There are many things my wife does not like, but most definitely the things she likes the least is being cold. She abhors cold weather. She works all day with a heater on year around. I am close but not quite as bad. When camping you cannot always find a warm spot. They are rare, but there are things, some special gear that are able to help keep you warm when experiencing harsh climates.

One of our favorite things we have now experienced is a Diesel Heater. Yes, we have the Mr. Buddy Heater and have used it tons, but everything else we have runs off propane and sometimes we need to preserve what we have for other uses. We like the butane powered Kovea Heater and take it everywhere (it stays in the vehicle) as it is so small and packable in its own little case. The diesel heater has now become our favorite for several reasons. I filled up the tank, holding one gallon of fuel, and plugged it in to our power source, at 6 p.m. on a Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., it was still running, warm and toasty in our tent. I was amazed and pleased. I was also extremely excited to be able to crawl over to the door of the rooftop tent, take my wireless remote control, and turn the temperature up and down on the heater, without crawling up and down the ladder. I was not accustomed to this luxury. Yes, having to carry diesel fuel, and have to provide it an electrical source, is a pain, but the benefits outweigh the struggles in this area. I made some adjustments and changes to the heater itself (just a plan Amazon diesel heater that runs around $159) so it will fit inside the Frontrunner Ammo Box, so packing it is a breeze as it stacks with the rest of the gear that I carry. It has become a staple for all of our winter camping trips from here on out.

Another piece of gear that we love during winter camping is our tent annex. Zipping this annex onto the bottom of the Tent, we have all the privacy that we need (and my wife loves to have), along with a place where we can get up, stretch, put our clothes on and get ready for the day inside the warmth of an enclosed shelter. It is a large bundle to haul inside the vehicle, but when winter camping it is well worth it. When you have a rooftop tent, you are not able to stand up or bend the way you are supposed to bend (at my age anyways) to get dressed and undressed or do whatever you need to do to get ready for bed or ready for your day. This gives you that needed space to be able to move around in the warmth (we sit our heater on the ground outside the annex, run the hose inside as the heat rises and perfectly warms the annex and tent) and not exposed to the winter elements outside. The annex is one of the items we never leave home without when camping in winter. For privacy and warm shelter, it is our best option outside of the tent.

Awning walls are another way we have found to stay warm while winter camping. The zippered walls on our awning come together to form an enclosed area where we can set up our propane fire pit and warm our area where we sit, hang out, cook and just generally get out of the weather while still experiencing the outdoors. If the nights are cold and the days are warm (as it usually is here in Arkansas), you are able to open up the windows and see outside and bring more of that outdoor love into your living space. When that sun drops down, as does the temperatures, you can close those windows, fire up that propane fire pit and provide yourself with a warm area in which to cook and eat dinner. What a great, large usable space to enjoy the outdoors and be able to keep out of the elements at the same time. There are few camping items we enjoy more than the walls around this awning.

You have to get out there and figure out what you need to make you comfortable. If you are not comfortable, then you will not go. Nobody loves pain and suffering (well normal people anyways) and therefore you must discover what you need to extend that camping season out to eight, ten or even twelve months. You do not have to fly south for the winter if you have the right equipment to make your experience a memorable one, and that memory does not have to have you recalling a night you almost froze to death. It is just getting that experience, and discovering what it is you need to add to your growing collection of gear!