Air conditioning a tent?

Looking for an idea to cool a tent when camping near the car in hot humid miserable conditions. I see there are some products on Amazon and elsewhere that claim to do the job. These contraptions look like they are mostly just a cooler full of ice and a battery powered fan. Anybody tried these things? Do they work? Any ideas?

(Yes, I know I'm a puss for wanting to air condition a tent and I'm probably gonna die)

This is a joke/troll, right?

Please tell me that it is a joke.

get a bug net tent and sleep in there in the summer...need air movement

Generator and high efficiency window AC could theoretically work. A quiet generator is quite expensive. If there's any way to camp at higher elevation and with wind and no rain fly it would be more ideal.

I think lack of insulation is a big hurdle and will feel more suffocating anyway.

Campin in style trying to get a lady friend in your tent? In a humid environment an evaporative cooler rig (ghetto or purchased) won't work because the air is already saturated with moisture. Air flow will be your best bet besides an air condition system.

If you have trees where you're camping, sleep in a hammock instead. You can add a bug net and/or a rain tarp if needed.

You could just slide an ice pack inside your panties?

When I was in the Army, and deployed to Haiti, we were in a camp across the street from the Air Force. They had air conditioned tents - pretty big units too. Still, it was the Air Force.

just get smallish box fan. Alternatively, quit being a pansy and try camping in the south one summer. 90+ degrees with 100% humidity isn't that bad, although you may need a little bit of chalk to actually climb.

If you have power, a portable refrigerative aircon unit would work. But they're heavy and big (out one for the living room is almost 40kg).

I've thought about ammonium nitrate and water (the ingredients in instant cold packs), but nowdays it'll be harder to get a hold of in bulk for cheap.

Bill Czajkowski wrote:When I was in the Army, and deployed to Haiti, we were in a camp across the street from the Air Force. They had air conditioned tents - pretty big units too. Still, it was the Air Force.

Yea, and those are 480VAC industrial AC units, and the FOB "tents" are designed to be used with AC units. The tents have insulation compartments that are supposed to seal tight to keep the cold in (they only seem to work about 20% of the time though).

Pet Cool: 46 lbs, $399
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Generator: 46 lbs, $999

When you said "the car", you meant YOUR car, right?

I'm just assuming here that the AC works on your rig. Maybe you could shack up there. Need help disowning an experiment to see how long you can idle or if a spare battery'll take you all night?

R. Moran wrote:You could just slide an ice pack inside your panties?

^The best response^

grog m wrote:Campin in style trying to get a lady friend in your tent?

Yeah pretty much.

grog m wrote: In a humid environment an evaporative cooler rig (ghetto or purchased) won't work because the air is already saturated with moisture. Air flow will be your best bet besides an air condition system.

I had my doubts about those things working. I guess ice in our panties, skip the rain fly, and battery powered fans are the answer.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

To be semi-serious..HA!

the O2 battery powered fans work pretty well,,2 D cells and 2 speeds. We used to use them in bug season in NH

A guy I knew made one of the ice filled cooler style ones and it worked pretty well in a dorm room. I say you should make your own for $30 and report back on how it works:
Ice chest AC unit

grog m wrote:
Campin in style trying to get a lady friend in your tent?

Superclimber wrote:
Yeah pretty much.

grog m wrote:
In a humid environment an evaporative cooler rig (ghetto or purchased) won't work because the air is already saturated with moisture. Air flow will be your best bet besides an air condition system.

Superclimber wrote:I had my doubts about those things working. I guess ice in our panties, skip the rain fly, and battery powered fans are the answer.

1. Move away from where it's hot, humid, and buggy.
2. Get a room or an RV.

Ryobi makes a nice two speed fan that runs on their rechargeable batteries. You can get a battery charger for recharging in your car too. The airflow makes hot and humid nights much better.

Look up "DIY swamp cooler". It's a pretty simple evaporative cooling system, very popular at Burning Man. Usually used in a much more insulated enclosure than a tent though (such as yurts made out of insulation panels).

Edit: I followed my own instructions and searched it myself. Apparently they are often used in tents too.

Swamp coolers are great....BUT they don't work in humid environments. In the dry states, such as CO, AZ, UT everyone has swamp coolers. Much cheaper and simpler than AC systems. Humid areas REQUIRE an air conditioner. Air conditioners require some sort refrigerant chemicals to operate successfully.