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This instructable suggests a way to add thermal insulation to your tent. If you go camping in hot places like Burning Man you'll undoubtably have awoken at 7am bathed in your own sweat. The heat in a tent that is exposed to the morning sun builds up fast, making it hard to sleep in. But since you just went to sleep at 4am, getting at 7am isn't going to work, right?
With a little bit of cash and very little time you can thermally insulate your tent. Using sturdy emergency blankets and some clamps its possible to sandwich an insulating thermal layer between your tent and its rain-fly. This thermal insulation layer will then prevent your tent from heating up due to direct sun exposure.
With a little bit of cash and very little time you can thermally insulate your tent. Using sturdy emergency blankets and some clamps its possible to sandwich an insulating thermal layer between your tent and its rain-fly. This thermal insulation layer will then prevent your tent from heating up due to direct sun exposure.
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Signing UpStep 1What you'll need
In order to thermally insulate your tent you will need:
- 2 or more sturdy emergency blankets: "All Weather Emergency Blanket" available from sporting goods/camping stores. These "blankets" are insulating tarps and have nice grommets on them. They are NOT the cheap emergency mylar blankets! The mylar blankets crinkle and tear in the wind!
These blankets are 5' by 7' and should cost between $10 and $15 -- that's pricey, but they are well worth it!
- 6 or more clamps: You can get these clamps from your local hardware store. I found that two sizes were really handy: Small green clamps ($.37 at Home Depot) that can pinch one blanket around a tent pole. The larger red ones ($2 also at Home Depot) that can pinch 2-4 layers of blankets for where blankets will overlap.
How many blankets and clamps you'll need depends on the size of your tent. You can cover a small tent in 2 blankets and maybe 6 clamps. My large tent shown in the pictures will eventually have 4 blankets, 6 large clamps and 8 small clamps.
I would suggest that you make a guess as to how many clamps and blankets you need and then simply keep your store receipt so you can return any blankets/clamps that you don't end up using.
- 2 or more sturdy emergency blankets: "All Weather Emergency Blanket" available from sporting goods/camping stores. These "blankets" are insulating tarps and have nice grommets on them. They are NOT the cheap emergency mylar blankets! The mylar blankets crinkle and tear in the wind!
These blankets are 5' by 7' and should cost between $10 and $15 -- that's pricey, but they are well worth it!
- 6 or more clamps: You can get these clamps from your local hardware store. I found that two sizes were really handy: Small green clamps ($.37 at Home Depot) that can pinch one blanket around a tent pole. The larger red ones ($2 also at Home Depot) that can pinch 2-4 layers of blankets for where blankets will overlap.
How many blankets and clamps you'll need depends on the size of your tent. You can cover a small tent in 2 blankets and maybe 6 clamps. My large tent shown in the pictures will eventually have 4 blankets, 6 large clamps and 8 small clamps.
I would suggest that you make a guess as to how many clamps and blankets you need and then simply keep your store receipt so you can return any blankets/clamps that you don't end up using.
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1) Could the blankets be cut up and sewn into the shape of the tent?
2) Are the blankets highly durable, esp. in BR Desert's high winds?
3) Are the blankets more silver than gray? Some burners are quick to point out that tarps aren't really silver, they're gray. And as such are not the best reflectors of light, which turns to heat. I'm hoping these blankets are truly silver. (I've even read that gold color reflects light even better, and that NASA uses gold--real gold--rather than anything silver.)
For packing light and avoiding a separate shade structure over your tent--like yo did--I'm sold on the concept of making your tent reflective, and even better, insulated too. I've seen another concept which I like too:
Go here (hoping outside links are permitted):
www.flickr.com/photos/jdp0rter/sets/72157601392305368/
Or Google this: "Burning Man 2006 - Tent Insulation Project - a set on Flickr"
Ideally, I'd like a sort of silver, insulated "sun fly" that covers the tent underneath, and yet leaves a bit of space for air flow. I keep reading that air flow is important, and that a tent-inside-another-tent turns the inside into an oven.
The other thing is I want the sun fly hold up to the winds and be able to take advantage of the original tent's pole structure, thereby decreasing the materials needed.
But sewing some sort of sun fly seems complicated, and I don't know if I could make one that would hold up under the high winds. I've even tried to figure out how to make a fly with insulated, reflective material sewn and/or glued to it. So far, I haven't come up with any great ideas yet.
A net over the blankets is another idea I've been trying to sort out, but I can't think of a good way to do that either.
I had a shade structure over my tent at my last burn, but the seams between the tarps really let the sun cook my tent in a hurry.
http://weatherfoam.com/
What I would do in this case is to cover all parts of the tent, so you don't have some areas that are leaking heat. You might also consider how to fashion a blanket over your door.
Please do let me know how effective it is!
So you just made it possible for me to sleep about 4 hours more per day what made it possible to survive 4 days feeling fine just like when i was 18 years old. Thank you so much!