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Tent Fan
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Home › Forums › Gear Forums › Gear (General) › Tent Fan
- This topic has 8 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 1 year, 10 months ago by Josh J.
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Jul 3, 2014 at 3:49 pm #1318610
I just returned from a short 2 day trip where the daytime temp was in the high 90s, incredibly humid, and it didn't get below 80 until after midnight. We picked a campsite as high and open as possible to get a breeze but the air was dead still. I was in m Notch with both sides open, but still no air movement. As I lay there dead tired in a sweatball in nothing but my underwear at 2am I would have killed for a small fan. I looked online and found a few hand fans with carabiners that with lithium batteries would come in under 5 ounces. In this case I could have saved the weight by leaving my 55 degree sleeping bad at home and carrying just a liner. My question is, has anyone carried a fan for those times where you backpack in very high temperature and humidity situations? What was your experience?
Jul 3, 2014 at 4:39 pm #2117206Sounds like the mid Atlantic Maryland and northern Virginia area – Hot, humid, and no breezes :)
I find that the bug netting on most tents stops all breezes. In hot, humid climates – a tarp much cooler at night. I do get 1-2 spider bites and 3-5 mosquito bites each night (sleeping in my boxers with a 100 wt fleece for the wee hours) – but it's worth it for the extra 3-4 hours of sleep. Also, note that Mosquitos seem most active at dinner time, dusk, and an hour or two into the night. Since this is before bed time, most people assume the Mosquitos will bite them all night if they sleep under a tarp. Not so. Try it and see :)
However, my wife is afraid of snakes, raccoons, foxes, etc that are roaming around at night. (even though none have ever bothered me while I'm sleeping). So when we hike together, we use a tent with mosquito netting (NOT no-see-um netting) which allows a little bit of breeze through the mesh, and dual side doors that open from the top so the netting is only closed for the bottom 18". The open doors make a huge difference, and are about 1/2 as breezy as a tarp.
Jul 6, 2014 at 8:38 pm #2117787Sounds like South Texas weather almost 10 months out of the year. Was out camping by the river with my kid a couple weeks ago, day high was 94 degrees, night was 82. We were in an REI passage with the MYOG fan in the gear loft. It wasn't perfect but bearable.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Super-easy-battery-powerd-computer-fan/
Jul 6, 2014 at 8:52 pm #2117795…
Jul 7, 2014 at 10:13 am #2117895Hammocks are cooler in weather that hot. Just beware skeeters biting your butt.
Jul 7, 2014 at 11:02 am #2117916AnonymousInactiveThey can bite through the nylon?!? (very, very little experience with hammocks, nor much reading about same).
Jul 7, 2014 at 2:02 pm #2117992I look back fondly at my youth in parts of the jungles of southeast asia where mosquitoes bites through leather boots. I don't miss them.
Jul 9, 2014 at 3:35 pm #2118540“My question is, has anyone carried a fan for those times where you backpack in very high temperature and humidity situations? What was your experience?”
Yep. In MD and MO. The fan was great! Even if a cloud came down and settled on your camp spot and tried to soak everything, inside the tent will be dry with that o-so-slight fan breeze. You do need some small ventilation cracks for it to work. My fan is 8oz and uses 1D cell. It would last me 3 nights. But if I want to go SUL, I just bear with the dampness.
-Barry
-May you not soak your bag
-The mountains were made for TevasMay 11, 2022 at 6:31 am #3749053Bumping to see if anyone has come across anything lately
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