The age old question for winter camping is … do I sleep in a heated tent or my truck?

Truck Cap

• Resistant to heavy snow, ice, wind
• Doesn’t need to be dried out like the tent if it gets wet/snow covered
• No set up or take down time for the tent
• Truck cap can leak a bit in heavy rain
• Usually plenty warm once I’m under the covers
• Have access to the main power board so I can easily switch on and off lights
• I won’t bring the heater near the truck due to the fire risk. If I burn up a tent or sleeping bag, it’s not the end of the world, I have a hunting knife to cut the tent in an emergency.

Heated tent

• Even in quite cold weather, with wind, rain and temperatures in single digits, the heater can make it toasty in a few minutes inside — warm enough to strip down and sit above the covers, although at that point I usually turn down the heat
• Usually drier then the truck cap as the heat in the tent keeps the water evaporating off the top and sides of the tent, although sometimes snow can melt and pool in part of the tent
• Gets cold relatively quickly when the heater is turned off
• Can be drafty on a windy night, even with the heater on as wind blows under the fly
• Colder then the truck cap when I wake up in the middle of the night or in the morning, at least until I can spark up the heater
• If I want electricity in the tent, I have to run a power wire from the truck to the tent

The heated tent is definitely more comfortable in the winter then truck cap. But it’s a real pain if I have to take the tent home, wet and dry it out. Even setting up a tent for one night is a lot more work then the truck cap. For multi-day camping trips in the winter though, the tent is the winner.