice and toasty underneath of you and the popup furnace keeps the chill off the rest of it Have fun