Types of heating for a tent or heating without waste

Options for heating the tent with improvised means

Option 1 is perfect

You are an experienced tourist, and so experienced that you carry with you just in case, not only a knife, a lighter and a flashlight, but also a camp stove or a special heater. There are, of course, more options: portable stoves, gas and kerosene heaters, gasoline appliances. In handling them, accuracy is important - it is easy to burn down the tent with one random movement.

camp stove

Stoves and heaters exist for every taste, but they are all quite heavy, voluminous and not every tourist has them. In other words, the probability of finding them in a backpack by chance is quite small. Of course, if you consciously go on a winter hike, you need a stove. In this case, of course, the issue of improvised means of heating is solved by itself.

Option 2 - for freezing

It is not uncommon for a hardy and experienced person to go hiking, but, for example, freezing all the time due to the characteristics of the body - in this case, of course, he will take with him individual means of heating, namely heating pads.

They are very different: chemical, salt, thermal, but all are equally effective, besides, as practice shows, they are short-lived and often these heating pads are simply disposable. And also heavy.

Heating pads are individual means of warming; using them in a tent will be ineffective. This disadvantage is also worth considering. However, if you have a risk, for example, of freezing your feet, small heating pads in your sock will prevent this.

Option 3 - fiery

Any tourist, and not even a tourist, heading for nature, should, as an iron rule, remember: you must have a knife, a flashlight and a lighter (as well as a charged mobile phone) with you. Under these conditions, you can build a fire and keep warm. BUT! Heating a tent with a fire is undesirable and very dangerous.

It will be safer to heat the water and pour it into bottles. Cooling down, it will warm the tent. You can also use heated stones. They should be carefully wrapped in foil or at least cloth and placed around the perimeter of the tent.

Use heated stones to heat the tent

Option 4 - group

There are often cases when there are no means of heating at all, lighters too, and it is not possible to heat the tent with improvised means. In this case, there is always a source of heat - these are the participants themselves.

If you didn’t accidentally take a heater with you and couldn’t make a fire, and the night will be cold, you need to fill the tent as much as possible with things, spruce branches, and cover yourself with all the warm clothes that are available. It is advisable and if possible to spend the night together in one sleeping bag - this way you will be as warm as possible

It is important to use only dry things

Option 5 - snowy

If it so happened that you need to heat the tent in winter, we really hope that there is a lot of snow around. In this case, you can dig out a snow needle - inside it is warm and there is no wind. This is not an obvious solution, but in a snow house, if you dig it deep enough, it is quite possible to spend the night, even without a tent.

Make an igloo to keep warm in winter

Important to keep in mind!

If you are a happy owner of a gas burner and have found yourself in a difficult situation when you need to spend the night and heat the tent with improvised means - please do not use a gas burner for heating unless it is frostbite or a threat to life, and even in these cases - with great caution. It is very easy to suffocate from carbon monoxide poisoning.

A burner that is not suitable for heating can threaten life no less than cold.

In conclusion

So, there are many ways to heat a tent with improvised means, and the choice depends on your experience, the means available and the upcoming conditions.Obviously, spending the night in the summer forest and wintering under the snow are very different. But, in any case, now you, going camping, know how to deal with sudden circumstances.

By the way, when going on a hike or rafting, be sure to find out which sleeping bag is better to choose and what to take with you for rafting on the river?

Good luck with your trips, rafting, enjoying nature and warm nights!

Share with friends:

What to do if your luggage is lost at the airport

What to take for river rafting

How to fall asleep quickly and easily on an airplane

Connecting flight: main advantages and disadvantages

Why tourists choose Turkey for holidays

Features of traveling with pets

Interesting facts about air travel

Why is it worth traveling

How to choose a tent heater

It is generally accepted that tourists, fishermen and just lovers of outdoor recreation are unpretentious people: they are not afraid of snow and rain, and they can spend the night anywhere. In fact, every person loves comfort, it's just that some are too lazy to create it.

Tourists are creative people and they approach the issue of heating the tent “with their heads”. After all, taking care of high-quality heating of the tent, especially in the cold season, is not a whim, but a necessity, failure to comply with which is fraught with unpleasant health consequences.

There are several options for solving this problem:

• buy a heater;
• use improvised means for heating;
• make a stove with your own hands.

Portable ovens

An example of a portable stove for a tent

There are homemade and industrial stoves for heating tents. They work mainly on solid fuel. These are the familiar “potbelly stoves” that are suitable for a large tourist group. They are irreplaceable in extreme tourism. But they take up enough space and need chimneys and constant attention.

This pays off with high heat dissipation, but their size and weight are not for small tents.

How to heat a tent with improvised means?

To solve the problem, a coolant is needed.

It could be:

• an open source of fire, enclosed in a casing;
• heated warm material.

The second option is more accessible on a hike and safer. We are talking about stones that perfectly retain heat. However, if a hot stone is brought into the tent, then it will immediately heat up very strongly, but after an hour there will be no trace of the heat. Therefore, care must be taken to increase the thermal inertia of the stone: it must give off heat slowly.

To do this, you need a thermal insulator. The best option is foil. In the first hours, it will protect the tent from overheating, and its inhabitants from burns. A well-heated stone is wrapped in several layers of foil and placed in a pan of suitable size. The more layers of foil, the stronger the thermal insulation, and the longer the stone will heat the tent.

If in the morning it becomes cool in the tent, you can remove part of the foil and the tent will become warm again. This is a proven method of lawyer Yegorov, famous for his tourist life hacks. He suggests choosing a stone the size of a human head and picking up the pot in such a way that the stone does not touch the bottom. All this construction must be placed in a tent on a board or other insulating material.

keeping warm in the tent

Initial conditions for setting up a tent are important for keeping warm, and a wisely chosen place will save you a lot of effort.

It should be dry (do not put it in a swampy area!), Remote from water (the temperature is always lower near a river or lake), protected from the wind, but, if we are talking about mountains, not under stones.

Compliance with these simple rules will save you from the cold and many dangers. In addition, a tent can be set up on a fire pit. If this is not possible, the tent should be raised above the ground with the help of improvised means. Ideally, if it is spruce branches, or just tree branches. On such an air cushion will be warmer.Of course, there is a risk of not getting enough sleep, and such a “bed” will be quite hard, but still it is better than frostbitten kidneys.

So, how are we going to keep warm?

Ground heating

Now we will learn how to heat a tent on a hike in severe cold weather. An old and reliable way is to put up a tent on the site of a fire. There are two options here. The first takes more time and energy. To begin with, at the place where the tent will be set up in the future, you need to remove the sod. Dig should be to a depth of 20 centimeters. Then a huge fire with wide logs is lit in this pit. The main goal at this stage is to dry and warm the earth, as well as to get large coals. When the coals are ready, they are evenly distributed over the pit and covered with a 7-10 cm layer of earth

It is important that the ground is dry. If there is none, you need to use the second method below.

Dry grass or spruce branches are laid on the ground, and a tent is placed on top. The tent is heated throughout the night.

The second option is less energy intensive. In this case, there is no need to dig a hole. All that needs to be done is to kindle a large fire, and when it burns out, carefully remove the coals to the side. On the ground hot from the fire, spruce branches are laid and a tent is put up.

Gas heaters

In this video, you will be shown how to properly use gas tent heaters. Happy viewing!

This is the most popular type of heating. Here prices are in the range of 2000 - 7000 rubles. There are several types of such devices. They are heated from a gas cylinder, have various heating elements that allow you to control the temperature.

According to the type of heat emitter, they are divided into:

• ceramic infrared;
• heaters with a metal emitter;
• catalytic gas heaters.

There are two types of construction: the burner is connected to the cylinder through a special hose or the burner is placed on the cylinder. All of them differ in working volume. There are models designed for 2 - 3 hours of operation without refueling, others work longer.

Infrared heaters with ceramic element

The principle of operation is based on the conversion of burner heat into infrared radiation with high efficiency.

Their advantages:

• small size and weight;
• profitability;
• release of the minimum amount of harmful substances;
• universality;
• safety.

Power of ceramic models: 0.5 - 1.75 kW. Cost: 2000 - 4000 rubles.

Heaters with a metal radiator

Type of heater with a metal radiator

Outwardly, they resemble a cap made of steel mesh. This is a protective screen that separates the hot burner. A parabolic reflector is installed behind it. Such stable burners are able to create comfortable temperature conditions over large areas. This type of configuration can be equipped with one or two burners.

But their efficiency is lower than that of the previous type. If for ceramic it is up to 50%, then here the maximum figure is 30%. The fuel consumption of such burners is also higher. It should be remembered that they warm, not much better.

Catalytic gas heater

This design uses a fiberglass panel. A layer of patina is applied to it, which is the combustion catalyst. These are the most efficient burners. The efficiency of such devices is about 100%.

Such heaters are chosen by adherents of an environmentally friendly attitude to the environment: the fuel burns without a flame. The device heats the air quickly, works silently, is the safest in terms of sudden ignition.



The cost of such devices is 1000 rubles. (for small heating pads), and 3000 - 7000 rubles. for more powerful heaters. The disadvantages include the desire of manufacturers to make the components of this heater as popular as possible.

They cannot be replaced with similar ones, only "native" cartridges are suitable for most.The disadvantage of all gas heaters is called failures when working in severe frosts. It may be necessary to insulate or heat the cylinder.

Clothes and sleeping bag

An important role in the issue of heating is played by the tourist's clothing, his sleeping bag and mattress. If all these attributes are chosen correctly and performed with high quality, then they will be enough to comfortably spend the night in the autumn forest. However, with the advent of real cold weather, such heat will not be enough. There will also be little of it for children, and there are two reasons for this. First, children get colder. And secondly, in their sleep they like to toss and turn and open up.

Therefore, when camping with children, it is important to heat the entire tent.

By the way, if you spend the night in a sleeping bag, and in principle, in any other case, try to make sure that the parts of your body are in contact with each other as much as possible. At the very least, take your hands out of your sleeves. The principle of mittens works here, which, as you know, warms (or it would be more correct to say, retains body heat) much more efficiently than a glove. To keep your sleeping bag warmer before the bitter cold sets in, a simple bottle of hot water to carry in your bag will help. Get a kind of heating pad.

Gasoline heater

This is a rather ancient invention, which was successfully used by Soviet tourists. Modern manufacturers continue to produce the much-loved gasoline burners, which are in constant demand.

Gas heater option for tent

The cost of branded devices of this type starts from 5000 rubles. You can find cheaper models. Their main advantage is reliability and power. They are able to work in the most severe frosts.

Petrol burners do not smoke, operate quietly, and can be used indoors. Therefore, gasoline heaters will not leave the market soon. There were some drawbacks: they require certain skills from users, ignite easily and have a number of requirements for fuel quality. In addition, low-quality gasoline can clog the burner.

Transporting such devices is not easy - gasoline smells strongly, and the heater must be carefully packed.

7 Tips for Safe Use of Propane Heaters

Your safety is paramount, so below are the most important rules and tips for the safe operation of propane heaters:

1. Read the manufacturer's instructions carefully!
   In addition to information on assembling and connecting fuel bottles, it clearly states whether the device can be used inside the tent, or is it intended only for the street.
2. When turning on such a device in a tent, take care of good ventilation - do not fasten the tent completely or open the ventilation window.
   An outflow of air is required if you do not want to be poisoned by carbon monoxide, which inevitably arises from the combustion of propane. Even with the safety features of the device in the form of auto-off when the oxygen level drops, use common sense! At the slightest indisposition in the form of a headache and suffocation, turn off the device and leave the tent.
3. Be sure to install the heater on a flat and firm surface.
   It should not stand crooked, next to walls or on flammable surfaces.
4. Do not leave a running heater alone in a tent
   for a long time, as well as alone with small children and pets.
5. Do not use the device while sleeping in a tent
   - his work should be carried out only under your control. It is ideal to turn it on for the desired warm-up before sleep, turn it off at night and turn it on again after waking up. The exception is outdoor heaters like the Zodi Outback Gear X-40 Hot Vent Tent Heater - they can be turned on during a night's sleep.
6. Use the heater only for its intended purpose - heating the tent.
   Do not cook food on the metal protective grid of the appliance, do not dry things and camping equipment directly on it.
7. Advice for extreme cases:
   if you realize that there will not be enough gas reserves for the rest of the trip, leave the heater to operate at minimum power. Thus, the gas will be consumed more slowly. In the tent, of course, it will not be too hot, but a constant temperature above the street temperature will remain.

This article will discuss the heating of the tent in the warm season. For negative temperatures, the methods described below will be ineffective. But for summer or early autumn, when the air warms up well during the day, and at night it can freeze a little and the temperature drops to +5 +10, these simple methods will be an excellent option.

This article only shows methods for which there is no need to use additional equipment that you need to carry with you.

On ice

And let's start with a complex procedure. Firstly, you can’t dig the same hearth on the ice, you can’t make a fire for a long time, and secondly, fishermen often make trips hundreds of meters from the coast - they won’t carry firewood supplies to their place, which should be enough for several hours . It is clear that you should not rely on bonfires - other means will be required.

Kerosene lamp. Accordingly, you will need to take with you the lamp itself, kerosene and a spare wick. It gives off light and warmth. For those who are still the owner of this rarity from the distant times of the USSR, there will be no problems. For a winter tent, this device is relatively safe, the advantages are as follows:

• reliability;
• economy;
• the ability to use both in tents with floors and without floors;
• the fire is covered with glass;
• a faint odor is emitted.

It’s not worth pouring a lot of fuel, there is literally less than half - if only the wick reaches the liquid and soaks. Kerosene stoves have not been produced for a long time, but they can be found in the following places:

• shops like "Antiques";
• "Household goods" - very rarely found literally by the piece;
• your own attic or basement - you never know, left from the ancestors;
• open markets, where mostly pensioners sell sometimes useful, albeit old utensils. In the people, such sellers are called "junk dealers".

Suppose there is a lamp, kerosene is sold in the departments of varnishes, paints and solvents, but with wicks the question is different. Previously, they were sold separately, when kerosene stoves themselves were still relevant. Some were made from natural fabric, folded in several layers and sewn together.

Household candle. Here you don’t need anything at all, just take a couple of candles with you and light it. For a double tent, one piece will be enough. It will seem that the light is too small, but the fact remains - after a while it will become warm, almost like at home. You will need a small outlet.

You can take a primus stove with you - at the same time it will be possible to cook food, for example. Fishermen are advised to buy such devices manufactured by Coleman. But there is a drawback: ordinary gasoline from a gas station is prohibited for use, the device immediately deteriorates. You need the appropriate fuel called "Kalosha".

Primuses are best used in large four-seat tents, the height of which is at least 150 centimeters. These are the safety requirements for the shelters themselves, rather than for the means of heating.

Gas lamps and burners are also a worthy option, but again it's about fuel. It is required to stock up on cylinders with high-quality gas and not save. Canisters refilled with a household type of fuel cannot be used. As experienced "survivors" say, equipment deteriorates from it. By the way, we take high power burners, somewhere under 2000 watts (2 kW).

A heater is a tourist heater that also runs on gas cylinders. As many users of such devices note, this equipment often stops working in severe frosts.

Still, candles and kerosene burn out much less oxygen, despite the fact that they can heat the shelter well in winter, but the infrared gas heater, which is an ordinary ceramic tile, occupies the leading position.

Tents with a stove

Well, the most effective way to heat a tent is to put a potbelly stove in it. This is the method used in army tents. Of course, the tourist stove has more modest dimensions than the army one, but the essence is the same. This method of heating is not suitable for a small tent. You will have to tinker with the stove, but the result will be more than worthy. There are few such products on the market, but they still exist. And some even adapt to gas and gasoline. The stove, as a rule, comes with a collapsible chimney. It is made of light metal and does not weigh much. The advantages of the stove - it gives a lot of heat, has a simple but reliable design of the hood, is inexpensive, does not require refueling.

How to choose a 3 or 4 season tent heater

What types of heaters are best for camping?

On a hike, only handy things, reliable tools and portable devices are valued - therefore it is most convenient to use a propane device. Such devices are the best fit for such a relatively small space as a tent, for 2 reasons:

• cheap gas fuel;
• gentle spot heat, enough to warm several people in a tent.

These gas heaters can be either for indoor use or marked "outdoor use only". If you are camping and there is electricity, it is possible to use an electric device. But since this is less common and is not quite a “tourist” portable option, we will not consider such devices today.

Why is a propane "heater" better than a kerosene one?

It is believed that propane heaters are one step ahead of obsolete kerosene ones. This fact can be treated differently, because you can still find and buy a kerosene heater now. Another thing is the cost of fuel. Propane is much cheaper and more convenient to use and is used to power many different appliances: heaters, grills, etc. So the choice is almost obvious.

What heat output should a heater have for different types of tents?

The answer seems obvious: the larger the tent, the more power it will take to heat it (especially if there are fewer people in it than the declared places). In any case, it makes no sense to purchase a heater less than 3000 BTU. But not everything is so simple. This largely depends on the type of tent itself, because they differ in shape, purpose, number of layers and seasons of use. So:

• summer tents are often thin and well ventilated - therefore, if they are suddenly used out of season, they will need a powerful heater.
• tents for 3 seasons (spring-summer-autumn) protect well enough from wind, rain, and it is not difficult to warm them up.
• 4-season tents are reliable, can be used even in cold weather, and a small heater is enough for them.

The issue of price is also important. Often, the more expensive your tent is, the better the manufacturers have worked on it - and the better it is able to protect you from damp and cold. The latter is carried out due to the “breathable” second layer, dense fabric, strong construction, etc. Such serious purchases suggest that you will need to spend a minimum of money on additional heating. So, small 4-season tents suggest that you can stay there in the winter - without a heater or with a low-power one to maintain a comfortable temperature.

How to calculate how many gas cylinders to take on a hike?

The power of any gas (propane) heaters is measured in BTU. Knowing this indicator, you can estimate how long the gas will last: the more BTU, the faster the gas is consumed.Naturally, the costs will vary: it is one thing to go on a one-day hike, and another to camp for 3-4 days. Some of these devices are powered only by small standard propane tanks, others can also be connected to a larger tank. A large tank will obviously last you for the whole trip, but a small can is rarely enough for more than 6 hours.

On the shore

On the shore, the fisherman has more opportunities, especially if there is firewood nearby. The methods described above, of course, do not disappear anywhere - on ice or on the ground, there is no difference. You can make fires on the shore - some people make big fires near the shelter, you can build a hearth right inside the tent, which we have already mentioned. But there are two nuances here:

• you need to dig a hole in the frozen ground - problematic;
• you need to clean the snow under the entire tent as much as possible, otherwise the fire will melt it - a lot of water.

Ways to make things easier:

• make a fire, remove it and dig out the softened earth;
• dig holes in places of interest to you before winter and mark them with something, otherwise they will notice;
• build a small brazier, put a refractory litter under it and make a hearth in it, without digging or cutting anything in the floor (if any).

Heating a tent in winter can harm even the fishing itself, this applies to the use of products that run on gasoline or kerosene. If the fisherman decided to heat the shelter with just such devices, then he should remember: the corresponding one can fall into his hands. This is highly undesirable, because when working with gear, the smell will get into the water - the fish will feel it and stop pecking. To heat the tent, fishermen also make special tin stoves with their own hands, similar to a small chest equipped with a refractory stand. Such an oven is made very simply:

1. A tin sheet is taken, the outlines of an unfolded box without a front are applied to it.
2. In the upper, back and side parts, holes are drilled with a 2-3 mm drill.
3. Holes for hinges are drilled from the entrance side.
4. The box folds up.
5. A door of such a size is made of tin so that it tightly closes the container, it is possible that it can enter the inside of the furnace when closing. A window is cut out in it to make it more convenient for you to follow the fire and two holes for loops.
6. We put the hinges, you can attach them with rivets or bolts. We attach the door.

Everything, a simple stove is ready. You can lay firewood, small stones of coal - there will be more heat. The only drawback is that the tent will have to be ventilated during burning or to make an exhaust hood with a pipe, which is too cumbersome.

Yes, there are many other ways to heat tents, full of various life hacks, but in most cases, guided by such methods, you will have to carry a lot with you. There is a way without fumes and smells at all, however, it can only be used on the shore - you need a fire, and you will need large stones or red bricks. The number of "heaters" depends on the tent. A fire is made, heat accumulators are heated in them, a refractory is placed in the tent, and bricks or stones are transferred to the shelter. The heat transfer time in this case, of course, depends on the temperature.