Cold weather camping?

[bsmith0404]

I agree that we need to keep this thread on the dirt track..um, I mean on track...enough of that race talk.

I'm planning to do some cold weather camping at a the Chili Bowl someday. I'm assuming most of the drivers are in the Haulmark type RV/car haulers and that they don't have any hookups in the pits. Are they staying in the pits or do they have them set up someplace where they have hookups? There has to be a lot of people with considerable cold weather camping experience just from going to the Chili Bowl year after year, have you seen any unique set ups from the experienced campers that get out there on a regular basis?

Maybe I'll stop by the pits at the SNMS some night and talk with Johnny about his cold weather camping experience while at the Chili Bowl. He doesn't come out to SNMS often because he races in AZ a lot with the 410 winged sprints, but considering that he runs the 410 winged, 360 winged, as well as the non winged events and big races such as the Chili bowl, I'm sure he has a lot of insight on cold weather camping that he can share from all of his travels.

350 of the best midget racers in the world would be a great show and an amazing experience and I can only imagine what the camping must be like.

[gearhead]

Well, I survived. There were a couple below 20F nights. Still some snow on the ground when I got there last Sunday night. I kept the furnace on 58 mostly. A couple mornings I bumped it up to 62 to knock the chill down. I kept all the cargo bay lights on and 2 "trouble lights" with 70 watt bulbs on the entire time. The "fireplace" ran on high most of the time. The propane bottles never switched! Electric blanket worked great.
Left at 7am this morning and got home at 6pm. Only issue during the 7 days was the TV. We last used it on cable and it took me a couple hours to realize/remember that the coax plug behind the TV was labeled backwards: antennae and cable/satellite wrong. I need to re-do that.

[mfifield01]

I had my fresh water hose freeze over the weekend at a campsite. The low was forecasted for 33, but was 28 when I woke up.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[Pull Toy]

Speaking of Cold Camping!

Spent Christmas week 2014 in a campground in Jersey City, NJ (Easy access, right on the Hudson River!)

No Kumbaya moments here, no fire ring, no grass, no rec. no dance. Just 50 amp level blacktop parking level lot with clean, safe, heated restroom/showers and 24 hour security, plus a real grass "dog walk" area. Ferry to Wall St. across the parking lot.... or PACE to Manhattan 5 blocks easy walking.

Neat having morning coffee with the Statue of Liberty, and the Manhattan Skyline too right outside the camper!


Clean...Safe... Good value!

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by Pull Toy

Speaking of Cold Camping!

Spent Christmas week 2014 in a campground in Jersey City, NJ (Easy access, right on the Hudson River!)

No Kumbaya moments here, no fire ring, no grass, no rec. no dance. Just 50 amp level blacktop parking level lot with clean, safe, heated restroom/showers and 24 hour security, plus a real grass "dog walk" area. Ferry to Wall St. across the parking lot.... or PACE to Manhattan 5 blocks easy walking.

Neat having morning coffee with the Statue of Liberty, and the Manhattan Skyline too right outside the camper!


Clean...Safe... Good value!

Liberty Harbor RV Park?
Looks interesting.

[CrazyCain]

This is what we have doneso far this year. It got down to 28 degrees this past weekend and the insulation blocked all the drafts coming from the window. We used R value 3.0 1/2 inch insulation. Brought temp up to 68 with furnace and then maintained that with a 360 degree electric heater. Bathroom vent opened a bit with fan running.. All is well with very little condensation on windows. The little thing on the table is a small de-humidifier.

[Desert185]

Originally Posted by CrazyCain

This is what we have doneso far this year. It got down to 28 degrees this past weekend and the insulation blocked all the drafts coming from the window. We used R value 3.0 1/2 inch insulation. Brought temp up to 68 with furnace and then maintained that with a 360 degree electric heater. Bathroom vent opened a bit with fan running.. All is well with very little condensation on windows. The little thing on the table is a small de-humidifier.

A pellet stove would be a nice touch.

I miss a real wood fire when I'm in the trailer, but the phony fireplace helps. We burn wood as a primary heat source and will never wear out the furnace in the house. In fact, I can't remember the last time it ran. (25dF this morning in the Sage and Piñon high desert.)

[RK1978]

We stayed in the mountains outside of Asheville, NC in December, and it got down in the teens at night. We had full service, so ran small electric heater at night, used furnace to get temps up in morning, and left electric on during the day. We used city water until the last minute, then blew out water lines and drained tanks in the evening, and used campground facilities instead of our own. When we were ready to head back home (Indiana), we put antifreeze in the drains and blew lines again to be sure they were cleared out. This seemed to work OK, except for having to carry a small 110VAC compressor along to blow out the lines. Found that even with antifreeze poured down the drains, black tank valve froze up and had to be heated to get it open, and wastewater turned icy going through flex pipe to drain. Would not want to do this on a long term basis, but was OK for a short time. On the bright side, the furnace seems to put out quite a bit of heat and would take inside temps from 50's to 70 in a short time.
PR
2008 Hideout 26B
1996 K2500 6.5 TD

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by gearhead

Well, I survived. There were a couple below 20F nights. Still some snow on the ground when I got there last Sunday night. I kept the furnace on 58 mostly. A couple mornings I bumped it up to 62 to knock the chill down. I kept all the cargo bay lights on and 2 "trouble lights" with 70 watt bulbs on the entire time. The "fireplace" ran on high most of the time. The propane bottles never switched! Electric blanket worked great.
Left at 7am this morning and got home at 6pm. Only issue during the 7 days was the TV. We last used it on cable and it took me a couple hours to realize/remember that the coax plug behind the TV was labeled backwards: antennae and cable/satellite wrong. I need to re-do that.

Originally Posted by mfifield01

I had my fresh water hose freeze over the weekend at a campsite. The low was forecasted for 33, but was 28 when I woke up.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by CrazyCain

This is what we have doneso far this year. It got down to 28 degrees this past weekend and the insulation blocked all the drafts coming from the window. We used R value 3.0 1/2 inch insulation. Brought temp up to 68 with furnace and then maintained that with a 360 degree electric heater. Bathroom vent opened a bit with fan running.. All is well with very little condensation on windows. The little thing on the table is a small de-humidifier.

Wow, I think 20 is cool, but cold would be in the single digits.
Well at 28 degree I don't see a need to block the view with foam board, if I did that the month of January I would have only be able to see out about half the time!!
If we are only talking low 20's then fill FW tank and use the pump. I don't (yet) have a sealed underbelly, but do have UltraHeat pads on all four tanks no issues there. I also put a temp sender in the basement never got below 34 degrees.
We did put interior clear window film (heat shrink) that makes a big difference and you can see out! We didn't film the Escape windows, or the lower opening area, and had near zero condensation in the 30+ days, we always ran the range fan when cooking.
All that and we kept the 5er (32' long) at an easy 68 degrees using our Cheap Heat system.
I have it set at 5,000 watt setting for ONLY 17,060 BTU's less than the 30,000 BTU furnace putting out 23,400 BTU.

[CrazyCain]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

Wow, I think 20 is cool, but cold would be in the single digits.
Well at 28 degree I don't see a need to block the view with foam board, if I did that the month of January I would have only be able to see out about half the time!!
If we are only talking low 20's then fill FW tank and use the pump. I don't (yet) have a sealed underbelly, but do have UltraHeat pads on all four tanks no issues there. I also put a temp sender in the basement never got below 34 degrees.
We did put interior clear window film (heat shrink) that makes a big difference and you can see out! We didn't film the Escape windows, or the lower opening area, and had near zero condensation in the 30+ days, we always ran the range fan when cooking.
All that and we kept the 5er (32' long) at an easy 68 degrees using our Cheap Heat system.
I have it set at 5,000 watt setting for ONLY 17,060 BTU's less than the 30,000 BTU furnace putting out 23,400 BTU.

Sinced that post we have stopped using the board because Michigan weather once again has lied to us, for the better this time. Forcasted much colder night time temps than what actually happened.. all is well Hardly any snow where we are at in East Tawas...

[gary31]

We were one of only few Campers in the Ashland resort. Everyone else was in Cabins, however we did just fine. I used electric ceramic heaters to maintain about 72 degrees inside, as it was 19 degrees outside most of the time. Let the furnace run a little at night to super charge the room and get everything toasty then turn it down. We used a 5 gallon jug for utility water at the sink and the bath house for everything else. I did learn not to leave the grey water valves open as they frozen and so did my slinky full of water. Overall we had 4 men and 2 kids

[CrazyCain]

Originally Posted by gary31

We were one of only few Campers in the Ashland resort. Everyone else was in Cabins, however we did just fine. I used electric ceramic heaters to maintain about 72 degrees inside, as it was 19 degrees outside most of the time. Let the furnace run a little at night to super charge the room and get everything toasty then turn it down. We used a 5 gallon jug for utility water at the sink and the bath house for everything else. I did learn not to leave the grey water valves open as they frozen and so did my slinky full of water. Overall we had 4 men and 2 kids

[mikell]

Went to South Haven MI this weekend and roughed it. 60 Yesterday and 30 last night. Was soo rough!!!!