My Guide to Winter Camper Camping
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This past weekend, I went to my AIARE 1 Course in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The course was amazing, the learning was exceptional and the cold was extra airy. This weekend the high was under 10 degrees Fahrenheit and my nights were below -5 degrees. So it was definitely cold but I was able to stay toasty warm in my Taxa Tigermoth with a few simple steps and a bit of a learning curve.
It started with picking a campground that offered electricity. I’m honestly a little afraid of propane heaters so being able to use electric heaters was important to me. I was also traveling solo so finding a place that was safe was important. A good bathroom and wifi were a plus! And I found that at Along the River Campground in Twin Mountain, NH. The campground was awesome, great location, and the spots were plowed. The owners were very friendly and accomodating! The wifi was inconsistent but good in the mornings before others were using it! The bathrooms were very clean and the showers had hot water that heated up fast! There was plexiglass between sinks so you could brush your teeth without the fear of the person next to you. (However, I never saw another person in the bathroom! The campground was quiet but the camp spots are relatively close so I would imagine this could change if more spots were filled. Overall though, would stay there again this winter!
Next, to prepare for the trip I collected many warm layers and warm gear. Here is what I had specifically for the winter. (Many more of my items in my camper can be found on this blog post!)
- This Fleece Sheet Set is perfect for cold night snuggles! I had originally had this to keep warm in an apartment a few years back when the heat was super inconsistent but now it’s perfect for camper sleeps.
- I also pair it with this NEMO puffy blanket which is the perfect “comforter” and keeps everything warm!
- This BALDR Thermometer is perfect for monitoring the temperature inside and outside your camper. We got this over the summer out of curiosity and it was super interesting to see how things compared!
- The Andily Electric Heater is perfect for small amount of heating the camper at night when shore power is available. I used this for the first night and it brought my camper up from -5 degrees to around 50 degrees and held it steady all night
(Picture of the temp compare to the first night).
Then on Saturday, I spent all day outside in my AIARE Course in 0-ish temps and needed more warmth. So I went to Walmart… and walked out with…
- This Soleil Ceramic Heater is the best thing for super cold nights. Heated the camper up right away! HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS! Literally this saved my butt. After hanging all my wet gear from the day in the camper. It dried out everything and brought the camper up to 65-70 degrees (while being -10+ outside!). It has a thermostat in it so it kicks on and off as needed.
(Picture of the temp compare the second night)
- I also bought an Electric Kettle (similar to the one I bought but not the same). Since I had shore power, I didn’t need to limit my electric output. This was such a game changer because I no longer had to leave my camper to boil water on my stove. I made ramen for dinner with it and hot chocolate in the morning!
This photo shows my (left to right) electric kettle, Soleil heater, thermostat, and Andily heater all fitting perfectly on my shelf.
Now that I had the warmth under control, next was drying out my gear. I created this “webbing” with p-cord and alpine butterfly knots. I string it back and forth which gave me able room to hang my snow pants, jackets, gloves, ski skins, hats, a towel from the shower, ect. The one cool thing about hanging wet gear in here was it increased the humidity in the camper so the air wasn’t as dry!
With the addition of the second heater the second night, the camper got very toasty (which was awesome!) and dried everything perfectly and so much so that it felt like I had put my snow pants in the dryer before putting them on!
I should also mention this was a solo trip and I left the camper in “bed mode” the whole weekend. I’m not 100% sure it would have worked as well if someone else was with me. Hanging my gear took up a whole side of the bed and would have little room for someone to sit/sleep there. A second person would also double the gear making the headroom even less.
Overall, this weekend was amazing! I had an awesome experience in my AIARE Course and winter camper camping!
