How to Stay Warm While Camping: 7 No-Cost Strategies

Fortunately, staying warm while camping isn’t as tough as it seems, and it doesn’t have to involve buying brand new cold-weather camping gear. While buying gear rated for lower temperatures can be an easy way to fix the problem, it doesn’t need to be your first move. On your next camping trip, try these eight tips on how to stay warmer, even if it’s the middle of summer.

Put your beanie on before you feel like you need it. Photo: Meeko Media/Shutterstock

One of the most effective (and underrated) strategies for staying warm is anticipating the cold, rather than reacting to it. As soon as the sun starts to go down or you stop being physically active, start layering. Once your body temperature drops, it takes far more effort to warm back up. Add dry base layers, tuck in your shirt to keep cold air from creeping in, and put on socks and a hat even if you don’t feel chilled yet. Your body loses a lot of heat through your head and extremities, so locking in warmth early helps maintain your core temperature overnight.

Photo: Suzie Dundas

Your body generates heat by burning calories, especially fats and complex carbohydrates. So having a small, calorie-dense snack before bed like a handful of nuts, scoop of peanut butter, or small bowl of pasta, can give your metabolism something to work on while you sleep, helping maintain your core warmth. If you’ve been active during the day and don’t refuel, you may wake up in the middle of the night feeling cold because your body has no energy reserves left to keep it warm.

Extra t-shirt or jacket? Shove it in your sleeping bag. Photo: New Africa/Shutterstock

You can turn almost anything you’ve brought into a heat-saving tool as long as it’s dry. Stuff clothing, jackets, or anything else soft into the bottom of your sleeping bag to reduce dead space and keep your feet warmer. If your sleeping bag is too big, you may want to use a hair tie or bungee cord to cinch the bottom, reducing the amount of space that your body heat needs to fill. Cold air settles in empty pockets, especially around your legs and feet, so filling that space helps trap heat close to your body. You can also use your backpack and other items to block any leaks or drafts around your tent’s zippers or flaps.

Nalgenes and other similar bottles work well for this purpose. Photo: matsiukpavel/Shutterstock

A classic trick for warming up your sleeping bag is to heat water over your stove or fire and pour it into a durable water bottle — thick plastic bottles like Nalgenes work best. After making sure it’s not leaking, slide the warm bottle inside your sleeping bag about 15 minutes before turning in. When sleeping, leave it either rear your core, near your knees, or close to your feet. You can use any kind of leak-proof bottle, but some metal bottles will get extremely hot, so test it at home before trying it on the trail or at the campground.

Beautiful? Yes. Ideal for blocking wind? Not so much. Photo: Suzie Dundas

Wind chill is a major culprit in heat loss, even inside a tent. When possible, choose a campsite that’s naturally shielded behind boulders, dense brush, tree trunks, a slight hill, or even your vehicle. These features can dramatically reduce exposure to gusts that would otherwise lower the temperature inside your tent or down your neck. Make sure you know which way the wind is blowing before you set up, as you want the obstacle to be between you and the wind. If the wind picks up when you’ve already staked your tent, use gear you have like firewood, camp chairs, or backpacks to build a small barrier. Since you’re sleeping close to the ground, it doesn’t need to be very tall to have an effect.

Keeping the inside of your tent free from moisture is key to staying warm at night. Photo: Suzie Dundas

It may seem counterintuitive to open your tent’s rainfly or window if you’re already cold, but there’s an important reason for this: you don’t want the inside of your tent to collect moisture or get damp. It’ll drip down onto your sleeping bag and other items, potentially making you cold and leaving your gear damp the next morning when it’s time to pack up. Having a cross breeze that allows even a slight amount of fresh air to move through your tent will go a long way in keeping you dry, and thus warm.

Photo: travel4fishing/Shutterstock

Clothing that has gotten slightly damp, whether from rain, sweat, or humidity, will pull heat from your body very quickly, as water conducts heat about 25 times faster than air. This means staying in wet socks, shirts, or base layers can rapidly chill you, especially once your body is at rest. As soon as you stop being active, change into the driest clothes you have, even if that just means swapping out your shirt and socks (or sports bras, for women). Leave your outdoor clothing somewhere where it can dry overnight, and whatever you do, don’t climb into your sleeping bag wearing wet or damp clothing.

Many Fjallraven bags have down collars, shown here in bright red. Photo: Suzie Dundas

Upgrading your sleeping bag is probably one of the easiest ways to stay warm while camping, but also one of the most expensive. That’s especially true if you want a sleeping bag that’s lightweight, packs small, and rated for chilly weather. Bags that meet all three of those criteria can easily be $400 or more per person. However, if you’re finding yourself always cold outdoors, it may be a worthy investment. If you do buy one, make sure to keep it clean and store it unpacked to keep it as insulate as possible for as long as possible.

This writer uses a few different bags depending on the conditions, but my primary one is the Nemo Riff (which also comes in a women’s-specific version), rated to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. It has zippered “gills” on the top to dump heat when you start getting warm, and a spoon-type shape to minimize empty space around your core while leaving room for your hips and knees near the bottom. If you don’t like the spoon design, extra-puffy bags with hooded collars can go a long way in keeping your neck and face warm. A highly rated (and very sustainable) option is the Fjällräven Keb three-season bag ($500), with an extra ring of insulated fabric around the face opening to block wind (and, from personal experience, helps keep your camp pillow in place).

But warmer is not always better, as using too thick of a bag will lead you to sweat, quickly cooling you down. In warmer weather, options like the budget-friendly Mountain Hardwear Alamere 20 ($190; rated to 20 degrees F) or the North Face Trail Lite ($230; rated to 35 degrees F) could be a better choice, especially as they’re lightweight and will take up less space in your car or backpack.