I know this has been asked before BUT

[mcgyver210]

We are going to the mountains for our sons Birthday & Thanksgiving. I have read as many post as I can find on winter camping. I just wanted to ask if anyone has anything new to ad for advice on winter camping. I don't expect extreme cold but according to camp ground we could have some freezing weather.

We have already purchased Swim Noodles for extra insulating back in the summer.

Also we have tested our furnace & it does work & we have plans on changing the thermostat to a digital one for better accuracy. We already have a ceramic heater but from what I have read most prefer a oscillating ceramic heater so we probably will purchase one this week.

I did check the amp usage on my heater & it was about 10 amps so running two with other stuff would probably trip the breaker. I think the oscillating heater will spread heat more evenly too.

We purchased MaxxAir vent covers so we could vent the TM even with in-climate weather for condensation & our dog while we are gone.

I have removed the outside shower head.

I have plans on adding a little extra insulation over the wheel wells.

We also already have Travasaks which we really like so far. For those that use Travasaks do you also carry extra blankets for cold nights?

We also plan on having some RV Antifreeze on hand for drains.

We plan on keeping the Grey water tank drained so it doesn't get the chance to freeze.

We will either 1. disconnect fresh water hose at night & use the 40 gal tank for the night or 2. Consider letting a faucet drip to keep water flowing.

I have never used the fresh Water tank so I assume I need to sanitize it. Are there any special ways this needs to be done?



All in all it seems that the TM will be fairly easy to winter camp in. My wifes real concern is staying warm. From th post I have read the furnace uses alot of LP so we definitely need a good ceramic heater I guess.


I have learned allot here since joining Thanks to all who have contributed.

[Scott O]

We absolutely love our heated mattress pad.

[B_and_D]

We love our down comforter...bought a new one for the house, the old one stays in the TM (in a plastic bag).

Nice and warm, king size.

[mcgyver210]

We absolutely love our heated mattress pad.

I thought about something like that but thought two of those along with heater, Computers etc may trip breaker. I have started testing all the electrics for amp pull because we did trip the main breaker one time on our first trip never did figure out how.

We love our down comforter...bought a new one for the house, the old one stays in the TM (in a plastic bag).

Nice and warm, king size.

We was very comfortable with the Travasaks first trip not sure how warm they will be or if the winter side really makes a difference but we will find out soon :new_newbi

[Scott O]

If you look at the way the TM is constructed, you will see that a huge amoung of cold can come up from below. We find that what we put under us is as important as what we put over us! And by the way, we love our Travasak...

[mcgyver210]

Scott do y'all use your Travasaks winter side down or winter side up?

[Leslie & Nick]

I think you've covered all the bases. FWIW, the heated mattress pad was one of the best improvements we made for cold weather camping - we stay in that bed as long as we possibly can. Make sure you bring slippers or something for your feet - that floor is cold in the morning! Disconnecting the fresh water hose in freezing temperatures at night is a good idea. Ours froze solid one night and we had to thaw it out in the tub - a messy proposition. Make sure both propane tanks are filled - depending how cold it is and what temp you have the thermostat set at, you can go through a tank of propane pretty quickly. We also try and use the oven for baking when it's cold. We like some things about winter camping - no bugs!!

Nick

[ragmopp]

Regarding the Travasack....

We purchased a couple of those fleece throws to put over the Trasack when it gets cold. Even the winter side isn't adequate for us.....Others maybe won't need them. Actually, what we do is just keep them over our feet and if it gets too cold pull them up in the middle of the night...

Mike Anderson

[Scott O]

We keep the winter side of the Travasak down to provide more insulation from below. It is easier to add blankets on top if needed. We also find wearing socks to bed helps perhaps more than anything else!

[grakin]

We sleep in two sleeping bags zipped together in ours. They are summer weight sleeping bags, good for year-round in the TM. On the bed, we have a blanket and comforter that stays *under* us and the sleeping bags. That's enough to keep us warm in just about any weather.

[PopBeavers]

We had a draft that was coming in behind the closet. Stuffing towels did not help.

I drilled a new hole in the right rear latch. This is the square aluminum tube that pulls the upper shell in against the lower shell. By pulling it in tighter it seals better and there is no longer a draft.

I did not need to do this for the street side, only the curb side.

Because of the flaps on the front shell, at least in my 2720, there is no need to do this in the front.

[Beak12]

We also already have Travasaks which we really like so far. For those that use Travasaks do you also carry extra blankets for cold nights.'s



We have not used our TM enough to really know. But in the SF Bay area we found that using the Travesaks winter side up and using a extra (cheep) $8.00 sleeping bag on top of the Travesak we sleep warm. Winter PJ's help LOL.

[PopBeavers]

We live in San Jose. We have camped at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park in February and the Travasak by itself, with the TM furnace on the lowest possible setting (55), was enough.

This was also true in Sequoia National Park at Azalea campground in October 2007 when the over night lows were in the 40s.

[dlkcub]

We use the heated matress pad. It's great to get into a warm bed. We also have one at home.

[Bill & Lisa]

We used electric blankets and they were great!

I would also ensure that you have a hand held hair dryer available. The only problem we ever ran into winter camping that you haven't covered is on our final day we went to empty our tanks and the discharge value was frozed shut. We had to use the hair dryer to "Carefully" thaw the pipe upstream of the valve.