We’ve all been there - shivering sleeplessly in our sleeping bag vowing that we’ll NEVER let this happen again!

Today we’re going over the 3 craziest things I’ve used to stay warm camping. Plus a Bonus that might check all the boxes for you.

Being cold is absolutely miserable when you’re camping, you really can’t do much about it either, you’re left with the tough choice of just sucking it up till morning or getting up and building a campfire.

However… There are a few tips that might help next time you’re helplessly chattering your teeth out of your head. Let’s dive in -

#1 Heating up a rock.

Here’s what you’d need, you want a smooth flat rock, maybe even a few of them. Now, build yourself a nice roaring campfire and toss all of your rocks into the fire. Leave them there for a good 30minutes to an hour.

When you’re ready to sleep, grab the rocks (using something other than your hands), wrap them up in several old shirts - so that the heat is dulled slightly and won’t burn your tent or sleeping bag. Now you can snuggle with rocks and enjoy the heat for about an hour - to hour and a half depending on the size of the rock and your campfire.

This is what a good hot rock looks like, it weighs about 8-9lbs, and it is about 6 inches wide and 3 inches thick. Ok, let’s go over the pros and cons of a heated rock.

Pros

• You are using nature to stay warm making this the minimalist option.
• As long as you can find new rocks along the way, this option won’t add to your base weight.
• You smell more like a campfire than ever before.

Cons

• The obvious, you’re sleeping with rocks… In general they aren’t very cuddly.
• The heat dissipates fairly quickly without a massive rock.
• Extra caution needed to keep from burning your hands or your sleeping bag / shelter.
• Camp fire required, this could be a problem.
• Finding a suitable rock can be tricky. If you finally find a winner - you won’t be taking it with you because the weight penalty is miserable.
• You smell more like a campfire than ever before (some people like it, some don’t)
•   Summary, they’re a lot of trouble, not very comfortable, but do work if you’re ever in a tight spot.

#2 Chemical Packets

These little guys use a thermal chemical reaction to create heat. They come sealed in this plastic bag, when you break them open the interaction with air begins the chemical reaction. When you shake them you amplify this reaction and speed up the process. This process produces heat.

To use these at night, shake up about 6 of them 30 minutes before you’re ready to hop in your sleeping bag. After you shake them up you can toss them into your bag and finish getting ready for bed. These guys produce decent heat when you consider cost and weight but they won’t make a big difference long term throughout the night because the volume of heat is really small compared to the space they are trying to warm up. It will feel more like a hot spot in your hand or on your body somewhere.

Keep these handy all night because they are a one time use and will last less than an hour.

Ok, let’s go over the pros and cons of a chemical hot packs.

Pros

• Small, lightweight, and easy to carry
• Simple to use, just shake and wait.
• Great for warming a specific area - like your hand

Cons

• Isolated heat at best, not going to provide serious relief.
• It is in fact a chemical reaction happening next to your skin. Whatever that means to you.
• Single use, these are going to be thrown away after about a 45minute lifespan because after that they are just dead weight.

Summary, they’re easy to get going, much more comfortable than rocks, but they are tiny and single use - so you’ll need a lot of them throughout the night and will have to pack them out.

#3 Propane Heaters

This is by far the biggest heating option, you won’t be carrying this very far but it will definitely heat things up if you are car camping.

There are a lot of different options available here, I’ll focus on two that I’ve used the Buddy Heater and this Hand Warmer. Both use an open flame to warm you up, the flame is powered by propane and you can purchase the propane in two different sizes. This and this. These smaller canisters will give you about three hours of heat before they run out. One thing to keep in mind, knocking one of these guys over in your tent is extremely dangerous and would cause a fire.

Because you are using propane, you also want to have maximum ventilation, in my opinion you would never want to use these in an enclosed tent while you are sleeping.

So let’s look at the pros and cons of these heaters.

Pros

• Massive heat, they can heat up a large tent or provide great radial warmth.
• Refillable propane bottles available, making them more re-usable.
• Fairly simple to use, if the striker doesn’t work you can always use a match.

Cons

• They use flammable gas and require an open flame to work.
• Not recommended for enclosed areas while sleeping.
• Heavy and bulky - you won’t be taking these down the trail.

Summary, Great heat with lots of downsides - in some specific circumstances these will be great for spreading a lot of heat quickly.

Hot Pocket, Rechargeable Instant Warmth.

Hot Pocket was created to solve the one problem we all face, how do I warm up when I get cold in the wild!?

Hot Pocket is the world's first multi-functional camp heater that weighs ounces and heats to 140°F. 

Hot Pocket is a compression sack so it can pre-heat your sleeping bag AND it can un-zip completely flat so that you have a mini heated blanket. 

Giving you warmth whenever and wherever you need it.