Winter camping tips

A thread for any helpful tips on winter camping

Plenty of bedding
Good heating
Propane gas
A water container that can be kept inside the dandy as well as any other system you may run,no good hoping for a cup of tea in the morning only to find your water container is frozen solid
Torch for those loo and shower visits after dark
If you keep a cool box in the awning turn it of at night or it may freeze your food
Good books or tv for those long winter evenings relaxing in a snug warm dandy

Thermals
Hot chocolate
Hot Vimto
Hot Toddy
Plenty of alcohol
Hot water Bottle

Ok then guys, looks like our first outing with Olivia may be in the middle of November which is a good 2 months later than we normally camp. So I'm after some advice from those with previous winter camping experience

We are now the proud owners of an oil filled radiator which we can obviously leave on all night if needs be, we also have an electric fan heater, I was thinking of getting some fleece blankets to put over my quilt and Nigel's sleeping bag, we also have hot water bottles. So is there anything else that we need to do or take with us to prepare us for this strange phenomenon known as winter camper

The Admiral wrote:Ok then guys, looks like our first outing with Olivia may be in the middle of November which is a good 2 months later than we normally camp. So I'm after some advice from those with previous winter camping experience

We are now the proud owners of an oil filled radiator which we can obviously leave on all night if needs be, we also have an electric fan heater, I was thinking of getting some fleece blankets to put over my quilt and Nigel's sleeping bag, we also have hot water bottles. So is there anything else that we need to do or take with us to prepare us for this strange phenomenon known as winter camper

I might suggest an electric blanket. An electric underblanket isolates you from the cold from underneath the beds. Though your Dandy will be warmer as it has skirts.
I know last Christmas was mild but there were times I was sat in the Dandy in T-shirt, jeans and socks. Don't discount from this that I'm desperately cold blooded. The convector heater was thermostatically controlled so was not on all the time.
You have very little to fear.

Jayne from my experience of winter camping in a fully insulated delta which is not much smaller than your designer, in temperatures down to -8 you can easily be snug and warm,i dont recommend oil filled radiators as they are not capable of giving instant heat when needed.A good convector heater with two or three heat settings and a thermostat is the best,electric blankets under you i also dont recommend skirts or not the more hear that gets into your bed base board the more likley you are to get condensation under the mattress.Its an old adage but its as important what you have under you as over you,so some good insulation bedding under you.If you take say a 13 tog duvet i would say take two 7 tog more chance of heat being trapped in between them and if you do choose to take a electric under blanket put it in between the duvets which are on top of you.
If you make a mistake and dont take enough bedding remember asda duvets are dirt cheap nip and buy another most of all remember there is no need to be cold so if you are chilly turn the heater up and have a great time.

mike

ahh Aldi's just did an electric fleece blanket but I personally have the silver camping roll mats underneath the mattress then have fleece blankets on-top of sheet then one under my duvet then spend the rest of the night fighting with them as I am too hot