7 Tent Camping in Hot Weather Tips: Staying Cool While Camping Hacks

Camping season is here!! Summer is one of my favorite times of year, in no small part because of all the opportunities to camp. But tent camping in hot weather can be, well, hot. (Thank you, Captain Obvious.) That doesn’t mean you have to suffer! I put together this post to show you how to stay cool while camping—and even how to cool a tent without electricity. (Yes, it’s possible!)

After all, the whole point of camping is to have fun. And sweating all night instead of sleeping is definitely not fun.

Try out one—or all!—of these camping in the heat hacks. I’m nearly positive you’ll learn something new by reading to the end.

Whenever you’re camping in hot weather, do yourself a favor and stay cool!

How to cool a tent without electricity

In my house, we’re pretty stingy about using the AC. When temperatures soar, though, we’re not opposed to cranking up the air—especially since we have two fluffy senior dogs who don’t do well in the heat.

It goes without saying, though, that we don’t do this while camping in hot weather. Many RVs have air conditioning, but we camp in a tent. That’s why we’ve worked out these ideas on how to cool a tent without electricity.

Sound too good to be true? It’s not! With these camping in the heat hacks, you’ll cool your tent without electricity—and make your hot weather camping much more comfortable.

Set up your tent in the shade

This tip sounds like a “duh” moment, but you’d be surprised by how many tents I see set up in the sun! That’s a big no-no for camping in hot weather.

Tents are basically greenhouses. You’re not trying to grow tropical plants, though! You want to keep your tent as cool as possible.

The very first step is to pick a shady spot. Find a tree and set up your tent in the shade, if possible.

TFF Travel Tip: Use a resource like CampsitePhotos.com when you book a site. You can choose one that offers shade.

If you have choices of trees, consider which way the sun will be moving. Afternoon sun is hotter than morning sun, so aim to set up your tent where it will be shaded after noon. This will be on the east side of a tree or other barrier.

Block the sun with a sun shade

This next camping in hot weather hack is so effective! Tie up a tarp or a reflective sun shade above your tent. This will block the sun’s rays from heating up your tent like an oven.

Tie corners of the tarp or sun shade to trees so the cover is a foot above the top of your tent. The space will ensure air can circulate between the tarp and your tent.

I recommend a long-lasting, UV-blocking sun shade like this one:

In fact, you should get two. Why? You can use one sun shade above your tent, then stretch out another to create a shady spot to hang out. It’s much nicer to eat at a picnic table that’s shady, and it helps with staying cool while camping!

Face your tent toward the breeze

You know when you’re watching pro golfers and they drop a pinch of grass in the air to see which way the wind is blowing? Channeling your inner PGA pro is optional, but follow their lead. Find out which way the breeze blows, then position your tent accordingly.

Not sure which way the wind is blowing? Use the grass trick, wet a finger with your tongue and hold it up to feel the breeze, or simply look at the weather app on your phone. It usually shows which way the wind is blowing.

You also might be camping in hot weather in a place where the wind typically goes in a given direction. This is especially common near bodies of water. The breeze usually blows inland off the ocean, and it’s common for wind to blow upriver in the afternoon (when weather is hottest).

Position your tent so the widest side with a mesh opening faces the breeze. That will get more air flow into your tent.

Use nature’s air conditioning for hot weather tent camping

You know from experience (or physics class) that hot air rises. You can use the same principle that keeps hot air balloons aloft to cool a tent without electricity or air conditioning.

Now that you’ve positioned your tent’s window, door or mesh wall toward the breeze, create another opening. Ideally this is a window, door or other mesh opening on the opposite side of the tent.

Open this window or door at the top, as high in the tent as you can.

This hack to cool a tent without electricity creates a vacuum or mini-wind tunnel. Cool air is blown in on one side. As the air heats, it is sucked out of the opposite opening.

Use this tip every time you go camping in hot weather!

Use ice + a fan while camping in hot weather

This hot weather tent camping tip does require batteries—but no electrical hookups. Start by buying a small battery-powered fan. I recommend one that’s small enough to easily fit in a tent but big enough to move a decent amount of air, like this one:

Depending on how long you’re camping, you’ll want to bring a small supply of batteries to power your fan.

Next, place a frozen ice pack or frozen jug of water in front and slightly below the fan. As the ice melts, the fan will blow cold air throughout the tent.

This camping in the heat hack has an important caveat, though. Make sure you have enough ice to keep your food cool. If not, obviously don’t take ice to cool a tent without electricity. Instead, you can do this same hack with a bucket of cold water (like from a nearby creek). I don’t recommend that for inside a tent, since it’s so easy to knock it over and soak the inside of your tent. You can do the cold water and fan trick while eating dinner, for example.

If you want to increase your chances of using this hack with ice from your cooler, make sure you read my post on how to properly pack a cooler.

Sleep on a cot

You know how you left a foot of space between the top of your tent and the sun shade? You can use the same air flow principles to sleep more comfortably while camping in hot weather.

Buy a lightweight cot to sleep on inside your tent. When you’re off the ground, air circulates below as well as above you. This keeps you cooler at night!

Some camping cots raise you just a few inches off the ground. That’s good enough to ensure you don’t sleep with a pine cone digging into your spine. It’s not enough for proper air circulation to cool you off, though.

That’s why I recommend a camping cot that keeps you higher off the ground, like this budget-friendly and reliable cot:

Now a cot won’t help you stay cool if you’re using a heavy-duty, freezing temperatures sleeping bag. You can buy hot weather sleeping bags or sleeping bag liners, but honestly you can just bring a sheet and sleep under that.

Remove the rain fly when camping in hot weather

If the weather forecast is dry—no thunderstorms on the horizon—take off your tent’s rain fly. Just as it keeps water out, it traps heat in. That’s not what you want when you’re camping in hot weather!

By taking off the rain fly, you’ll allow the hot air to escape through your tent’s mesh roof. And if you’ve set up a tent or sun shade, you’ll still be protected from any out-of-the-blue rain.

I’m dying to know: What other tips for hot weather tent camping can you offer? Let me know in the comments.

And don’t forget to pin this post for later!