Roof Top Tent Weather Hoods

[UncleWilson]

I am trying to figure out how to make the tent more comfortable in cold weather, but have not seen anyone mention the use of a weather hood. A lot of the manufactures are making the, but doesn't seem like anyone has them in use. Do you use one? Are they worth it?

 

[Dozer Dan]

I have the winter shroud for my JB, it helps making a couple of degrees warmer.
But the best thing I ever did was installing an electric blanket. Yup, a regular domestic electric blanket running on an inverter. Modern high quality blankets draw very little. Just make sure you use a pure sine inverter as most blankets seem to require that.

 

[jacobconroy]

I also have the "isothermic kit" for my Baroud RTT. It does make it a little warmer. But, when you get serious about being comfortable in the fall/spring..you will need a heater.

Haven't tried an electric blanket though. Propex is the way to go.

 

[Lemsteraak]

What about getting one of those 12v heated throw blankets like what you get at a truck stop? Run the cord out of the tent and to the cigarette lighter plug when you are driving. Then when you stop and open the tent, the insides are already warm. I've found the passive warmth of my tent keeps it 10 to 15 degrees above the temp outside. The other thing I noticed is that a lot of your heat seems to be lost from the floor. The anti-condensation mat keeps the mattress off and adds a layer of air under and keeps it much warmer when it is below freezing.

 

[FattyMcJ]

Funny I should stumble across this thread.

I was searching for ways to make our Smittybilt Overlander RTT warmer, in the (know we know it's not so) unlikely event we end up camping when the temps drop.

Long story short: Our Jeep broke, leaving us stranded & we had to camp for the night on-trail. 70 degrees quickly turned to 19 degrees and snow that night, for which we were not prepared, but survived.

Aside from having mummy bags permanently left inside the tent, going forward, what else can we do? (we had cheap-o bags rated to 40 because we didn't intend to ever winter camp)

I've looked at Mr. Buddy heaters, which scare the crap out of me for two reasons: 1) suffocating and 2) burning the whole thing down .... has anyone used these in a RTT, while sleeping...and lived to tell about it?

Are the electric blankets worth it? I mean, do they work well enough to take 10 degrees off the inside of the tent? Maybe sandwich ourselves between 2 of them?

I was looking at this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006A1PGDE/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I31H3FJ8OK6JYB&colid=32VFR6WDHW307


Other ideas:

Mylar emergency blanket on the floor to reflect the heat up? Maybe even duct tape one on the roof to reflect heat down?

Has anyone tried the hot-rock method of radiant heat, in a RTT? Folks do it in ground tents all the time, but I've never heard of someone trying it with a RTT.

 

[southpier]

about forty five years ago I bought a Shultz travel trailer. dug a 55 gallon drum cesspool and ran a garden hose with heat wrap from the adjacent farm house. it was a simpler time, I was 22 years old, and where to score my next bag of weed was the biggest care I had.

and a very cool red mylar blanket that I probably bought because my bible in those days was the first edition of Colin Fletcher's Complete Walker. anyway, I hung it across the ceiling over the bed in my trailer. promptly woke up the next morning to condensation raining on my head.

 

[Box Rocket]

The Tepui Weatherhood is effective in adding a measure of insulation against the cold. It's not a breathable material so condensation inside the tent may increase. These are particularly effective in wet weather because the weatherhood is 100% waterproof material it can be put over the tent canopy before it starts to rain and it will keep the tent canopy dry so you don't have to put away a wet tent.