# Hot Tent Amateur



## bthewilde (Feb 8, 2018)

I bought a super budget hot tent, and decent stove. Any hot tenting advice? Setup, guy lines, floors, etc? The only experience I have with them is my cousin’s SUPER nice one. Excited to try it though!!!


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## taskswap (Mar 11, 2021)

I hot-tented in a teepee style tent once. It worked OK but couple things. First make sure you have ample floor protection around the stove. Small box stoves are hard to stoke without the occasional cinder coming out, and we melted the floor of ours a bit doing that. Second, my buddies insist that taping racy calendar models to the walls make the tent "warmer". I didn't find that to be true but YMMV.


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## gdog (Sep 13, 2007)

Floor? A piece of tyvek under your sleeping area is all you need. No floor is kinda the point of a hot tent/tipi.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Lonehunter and I both have backpacking hot tents and have really enjoyed them. I think he has a lot more experience than I do though as I have only owned mine for a little over a year now.

I think the biggest challenge I have run into thus far is with wood burning too fast. If I reduce the airflow too much, the fire goes out and smothers. But having sufficient air seems to really burn the wood up fast which means that I am waking up a 4+ times to re-start my fire since there are no embers left (it burns down to ash). So its a learning curve. 

One solution I found last year was small Duraflame logs (the sawdust logs you buy at the grocery store). They seemed to burn longer and were easier to light. But thats more of a car-camping solution as opposed to a back country trip.

I like to have LOTS of wood prepped before settling in for the night because I dont want to find wood in the dark. So I plan for more wood than I will likely need and have it stacked and ready to go along with a pile of kindling and some newspaper. 

Here is my tent:


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I have found that as you age there is no problem with stoking the fire 3 or 4 times a night when you get up to relieve yourself.


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## gdog (Sep 13, 2007)

I’ve used my hot tent setup a lot and don’t expect to have heat through the entire night. Not sure why you’d want to wake up every 1.5-2 hours to stoke the fire(?) The stove is great for some cooking, drying out gear and warming up, but my sleeping bag setup is rated appropriately for the outside temps I’m camping in. Stoke it up before bed and then again in the morning before getting up. Best night time camping accessory is an empty gatoraid bottle to keep you having having to get out of the tent when its cold.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

gdog said:


> I’ve used my hot tent setup a lot and don’t expect to have heat through the entire night. Not sure why you’d want to wake up every 1.5-2 hours to stoke the fire(?) The stove is great for some cooking, drying out gear and warming up, but my sleeping bag setup is rated appropriately for the outside temps I’m camping in. Stoke it up before bed and then again in the morning before getting up. Best night time camping accessory is an empty gatoraid bottle to keep you having having to get out of the tent when its cold.


Im backpacking in with it generally which means Im using a fairly light sleepingbag rated for 30 degrees so the stove warmth makes a huge difference for me. Especially with how I sleep half in and half out of bags due to my shoulder width. 

If I have my -10 bag, I totally agree


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## gdog (Sep 13, 2007)

Bax* said:


> Im backpacking in with it generally which means Im using a fairly light sleepingbag rated for 30 degrees so the stove warmth makes a huge difference for me. Especially with how I sleep half in and half out of bags due to my shoulder width.
> 
> If I have my -10 bag, I totally agree


Same thing backpacking in, but I make sure to have a bag that matches the conditions I’m camping in. Something happens to your stove or your unable to get it going for whatever reason, your either hiking out or freezing your azz off. No thanks. My Western Mountaineering 15 degree bag weights a hair over 2lbs. I’ll take a little added weight and a good nights sleep over having to get up every 1.5 hours to screw around with the stove. I’ve done that, it sucks.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

gdog said:


> My Western Mountaineering 15 degree bag weights a hair over 2lbs. I’ll take a little added weight and a good nights sleep over having to get up every 1.5 hours to screw around with the stove. I’ve done that, it sucks.


I'll have to take a look at a new bag. I dont mind the weight. Its the space that kills me. The cold weather bags take up a ton of space which means I sacrifice other gear


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