Winter Camping shakedown Trip

With 2022 winding to a close and the winter camping season just beginning we set out for a close to home snow camping trip to test out some new gear and get outside for a bit.

Diesel Heater Initial Impressions

This was our first chance to use the “Amazon Special” diesel heater that we received as an early Christmas gift. Last winter we used a 12v electric blanket to provide a little extra warmth in our roof top tent. It helped cut the chill at night a little bit, but hogged a lot of power and did nothing to make the air in the tent more comfortable. We took the diesel heater plunge to remedy those issues.

These generic diesel heaters are notorious for being finicky and coming with a steep learning curve (most manuels come in Chinese, we were lucky to get one in english). Fortunately that has not been our experience so far. After working through the initial assembly process the device has functioned exactly as advertised. Fill the diesel tank, plug into power, hit the power button and wait for the heat after a brief startup period. On its first night of use this heater had our tent at a balmy 80 degrees with outside temps in the 20s.

It is a little stinky and noisy but nothing too unbearable. We still also still need to find a better transport solution since the exhaust pipe and air plenum are awkward to pack. More on this later…

Harbor Freight Propane Torch

Normally we take pride in starting fires the proper way by collecting dry kindling from the surrounding woods and slowly nursing a small flame into a health blaze… but sometimes when winter camping we just want to hit the easy button, especially when our wood isn’t perfectly dry. Last year we bought a Propane Torch at Harbor Freight, primarily for weed and ice removal around the house, but with a bonus use as an overkill firestarter. Honestly this thing is a little ridiculous and difficult to store, but it is convenient and brings a silly fun factor to our trips. Go to 3:31 in the above video to see the torch in action. You can also purchase it from Harbor Freight here.