Tarp over tent - warmer?

It probably depends on how long you intend to stay at each place, Russell.

It can get windy in Central Australia during Winter (as well as bloody cold!).

If you're only staying over night then it may not be worth the trouble of setting up the tarp. Even if you were staying longer you'd only use the tarp (IMHO) if you needed some extra shade as well.

George_M

In my experiance...most of the cold comes up from the ground. Insulate yourself against the cold floor of the tent. Rubber camping mattresses and a quilt underneath is the way to go.

Fab.

i am currently staying in a caravan park in ayr..qld..with a large amount of back packers..most have dome shape tents..80% of them have a tarp over them

Russell P1,
We have just returned from Lake Eyre using our 30 second tent and yes it was very cold but we used for the first time camp stretchers and thermo rest mattresses. No fly or tarp but we found a gas light very effective to warm the tent and dry the condensation but leave one of the top vents open and you will be fine with a good down sleeping bag,
Regards
TTD1

Tent's fine as is. Get yourself off the ground i.e. stretchers, and get some insulation. We use jumbo stretchers with self inflating matresses and sleeping bags. Quite often a bit too warm regardless of outside temp.

I used to have zip together sleeping bags with a warmer. She will not come with me any more. Sad really!

Those 30 second tents are fine, I used one out Lithgow way on the weekend plus did the Simpson with one as well. As others have said insulate yourself from the ground.
The worst thing to use is blow up mattresses as the cold passes straight through them, ditched them after first trip, the self inflating ones with the foam core work fine, have not tried the stretcher bed option though.

The tarp will help if it creates a layer of insulating air around the inner tent cavity. If wind or even a light breeze disrupts the insulating layer it won't keep you warmer. The reason a down sleeping bag works is because the down traps a layer of insulating air around you. I'm not so sure about the concept of cold rising up out of the ground. i reckon the warmth inside the tent (your.body) can be raditaed, conducted or convected away. Some types of bedding facilitate heat loss into the ground- my guess would be that is mostly by conduction.
Maybe a reflective tarp could reduce radiated heat loss (like a 'space' blanket).

A few sheets of old newspaper under the mattress make a big difference to the warmth of a bed....stops the cold from coming up

Try and get a piece of Air-cell insulation. It's only about 1cm thick and will roll up like a mat. It has a R2.5 rating and provides an insulating barrier between your mattress and the ground. I have it permanantly in the swag and it does work a treat, not that the swag gets a lot of use nowadays.
On the Tvan, we have a piece of Tourneau cover material made to fit over the canvas roof. Apart from keeping the cocky crap off the roof, it does keep the frost off as well. It just zips onto the lift up lid. The material can be hosed clean very easily.

Thanks all for the replies and advice. As far as mattresses go, we have always used an air bed and have generally had no problem with that, by sleeping ON a doubled up quilt, in thermals, with a quilt and blanket over the top. Always been warm enough. But I think this trip will be one of the colder ones.

But this time around, I got sick of supposedly brand new air mattresses leaking straight out of the bag. Returned two and spat the dummy. Bought a self inflating mat, 100mm thick and I think I will be converted very quickly. They are a lot more comfortable than I thought, and this is before it has fully and properly expanded (needs a few days use apparently to reach full potential)

As for the tarp idea, well I have a small one, roughly same size as the roof tent. I will try it out anyway and let you know how it works. It can't make it any colder, thats for certain anyway...

So for good or bad, we are off tomorrow morning for a long squirt to Caiguna, then a shorter one to Ceduna, then we can relax and take it nice and easy up the Googs Track and beyond.

I think my favourite toy this trip will be my new cordless 18v chain saw....

Cheers and cheerio.