Gstove heat and view in an AO igloo

jhm2023

WKR
Joined
Jan 2, 2018
Messages
614
Location
Delta Junction, AK.
My wife and I have always hunted together since we started dating. So naturally when our daughter was born we were not going to stop hunting together. We did however need to start thinking of ways to make camping and hunting trips more feasible with a newborn. That prompted us to purchase an Arctic Oven Igloo. We have always run propane heat, either a buddy heater or a Nuway stove. They have their uses but we wanted something more sustainable on longer trips as well as really cold temps. I started searching the interwebs and reading tons of reviews on various stoves and decided on the Gstove heat and view. It is somewhat similar in price point as the Kni Co. stoves I have used and are sold locally, but the Kni Co. stoves left some to be desired. The Gstoves are made in Norway and I placed my order through gstove-usa.com which is actually out of Canada.

Initial thoughts on the Gstove are impressive. It was very well packaged and every piece seemed perfectly crafted and had very clean welds. I opted to add the spark arrestor since we will be burning a fair amount of spruce, as well as the airflow controller to add efficiency. I also ordered a spare glass insert for the door just in case.

The first burn was without the tent to burn off an residue left by manufacturing and shipping so it didn't stink up the tent. It performed great, is very easy to get going and easy to dial in just where you want it between the damper on the door and the airflow controller. The cooling racks stay cool allowing to dry gloves and warm up cold wood.

A few days later we setup the tent with a temp of 0°F and got the stove going with some small splits off bettle killed spruce cut to 14 inches. I placed as much wood as I could fit on top of the grate through the adequately sized door opening and shoved a few crumpled pieces of newspaper under the grate. Simply lighting the paper and closing the door with both door and pipe dampers open was all it took to get the stove going. In a matter of minutes I had to start working the dampers to dial it back. In roughly 10 minutes I closed both dampers about 90%, started a timer and placed a thermometer at waist height. I realistically expected about an hour and a half of burn time, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the stove still half full of hot coals at the 1.5 hour mark. At 2 hours the coals needed to be stirred and it was 52° at waist level. At 2.5 hours it was still 48° and about 85-90% of the coals were now gone. I stirred the remaining coals and opened the dampers to halfway which lasted about 20 more minutes before needing to be loaded with more wood. I expect even better performance from Birch but I had already burned through my stock of dry Birch in the house woodstove.

It's worth noting the Arctic Oven is an impressively efficient tent to keep warm and through this brief test I kept the vestibule open with 10-15mph winds.

The whole family is impressed with the stove to include the dogs (especially the shorthair) and I expect a lifetime of use from it. We will be putting it through more testing later this month when we snowmachine into the mountains in search of some early spring grizz.

I hope someone in search of a tent and/or stove finds this helpful.
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Joined
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VA
Cool deal!
Thanks for the review and pics.

Are you glad you purchased the extra glass or does it seem like it won't be an issue?
 
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jhm2023

jhm2023

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Joined
Jan 2, 2018
Messages
614
Location
Delta Junction, AK.
Looking at the quality and durability of the stove it's likely I'll never need the spare glass. That said, I got is as a just in case because stuff happens and I don't want to have a trip ruined because of a mishap.

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I hear ya. I would likely do the same but it's good to know you are happy and think the original will last.
Thanks for the reply.
 
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
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7,390
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Chugiak, Alaska
That's a great looking set up you got there. A couple questions, what is the wt. on that stove and how well does it pack down? Also, what was it about the Kni Co stove that you don't really like and did you have a second stove jack installed in the AO?
 
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jhm2023

jhm2023

WKR
Joined
Jan 2, 2018
Messages
614
Location
Delta Junction, AK.
They advertise the weight as 20 lbs though I haven't weighed it. The pipes are non-nesting but they all fit inside the stove along with the airflow controller and the ash scraper. The spark arrestor does not though. I'll likely get an action packer for it soni cam store some accessories and a few wood cutting tools anyway.

A few dislikes about the Kni Co. though fairly minor are it being carbon steel so it rusts fairly easy after it's been fired. The spark arrestor is terrible and I had one clog up while sleeping which we woke up to choking on thick smoke in the tent and had to evacuate at -25°. That was no fun at all. The spot welded construction vs fully welded was another thing for me though it never caused any issues at all.

Some pluses for the Gstove over the Kni Co. least based on my preference was fully welded and all stainless, a little better design on the door and door damper, available accessories to include a better water tank and a pipe oven (who doesn't like fresh baked goods while winter camping). I also prefer pipes that do not nest as they keep the hands cleaner and you don't have to fight them apart like nesting pipes sometimes do. The warming/drying racks on the gstove can be folded together and act as carry handles if you need to pack quickly and remove a hot stove from the tent for whatever reason without burning yourself or risk spilling hot coals. The door on the gstove is removable to make it easier to dump ash or coals too.

Really just minor things and just personal preference between the two. When I get off work and pack the stove up I'll take a picture of how it looks packed. I didn't add a new stove jack, just used the standard one. I believe they sell a reducer to accommodate a smaller pipe but I'm not certain.

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jhm2023

jhm2023

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Joined
Jan 2, 2018
Messages
614
Location
Delta Junction, AK.
Here it is packed. The spark arrestor and airflow controller were add on accessories and only one will fit inside the stove.
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