Here is a traditional way of camping in Finland. (well, used to be. Now it´s a part of history.) Two half-tents or half-tiipiis with a logfire in between. Used by forrest workers for example.

Actually, a properly sized super shelter is amazingly warm even without a fire. I set up a very small one, just barely big enough for me and a backpack, and was quite surprised at how quickly it heated up from just bodyheat. Of course you must insulate yourself from the ground.

The super shelter is so good at holding a stable bubble of air around you that the fire is actually a (considerable) bonus, yet not mandatory.

Assume there's only one SS and a log wall behind the fire; how should the SS be oriented relative to the wind? TIA

BacPacJac

If you are not allowed campfires could you use one or two small, open grills using wood or charcoal to test BacPacBots super shelter? One of the other guys here could tell you ifthis is a viable idea.

I have often put two Super Shelters together and left just enough space between for a portable wood stove. This means you need a tarp to over both, plus the space in between and proper fire proof protection for where the stove pipe goes through the tarp. But it make a nice shelter. This work especially good if you can raise the bed off the ground.

If you can use a woods stove, then you could certainly heat it with a portable heater or even hanging gas lantern like we did in the army. These devices just do not work as well a good fire or a wood stove.

Make it with the prevailing wind blowing across the fire fire or parallel to the fire. The other option is to have it blow into the back of the shelter, i.e. the wind at your back instead of blowing into the the shelter front. If is it protected from smoke, it does not mean you want extra sparks blown into the front for no gain.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Tomorrow is the last day of school before the March Break, so I suspect we're going to have a trial camp-out if the weather breaks a little. It's still bitterly cold here. Brr! (Apologies to all of you in the rest of the deep freeze. I know. We're wimps. -30 with the wind isn't as bad as -30 before the wind.

The old oil lamps and charcoal are ready to go! Great suggestions!

Since a SS works by trapping infrared heat I wouldn't expect that a flame-less BBQ is going to work very well. Most of the IR heat will be radiated straight up. Conversely, an open fire with lots of flames will radiate a lot of IR sideways. If you only have one SS, then putting some type of reflector on the other side should help quite a bit.

Also, facing the shelter toward the sun (if available) should also provide a lot of IR heat, even without a fire.

We have a lot of wind here. How well does the SS stand up to wind?

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