How To SURVIVE a REAL Canadian Winter in a Van or Rv!

I this episode we talk about how I survived a real Canadian winter experiencing multiple days of -40 and many other cold days and what I found to make life manageable at these temps

Hello, my names Kevin and I live full time in my truck camper! I enjoy recording my adventures of me traveling through beautiful scenery and snowboarding and mountain biking! Come along on my journey in this world as I chase my interests and try to live my happiest life I can!

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[TheAngryChimp]

I sure hope folks truly appreciate the value of this information. I couldn’t imagine working through -40C; that’s far too cold!! I’ve had the family camping in -10C, but even then we had the camper heat going with multiple electric heaters too.

[albertaadventures]

Hey just found your channel. I’m in Alberta as well and I’ve stayed in my bus in the cold winter with my diesel heater but I’ve also camped at work in my jeep in minus 47 with no heater lol. I’ve been able to make it work. It’s really cold here though hahahahah. Enjoyed the video.

[chiefenoch]

Best advice of all - Your rig has wheels, drive off to somewhere warmer! 😃

[blueman]

Cooool. Keep your mug frosty, and your keg above freezing. 👍👍

[cheylou]

We need this Kevin thanks because any day I feel the shit going to hit the fan, and as a senior, now camping not out of the picture!

[rvnut]

I could not agree with you more, warmer is better and why I am in Florida 🏝️ 😅.
Excellent video and very helpful tips. Thanks for sharing.

[paulc]

All diesel sold in Canada during the winter months is "Arctic Diesel" it has the antigel additives in it. No real need to add Prist.

[SpykersB]

Well 👍, u gave the winter a try, n ya did it! And good tips for anyone wondering what it would be like.
The older I get, the less my stamina I have for wanting to deal with freezing my arse off lol. So u summed it up for me "it sucks!" Lol. Now I did 2 winters in BC in my 5th wheel (sold it) n man the constant sogginess, the constant cloudiness, constant condensation issues, yeah I hated it.
I don't know how much diff it would be in my truck camper only being i hated it so much back then can't see me ever doing it again, period. (Oh it was the second year that everything became a problem in the muggy weather. First winter not so much an issue). 🍻

[genesisrodriguez]

Thank you brother. Very, I mean very valuable advice for anyone out there in the winter season. 👍🏻

[vitalherault]

Wood stove bro and custom rebuild of insulation and your set!

[elizabethash]

Definitely Ike your videos and your way of thinking things through, very practical and realistic. I am 60yrs old and could be your mum, but you seem great company and a good guy, your mum must be proud of you. 😊❤🎉

[MisterMediocrity-uugx]

The BEST way to survive a REAL Canadian Winter in a van or RV is to have that van or RV parked in Florida.

[valhightower]

I learned a lot. Thank you for a fascinating discussion.

[bobmonztr]

I moved off grid in 2023, bought a 28ft 5th, put a 600-gal tank under the hitch, 48kw battery bank under the rear and a grey water treatment under the slide, then enclosed and insulated with a vapour barrier and 2 layers of reflectix. In Jan with only 1 layer at -33c, +.7 under, 18c inside, using a 350w heater all day with 1 hour of the 1500w. It worked but heat was localized. This month I added another layer and put a 170w under rug heater in the under space, so far only the 170w as heat @ -5c for over 6 hours it was 18c under and 20c inside, 2 season trailer so the heat bleeds from below. When I had just the vapor barrier, I used 36kw a day for heat, 1 layer 9.1kw a day, and now with the final layer under 5kw a day so I could heat the place with an ecoflow and an extra pack. This could easily be adapted to mobile builds, If I had a truck camper, I would put it down on 2" insulation board and reflectix and fill any voids camper to box, then make an exterior reflectix sock for the whole camper, held by padded magnets, when you drive oragami the shell and put it inside. Then put the rug heater right on the floor. The rug buddy is safe, I slept on it no hot spots, you can even shampoo the carpet on top of it. Reflectix or Resisto use tuck tape repair tape, it all stayed stuck from -33c to +37c. Warning reflectix is not Uv resistant the silver layer pealed like gold leaf after 1000 hours of sun, but it handles snow and ice it just slid right off, I will be applying silicone roof sealant to protect it. So far heating a 28ft trailer for 170w is way better than I expected. Living off grid on 120V is so easy, exception is the 9kw LPG Gen ready to make 400kwh on a single tank if needed. 5kw back up.
If you have very limited sunlight buy a gen that can feed the maximum to the charge controller keep the charge time quick.

[cowboy]

Look up Truck house life. He squeezed a wood stove in a truck camper SMALLER then yours. It's saved his bacon several times. Those Chinese diesel heaters are unreliable, they soot up and the glow plugs fail. You should rebuild them once a year., one needs 2 back up plans for heat if your camping in Alaska like he does.

[taurusview]

Thank you - Thank you, and Thank you, very helpful as I am planning on cold weather camping and never done it before.

[jobe]

Thank you for letting me vicariously live in the cold, dry Alberta winter from hot humid Florida!

[jedarnold]

Hmm never thought about heating a propane tank with an oil pan heater. I may consider that. I usually just connect my camper to a 40lb in winter. That’s one thing that helps is bigger tanks. Another thing I’ve been told but haven’t tried is bigger hoses, a place in Minnesota will put larger hoses from tanks to regulator and replace regulator with one that has larger ports. I haven’t tested that one yet though.

[ag-omnr]

My coldest day in Canada, it was only -20 F ! Though the strong winds resulted in a wind chill that was the equivalent of -60 F ! No was walking that day, everyone was running !

[Linda-xbol]

Hi Kevin great video it sure very helpful for me❤❤❤❤ it’s giving me some things to get for my Rv home❤❤❤thanks for sharing ❤❤❤❤