Tent campers on Christmas Eve?

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HotTommy

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I'm starting this unimportant thread out of boredom and curiosity. ... I'm staying in my motorhome in a nice state park campground in NW Florida to spend time with a friend at Christmas.  It's my first winter trip and although it feels cold to an old southern boy like me, it is currently 40 F outside and not projected to get below freezing for the next week.

The park seems about half full and a few of the RVs are decorated with Christmas lights.  And mixed in with the motorhomes and trailers are about half a dozen campers in popup tents.  I saw a small group of people wearing heavy coats huddled around a gas lantern eating Christmas Eve dinner at a picnic table next to a tent last night as I was returning from my friend's house.  And I wondered, why would anyone choose to spend a night as cold as this in a pop up tent? And I realize that not everyone celebrates Christmas, but its the rule rather than the exception here in the deep south, so I'm perplexed that so many people would be tent camping on this particular night.

So as I'm not going to go ask anyone why they're doing something that seems strange to me, I'll ask here.  Has anyone here done something like this?  If so, why?

P.S.
It just occurred to me that this park fronts a large bayou.  I've never really understood the passion fishermen have for their sport.  Do you suppose the tent campers are people who will fish whenever there is an opportunity, regardless the weather or season?
 
They may be in town to visit family and don't own an RV. Maybe they celebrated or will celebrate with friends or family in the area and since you're busy yourself, you just didn't know they were gone at some point.

We get that stuff like that directed at us all the time. Hubby works full-time on the computer and I'm an online student and also working on a screenplay. Over the last 4 years, we've done our best to try to work on the computers outside. It just doesn't work. Other campers around us get so upset because they never see us go outside. Some even get downright nasty about it.

They don't see us go for a walk on the beach while it's still dark and stay and watch the sunrise (because they're still sleeping), or when we go for bike rides early in the morning or late in the evening or when I kick hubby outside at noon for 15 minutes of vitamin D, or when we run down to the beach to watch the water, sea life and sunset after work.

On Saturday a couple of weeks ago, we packed a picnic lunch and left early for the beach. Did a good walk, soaked up the sun, relaxed and enjoyed. When we both began to fry in the sun, we came home. Our neighbor saw us getting out of the car and nastily told us it was a nice day we should get some sun!

Or maybe they're just pagans..lol

People are so weird!

-Roni
 
Many years ago, more than 40, I used to enjoy tent camping and spent the winter in southern USA.  I saw people looking down on me from their lofty motor homes and often wondered what they were thinking. Now I know.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and a travel rig was just not in my budget so I never gave it a thought. Now whenever I can, I just invite them over for cocktail or snack. Maybe when they are old like me they will remember and return the favor.
 
Not saying I would do it now at 62, but 40 degrees sounds like a typical Spring or fall morning here in Canada........its done here all the time in the spring and fall. I remember going winter camping as a boy scout...that was friggin cold...lol.
 
I can't tell you the number of nights I've camped in tents when it was cold. Growing up, we didn't even have a tent. AS an adult, every year for about 5 years over Memorial Weekend in Washington state, we went camping. Every Memorial weekend that we went camping, the weather was miserable, mostly in the low 40s at night. When my son was in Webelos, we did the fall camp out and slept in tents when it got down below freezing.

Tents are actually pretty warm when you have several people sleeping in them. Being out in the cold air isn't too bad as long as you're dressed for it. We just built a big fire and when we weren't moving around, we just wrapped in blankets and sat by the fire.

Why did we do it? Because it was fun to be outside? To be able to spend special times with friends? To be doing something different than our normal boring lives? Bragging rights? Because we like camping and don't wanna let something as silly as cold weather stop us? It's kind of like what the people here in Minnesota do when its really super cold or really hot and muggy. If we stayed inside and didn't do anything, we would spend a lot of time inside waiting to do stuff. So we just do what we want to do and just deal with the weather as part of it.


Caryl
 
Don't be too hard on the tent campers.  Economics plays a large part in this.  Many of us enjoying the comforts of a modern RV started in a tent.
The joy of being outside in the company of friends and family over weighs much of the discomfort.
....And then there are those just crazy enough to really enjoy it.
Merry Christmas
 
I tent camp with my son and grandson when we go elk hunting.  We have good heavy sleeping bags and a number of blankets.
Temperature drops into the teens and sometimes my son wakes up with ice in his beard.  But I woudn't trade those days for anything.  I like like the TT but hunting with son and grandson is priceless!
 
Here in Minnesota, I have friends that do winter tent camping. They really enjoy the fresh crisp air. It's not my bag, but they tell me it's very comfortable IF you know what you're doing, and extremely miserable if you don't.
 
Elective tent camping can be a very enjoyable  "man against nature challenge", similar to being under an umbrella in a rainstorm.

note the word..."Elective"

 
Here in Minnesota, I have friends that do winter tent camping. They really enjoy the fresh crisp air. It's not my bag, but they tell me it's very comfortable IF you know what you're doing, and extremely miserable if you don't.
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If you do it right, the tent will stay very warm. the problem is, at some point you have to leave the tent. Thats when it gets rough.

Caryl the freezebaby
 
I carry a tent with me in the MH.  If it's a nice night, no lower than 40 degrees, I may set up the tent and sleep in it.  I have a sleeping bag that's rated for down to 10 degrees.  I got a real easy to set up tent, can set it up by myself, and for some reason enjoy cuddling up next to the heater.  There are some tents that are set up for a chimney, those are great to make a fire inside, roast hot dogs, marshmallows, etc.  Those tents are very pricey though. 
 
I recall a day back around 1972 give or take a year,, Record cold,  many who relied on propane heat were screwed because at -40 propane remains a liquid and would not vaporize,, Many with oil heat had it gel up and clog the filters.  Coal and wood burners were comfortable.

Two men had made a bet, as I think in Wisconson,,, The bed "I can sleep comfortable on the ## Green of the local golf course on the night of ____ (the very date in question)___. (this one continues later)

I got to church that day, Girlfriend's car had no thermostat so it never warmed up. Figured "At least the church would be warm"  Turns out this was the Sunday Fr. gave his state of the parish speech.. The sign at the back of the church "For your health and comfort the fuel fund deserves your generous support"

Fr is talking about how after many years debt free (close to 100) the church had to borrow money to build a physical plant when Consumers shut down their steam plant and put in a parking lot.. But GRAYHOUND had been kind enough to buy a bit of land the church owned which was basically good for nothing but growing weeds, so the boilers were paid for... DO NOT WORK but they are paid for (Very cold in the church).

Back to the man on the golf course.

He had, perhaps the best night's sleep in town.. You see, his sleeping bag and tent were artic rated for up to FIFTY below, it only was in the -40s
 
Nor exactly sure what the OP means by a "pop up tent", but since most of the posters talked about traditional tent camping, I'll discuss pop-up campers. Note that I have spent many years where a low above freezing doesn't count as "cold", just "chilly". We had popup campers for many years, and we routinely camped quite comfortably in temperatures down to 25. We had a nice heater in the popup and good sleeping bags. We always enjoyed camping in the cooler weather because it "kept the riff raff out" as my DH would say. Cool weather = fewer people = more enjoyment to us. We generally camped because it was just too much work to keep four kids happy in a hotel room after a long drive! The popup had more room, we had a clean space with our own beds, and we could kick the kids outside to play.

Oh, and I have tent camped comfortably down to 25 also, but I do admit I prefer a heater in the popup!
 
UTTransplant said:
good sleeping bags.
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There are some really good sleeping bags out there, but they're not cheap.  If you want one good for temps below -20 you could easily spend over $800, and I've seen some for over $1,000.  So just because someone is in a "popup tent" does not mean it's because of the lack of money to purchase something nicer, it really can be that's the type of camping they prefer to do.  I've been told before, "if all I had was a MH to camp in, I'd just stay home," those type of people don't see staying in a MH as camping.

 
those type of people don't see staying in a MH as camping.
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Neither do I -- it's a mobile apartment -- but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it. "Real" camping is a lot tougher for me now than it used to be, since the old bod doesn't take well any more to sleeping on the ground, and getting up from that low is a real chore these days.
 
We are from Washington state as well and grew up with the year-round "dress in layers" mantra so being prepared for cold when tent camping was just a given, even in summer. But we also grew into a motorhome, like so many others. When I was younger I didn't understand why someone would "camp" in a motorhome. Nowadays, I figure if I'm going to "car camp" (camping in a campground with a lot of neighbors and vehicles) I might as well be comfortable. :)  Regarding camping during Christmas, we actually decided to do that last year. We weren't in a tent, of course, but had a great time at the beach! I hung our stockings and we had really nice family time.
 
The thing with tent camping is that its a lot of work. While I enjoyed it, I realized I was no sooner getting stuff put away then it was time to get it all out again for the next meal. All the packing and unpacking at home, plus at camp, then back at home again. I would much rather spend that time just hanging out and enjoying the beach, or lake or whatever and chatting with friends.
 
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