Ok, this isn't a post about what kind of tent I would need for winter camping.

Most on the forum know that at this time, I'm unemployed, and can't afford a
new tent for winter camping so I have to make due with what I have.
What I have is a 2 season tent, that I'm going to try to use this winter.

I have a budget of about $0.00, but I have a couple of heavy duty tarps.
Right now, I'm thinking of putting one tarp under the tent, and using the other
as a kind of fly for the tent. Both tarps are big enough to do this.
As well, I have foam pads, and two of those air mattress type of pads for inside
the tent so I won't be sleeping directly on the floor of the tent.

My tent is a small hexagonal type dome tent. I have a rain fly, but don't
think it will help much.

The camping is going to be car camping so I don't have to worry about packing
the tent and tarps too far.

The question is what else would I do to winterize the tent?
Would I pack snow up against the side of the tent to help insulate it?
The tent stands only a couple of feet high, and is about 6 or 7 feet on
each of the six sides.

I also have a roll of 6 mil poly that I used for a vapor barrier when I
re-insulated my ceiling this summer. That could be used as well.

Any suggestions from the seasoned winter campers as to how I could set a camp
up for maximum warmth given the assets that I have?

Oh, camping conditions would be 3-4 feet of snow, fairly sheltered camping
area, temperatures in the 0F to -25F range.

Thanks
Cheers

If you use a vapor barrier on the top of the tent you will prevent it from breathing. This may cause considerable moisture (condensation)inside at night. I've used the poly paint covers that you get at Lowes etc. to pitch my tent on. I don't know if a tarp will give you any more insulation. A tarp above the tent should help prevent heat loss. Using a candle lantern inside can bring the temperature up. Rigging a tarp as a wind barrier also helps.

The general design of 2-season tents is that the mesh goes almost to the floor of the tent, with a rainfly that's held away from the mesh by a few inches, so there is lots of room for air to move through.

On a winter tent, the idea is to let much less air move through, but be able to have some air movement, to prevent condensation and frost. So, to best make your 2 season into a 4 season, you want to cut down on the air movement. To me, the simplest way to do this seems like cutting up that 6 mil poly so it fits over the large mesh openings, and turn them into small mesh openings. You could tape the plastic over the mesh, so it blocks most of the opening, but still leaves some space for air movement. You will likely have to play with this a bit, to find a good balance between keeping your warmed up air trapped in the tent, and letting enough air circulate to prevent condensation.


Another hint is to use a chimney effect to help air circulate - a small vent near the bottom of the tent, and another near the top, will allow warm, moist air to move out of the top, while cool air is drawn in through the bottom. You obviously don't want a lot of cool air to come in, but you want to let enough of the moist air out to prevent getting soaking wet from condensation. If you wake up in the middle of the night with a lot of condensation, peel away some of the plastic, to let more air flow, and that should help.


Good luck!

The two tarps that I have are quite large.
One is 50' X 50' and the other is about 25' X 25'

I wonder if it would be better if I set them up as a lean-to?
Using some logs and long cut poles, I can get up off the ground, and could set
one of the tarps up so that it had 3 sides and a roof, with the open side
facing a back reflected fire.

Something like this, only with a reflector behind the fire and a log bed to get
off the ground

DotD
I have used a summer tent while hunting. Last year at 100 mile it was -15.
The biggest problem was the wind.
I used a tarp to cover the tent and it worked. I have a -20 sleeping bag and I wear a hat when sleeping.
You can use a a lantern to warm up your tent for 15 or 20 minutes before you go to bed

This is what I was thinking about doing. My sleeping bag is good to about
0 degrees Celsius, but I have a large bivy bag that I can stuff it in to augment
it.

Thanks Coyote

DotD
I also have used wool blankets or a down comforter to supplement the sleeping bag.
I am a round guy that just can't stand mummy bags, I also can't wear touques to sleep. What I found that worked well to keep my head warm at night was a $15 hardhat liner. You can get them at Mark's

http://www.lawlorsafety.ca/products/head-protection/hard-hat-liners-10
Here are a few examples
My kids call mine my dork hat

Before going to sleep I always put on a pair of clean(fresh)socks on, wool preferably. That and a hat, previously mentioned will help to keep warm a lot.

Thanks guys.
I've got a wool balaclava like the first one in your link Coyote, and am pretty
comfortable wearing that.
Silverback, got lots of wool socks, and will be doing that.
I'm not too comfortable with mummy bags, but have a light one that I could
put inside my larger sleeping bag for added warmth if needed.

In the winter camping vein, there is a snow shelter contest going on over at
Bladeforums that I've decided to enter. You go and build an "all natural"
survival shelter, and spend the night in it.
Good test I think. I've already started on my shelter, will be finishing it
up either this week before Christmas, or next week, and am hoping to spend the
night in it next week sometime.

Cheers

You can fill a Nalgene bottle with boiling water, then put it in the bottom of your sleeping bag to keep warm.

Tarps are fine in any temp, essentially all tents are is tarps stitched together.

I spent MANY a night is 30-40 below or more in nothing but a tarp and ground sheet.

The key is insulate the ground under with spruce boughs at least foot or more thick.

String the tarp like a teepee with the centre strung up. Pin the sides down tight and seal with snow or logs.

Condensation will form and freeze, not a big deal to scrape off in the morning.

You need a large tarp to do the teeppee style setup but the key is limit the interior space to a minimum thus less airspace to heat up. A candle lantern does well to keep the chill out.

Keeping wind out 100% and ground insulation is the goal as it dont matter what your bag rating if those 2 arent taken care of.

Hound