Have you always found carrying a generator on a camping trip quite difficult and troublesome as well? But you probably had to take it anyway right, because it was so hot that there wasn’t a chance of you surviving without an air conditioner.
Well, we can let you know there are some means that you can apply by which even on a hot and humid day, your tent can be kept cool and you don’t need electricity at all for it.
Can’t believe what you just read?
You can believe it because we are here with an article on all the means that you need to know to keep your tent cool without the use of electricity. So, let’s quickly get to it then.
Why Is Cooling A Tent Necessary?
Cooling is very important when it comes to camping on bright sunny days in tropical campsites. It is simple actually; you can’t stay inside the tent if your tent isn’t cool. Sweating and a restless feeling can make your trip a nightmare.
Further, here in the States, especially in areas close to Arizona, the temperature can get high, close to 130-degree F, and is just too much heat. In general, if the temperature is above 95-degree F, it starts getting uncomfortable.
So, as you can see cooling your tent is the only thing you can do. What’s even worse is that accessing electricity in some of these parts gets difficult, so you need to find the means to keep your tent cool without electricity.
How To Cool A Tent Without Electricity: Untold Hacks For Cooling
For keeping your tent cool, there are some adjustments that you have to make to the tent itself first. These are some things that are a little different from general camping activities.
Tent Material And Shape
Before even leaving for the camping trip, your task begins. If you want to keep your tent cool, you have to make sure that your tent’s material is good enough to reflect the heat off it.
The mostly used tent materials are nylon and polyester, but they are very bad at keeping your tent cool. They are cost-effective and good for carrying through.
Canvas tents, however, will come at a bit more price and maybe a little bit more on the heavier side, but when it comes to keeping the interior cool, that’s where they shine. They can be a good option for summer camping.
You also have to check if there are more windows so that the cold breeze from outside can flow in and keep your tent breathable.
If you are wondering which canvas tent to buy, you can check out 10 Best Canvas Tents For Camping: Your All-Weather Partner.
Now when it comes to what is the best shape in which you can set up your tent in summer, a cabin tent is for you. The traditional dome tents can get very hot in summer because the heat can stay trapped there. For cabin tents, the airflow is better and the headspace is more, so it a good option for summer camp.
Find A Good Spot
After you reach your campsite, you have to start looking for a good place to camp. The site should be shady and the site should be in such a way that sunlight doesn’t fall directly on your tent. Try to look for large trees beneath which you can pitch your tent.
Also, you have to make sure that the tent is in the path of the breeze so that air circulation can be good inside your tent.
One thing that you must remember is that the sun over your head will move, so a shady area in the morning may not be so in the afternoon, so always look for a cover over your head.
The best place during summer to pitch your tent is beneath a large tree near lakes or rivers.
Dig A Pit
If you want your tent to stay cool, you can utilize the ground for that. After you choose your campsite, use a shovel or any other tool and dig a pit on the ground, the pit has to be as wide as the ten and it may or may not be too deep.
Then pitch your tent on the pit. The soil in the pit stays damp and cold than the surface and you can keep your tent warm this way.
Remove Rainfly
Most tents have a rainfly attached all over it to save you from rain. This rainfly often covers the meshed windows and ventilators of your tent.
Without windows and ventilators, your tent becomes hot and you suffer. So before pitching the tent, try to remove the rainfly.
Keep in mind that your privacy may be compromised in this case because removing the rainfly can make your tent almost transparent.
For this, you can remove the rainfly at home and replace it with a thin cloth that is opaque. And the rainfly can be used as a covering for the head if you tie it to nearby support.
Check The Time Of Set Up
When you are going to set up your tent is also a big factor in determining if your tent is going to stay cool for you to sleep in there.
Now, if you reach your campsite in the daytime in the middle of scorching heat and start setting up your tent, it will get heated up very quickly and is most likely to stay hot throughout the day and night.
So, it is best to set up your tent when the atmosphere is cooled down a bit, like after the sun has set and the temperature is going down.
Remove Your Tent For The Day
Do you know the best time to sleep when you are at a campsite on a hot summer? You should know that from our camping experiences, we can say that in summer, it is best to go to bed as soon as the sun sets and wake up right after sunrise.
The heat from the early morning sun tends to heat your tent very quickly and you won’t be able to sleep because of it.
Most of the tasks and activities of camping are done during the day time and you usually don’t spend much time inside the tent, so keeping it pitched will only make it collect heat. It is best to take the tent down early morning for the day and set it up again once the sun sets.
Additional Tent Cooling Methods Without Electricity
So, those were the things that you could tinker with the tent to get the best of your camping experience, but just having your tent cool isn’t enough because humidity can still find you even inside the tent, you will need some additional means for that
1. Thermal Reflection:
If you want to have no heat getting trapped inside your tent despite setting up directly under the sunlight, you can use some accessories that can reflect the thermal energy.
Reflective tarps and sheets can be easily found in a nearby camping store and you can also buy them online.
You can use them to cover your roof by attaching them to tree branches or cover your whole tent, just leaving gaps for ventilation.
One thing you have to remember though is that you have to leave some gap between the roof of your tent and the reflective tarp for air circulation.
2. Cooling Fan And Portable Air Conditioner:
You must be wondering if there is no electricity, how can you use a fan. Well, we are talking about a battery-powered fan. They come in handy for camping purposes in summer. The best way to like through summer as we know it by using a fan, so it is nothing new to see it on this list.
But a fan cooling your tent depends largely on the way you use it. If you use it to cool yourself only, in a matter of time, it will start regulating the hot air inside the tent. So, the best way is to use it as an exhaust. You can have the fan facing outside through one of the windows and so it will take out the hot air.
All windows bringing in air from outside and the fan pushing out air from inside will create an air conditioning like environment inside your tent. You may feel hot in the beginning, but give it time and your tent will stay for a long time.
Instead of using a fan for air conditioning, you can also opt for an air conditioner powered by a battery directly. It is a bit costlier than using a fan, but the end result is way better than using a fan.
If you want a battery-operated air conditioner, you can check the Best Portable Battery Operated Air conditioner for Camping.
3. Ice And Cold Towels:
If you feel that a fan has started circulating the hot air inside, you can use ice to make the atmosphere cool again. You can just place some ice in front of the fan and it will push the cold air from the ice towards you.
Also, if you have towels with you, you can dip them in cold water and keep it over your body. You will instantly feel fresh and see that your night is getting comfortable.
It is advised that if you are going to camp without electricity, have some jugs of water frozen beforehand and carry them with you. If you place a jug of frozen water near your sleeping bag before lying down, you will see that it helps you fall asleep quicker. Once they have melted, you can replace them with cold water from a nearby stream, lake, or river.
4. No Sleeping Bags:
It is best to avoid using a sleeping bag on hot summer nights. It may get hot inside a sleeping bag, so instead, try sleeping over a sleeping bag and have a thin cotton sheet to cover you. Also, keep a blanket at hand’s distance so that if the night gets too chilly, you are prepared.
Without a sleeping bag to get inside, you have to take care of mosquitoes and bugs before you go to bed for sleeping.
In case you are looking for a sleeping bag for hot weather, you can look at the 9 Best Sleeping Bags For Hammock Camping: Take The Chill Off.
5. Hydration And Light Clothes:
During the days of summer, the scorching sun can take away all your energy and you can feel low. So, you need to stay hydrated at all times. Keep water with you at all times. It will also keep your body temperature regulated.
Also, during summer, you should always wear light and bright clothes. Thick and dark-colored clothes absorb heat and make you warm, so you have to avoid it at all costs. For sleeping at night, wear cotton clothes to keep your body temperature to a minimum.
Regardless of all these tricks, some nights are going to be so hot that you won’t be able to tolerate sleeping inside your tent. At that time, you can ditch your tent and sleep outside. Try having a backup hammock for this situation.
If you want to look for the best hammocks, you can click Best Camping Hammock with Mosquito Net.
And for a complete guide for hammock camping, you can check out Hammock Camping: A Complete Guide.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Final Word
So, we think that you are ready to go camping in the hot summer days. As you can see you just need to play with the tent a bit and have some accessories prepared for the situation and you can avoid the burden of carrying a generator or spend your precious time setting it up.
Of all the means we have mentioned, we as campers tend to use battery-powered fans for air conditioning the tent. But you can use all these tricks first and then figure out which ones are the best suited for you.
We would love to hear your camping stories and how you cooled your tent on a hot day through the comment section below.
Happy Camping!
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