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RumiDude
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RumiDude
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PostSat Feb 29, 2020 10:38 pm 
Put your tent in the freezer along with a chunk of steel of the same weight. Wait 24 hours and take both or them out. Lay down and place the tent on one side of your chest and the chunk of steel on the other side. Both are the same temperature. But you tell me which feels colder. Rumi <~~~~~coefficient of dude transfer

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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InFlight
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InFlight
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PostMon Mar 02, 2020 1:23 pm 
texasbb wrote:
On the other hand, if you're built like me you won't fit in your car in any sleepable position, so ugh.
Full Size Grand Cherokee with rear seat folded down (sleeping diagonal) is adequate for the 6' 3" crowd. I suspect most other full Size SUVs would be similar. I just kept the tailgate window flipped up. Any regular sedan would provide shelter, but restfull sleep???

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...” ― Henry David Thoreau
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Randito
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PostMon Mar 02, 2020 3:50 pm 
InFlight wrote:
Any regular sedan would provide shelter, but restfull sleep???
Biggest factor is parking location -- I was on trip to the Grand Canyon and the driver of the van I was in was a "drive straight through" kind of guy, but his wife demanded that we stop and sleep as midnight approached. In a classic move, he agreed and parked the van right next to where the major freight rail line from SoCal crossed a highway. About every 30 minutes a train would come through blowing it's whistle for the crossing -- around 2:30 she -- she said "OK Walt -- you can keep driving"

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texasbb
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texasbb
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PostMon Mar 02, 2020 7:37 pm 
InFlight wrote:
the 6' 3" crowd
Shorties. I envy all of you.

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Malachai Constant
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Malachai Constant
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PostMon Mar 02, 2020 8:22 pm 
We always tested every SUV we bought by laying in the back. Explorer passed, 4 runner passed, Highlander failed, Susie failed, even my old Celica passed, EK Holden passed.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Riverside Laker
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PostMon Mar 02, 2020 9:48 pm 
I've slept in back of our Prius (solo but with a bike next to me). I removed the rear seat bottoms for more storage. But I'm quite aways south of 6'-3". Now we have a truck camper, not as big as Malachai's though. Luxurious living, don't have to worry about thermodynamics except the propane tank is loaded.

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joker
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PostTue Mar 03, 2020 2:25 pm 
Some people who sleep a lot in their vehicles use Reflectix cut to fit their windows (sometimes using Velcro to attach to the area around their windows (which reduces heat loss a little and also helps a little with that condensation fun). I know a tight double-walled 4 season tent was always warmers than sleeping in unheated wood or stone shelters back when I winter camped a fair bit back in New England but I would think the car would do a better job than those drafty shelters of holding in one's body heat a little - closer to the tent. The tent is a smaller space to warm up but I have to think that much of the car is a better insulator?

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Ski
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PostTue Mar 03, 2020 7:05 pm 
^ Depends entirely on the vehicle. Most automobiles have bare steel door panels, and very little, if any, material which would constitute "insulation". The thin padding under the carpeting (or rubber floor mats) and on the inside of the firewall is more for purposes of deadening engine and road noise than "insulation". I suppose a few aerosol cans of rubberized undercoating, applied liberally, might help a bit, but you'd still have a significant amount of heat loss through windows and places where you would never be able to get to with an aerosol spray can.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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Randito
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PostTue Mar 03, 2020 7:16 pm 
Ski wrote:
Most automobiles have bare steel door panels, and very little, if any, material which would constitute "insulation".
True if your thinking about junk boxes from pre-2000. More modern vehicles and older highend vehicles have more than some vinyl covered pressboard over the door frame. But even a '60s era VW bus with nothing more than that is warmer and drier than sleeping outside.

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Cyclopath
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Cyclopath
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PostTue Mar 03, 2020 7:36 pm 
I grew up in New England, where it can get very cold, and there's a lot of snow. But only in the winter. The first time I drove across country I didn't know to expect several feet of snow on the ground in June. I planned to camp in Yellowstone, but wasn't able to. Slept in the car that night. Obviously I wasn't prepared for the cold at night, I thought it would be early summer conditions. So every time the cold woke me up, I'd run the engine for heat. I'm an emergency I'd go with the car, because it has a heater and as other people mentioned, it's wind and water proof. Also, driving into the cold, I like to keep my tank full to be able to run the heat for a while if I need to.

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joker
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PostTue Mar 03, 2020 9:08 pm 
To elaborate a lot of the people I've heard of using Reflectix on windows are living some version of "vanlife" and have some degree of insulation in their rig. But two thin layers of nylon ain't a ton of insulation either but let me tell you I'd pick a double wall four season tent (which is what I was comparing to) over an unheated and drafty uninsulated wood or stone shelter almost every time. And I'd pick any of the above over sleeping in the open.

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Ski
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PostTue Mar 03, 2020 9:43 pm 
^ yeah... you're holding the air captive in the tent, more or less. and probably more than a drafty structure, regardless of what it's made of.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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RumiDude
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RumiDude
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PostTue Mar 03, 2020 9:54 pm 
Ski wrote:
Depends entirely on the vehicle.
+1 ... and the tent used as well. The particular weather conditions conditions make a difference also. Any vehicle is essentually a big heat sink and is riddled with thermal bridges. That is one reason it can get very cold very quickly in cold weather. If it is windy, it gets colder even faster. You can run the heater and get the temp almost unbearably hot inside, but soon after you turn the engine off it cools down and gets cold. A vehicle will not hold heat at all. In layman's terms, it will suck the heat right out of the interior. I suppose nobody has really done testing comparing the relative temps of being in a tent vs vehicle to difinitively answer the question. My experience is that even inside a vehicle on the seats or whatever, I still need a good insullating pad and good quilt or bag to stay warm. I try to avoid sleeping in my vehicle in extremely cold weather. As joker alluded to about vanlife adventurers, they have to insullate heavily to be able to keep warm in cold weather and stay cool in hot weather. But still, the exterior is a heat sink. Even if the floor is insullated, the floor is usually uncomfortably cold to walk on barefoot. Some have installed radiant floor heat to solve this issue. The radiant floor heat comes at a big cost though in the form of a robust electrical system, i.e. expensive battery banks. Rumi

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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joker
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PostTue Mar 03, 2020 9:58 pm 
Exactly. And my cars generally seem at least moderately airtight, except the sliding door of the camper van on which a rubber gasket around the inner door handle/opener was popped loose during construction - I've somewhat fixed it but it isn't perfect. I only notice it when we're driving on the highway on really cold days though. A super high wind at the right angle might come in a bit there too.

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Randito
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PostTue Mar 03, 2020 10:42 pm 
RumiDude wrote:
and the tent used as well
The OP doesn't presume that a tent or even a sleeping bag is used.

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