Tent Stoves!!

[Grizzly_A]

I am in the market for a tent stove for deer/elk camp. We usually hunt above 5000ft elevation on the east side of the state. Freezing temps at night and morning are common. This is for a wall tent, primarily for heating, might do some cooking on it, but that would be down the list.

I figured that reviews from people across the nation aren't that great and sales pitches from vendors don't do it for me.

So I'm interested in what you have, why you like it, and where you got it. Price is secondary to a good unit.

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[Gunner69]

Grizzly,

The one that we have currently at my brothers place for use during Elk Season in the Pan Handle of Idaho is identical to this one...
<broken link removed>
But we built it our selves using an old air compressor tank... I can tell you that in a 12x16 Wall tent that it will burn you out if you leave the damper open too long..

 

[2506]

I hunt in similar conditions with a wall tent from Salem Tent & Awning. If it's just for heating, you don't necessarily need the biggest stove out there. I prefer the rectangle-shaped stove, as I find their easier to secure to a pack-animal. Round ones are fine, especially if you are motoring in. The only hard-and-fast rule I'd go by is get folding legs that are attached to the stove--look at Cabela's sheepherder packstove for an example. The last thing you want is only three legs for a four-legged stove.

 

[darkminstrel]

Grizzly,

The one that we have currently at my brothers place for use during Elk Season in the Pan Handle of Idaho is identical to this one...
<broken link removed>
But we built it our selves using an old air compressor tank... I can tell you that in a 12x16 Wall tent that it will burn you out if you leave the damper open too long..

I have the exact same unit and it'll heat up our 16x16 GP-Small in a half hour to the point that you're comfortable in summer clothes.

 

[RockKrawler]

I am using one of the Cylinder Stoves as well,it has the SS hot water tank as well as the warmer tray.
My wall tent is a 12X14 from Reliable Tent,i have the hunter model stove and if not carefull will roast us out of the tent.
RK

 

[Felt Lizard]

Tent Stoves & Tent Stove

I spent about an hour browsing around this site learning about tent stoves. The site has a lot of info.

 

[Grizzly_A]

Tent Stoves & Tent Stove

I spent about an hour browsing around this site learning about tent stoves. The site has a lot of info.

That site is good, it's where I started. But pictures and descriptions only get you so far. Real stoves in real tents in real conditions are most helpful to me.

2506 ~ Have you looked at the Sheepherder stove in person? It seems really small.

Most of my party, myself included don't want to get up at 2am to restock the stove, so capacity and burn time is important. That makes me think larger is better...but to a point. To that end I had been looking at the 5-dog/Wilderness, but those are the heavy big boys.

I can't speak to the design and warping. I heard the cylinder stoves were better to eliminate warping, but you sacrifice capacity. Anyone had experiences there?

Switching from trailer to tent has been a learning experience!

 

[Spitpatch]

Got mine from Canvas Cabins (wall tent maker, south of Hillsboro who also made my tent). My tent is 15x15, hunt Montana and Eastern Oregon. 20 years with this tent and stove, and everything works as new. Stove is rectangular, has options for water tank to hang on the side (for hot water) and/or or a warming shelf. warming shelf also beneath the firebox. Removable legs. All pipe and legs and shelves fit inside the fire box for transport.

Measures 24" x 16", Plywood box I built for transport measures 27.5" x 18.5"

It will do the two things necessary for any tent stove: run you out of the tent if you crank it up, and burn all night with no tending if you turn it down.

Here:

<broken link removed>

 

[Gunner3456]

That site is good, it's where I started. But pictures and descriptions only get you so far. Real stoves in real tents in real conditions are most helpful to me.

2506 ~ Have you looked at the Sheepherder stove in person? It seems really small.

Most of my party, myself included don't want to get up at 2am to restock the stove, so capacity and burn time is important. That makes me think larger is better...but to a point. To that end I had been looking at the 5-dog/Wilderness, but those are the heavy big boys.

I can't speak to the design and warping. I heard the cylinder stoves were better to eliminate warping, but you sacrifice capacity. Anyone had experiences there?

Switching from trailer to tent has been a learning experience!

Been a while since I did that, but we used to prefer to just let the lightweight sheepherder stove burn out at night, even at 20 below. We'd have all the fixin's to light it in the morning handy, and some brave soul would just fill and light it and hop back into the sack until the tent warmed up. Only took about 10 minutes with really dry wood and kindling and some starter sticks. Agree on the attached and hinged legs and the lightweight rectangle shape. Those stoves will run you right out of that tent even in really cold weather so we kept our fires small.

We made 3 trips in on 3 different weekends. First was to take the burros with the tent and stove and fixings, dry kindling and fire starter, and a couple of bales of straw for the floor. We then found dry wood and split it small and stacked it in the tent. Second weekend we took food, utensils, more straw for the floor, closed cell foam pads, chairs, etc. Third trip was to go hunting and we took our rifles etc. No one ever bothered our camp.

 

[2506]

That site is good, it's where I started. But pictures and descriptions only get you so far. Real stoves in real tents in real conditions are most helpful to me.

2506 ~ Have you looked at the Sheepherder stove in person? It seems really small.

Most of my party, myself included don't want to get up at 2am to restock the stove, so capacity and burn time is important. That makes me think larger is better...but to a point. To that end I had been looking at the 5-dog/Wilderness, but those are the heavy big boys.

I can't speak to the design and warping. I heard the cylinder stoves were better to eliminate warping, but you sacrifice capacity. Anyone had experiences there?

Switching from trailer to tent has been a learning experience!

Here's the actual manufacturer of the stove I bought:
Kni-Co Manufacturing Inc, Wood Burning Camp Stoves and Sheepherder Products
I have the Packer--all in, it's about 14 pounds and fits perfectly into a feed bag for storage. These things tend to get messy.
But for me, after years of using and being around many different stoves, is to get one with the legs firmly attached to the unit.

 

[Gunner3456]

Here's the actual manufacturer of the stove I bought:
Kni-Co Manufacturing Inc, Wood Burning Camp Stoves and Sheepherder Products
I have the Packer--all in, it's about 14 pounds and fits perfectly into a feed bag for storage. These things tend to get messy.
But for me, after years of using and being around many different stoves, is to get one with the legs firmly attached to the unit.

The only thing that bothers me there are the very short legs on the smaller stoves. We always packed in bales of straw to line the floor because of greatly added insulation, and the ability to absorb snow and mud. I'm going to guess that our lightweight sheet metal stove was about 1' wide and 1' tall and 2' deep, and the legs were at least 20" tall and attached and folded. We hunted in temps well below zero, and that stove would very quickly heat the 9x12 wall tent.

With the fixin's to start a new fire all laid out the night before, it only took two or three minutes to start the fire and maybe ten minutes to warm the tent back up to "liveable" - maybe 50 degrees, and not too much longer to get it really warm. We did use fire starter blocks and finely chopped dry pine to start the fire, and as that burned down we added larger chunks of hardwood or Larch. We kept our firewood in its own tent to keep it dry, and kept a couple of days' worth in the tent where it would get warmed and even drier.

 

[sailorman2010]

Hi, I've hunted for years out of Wall Tent, also in Eastern Washington in the higher elevations. We use two very different stoves depending on where we will be hunting. If we have to pack in a little ways we use our collapsible rectangle stove, which heats the tent just fine and we can cook off of it. This stove also has a little folding side table on it to keep stuff warm. The one draw back is that you have to get up one to two times a night to feed it. The stove looks a lot like the Canvas Cabin Tent stove posted above, its the smallest one.

The second stove we use was fab'd up by a family member, it weighs 70lbs, that's our stove for a drive in camp-no way we'd carry it in. This stove heats the whole tent and then some, it has an oven on one side and on top is a warming oven attached to the stack going outside. This has heated two Wall Tents butted up together for over two weeks and we maybe had to get up once a night to stoke it.

So, if you pack/walk in I would get a collapsible stove, but if you drive in to your camp, you might want to invest in a bigger heavier stove that two guys can muscle around. Both stoves we use are great and have had nothing but good experiences with them, but its up to what kind of camp it is and if you want to carry extra weight with a homemade stove. Hope it helped.

 

[2506]

Agreed. Driving in, I've used a tent stove that was heavier than a dead minister and took two guys to muscle around. Otherwise, we go in on horseback and need a light, packable stove. Also, a few years ago, I upgraded to a Vapex tent, rather than treated canvas. I would highly recommend that everyone make the change as well. It literally cuts the weight of the tent in half and it breathes much better compared to canvas.

 

[Gunner3456]

You girls who drive in don't count, LOL.

 

[biggun]

I would be curious to see the homemade version if you have pics and dimensions we are looking to build one and trying to find the best of all that we have found. We have some ideas but tried and true still work best, thankyou for any help you canb give.

Hi, I've hunted for years out of Wall Tent, also in Eastern Washington in the higher elevations. We use two very different stoves depending on where we will be hunting. If we have to pack in a little ways we use our collapsible rectangle stove, which heats the tent just fine and we can cook off of it. This stove also has a little folding side table on it to keep stuff warm. The one draw back is that you have to get up one to two times a night to feed it. The stove looks a lot like the Canvas Cabin Tent stove posted above, its the smallest one.

The second stove we use was fab'd up by a family member, it weighs 70lbs, that’s our stove for a drive in camp-no way we'd carry it in. This stove heats the whole tent and then some, it has an oven on one side and on top is a warming oven attached to the stack going outside. This has heated two Wall Tents butted up together for over two weeks and we maybe had to get up once a night to stoke it.

So, if you pack/walk in I would get a collapsible stove, but if you drive in to your camp, you might want to invest in a bigger heavier stove that two guys can muscle around. Both stoves we use are great and have had nothing but good experiences with them, but its up to what kind of camp it is and if you want to carry extra weight with a homemade stove. Hope it helped.

 

[OFADAN]

I really like the Four Dog stoves. Don who owns the company is an assistant wilderness instructor with Mors Korchanski and is considered by many experts as the man for designing and building stoves. He is often invited to lecture at various venues to share his knowledge and skill. He was at Woodsmoke all last week teaching folks how to build their own stoves. I've learned a ton from Don. He has a nice website with good info.