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Does anyone have any tips for keeping your tent cool after the sun rises in the morning? I'm hoping to maybe sleep in a little later this year and didn't know if anyone had any good tricks.
We got a couple handy-dandy battery-powered fans. One even hung by a magnet from the ceiling of our tent. It helped, somewhat. But as you know, the sun can start baking your tent at a pretty ungodly hour.
Definitely make sure you have a shade tent over your sleeping tent. That helps a lot. But other than those fans, not a lot to say. It just gets hot and there's not a lot you can do about it. Other than rent an RV. Or haul a portable AC and generator with you (which, to me sounds expensive, potentially dangerous if there's a carbon monoxide issue and possibly loud enough to make your neighbors a bit peevish). Sure love to hear something new and helpful on the topic, myself!
well, last year it was damn cold at night - as in, you better have a blanket or 7 strangers to sleep with kind of cold... it was chilly one night in 06 as well.
but no, there is no way to keep your tent cool. ive heard a shade tent over it will help, but havent tried it firsthand. i would think that works better at, say, noon - not in the morning when the sun just comes up over the horizon. i guess ill find out...
i think that's one of everyones biggest problems. I don't think I slept past 8am. Before bonnaroo I had never even been down south, so it was really unbearable for me. This year I will probably get 1 or 2 battery fans for the tent and if all else fails, move to the shade tent in the morning.
A shade tent is definitely a good idea - just make sure it's big enough (ours fit over our tent with some extra room, but the sun would still get in the tent area depending on where the sun was during the day)
Also we're looking into purchasing reflective tarps or space blankets to try out this year. The space blankets are supposed to be for warmth, but if you place the shiny side toward the sun it should keep things cooler.
It's also a good idea to have a shade area outside your tent, so if your tent gets too hot you can at least nap outside
Like others have said reflective tarps will help. I have This on my camper Tent Ends. They have helped tremendously with keeping it cooler.
If I were tent camping, I would put my tent under a 10X10 EZ up. But keep the EZ up low to the top of the tent. Then fasten the reflective blankets on top of the EZ up (and possibly to the ground) so that there is a air gap between the tent and EZ up. It's a little hard to describe. Make sure to keep the tent entrance to the north and block as much as the sun to the east and south.
Those $12 battery powered fans at Wal Mart? Yeah, get like three of those for when you're in it... We had 2 for a canopy... and it even kept that huge thing cooler.
Pretty much what everyone is saying, with an added tip or two.
- A shade canopy over your tent. - A reflective tarp as a side wall on the East side of the shade canopy to block the sun when it comes up. - Battery powered fans - Earplugs. They don't help with the heat, but they do help you to sleep longer. - Some good sedetives: Ambien, Lunesta, or the like. Won't help wit the heat, but will help you get some much needed sleep.
Post by spookymonster on Jan 11, 2008 21:09:42 GMT -5
chefchick said:
- A reflective tarp as a side wall on the East side of the shade canopy to block the sun when it comes up.
I used a few of those emergency mylar blankets underneath my rainfly. Those things are designed to reflect +90% of the heat (and coincidentally, light) thrown at it. It worked like a charm, as long as you duct taped it properly. They're small, easy to pack, come in various sizes, fairly cheap ($3-5) and are durable enough that they can be reused several times.
[edit] Uhhh.. yeah... space blankets, like Squirrel said.... nevermind me...
Post by iridethecannibus on Jan 12, 2008 12:49:47 GMT -5
i want to get the shade tent that someone on here posted at some point (wow, vague, i know). It's a big one, and has two sides closed in for shade and two sides screened for air flow. i think a hammock+that would probably be your best bet in the mornings
"I want you to notice When I'm not around You're so fücking special I wish I was special But I'm a creep I'm a weirdo What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here" -Radiohead
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” -Benjamin Franklin
Post by iridethecannibus on Jan 12, 2008 13:33:31 GMT -5
well, if you have a shade tent like that and then a small regular tent that is rain ready, you'll be fine. the shade tent will also be used as a common hang out, so you'll want another area to go TO sleep in. plus, as mentioned previously, you'll be FREEZING (maybe) some nights if you're out in the open. roo is infamous for rain, it would be unwise to temp the roo gods
Post by experiencehaze on Jan 12, 2008 13:35:49 GMT -5
I think I might just do that since last year was so GOD AWFUL! I couldn't stand the heat, I would much rather have rain. Mainly because I love to dance in the rain ;D
"I want you to notice When I'm not around You're so fücking special I wish I was special But I'm a creep I'm a weirdo What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here" -Radiohead
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” -Benjamin Franklin
Some of the noobs may wonder why we're discussing this in such great detail:
Waking up at 7:30am to a HOT TENT sucks after you went to bed at 5:30.. even if your cooling solution only offers an extra half hour or hour, its worth it!
"I want you to notice When I'm not around You're so fücking special I wish I was special But I'm a creep I'm a weirdo What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here" -Radiohead
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” -Benjamin Franklin
If you get one of those portable batteries that you store in your car if your car battery dies, or something similar that has a standard three prong outlet you can plug in a box fan or two. I have yet to do this even though Ive been to roo fours years. I recently discovered this last summer after roo and decided to try it out. My buddy had one of those things and we had a big light to illuminate the camp and my Sirius radio plugged in and the damn thing lasted all weekend. The dude at the store said it could power a refrigerator for two days. I'm sure that was a big of an exaggeration though. But if I turned my tent into a mini wind tunnel along with some of the above suggestions I feel I could get a few more hours or at least minutes of sleep.
Anyone think a cot would be a cooler alternative to a sleeping bag or air mattress? It would allow for better air circulation, but I'm not sure how important that is in stifling heat.
But it seems as though no one goes to sleep at night! I'm thinking a cot with a sleeping bag on top. I can always ditch the sleeping back come sunrise. Ugh...who are we kidding? It is nigh impossible to stay cool on the equator!
We took the sun reflector from the car to put on the east side of the tent; we used bungees to affix it to the tarp that was about 6" above the top of our tent and it did WONDERS! We also had a dome tent and slept with every single window and door open to screen so there was lots of ventilation. One day I slept until 10am with this setup.
We had tapestries and an old cloth shower curtain that we bungeed to the shade shelter to protect from the sun and they did well, while still providing breeze. Our neighbors were loving us and hid under our shade most of the day - they came with just tents.
In my tent (same campsite as alieblue), we had a tarp over the back of the tent, but not the east side. But I brought a battery-operated fan and an eye mask so with that even with the rising sun, I was able to sleep for a bit longer.
Go to walmart and look for the O2 brand of tent fans in the camping section. They are about 15 bucks and mine has been goin strong for two years. I usually need two sets of batteries all of roo and the first set lasts until the last few nights with it goin all night each night.
Post by jray05stang on Jan 15, 2008 18:19:28 GMT -5
This was a nice setup for us. The way they parked us we were the last people allowed to park in Apollo Creed. Instead of camping behind or in front of our cars they had us set up beside our car. The car and shade tent blocked the sun for us so we were able to sleep til 9:30 every day. After that, we moved to the shade tent with the sides down to sleep more. The other side of the shade tent was opened up to allow easy access for our neighbors who had no shade. We wake up every morning to 6 of them sleeping under our shade tent.
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