Best Camping Fan

Few things sound as pleasant during the summer months as a night of sleeping under the stars. Unfortunately, Mother Nature could have other plans in mind and you end up soaking wet if a rainstorm strikes during the night and have no shelter. 

That’s why most of us end up pitching a tent with a protective rainfly - not quite as romantic, but it will keep you dry. Tents have their downsides though, mainly that they have poor ventilation and can get quite hot if you’re camping in warmer temperatures. 

Fortunately, there’s an economical solution to this problem– just add a fan to your tent! There are a number of models specially designed for this purpose and they’ll help you to get a much better night’s sleep. These are some of the best camping fans on the market right now.

One of the biggest discomforts involved with camping is extreme temperatures. It’s fairly easy to combat cold weather with a warmer sleeper bag, thicker ground pad, and insulating clothing. Hot weather is a different story though.

Nylon tents trap hot air along with the moisture from your breath to create a disgustingly warm and humid environment. One way to combat this problem is to leave the rain fly off, which is like sleeping under a glorified mosquito net. No privacy and no protection from the rain should it pour during the night.

Another option is to add a tent air conditioner, which can drastically lower the temperature and humidity inside the tent. However, they require a lot of power and thus need to be plugged into grid-supplied electricity. 

A third way to keep cool is to add a fan. This won’t actually lower the temperature of the air inside your tent, but through the evaporative cooling properties of sweat, will make you feel like it’s less hot. 

Additionally, camping fans increase air circulation, which will prevent your tent from feeling so stuffy and makes it easier to sleep.

Standing camping fans are the most common mounting option available for camping fans. Most models come equipped with a small stand that can be propped up on picnic tables or the floor of your tent. Don’t expect them to oscillate like the fan you have at home though.

These are a bit less common and they have some limitations – your tent poles need to be able to hold up the weight of the fan. This not only precludes larger fans that can move more air, but also prevents you from using it with ultralight tents.

The simplest and most versatile method for powering a camping fan is good old-fashioned batteries. You can pick up a set of them at even the smallest backcountry stores and with careful planning you should never run out of juice. 

The downside to batteries is that they’re expensive and they don’t last that long. Running the fan for just one night could go through a set, which adds up on a weeklong camping trip. That’s to say nothing of the environmental costs of using disposable batteries.

Many campers buy rechargeable batteries for their fans, which cuts down on costs so long as you have a way to charge them, which may not be possible in the backcountry. They’re also more expensive than their disposable cousins, but if you use and charge them frequently, they’re well worth the higher price tag.

USB powered fans are a popular option since many of us already have portable USB power banks lying around. Depending on the model you have, these banks store considerably more juice than a set of AAs, making them one of the best options for fans that draw a hefty current.

You won’t find that many camping fans that run off solar, but there are a few and they’re a very environmentally friendly option if you’re camping in sunny conditions. It can take a long time to charge the internal battery though, and once the sun goes down you won’t have access to any more electricity. 

If you do most of your camping at RV parks or campgrounds with electrical outlets, it might be worth it to find a fan that plugs in. Fans running on grid electricity can be much larger and have a far greater cooling capacity.

Plastic blades are the most common ones used in camping fans. They’re lightweight but strong enough to have a respectable cooling capacity. To prevent them from getting broken, most have a durable cage surrounding them.

If you need some serious air movement, metal is the only way to go. Not only are they incredibly durable, but also they can run at the highest speeds to move lots of air. They are heavier though, making them uncommon in camping fans.

As you might already expect, foam blades are not the best at moving a lot of air. They’re flimsy and have to run at lower speeds to prevent them from deforming. However, they are the most lightweight of any fan blades.

Many campers find the noise of a fan to be akin to a white noise generator, which can help them fall asleep. Others hate having mechanical sounds intruding upon their pristine wilderness experience. It’s all a matter of preference. 

If you’d rather have something quieter, look for fans with plastic blades and smaller diameters. These should rattle less and have less noise from buffeting air.

This is a highly subjective question and depends on how you’re transporting gear. Most camping fan users are only lugging their gear a dozen or so feet, from the car to somewhere near the campfire, making weight a non-issue.

However, nobody wants to lug a full-sized box fan around the campsite, so you’ll find that most camping fans weigh somewhere between one half and two pounds. Many of them could easily be held in your hand if there was nothing to set it on or hang it from.

The one major issue with weight comes when you need to hang your camping fan. Most tents are not designed to have any more than a few ounces hanging from their center point without the poles buckling. If you’re going to get a heavier fan, make sure your tent can support it first (look for the max load on your tent’s gear canopy).

This is easily my biggest issue with camping fans; most of them have an incredibly short battery life - it just goes with the territory of being lightweight. Most fans will run for less than eight hours on their highest setting, not even allowing for a whole night of sleep.

For most campers, I would suggest getting the fan with the largest battery that you can comfortably cart around. An even better idea though is to find one that will charge off an external power bank. This way you’ll have the flexibility of a large battery, but you don’t need to carry it with you when it’s not needed on a trip.

By and large camping fans are not particularly durable and it’s primarily a function of them being lightweight. Plastic blades and a plastic housing do not make for a durable product compared to the beefy box fan you might use at home.  

Again, you’ll have to decide for yourself what kind of tradeoff you’re willing to make – should you get something heavier that will last a long time or a lightweight fan that you’ll have an easier time schlepping around?

If you want your fan to last more than a season or two, I highly suggest getting one with a thick plastic housing and metal blades. 

Only you can decide which camping fan is right for your needs, but for most people, I would suggest the COMLIFE fan as it’s portable, can be hung or stand on its own, and charges via USB. Most users will be satisfied with a fan like this because it can be used in so many situations: in a tent, mounted on a picnic table, or even on the trail.

The fact that it charges via USB and can be recharged with a power bank offsets its biggest problem – short battery life. As long as you’ve got a decent sized power bank, the fan’s small battery pack won’t be a problem and it prevents the unit from becoming overly bulky.

However, if you know that you’ll be camping in hot conditions or you have a larger tent, the Geek Aire High Velocity fan might be your best option. It’s the only fan on this list with metal blades and as a result, the only one that can move a lot of air. 

It’s quite heavy though and is really only suitable for more luxurious camping trips – the kind where you set up tables and have a legit kitchen. It doesn’t feel very portable compared to some of the other camping fans that were reviewed.

Ultimately the best camping fan is the one that you actually bring; think realistically about what you’re willing to pack and how much a fan would improve your next wilderness experience.