Small Tent Wood Stoves

[YosemiteSam]

I'm trying to convince myself (and thus, my wife) on the hot tent idea.  I'm curious if anybody has had much experience with the various small stoves for use in hot tents.  Are they worthwhile?  Or just something you pull out on occasion?  Is it a hassle to fuss with all the time or, assuming the wood is prepped, is it something you mostly sit back and enjoy?

In our area, we'd only have a use for it from late Oct - March.  It rarely gets much below 35 degrees in any place we'd be camping as a family and almost never below 25.  Our sleeping bags are plenty warm so this is mostly for evenings and mornings before we get moving for the day.  But, naturally, the wife and kids are more likely to come along if there are a few more comforts.

[Tucker]

IMO- wood stoves seem to function best in canvas tents.
Being warm and cozy is sure nice. Having dry clothes everyday is a real bonus.
I have one of the oval shaped air tight stoves for my yurt and like it. The top is also flat and easy to set the tea pot on it. My wife likes a hot cup of tea, a good book, and a lawn chair inside while I’m out hunting in the cold and wet weather.

[Tucker]

Oops... wood stove not installed in the above photo, but you can see the flap where it would go!

[wayne rollinson]

I made a stainless fire for my tent, it's marvelous, lovely warmth from it and great if i can camp near my vehicle. i would say to anyone wanting one for a tent to go for it,regards wayne

[Orion]

I use a wood stove in a canvas well tent during extended stays/hunting trips.  Seldom need it, but is very nice for drying out things and keeping them dry if it rains for a couple of days in succession.  Most stoves are of the size that you have to stoke them frequently.  About a half-hour is about all you'll get after the last stoking so it's not something that's going to keep the tent warm overnight.

Quarters are often a bit cramped in most tents so a hot stove may not be a good mix with young kids. 

[jess stuart]

Two or three dog stove.  I have the three dog model works great and very well made

[Ron LaClair]

I have one like this for my tent. They make them in all sizes, pick your stove by the size of your tent. Google "wood stoves for tents"

[kevsuperg]

I recently joined BHA as a life member and will be getting a seek outside tipi and stove from them as a thank you.
 Very excited to try hot tent hunting. It will be Nice to knock the chill off those September mountain mornings.

[Biathlonman]

I’ve got a small EdT titanium stove for my Kifaru Sawtooth.  I rarely use it because as you mentioned it’s a bit of a hassle to set up, gather wood and feed.  However, when the conditions are right for it it’s an absolute game changer.  I did a 10 day elk hunt where we had 30s freezing rain and snow for a few days in the middle.  Having the ability to fire up the stove and be toasty warm and dry is a real difference maker.  There also seems to be a great deal of difference being warm and crawling into a warm sleeping bag as opposed to everything being cold. 

Overall, I’m really glad it’s in my araenal of tent options, but in reality I only use it once every 5 years or so.

[Mike Orton]

You might want to check out https://www.snowtrekkertents.com/tent-stoves/  They have some scaled down stoves.  I'll be buying a complete outfit from those folks this summer.  I like the lighter weight of their products. 

I currently use a Davis Tent and a Cylinder stove, but that's a heavy outfit.

[YosemiteSam]

Admittedly, when looking at the cost and weight of some of these things, I'm hard pressed to figure out the advantage of a large tent with a stove over a used travel trailer.  The only horses I have are under the hood of my chevy so I'm either hauling it on my back or camping next to the pickup.  Of course, it's a lot easier to store a tent...

[Biathlonman]

My two man tent and wood stove go about 8 lbs. easy load when it’s a palace for 2 guys.

[Mike Orton]

Y'Sam, I can't speak for others but for my situation I'm set up with a quad and a quad trailer that is purposely built to fit within the parameters set forth by the US Forest service for use on their trails.  I can get back much farther with my Iron Horse than I can with my pickup.

Furthermore, my situation not withstanding, many folks will pack a small  stove and a large tent onto a string of horses.  I'd be inclined to do that but at present I'm not set up for the other 11 months to feed and water a string a hay burners.

[pavan]

I have a 3 dog for my Egyptian canvas EENA, I put a charcoal skid in mine that keeps it about 2.75" off of the bottom with bolts and washers.  Using charcoal on the bottom of the stove, it tends to smother itself with its own ash.  i prefer charcoal to wood, because it is a more even, longer lasting heat without the wild temperature variance that wood can have.  When i get up to pee at night I just throw a few charcoals on the heap and it will still be good in the morning. A large set of tongs for placing charcoals and a long handled flat scoop for removing ash, allows me to keep it going without the need of shutting it all down for clean up.

[jess stuart]

Pavan that's a great idea with the charcoal.  Is it just regular briquettes?

[pavan]

yes

[76Aggie]

Y'Sam, the hot tents have their place.  Most of my tent camping is done without the stove.  I have very lightweight titanium stoves with my Seek Outside tents.  I have a warm sleeping bag so my primary reason to have the stove is to dry clothing out when it gets damp or wet. the warmth in nice though.  Have been on tent hunts where it was virtually impossible to dry anything out that got wet.  With the stove, that is no longer an issue.

[pavan]

Also have small nylon tents for canoe trips and a larger Big Agnes nylon. I would not put a hot stove in the Big Agnes.  My favorite smaller tent is a 9 by 9 Egyptian canvas Baker tent with the front out, with side wings zips  on and the front with the stove  hole on it.  It makes a 9 by 14 that way with a nice front porch to hangout in.  It has been on numerous canoe trips where it can be set up as quick as anything else. The only drawback is that it fills a number three Duluth pack with a nice flat 40 pounds.  You gotta carry all of that stuff on canoe trips.  Any way, the Baker style tent can be dried and heated very easy with a small fire in front of it. The smoke goes up and away and the reflective heat rolls nicely through the tent.  The old candlepin a can can be a bit of a de-humdifier and warming device, but you need to be careful with those.  A couple from Kansas borrowed half a roll of my boat tape on a lake in Quetico, They managed to melt a hole through their rental wedge tent, with the Candle in a Can gizmo that they bought at Piragus.  On canoe trips my favorite heating devices are made of really smooth merino wool, socks, long johns and stocking cap.

[YosemiteSam]

Thanks for the replies.  Good stuff.  For late season hunting, I've been packing in solo deep down a coastal canyon.  It's rarely that cold but it does rain and the humidity is high.  But I don't know if I'd bother with the 4 lb of stove weight on my own -- especially if most of the wood on the ground is pretty wet by that time anyway.  Seems I can barely get much of a fire going down on the canyon floor by December when everything is soaked.  I'm sure I could find some drier stuff somewhere but there are only so many hours of daylight in December and I prefer to spend most of them hunting.

I've mostly seen it as something to use for camping with the kids and with the scouts in the winter time.  My oldest will be moving from cubs to boy scouts next year and they camp year-round.  Parents have a lot of free time on their hands at some of their events so somewhere comfortable to hang out sounded pretty nice.  A family member asked about how many trips I take with the kids each year.  I never really counted and it hit me that I'm out for overnight trips with the boys 6-7 times a year, plus a couple with my wife and several nights (8-12 per year) on my own for hunting, scouting, etc.  I realized I can certainly justify more comforts if I'm going to use them that much and possibly more in the near future.

Hunting-wise, it might come in handy in a few more years once the boys can hunt big game (minimum age of 12 here) AND help with the hauling.  But that would only be once a year at most.  Just weighing the options.

[degabe]

Why not a small propane stove?