Heat........ An interesting topic. IMO "You don't need no stinkin heat" no matter how cold it gets!!!
From when I was 35-50 years old, I used to seek out the coldest temperatures I could find to go winter (tent) camping/mountaineering in the Adirondacks of NYS.
There was a group including my wife that would wait for reports of -20 to -40 temps to go winter tent camping. A friend would fly in from Florida to join us.
We had more trouble starting or cars at -40 than staying alive in a tent 10 miles from the nearest road. Doing things correctly, one can be quite comfortable at extreme temperatures even in a tent at -20 with high winds blowing, setting on 10' deep snow.
All you really need is to be hydrated, fueled, and insulated. If you eat and drink (no alcohol) and have a proper sleeping bag or enough other insulating layers your body will produce all the heat you need.
Some tricks we used to take the chill off :
use a candle lantern. It is amazing how much heat a candle will produce in a tent. I'm sure it will do even better in an insulated teardrop. Just kill when you go to sleep.
Wear a wool hat to bed.......
Take the clothes you will put on in the morning to bed with you. They will be warm in the morning.
Take a well sealed (lexan)water bottle (with an insulating jacket) filled with Hot Hot water to bed with you. This is a great heat source to use during the night. have a small thermos close by with just hot water. take a sip during the night if you get chilled, it will put a smile on your face.......this really works.
Have a Pee bottle available (men) don't get out of bed unless you have to.
When you wake in the morning, this is the coldest you will be. Re-light the candle lantern while still in bed. The lantern will burn off the frost on the ceiling and raise the temp inside a lot more than you may think.
All your bodies fuel and hydration stores are depleted. Have ready a packet of instant hot chocolate. If you have a good thermos, the water should still be hot. Before getting out of bed, drink the hot chocolate and have a poptart or some Fig Newtons.
You will be amazed how the combination of the candle lantern, the hot chocolate and a cookie or 2 will lift your spirits and warm you.
When you get up, get dressed while still in bed, with the clothes you brought to bed with you. Go for a walk with a lot of insulating layers on you, especially a warm hat. This will get your blood flowing and further warm you. When you start to heat up from the exercise, you are ready to make a fire,breakfast or just start your day.
Another tip: before introducing a new technique, we would pre-test the technique by camping in our back yard in the winter to see what worked or didn't. It may be a good idea to try any new system at home first, in the conditions you may expect while on the road.
In conclusion: Save your artificial heat sources for when your standing around and need to warm your hands. Don't use them while sleeping. Try some of my simple tips, you may find you can sleep comfortably at any temperature in your Teardrop without any artificial heat source. It's really all in your head.........
Larry C
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