Overland Route Lab

When people get cold in a car or tent, the first instinct is to heat the space: idle the engine, plug in something, or buy a little propane heater. That instinct is backwards. A car cabin loses heat through glass and metal almost as fast as you can add it, and every fuel-burning option brings carbon monoxide into a small, closed space. The approach that works is the opposite: heat the person, not the car. This guide ranks the safe ways to do that by how much warmth you get for the effort and money. From my own winter kit: on my coldest night so far, about 23°F (−5°C), the thing I most wished I'd brought was a handful of hand warmers. They've been in my car every winter since, alongside a jump starter. I also carry a kerosene heater, but it never runs inside a closed car or tent, and never while anyone is sleeping. More on that below. Four Heat Sources That Don't Burn Fuel Method Rough cost How long it helps Best for Better insulation underneath (th...

I spent four days tent camping at Canyon Campground in Yellowstone in June, traveling in my 2017 Acura RDX and sleeping in a 3–4 person ALPS Mountaineering dome tent on the tent pad. The weather was the part I wasn't ready for. This is what happened, what I'd do differently, and what you should know if you're planning to car camp at Canyon. My tent on its tent pad in Yellowstone. The Night the Hail Came What actually happened: hail came down hard, in short, heavy bursts like a rain shower. The tent got completely soaked. Water ran under the tent too, because I'd pitched it without thinking about where water would flow. When I checked the floor from inside, it was damp underneath. Looking back, the lesson wasn't about buying a different tent. It was about setup and having a backup plan: Read the ground before you pitch. Notice which way the pad slopes and where water would run in a downpour. Keep the footprint fully under the tent. If it sticks ...

"How cold is too cold?" sounds like it should have a number for an answer: 40°F, maybe 30°F. But two people can spend the same 25°F night in neighboring campsites, and one sleeps fine while the other is awake at 3 a.m. counting the hours to sunrise. The difference isn't toughness. It's the gap between the night's real low and what their gear can actually handle. So this guide skips the single number and shows you how to find your limit before you leave home. Where my own limit showed up: my coldest night so far was about 23°F (−5°C). I had a sleeping bag, but what I wished I'd packed most was a few hand warmers. That's what "too cold" usually looks like in practice: not an emergency, just a long, uncomfortable night that a small extra would have fixed. The Real Question: How Big Is Your Margin? Take your sleeping bag's comfort rating (not the number on the stuff sack; here's why ) and compare it with the campsite's expe...

"Don't drain your battery" is advice everyone has heard, but almost nobody explains how much is too much. Can you charge two phones overnight? Run a 12V cooler? Leave the dome light on while you set up the bed? This post skips the warnings and does the math. Once you see the numbers, it's obvious which habits are fine and which one quietly leaves you stuck at a trailhead. I've had a close call myself , and the cause was embarrassingly simple: I forgot to charge my jump starter before the trip. Mine was a combo unit: a jump starter with a built-in tire inflator. It wasn't perfect. Even fully charged, it would sometimes shut off partway through inflating a tire. Combo units are convenient, but both jobs run off one small battery, so don't assume it can handle everything on a single charge. Charge it the night before, and if you'll rely on the inflator, test it at home first. Your Battery's Real Budget: About 20–30 Amp-Hours A typical car s...

Most winter car kit lists are just a long list of nouns: blanket, shovel, flashlight. They're not wrong. But they don't tell you which items you'll actually reach for, or where in the car each one needs to be when that moment comes. This guide starts from the other direction. It looks at the three most common ways a winter road trip goes wrong, then works back to what you need for each. The full printable checklist is at the end. Scenario 1: You Slide Into a Snowbank This is the most common winter problem, and usually the least dangerous, as long as you can get yourself out. What you'll use: a compact shovel, sand or cat litter for traction, gloves, and an ice scraper. What helps most: clearing snow from in front of the drive wheels, then rocking the car gently between drive and reverse. Spinning the wheels hard usually digs you in deeper. Worth knowing: the floor mats from your own car can work as traction boards in a pinch. Scenario 2: The Car...

Here's a situation that catches a lot of first-time fall campers. The forecast says 34°F. You packed a bag with "20°" printed on the stuff sack. That's 14 degrees of margin, so you should be fine. Then you wake up at 4 a.m., curled into a ball, wearing your jacket inside the bag. Nothing was wrong with the bag. The problem was how the number was read. This post shows how to read a sleeping bag label the way a skeptic would, and how to turn a weather forecast into the rating you actually need. My own coldest night so far was about 23°F (−5°C). I did have a sleeping bag, but the thing I most wished I'd packed was a few hand warmers. Small extras like that matter a lot once you're near the edge of your bag's rating. The Three Ratings on the Label Bags tested to the ISO 23537 standard (formerly EN 13537) show up to three numbers. Here's what each one means in practice: Rating What the lab is measuring What it means at your campsite ...

Car camping is one of the easiest ways to travel with a dog. Your car carries the extra gear, and your dog gets to sleep beside you. But rules for pets vary a lot by park, and a few safety basics matter more than any piece of gear. How this guide was made: Pet rules summarized here come from the National Park Service's pet guidance. Each park sets its own rules , so always check the park's "Pets" page before you go. Full disclosure: I don't camp with a dog myself. So instead of stories, this guide sticks to what you can verify: park and campground pet rules, temperature safety, and a gear list built from those rules. If you camp with your dog, I'd genuinely like to hear what worked for you through the contact page. Pet Rules: What to Expect Place What's common National park campgrounds Pets often allowed in campgrounds and parking areas, on a leash no longer than 6 feet National park trails Many parks don't allow pets on m...

A slope you barely notice while parking becomes obvious the moment you lie down. You slide toward the door, blood rushes to your head, or you wake up wedged against the tailgate. The good news: a level bed takes about five minutes once you know what to check. How Much Slope Is Too Much? Most people sleep fine with a very slight tilt, as long as their head is higher than their feet . A sideways tilt (rolling toward a door) tends to be more annoying than a head-to-foot tilt. Many campers aim for no more than about 1–2 degrees side to side. Step 1: Check Level With Your Phone Most phones have a built-in level (on iPhone, in the Measure app; many Android phones have one, or use a free bubble level app). Place the phone flat on your sleeping surface , not the dashboard. The cargo floor is what matters. Check both directions: side to side and front to back . Step 2: Pick the Flattest Spot At campgrounds, pull forward, back, or angle the car within the parking pad b...

A campfire is the highlight of many camping trips, but it comes with rules that change by place and by day. Before you strike a match, there are three things to check: where your firewood comes from, whether fires are allowed today, and how you'll put the fire out completely . How this guide was made: Guidance here comes from the U.S. Forest Service, Smokey Bear's wildfire prevention program, the Don't Move Firewood campaign, and Leave No Trace. Local rules always come first. 1. Don't Move Firewood Firewood can carry invasive insects and diseases that kill trees, such as the emerald ash borer. Moving wood from home to a campground far away can spread them to new forests. Many states and parks restrict bringing in outside firewood. Buy it where you burn it: get firewood at or near the campground. Look for certified heat-treated firewood if you must buy it elsewhere and it's allowed. Don't take leftover wood home or to the next campground; lea...