4 wheel pop up camper - for occaisonal use in snow country

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hpcmbw

hpcmbw

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 16, 2009
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125
Location
Sacramento area
I'm looking at a used 4 wheel camper, Keystone model, from the 1980s. I plan to use it occaisionally in snow country in Tahoe. A cold night is in the teens. I'll be parking/sleeping in a ski resort parking lot.  Anyone know if the little heater can keep up with the canvas walls? I've heard there is an "artic pack" that I could get, if necessary. Any ideas? Getting this light camper (750 lbs) would make my tie down problems (see earlier post) much easier to figure out.

Thanks!

EDIT - It looks like this 1980s FWC may not fit the tailgate width of my 2000 F250. Gotta do some measuring!
 
I also live in California at 3,000' elevation and we get down into the teens occasionally at night.  I would think Tahoe, which is much higher in elevation could get down to 0 on occasion.  That pop up camper is basically a tent on wheels.  I know people do snow camping in tents but the tents they use are often nylon and 4 season, low to the ground and compact to hold heat in.  I'm thinking that the canvas is much more breathable and will let more cold air in and heat out than those nylon 4 season tents.  It might be very hard to keep it warm in cold temps.  If the pop up has a furnace it will probably run through a tank of propane pretty quick.  I'm not sure how an electric heater would work; but I'm wondering if an electric blanket would help too.

Have fun!

Marsha~
 
4 Wheel Campers offer an Arctic Pack which they recommend for extremely cold weather.  If you can find one with that option, it might help.
 
I don't know about your camper, but when we had a Jayco pop-up tent trailer it was fine in the cold. We took it deer and elk hunting in the mountains, temps in the teens and single digits, and it stayed warm inside with the little heater it came with. Snow slid off the sloped ends pretty well, too so it didn't load up.  The water never froze, either. Used more propane, of course, that when not running the heater, but nothing outrageous. That tent trailer had much more canvas and plastic (windows) than your camper does I'll bet.
 
The camper fit my truck, so I ended up buying it cheap. Time will tell if it gets expensive in the long run. Just finished cleaning it up and now getting the electrical sorted out. First trip in it is planned for Tahoe in mid October. We'll see if the heater can keep up, since I assume it will be in the high 20s to low 30s.
 
Friends that have a pop-top truck camper leave the top down and use the dinette bed on the really cold nights.
I had a hardside TC and overnighted in the 20's, with furbnace and it was still cold.  Insulate around the top.  I now have a Westfalia pop top, the guys I know use the silver mylar bubble stuff, cut to fit the canvas.
 
So, just an update. I used this camper for a couple years and really like it. I tried to use it last winter in Tahoe for New Years. The temp got down to -10 and we FROZE! Top down, sleeping on couch, heater on full blast - it was miserable. The heater got it up to about 15 inside, but we didn't have enough warm blankets for this temp. Otherwise, we've been in it down to about 20 degrees and it was ok.

I've now upgraded to a newer 4 wheel popup, but have yet to test it out in cold weather.

 
Just got back from a seven day hunting trip with temps in the low teens at times. My 2012 FWC Hawk with the factory furnace and arctic pac liner kept me warm and comfortable. Because the furnace has a fairly high battery drain, I don't run it while I am sleeping. I just use and recommend a good quality down bag.
 
Here in Colorado, every year, I see dozens of hunters that camp in tents, popup campers, etc., during hunting season in the Mountains. I am sure that they all use sleeping bags. I have used a sleeping bag over the years in my Cowboy Bed Roll. From time to time I have slept on the ground in my bed roll without even a tent, sometimes in snow. I have had to shake the snow off before I got out of bed in the morning numerous times. The bed roll is made with a special tarp, special cowboy type cover to protect from weather but a good sleeping bag in a tent or camper would not need the tarp.

Working as a young boy on farms from 1939 and a cowboy on a big ranch before 1949 I slept many nights in just blankets usually on and coverd by a tarp, out in the open and/or often in barns that were not heated except by horses or cattle in the barn. I often put newspapers between the blankets in cold seasons. A sleeping bag beats blankets.
 
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