anyone doing it hard this winter living cold

[highdesertranger]

yep, using hay bales is just like setting up vermin condos. highdesertranger

 

[bigsallysmom]

If you can bury a concrete foundation under STRAW bales and slather on several inches of cob, a mix of sand, clay and chopped straw, inside and out it might work. But that's an amazing amount of work.

 

[minimotos95]

Seriously I have enough rodent, and varmint problems just being stationary without hay bales around my rig. One of those squeaky bleeps is making noise as I type this. I really need a pellet pistol.

Anyways, it's warming up now so I went the other night without running the heater, van stayed over 36f and warmed up to 42f just from me boiling water for coffee at 5mm. I learned something very important, if you aren't running heat and using a chemical toilet under your bed make sure you have enough insulation between you and the toilet, I woke up with frozen toes.

 

[highdesertranger]

I bet that's not all that was frozen. lol. highdesertranger

 

[The Livelys]

I spent a winter living in Breckenridge, Colorado in my 57 VW Van without insulation. I was 19 years old and it didn't seem to bother me that much then. Now it's only dropped down to the teens here in Eugene, Oregon and I can't sleep much at night. I see kids walking around in short sleeved shirts and shorts all the time here. I don't know how I got to be such a wussie for the cold but I just don't seem to be able to tolerate it like I use to. Maybe it's an age thing but I know plenty of old guys who handle it fine.  I think it's the rain and the cold that really gets to me. Just day after day of cold rain. It hovers right above freezing and just keeps on raining for days, weeks, months. Then when it stops raining and the sky clears up, it gets really cold.   I'm really missing Arizona.

And those little buddy heaters don't work worth a darn. I bought two of them and neither one lasted more than a month of use.

 

[SoulRaven]

Camp stoves make great heaters. Far more adjustable than thee buddy heaters, and put out more heat too.

Some people add an upside down clay flower pot over a burner to help radiate the heat outward, or a kettle filled with sand or dirt. Once heated such a kettle can continue to radiate heat for hours.

I don't like running heat while I'm sleeping, but I do have a 12v electric blanket that I use if it's cold enough. Another trick I sometimes use if it's really cold, is to heat up both of my two 7 gallon water jugs, using a fire coil on my camp stove, just before bedtime. They will hold heat for hours too.

Then I keep my kerosene heater within reach of my bed, so I can light it without getting out of bed until after the van is warmed up. There are lots of little tricks you can use to make cold weather camping much more pleasant.

After spending 11 cold winters in Fairbanks Alaska & north, you really learn a lot about cold weather camping and what works vs. what doesn't.

 

[Mobilesport]

Sometimes when the wind is blowing hard and cold it seemed like my walls just disappeared. 
Its also scary always wondering if your vehicle is going to break down when you see all kinds of other cars broke down or abandoned. 
Taking a shower or getting cleaned up for work is a son of a B.

 

[highdesertranger]

actually with the sound of wind and rain I sleep like a baby. I love it. highdesertranger

 

[flying kurbmaster]

this made me think that if you had some of those sauna stones, I think they are volcanic or something special about them, the idea was that you heat them up on your mr buddy or in my case on my Dickenson heater during the evening, as I don't like running my propane at night either, and let the stones keep heating the place for a few more hours. I wonder how long they would last.

 

[SoulRaven]

Sometimes when the wind is blowing hard and cold it seemed like my walls just disappeared. 
Its also scary always wondering if your vehicle is going to break down when you see all kinds of other cars broke down or abandoned. 
Taking a shower or getting cleaned up for work is a son of a B.

I drive an old van, so that breakdowns are practically nonexistent.

I have my own toilet and shower in my van, even though it is a low top van.  This makes it so simple and easy to take a shower any time of the day or night I choose, without ever having to leave my van, or worrying about whether I may have to wait in line somewhere.

Keeping with the topic of this thread, there is nothing more relaxing than a nice hot shower just before going to bed.  The way I do it is to heat up all of the water in my jugs.  The shower makes the whole van warm and cozy on a cold night, and it warms you up.  As an added bonus,  the leftover heated water in your jugs will continue to radiate warmth for a long time after you're in bed.

Once you get it all figured out, a camper van can be the most comfortable place on earth.

 

[Mobilesport]

I drive an old van, so that breakdowns are practically nonexistent.

I have my own toilet and shower in my van, even though it is a low top van.  This makes it so simple and easy to take a shower any time of the day or night I choose, without ever having to leave my van, or worrying about whether I may have to wait in line somewhere.

Keeping with the topic of this thread, there is nothing more relaxing than a nice hot shower just before going to bed.  The way I do it is to heat up all of the water in my jugs.  The shower makes the whole van warm and cozy on a cold night, and it warms you up.  As an added bonus,  the leftover heated water in your jugs will continue to radiate warmth for a long time after you're in bed.

Once you get it all figured out, a camper van can be the most comfortable place on earth.

How do you get the heated water from multiple jugs to your shower head?

 

[Raven+Squid]

Wool cap, clothes, down bag/booties, thick polyfleece blankets and a Buddy heater.

The wool cap, booties and blankets make it much easier.


Hello spring!!!

 

[mikEXpat]

In Japan we use what's called an "anka." It's an electric felt covered box that we can place under the sheets to keep us warm. It draws 100v @ 60w or 0.6amps. Boy does it work. I'm bringing two back to the states.

A heating pad would probably be similar.

 

[TrainChaser]

When it comes to keeping warm in winter, what kind of blankets do you use?

I used to use regular acrylic or fleece; these are plastic blankets.  They weren't really warm (no matter how many), but they did make me sweat.  Cold sweat in winter, YEAH! :s

Then one day I forgot my knitted acrylic hat and was handed a wool one.

That's when I started collecting wool blankets from thrift shops.  Now I only sleep with wool -- what a difference!  They insulate AND vent moisture!  I learned to use the fluffier ones underneath and the more tightly-woven one on top.  HEAVEN!

A good, new wool blanket can run you $200-500.  That's much too pricy for me.  Now, every time I go into a thrift shop, I check the blankets.  They usually have a wool one every third trip or so.  The most I've ever paid was $14 for a double.  Most are twin sized.   I've never seen a queen or king.  A twin blanket is usually about 66x90", a queen is 90-x90".  Two twins simply overlapped and sewn together (machine or by hand)* gives you a blanket that is 90x130", larger than a queen.  If you take the excess 40" and fold it back, and then sew it to make the overall blanket size 90x90", you could put the doubled section at the top or bottom according to need.

My cats love them, too!

*Don't make a lumpy standard folded seam, just overlap the ends and stitch.

Sue

 

[DannyB1954]

I spent a winter living in Breckenridge, Colorado in my 57 VW Van without insulation. I was 19 years old and it didn't seem to bother me that much then. Now it's only dropped down to the teens here in Eugene, Oregon and I can't sleep much at night. I see kids walking around in short sleeved shirts and shorts all the time here. I don't know how I got to be such a wussie for the cold but I just don't seem to be able to tolerate it like I use to. Maybe it's an age thing but I know plenty of old guys who handle it fine.  I think it's the rain and the cold that really gets to me. Just day after day of cold rain. It hovers right above freezing and just keeps on raining for days, weeks, months. Then when it stops raining and the sky clears up, it gets really cold.   I'm really missing Arizona.

And those little buddy heaters don't work worth a darn. I bought two of them and neither one lasted more than a month of use.

A friend told me to never live where it got colder than my age. If you are 62, live where it is above 62. 
I lived In the San Francisco Bay on a boat. In the winter it does get below freezing there at night. I had electricity, so I would use a heating pad to warm my bed. I put it in the small of my back and it had a two hour auto shut off. I was always asleep before it shut off. I never woke up cold. I think they make 12 volt blankets for truckers. 

When not in bed, I would hang blankets to make a smaller space within the boat. If you don't need 15 feet of space, 5 feet is a lot easier to heat. 

On the Budd heater, it is real important to buy an inline filter. Whatever it is that gets into the large propane tanks really messes up the buddy's regulator.

 

[rvpopeye]

Actually the stuff that clogs the heaters is oils that leach out of the hose when under high pressure.
If there is a regulator between the tank and the hose ,,,no problem.
No hose when you use the 1# tanks,,,no problem.
Mr Heater instructions say to always use a filter if using the hose on a big tank.
Replace every year $10.

 

[Hippiechk]

Here in the Okanagan and, with subfreezing weather, I've been toasty warm. My steppie runs on propane with 2x50 Gallon tanks (40 Gal each at 80%), one of which has my propane furnace and stove plumbed in. Man, it's nice not having to worry about running out and having to haul tanks out to fill. My furnace is one of those 'old style' convection units, pumpin' out about 6000 Btu's, which is plenty for my reasonably well insulated rig. I also have an Olympian Wave 3, but stopped using it cuz of all the moisture it would release. I found that, while it DID warm my rig up sufficiently, it was a kinda clammy warmth. ..Willy.

Keeping the solar clean is vital in winter too! *laugh*

 

[rvpopeye]

Oh YEAH !
I have been there !
I found that if I use one of those little kiddie snow shovels I don't break things as much..............

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Push broom works well for cleaning solar panels of snow.  -- Spiff

 

[ahh_me2]

I'm so well insulated in my cube van, and with my RV furnace, I could easily withstand -50 F temps.