BOSTON4RUNNER

I hae thought of a dual battery set up and then run one of those small auto axillary heaters, set up a drop to separate the back seat area from the front

load up with blankets and a significant other and u would be set

Fahrenheit 451

My sister swears up and down we come from viking stock which may be true as my great-grandma came to the US in her late teens after having served as a handmaiden to the Queen of Denmark. Dane, Norwegian, Swede, whatever, I think I speak for all Scandis when I say the best thing to keep a little viking warm, is a big viking
Try this one out on the slopes: "føre varme til mine 4løper og jeg lar De kjæle for min beagle" hehehe....sorry having too much fun with a translater site...
"Nacko" thought that once in the US the only language to speak was english so nothing got passed on. Too bad. Now I'm stuck playing "tale norsk i 3 lette leksjoner" on the internet.
Digression aside, I think everybody has had some really good ideas. I've spent many cold nights in my '85 4Runner and my main suggestion is having a thick well insulated bottom layer to sleep on. You can have all sorts of fancy gear with "high pile" or "fluffy fill" but once it is compressed by your body weight it is basically useless. Figure out something that will put some real distance between you and the sheetmetal in the bed of the truck. Even a crappy old futon mattress will do wonders. My wife and I decided to be fogeys on one trip and threw an old futon in the back of the truck. Ah! Truck camping bliss!
Tents are only warmer for two reasons; one,the ground (even cold ground) acts as an insulating layer and two, YOU heat the tent and it is a somewhat small contained area. A good 4 season tent with the fly installed will, to some degree, help contain your heat loss to the area immediately around you. I would only be slightly joking to suggest throwing up a tent inside your 4Runner. It would help contain your heat loss. Lots of glass in a 4Runner which helps make them into something of a see-through refrigerator. A bivvy sack (essentially a tiny tent) would help keep you warm merely by slowing down your heat loss into the larger area of the inside of the truck. The bivvy sack would be the tent; the 4Runner would be the fly.
Lastly, make sure the truck is in good cold weather running condition. Worst case scenario, fire up the truck and turn on the heater. Have fun on the slopes little viking.

ianshoots

Groovy. My grandfather came from Denmark when he was 18 to dig ditches (back when people dug ditches by hand)-too many kids, not enough dairy farm to go around.

And on an even bigger tangent, if you're into the whole scandanavian/viking thing; I spent the last 4 months working with one Eggle(correct spelling I have no idea) Eggilsson of Iceland. Apparentl he's either the 13th or 17th (I forget, but if you knwo the legen you'll know where he should fall in the line) descendent of the original.

Oh yeah, if I wear my helmet with the horns on it I stay way warmer, or at least I don't feel the cold

bubbamango

eat a lot of chili. that should keep you plenty warm. just try not to offend surrounding others.

glenyoshida

Anyone have any actual experience with an electric blanket? I found one almost big enough to cover the cargo area with the seats down and already set up to run on 12V. It draws about 80 Watts. Seems like it would work well to heat up the bed before going to sleep. It'll be off a second battery and run for less than two hours. My blanket at home is a bigger one. It draws about 120 watts and can get so warm that it's actually hot.

Hoopster

I don't really think you need a heat source at all. I've camped in 15 degree weather in a tent before. Use a GOOD sleeping bag. I think mine is 10 or 20 degree. Wear something on your head, and have a blanket to cover your head and body outside the sleeping bag. A few more blankets over or under you and a beagle beside and you'll be fine in the 4runner. Just remember you're water may freeze if it's cold enough. I had to sleep with my water bottle in the sleeping bag at my feet!

toy_tek

old thread acknowledgement...

Once I tried running my Honda EU2000 generator powering a small space heater. Worked ok, but even a quiet generator in the boonies sounds like a jackhammer.

This saved me the next night: http://headsokz.com/ , along with my cheapie 20deg bag on my Thermarest in the back of the truck. I was happy. Girlfriend, not so much...

jjrgr21

i got one from cabelas, it works awesome. but get a better stuff sack.

jjrgr21

the one i have is 48 watts max

its on a timer 30 and 45 minutes with a reset.

it goes on for 30 off for 30, or 45 & 45, i fell asleep with it on for about 7 hours and my truck started right up



http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...tric%20blanket

davenjai

People have heated their homes with kerosene for decades.

Fo-runna

I've done a 15-20 degree night or two in the back of the runner. I got a 20ish degree sleeping bag from Dicks Sporting Goods and a foam pad. I kept the long johns on and slept fine. Removing the seat cushions allows me to stretch all the way out.. I'm 6'.
But you know if it's 90 degrees out all night you are gonna be hot no matter what you do; atleast you can do something about the cold!

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

this thread really is from the stone age, but anyway...
as mentioned previously a quality sleeping bag is a must just remember that because it says that it is (for example) rated to 0* that does not mean you will be toasty warm at 0*, that is the extreme end of the rating. I spent 4 winters in Alaska with the Army, all this talk of electric blankets for your truck cracks me up. Dress in layers, you loose 70% of your body heat through your head.
Just remember that you will have a lot of condensation in your truck when you wake up...

jjrgr21

well woop-de-doo, he's not talking about the army and even remotely roughing it
i was in the army too, and deployed to AK, and it was -30, and we were using the stupid 3-layer system then, and it SUCKED, i froze my friggin ass off. but we lived. now nice, easy, and comfy is the way to go.

Gerdo

The Nalgene trick with Boiling water works! A heavy sleeping bag and blankets are your best bet. YOU MUST KEEP A WINDOW OPEN OR YOU WILL DIE!!! Even in a tent you need to have fresh air. Even one person in a vehicle or tent can use up all of the oxygen causing sufication. The Zodi would work. A generator with a small electric heater would also work. (lock the generator to a tree. We call the Honda genis, a thousand dollar bill with a handle!) There are small heat blankets but thay are on a timer and shut off. There are also bed covers The one thing to keep in mind with the 12 volt electric pads and covers is that they USE ALOT of power. I would suggest a dedicated deep cycle battery to power it. Then there is the isue of acid, if you go with a Optima this is a non-issue. Charge it before and after the trip. If you use yout truck battery you may drain your battery and be stranded.

cackalak han

Just get some of these and throw them inside of your sleeping bag.

deserttoy84

4wheel parts has an electric blanket for like 25 bucks and it runs off 12v DC so you just plug it into your cig lighter.

eric-the-red

I'm surprised nobody suggested sharing a sleeping bag with her to keep warm

cackalak han

Several posts back, some dude already offered.

glenyoshida

FWIW I added in a second battery and have camped a several times, a couple of nights when it got below freezing at night, and the electric blanket was a luxury well worth adding. I threw a thermometer under the blankets and the last reading I took before crawling in bed was 87 °F. This would definitely make the difference of a girlfriend wanting to get into bed covered in bulky clothes vs well, nothing. Soo worth the money spent and the flak that I get from the more manly men than I.

stormin94

I've only really slept in the back of my 4Runner in 40+ degree temps. I've always wanted to go camping in the snow, but I think if I had the choice, I'd take a tent over the back of the Runner, since it gets a little cramped back there, even with one person. I can stretch out all the way if I sleep offset, meaning with my feet on the left corner, and my head on the right, and I'm 5'9". I would definitely take the back of the Runner over a tent if I'm in bear territory, or if I'm not feeling like pitching a tent. Most of all I'm just happy to have the option of sleeping in the back if I need to. It's also good if you've had a little too much to drink, just throw the keys on the roof, and sleep it off in the back. Responsibilty comes with owning a 4Runner.