Camping in 103 Heat, are we nuts? Advice?

[Wysiwyg]

We were in the same situation last year at Oconee Point nearby. AC froze up and we had no air for a while. I guess the humidity had something to do with it. Anyway we escaped during midday to the Anderson Mall. Worst part was packing up in the heat.  Once the AC started working again it was fine. Hope.y'all have fun!

[jaycofield]

Our AC has been able to keep up in the Alabama heat. I also did the silver tarps for the bunkends, but went one more step & used spray adhesive to glue one of those emergency blankets to it.  Works great, although I have had to respray the adhesive on the edges at the beginning of the season. I used to clamp it to the bunkend, but now that our oldest is learning his boy scout knots, I let him tie them down

-Jay


DH DW 3xkids
it's our vacation home on wheels

[Baytoven]

I'd recommend survival blankets, either sportman's blankets or the thin mylar sheets, over "silver" tarps. It's the low emissivity rate of the aluminum layer that reflects rather than absorbs radiant heat, not just a silverish color. If you use the mylar sheet blankets, make sure the aluminum side faces up, both because it works better and to keep the aluminum from rubbing off on the PUP and staining. I'd also recommend a vapor barrier in the bunk windows to keep the cool AC air in. Reflectix has the added advantage of darkening and shading.

[chiefd]

We will be out in it as well except no power.  Its a state park. We go every year so we actually have a 15 x 30 tarp with UV protection etc.  The tarp has been upgraded since our tent days but it provides lots of shade to keep cool.  We do use misting battery operated fans that help in the extreme heat and at night it cools off so we can sleep.

I already have gizmos and they help in teh PUP during the day but we tend to spend it under the tarp

[dupreet]

Hi,

Get the Space Blankets REI, Cabelas, or Bass Pro sell for around $14 each.  These are not the cheesy foil emergency blankets - they have grommet holes and are decent quality...ours lasted 3-4 years.  Home Depot sells Reflectix insulation.  Its a stiff 'bubblewrap' material that you can cut to fit your bunk windows.  Another thing we found was to hang a sheet over one or both bunk ends for the hottest part of the day; then the AC only cools the center of the camper.

Agreed you shouldn't bother, or consider perishables in the fridge.  It will fight to stay below 50 degrees...you could find yourself with tainted food.  We used three coolers on our 10-day journey to the Outer Banks.  One was large and held the frozen entrees and meats .  If you have access to a deep freezer, it will freeze your stuff down to 0 rather than 25 or so with your refrigerator's freezer.  We had a cooler for condiments, milk, juice, etc.  A third cooler was for drinks.  Ice management wasn't bad as the only cooler that was opened a lot was the one for drinks.  The food cooler was only opened 3-4 times a day briefly...we still had frozen food when we broke camp!

Good luck, have fun, stay hydrated, and don't forget the sunscreen!

Todd

[SMITHRazorback]

here my experiene from Texas / Arkansas with high temps and humidity. Box will get hot in the afternoon (11-4). Shade is a MUST! ac will help but bunk ends will be extremely hot during day unless you are using some sort of cover, a strong blowing box fan will do wonders to keep the cool air circulating.

As uncomfortable as it may be, a box fan has always allowed me to catch a nap even when the temps may be in the low 80's inside the camper. we usually beat the heat by hitting the water.

As far as the evenings are concerned you should be fine, good rule of thumb is that your ac will only keep the camper a max of 20 degrees cooler than outside temps. again if your worried about it use box fans.

As far as the fridge, mine will freeze everything after a few days even in the extreme heat. but im not going to complain!

good luck

[Canadiangirljennyb]

Take this years as an opportunity to explore a different camp ground up north....We live in northern Ontario, Canada, and it's quite cool in early summer.  On occasion when the weather was looking not great, we just come down and visit our American brothers in the south where the weather is warmer.

So, we invite you, Come North!

[Tenttrailer]

Were headed north to the UP of mich:   Getting away from the 100+ to mid to high 80's.  we expected to see high 70 to 80 when we made the reservations. Kinda sucks.  DW will want to run the AC.   But the nights will drop to low to mid 50's. DW will want to run the heater.... lol

[StampCamper]

That's awful hot for a baby that young.  As a pp mentioned infants that little aren't capable of regulating their body temps.  If you do go, keep a close close eye on that little one.  You might end up hanging out in the A/C pup most of the time.

[Louisianacamper]

We went a few weeks ago in 90+ heat, 80% humidity, and no shade. I was impressed with the AC! We also used ice chests instead of the fridge. Some shade trees would have been nice.

Reflectix is on the shopping list before the next hot weather trip. I want to cover the awning top if nothing else.

Packing up was miserable. We had had a bit of breeze but it disappeared the morning we were leaving.

[rogue]

DH and I just purchased a 1980 coleman Ligonier with an aftermarket a/c, Basically a hole was cut into the bottom front of the pup and a little welding added to the frame created a stable space for it.( all work completed prior to purchase) We were excited to be buying an air conditioned tent on wheels that my little Rogue could haul (DH's truck pulling the boat)
We went camping here close by last week for the first time with it, temps in the 100's (love Texas).

We will probably not camp in it again until the fall or until we buy an a/c unit with min 8,000 btu s.
We did try the "shiny side up" tarp but we did this on the evening before the last day and DH and I had had enough heat and was ready to pack up so we don't know how much cooler it would have made it. 

I will say that the nights were very nice, the a/c unit worked fine at night, it just couldn't keep up with the sun that was blazing down on the canvases. A shady spot would have helped.

Closing the curtains on the bunkends and the windows during the day helped and cool air did circulate throughout the lower part of the cabin, but ooh how the hot air did rise and suffocate you if you stood up!

I would say that it would really depend on your set up and what type of a/c unit you have as not all a/c are the same.

I want to add that I have done a little research on my pup trying to find out what it originally came with (its been stripped down to the table, mattresses and bunkends) and from what I have seen 10,000 btu's and up are the standard for most pup models.

[Lindz]

Checking back in to report on our camping trip in record temps this weekend...

While Hotlanta was setting records of 106, we were "chilling" on Lookout Mtn at Cloudland Canyon State Park where the temp never felt above 90.  We found a shady site and setup the pup with the silver backed tarps over the bunkends, awning up and hooked up a misting system purchased at Home Depot, and only ran the a/c at "low" cool on the 3rd out of 4 cold settings (max cold is 4).  We were perfectly comfortable inside the pup (no thermometer in there so I dunno how cold it stayed) and outside the pup, in the shade with fans, mister, and baby pool with cold water from the hose to dunk your feet in, we were fine!

We went through plenty of iced water bottles and I had a separate little cooler with ice water/washcloths... those were especially appreciated by my MIL.

We were the only ones with a camper, the rest of the in-laws had tents and they survived as well, overnight with fans going they said it was alllllmost chilly.   

All in all, I will not be afraid of camping in the heat again if we do it in the shade. 

[rogue]

Camping with preschoolers puts the fun in dysfunctional!

Just read that in your signature line Lindz, That is funny!

[Lindz]

 

They really do keep us laughing...

[mailman]

Try running by a dollar store and purchase some car windshield sun shades and a roll of duct tape!  You can get them for a dollar or 2 and tape them together.  It's not the prettiest, but we did it for our first few trips until we saved up enough money to buy the Gizmos.  We also bought some cheap plastic clips to hold them on with.  It worked wonders and it was less than $20.  It brought the inside temps down at least 15 to 20 degrees and that makes a tremendous difference when it's that hot outside!  We live and camp in Southern Georgia and Northern Florida so we know all about the heat and humidity.