Has anybody ever thought that winter camping could be another most favorite thing for people who get enticed by snow and foggy weather? But it is true, people love doing this. A hot tent is the most important thing for this journey.
A hot tent differs from other types of tents. This tent is a shelter provided with a stove jack.
A stove jack is used to pass the red hot chimney through the walls of the tent and you can use the stove in the tent with no worry. The hot tents are also suitable for making an open fire as well.
Benefits of a Hot Tent
The hot tent for camping in the colder months of the year is the best source to rely on. Here are the major benefits of the hot tent:
Warm home base
To start, the hot tents are the most comfortable and warmest tents for winter camping with a warm home Basecamp and with proper lighting such as LED lanterns. It provides an extra shield from cold weather and helps in drying the camping gear easily.
Spacious and comfortable
The hot tents are generally more spacious than other standard camping tents. You can easily fit other camping items and lots of camping gear along with a wood stove.
You can even take your luxurious camping stuff like sleeping cots and tables since you have an extra amount of space in the camp.
A wood-burning stove
starting an open fire can be time-consuming and difficult in stormy and wet weather. The wood-burning stove makes the canvas walls no less than a warm and cozy oasis with its heat while the outside temperature could be – 30 degrees Celsius.
Moreover, the already present wood stove will do all the chores of a gas kitchen stove as well. The stove is perfect for cooking anything you like eating during that adventure.
Removable floor
A hot tent has its removable floor. You can not only sleep with the floor as a cleaner sleeping space but during the winter times, you can detach it too so it does not freeze to the ground.
In short, camping with a hot tent is truly a relaxing and uplifting adventure.
What to Consider When Buying a Hot Tent?
To find the best hot tent for winter camping is not at all an easy feat as there are many things you need to look for.
You do not want to go to your destination with a tent that doesn’t suitable for the weather. So, here are the things you need to consider before investing in a new hot tent.
Stove Jack
Hot tents are equipped with wood-burning stoves. However, not all hot tents have pre-installed stove jacks. With some budget-friendly tents, you can buy the stove jack separately too.
Buying the cheapest tents by incorporating a stove jack manually may not work as per your wish because not every tent can hold the fire inside. Stove jacks have 500 degrees heat resistance ability to avoid any harm to canvas fabric.
Freestanding
A ground with snow makes winter camping difficult. So, you need to buy a tent that can be secured in it. Because there will be places where the ground is only ice and this is where you need to have a freestanding tent.
Bell-shaped hot tents are a good option for that. However, camping in a place with solid ice, you need to stake tents before they can stand properly. Otherwise, framed tents don’t require stakes. They can free stand.
Weight and size
Camping in the snow where you are backpacking lots of essentials to survive, there checking the weight and size of the tent before buying also becomes very critical. Buying a bulky and huge hot tent just increases more work for you.
They come in various sizes which range from 3 to 6 meters diameters. Height ranges from 160cm to 200cm.
The weight ranges from 10 lbs. to 20lbs depending on the stakes and poles and packs down to about 20” x 24” x 10”.
The sizes vary with 4 person/6 person/2person need a tent.
The largest size is for a 10-person tent while the smallest size can easily fit five people. The hot tent comes in a carry bag to make its transport easy. The ultralight hot tent is best for a two-person or solo trip.
Fabric
Hot tents are made from a different kind of material than standard typical tents. Fire-resistant weaved canvas and special fire-resistant coatings have been used as a material for the walls of the hot tent.
It has been designed to withstand severe winter conditions that can help to keep the heat inside with a tarp and dome-shaped design. The colder temperature outside, and + plus degrees temperature inside means that there is condensation in the tent.
So, a breathable tent fabric: Canvas is the best option to solve this problem as the walls will help in exciting the moisture outside.
Insulation
Insulation and ventilation are a must when you make a fire in a hot tent as you want to get most of the heat in the tent but exiting the smoke also necessary.
The hot tent needs to have a chimney opening, so the chimney outside can remove the smoke of the tent. Chimney has to be insulated so that the hot pipe does not touch the fabric of the tent where the chimney opens.
In Tent tipi, you can also make an open fire or a fire in a stove to get nice heat and warmth in the hot tent.
Reviews of Best Hot Tent
Ultralight One Tigris Smokey Hut Hot Tent
Who is this tent best for?
This Tigris Smokey Hut Ultralight hot tent is best for going on camping and hiking in the wild and windy places.
The ultraligh tent is very handy to compact and carry around. It is also a great and cheaper alternative for using a hot stove within the tent with proper care and attention.
What makes this tent outstanding?
If you are finding a cheap option with a decent number of features, then this is the right product for you. Along with stakes, and pipes, you can easily set it up within five minutes, all alone. It has two windows for ventilation and one zipped door.
What do people review on this tent?
Tigris Smokey hut is fully functional for camping in severe conditions. The price is justified and it is the best tent to buy at this amazing price. Everything is quite good but for a beginner, it would be hard to set it up because the instructions are not very descriptive and clear.
What this tent may not fit for?
Extra small: every feature of the tent is great but only for one person. Due to the stove setup, there is a smaller space for two persons to lie comfortably. It is great for a solo adventure but getting adjusted within this tent becomes a real effort with a hot stove and pipe.
Doesn’t have a stove jack: you need to manually make a stove jack for this tent as this tent comes without it.
Versatile – One Tigris Tegimen Hammock Hot Tent
Who is this tent best for?
This Tigris hammock hot tent serves multi-purposes. It is floorless, with two stove jacks and both are on one side of the corner of the tent to accommodate hammock ropes. It is waterproof and draft-free to make it a must-buy tent.
What makes this tent outstanding?
This product stands out due to its performance in severe weather conditions. It is very easy to set up with poles and stakes. The interior is huge and you can easily cook, eats, and room around in the tent without worrying about the space.
What do people review on this tent?
The hot tent is also a hot buy because of its multipurpose functionality. It works perfectly in raining, winding weather conditions. Its size is huge to carry all the extra camping gear to enjoy the trip to the fullest.
What this tent may not fit for?
Difficulty in putting it back: the tent is extremely easy to set up and but putting the tent back in the bag it comes with is a hard task.
Discoloration: the fabric is resistant to heat, wind, and rain but the dome of the tent gets discolored after a few times using it.
Best Choice for Glamping – Whiteduck Regatta Canvas Bell Hot Tent
Who is this tent best for?
This product works best for camping with the fear of extreme weather conditions. You can rely on its performance if you are going to go on camping in such weather. The material and other features of space, zipper, and doors make this product a great exchange for money.
What makes this tent outstanding?
A 4 season tent that is waterproof, has already a stove jack with breathable walls is the right choice to go camping. Very spacious and easy to set it up without much effort within a few minutes are all the prominent features of this product.
What do people review on this product?
It is waterproof and works perfectly as a temporary home. The floor is made of some pretty good tarp. It is best for two people camping along with their separate cots, and gear. Having a wood stove in the tent and a pretty red hot stove pipe and there was no damage on the canvas and jack.
What this tent may not fit for?
Huge size: the bell tent with two doors and extra space is not right for solo campers.
Not a low-budget tent: Every feature of this tent is pretty great except the price feature. It is not a budget-friendly tent.
Can I Use a Stove in a Hot Tent?
The answer is simply yes and it is called Hot Tenting.
With a good stove, you can make your tent warm and toasty. But you need to keep a few things in mind before lighting a stove in your tent.
Woodfire stoves are set of the firebox with legs and that can draw the fresh air in, burn fuel safely and then exhaust the smoke outside the tent through the stove jack and chimney.
Hot tents are unique from other tents based on having pre-installed wooden stoves. So there is no nuisance of having a wooden stove for warmth and cooking purposes as well. There are many ideal stoves available for a hot tent.
You cannot put a stove in just any tent; the tent needs to be a canvas or polycotton. It needs to have an opening for the exit of smoke via pipe or chimney.
And lastly, you should not sleep with your stove lit, because it could be dangerous. So, taking turns for a fire vigil is the one thing you can do to keep the stove on for the whole night.
Fltom Camp Tent Stove
Fltom Camp tent stove is a portable wood-burning stove for the tent. This stove mainly performs two functions: firstly, it acts as a heater to provide heat and warmth while camping on winter days.
Secondly, it is used for cooking. The plain top of the wood-burning stove is used as a cooking surface and you can cook anything of your wish.
The stove is 6cm in diameter with 4.69 feet in height. The complete stove has a detachable design and you can easily assemble and detach all the body parts including four legs, and six stainless walls chimney pipes. It is safe to use, carry and store.
How to Keep Warm in the Tent?
To have a good time while camping, it is important to keep yourself warm especially in the tent. Here are few tips that you can use to keep yourself warm in the tent.
It is good to be warmer than colder. So, don’t wait for the temperature to drop, just grab an extra layer and prepare yourself for the coming chilly night. An extra layer is likely to make this experience happier. The colder your body will take more time to warm up again.
Before going to bed, you need to make yourself warm and cozy either by drinking a warm cup of tea or having brisk walking or just a few jumps to bring your body temperature up a bit.
Because if you go to the sleeping bag without getting warm, even having extra bedding, you are likely to stay cold.
Hot camps are best to keep warm in the tent but you cannot sleep while letting the stove on. So, it is important to trap the heat inside. Using extra rugs which act as an insulating layer can be very helpful in stopping cold coming in through the floor.
Insulation will keep you super warm and toasty and buying hot tents with an innate insulation mechanism as the wood stove is the right choice to camp in cold weather.
There are lots of synthetic sleeping bags which are also really effective at trapping heat. 4 season and well-insulated tents are essential to keep the tent warm.
To insulate more heat in the tent, downsize the tent. Because the bigger the tent, the colder will it be. So don’t leave the empty space in the tent.
Using the right type of gear, beds, and clothes with extra insulating pads, hot water bottles will work like heaven when the temperature will drop.
Incorporating these tips can make your camping happy camping by keeping you warm and toasting in the tent.
Should I Choose a Heavier Tent to Keep Warm?
Another question that creates confusion in the head at the time of buying is: should I buy a heavier tent to stay warm?
And the answer cannot be simply a yes or no. while considering buying a tent for winter camping, it is more tempting to buy the smallest and heaviest tent to stay warm.
With the thought, a bigger tent is colder, but this is not the only thing that matters. The wall fabric, construction, and insulation also play into how warm a tent can be.
You need a tent that can handle chilling winds, freezing conditions, and heavy snowfall.
The tent should be able to keep out the strong winds and rebuff the substantial snow. So, downsizing tents with canvas walls are better at minimizing heat loss.
Conclusion
Camping in the winter season sounds like a thrilling adventure due to the minus degree temperature, chilling winds, and freezing snow but people still love doing this.
If you are one of those people, you need to backpack all the essentials such as warm clothes, a hot tent, and important camping gear and you are good to go.
The camping trip would bring lots of fun, excitement and to your life. And, to avoid any kind of problem, take all the safety measures and make the most use of this guide to make your winter camping happy camping.