Longest burning titanium stove?

[weekender7]

Which wood stove is the most air tight? That should be the one that burns the longest.

 

[sneaky]

Too many variables other than just air tight. What you put into it matters just as much or more. None of them are going to burn all night. None of them. If you are super lucky you may get two hours out of one. I use a Ruta Locura stove. It's airtight and has a big box, and i'm still lucky to get an hour and a half of burn. Sure, you may have a few flickering flames, or some coals... but the heat output drops quickly with any of them as soon as you stop feeding it.

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[530Chukar]

None of them are built to hold the heat. I’ve got the Lite Outdoors 18” and I can get 2-3 hours of burn time based on the wood. At that point there’s just enough embers to get the fire going again, by no means is it heating the tent for that long.


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[skaldugwas]

It has more to do with what you are burning rather what kind of stove. Larger chunks of wood will burn longer but not put off nearly as much heat as if you were only feeding it twigs that are about as thick as your thumb or smaller. As soon as these burn down to coals and you have less flame the temp inside your tent drops almost instantly.
I am thinking of rigging a space blanket inside my cimmaron to maximize heat in my cimmaron. With the fire blazing full blast my backside still gets chilled unless im in my sleeping bag.

 

[John Havard]

I have a custom-built 4-dog titanium wood stove for heating my 16-man Kifaru tipi. I’ve used it for several years now and it’s the cat’s ass. Absolutely air tight allowing it to be truly throttled down to a slow simmer. As others have said, the titanium body itself does not hold heat. But because it’s air tight you can actually slow down the burn and extend burn time. Having owned a couple of the collapsible wood stoves that are incapable of being air tight I can say with certainty the 4-dog burns under control instead of an air-fed full blast.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I have the lite outdoors 18" and if I'm just trying to keep the water cache thawed I get a good coal base going and then fill it full of thicker 1-2" sticks and close the door/front damper off completely. The air leakage past the door is enough to slowly burn off all that wood over quite a few hours (more than just 2-3hr) to output a little heat around the stove to keep the water thawed, by no means is it throwing out notable heat to warm the whole shelter though but I'm in my sleeping bag during this time.

 

[Kevin Dill]

I have a custom-built 4-dog titanium wood stove for heating my 16-man Kifaru tipi. I’ve used it for several years now and it’s the cat’s ass. Absolutely air tight allowing it to be truly throttled down to a slow simmer. As others have said, the titanium body itself does not hold heat. But because it’s air tight you can actually slow down the burn and extend burn time. Having owned a couple of the collapsible wood stoves that are incapable of being air tight I can say with certainty the 4-dog burns under control instead of an air-fed full blast.

I've drooled over the 4 Dog Ti stoves for years...absolutely the Range Rover of portable woodstoves. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of that kind of weight (11+ pounds) so I bring a Fiat instead of a Range Rover! It still gets me where I'm going.....lol.

 

[John Havard]

Kevin, for a man of your means you should definitely get the 4 Dog stove. All it costs is one more Cub flight!

 

[Kevin Dill]

lol John....I'm flying with a guy who has a "you, your gear and your food in one flight" policy and he's not the least bit willing to fly an extra gear run. But if that ever changes there might be a Range Rover going in!

 

[John Havard]

Kevin, man, that’s tough! Reminds me of the W. C. Fields quote when on safari they lost the corkscrew and were forced to survive for several days on nothing besides food and water. Abolish austerity!

 

[Kevin_t]

Burn time is mostly about
1. Wood size and type
2. Airflow and control
3. Air tightness

It is also important not to think maximum burn time means that amount of time between loads. That is more influenced by how hot or cold you want it.

For almost all of our stoves, it is not uncommon to have coals in the AM however the effective heat time is usually 30 min to 2 hours when the outside temp is below freezing. That number is mostly influenced by wood size, type, and temp. Certain woods, or as some people do Duraflame style logs can move that needle a lot (4 -6 hours effective heat) even in very cold temps. Oak moves the needle a fair amount, however most hunters in the west are using some sort of pine / aspen / birch. On the downside, burning hand broken twigs moves the burn time down a lot.

In rare instances, other conditions can create a much warmer tent (a couple inches of snow fall insulation).

Thanks
Kevin

 

[mfllood3800]

Not sure if youre talking wall tent stoves or floorless type smaller tipi shelters?
In smaller floorless, the stove isn't meant for all night warming- that's what the sleeping bag is for. The stove is for quick shots of heat at precise times.
Which burns longest? Don't know that there is a noticeable difference in small floorless type titanium stoves. Perhaps choice of wood is a better determining factor of burn time.

 

[John Havard]

Type of wood certainly makes a difference in burn times. But if the stove is not air tight any wood in the stove is burning flat out.

 

[Kevin Dill]

There are really only 3 factors which affect a stove's burn time....all other things being equal. (1) Size of the firebox, (2) Ability to control air and draft, (3) Type and quality of wood used. A bigger stove holds more fuel...pretty simple. Better quality hardwoods will burn the longest and provide the most btu. Being able to fully modulate air intake and overall draft is what allows one to slow down and extend the burn time.

I've yet to see one of the ultralight multi-piece stoves be completely airtight. For that to happen takes a combination of precise fit and gasketing. I personally gave up on extended burns a long time ago. I'm talking about extended burns which yield true heat and keep the interior warm for hours. It's one thing to have coals 3 or 4 hours later....another to have a warm tipi at 2 am after loading the stove at 10 pm. I tend my stove while it's burning and then give it a good final load before hitting the sack. An hour later I'm asleep in a 0-degree down bag and the stove is irrelevant. But that's just me and my ways.

 

[nrh6.7]

I've yet to see one of the ultralight multi-piece stoves be completely airtight...

Kevin, I am looking at getting a WiFi for next year and am curious about the airflow control. Do you feel there is enough control to avoid a super hot burn or do you have to control the heat by the amount of wood being burned? Just seems to me that the open holes wouldn't offer much control to dampen. Thanks.

 

[LaGriz]

weekender7,
The comments you have received on this post come from some very knowledgeable, seasoned veterans. I don't pretend to know what they have forgotten. These same guys influenced me to choose the models I have.

I find myself "stove rich" at this moment owning both a 4-Dog stove Titanium and a large Ti-goat Wi-Fi stove. The 4-dog (for my base camp) has a baffle that together with its air tight design should yield a good burn in a generous sized fire box. I'm wondering if installing a baffle in your Ti stove might get you a longer burn time too? The quality/type of wood being burned is of course critical. The smaller box type stove in a tipi or small floor-less shelter will always yield far less burn time. You are correct that the door on the Wi-Fi just kind of hangs there. I would be inclined to lean a rock against it before turning in for the night. I have thought the HPG Shepard Stove (equipped with a baffle) with its better door might be a good choice for a larger tipi. One might achieve longer burn times in a more portable option. Good luck with efforts.

LaGriz

 

[weekender7]

Thanks to all who replied. I bought the Lite Outdoors 18" cylinder stove and was very happy with the quality of the stove and its design. It seems relatively air tight, I am not sure I know how to improve that aspect on a very light weight, complete disassemble model backpack stove. After the first burn in to "set" the metal, the stove and pipe go together pretty easy. I got the baffle with the stove. I bought this one for backpacking and can see another possibly larger stove in my future for base camp.

 

[Pierrebuiltknives]

Four dogs Stoves are the best and seal up super tight.

The stove I made is super tight also. I had a burn for over 12 hours when chucked full and dampered down.

 

[weekender7]

Four dogs Stoves are the best and seal up super tight.

The stove I made is super tight also. I had a burn for over 12 hours when chucked full and dampered down.

That sounds like performance to me PBK.

 

[Pierrebuiltknives]

I've drooled over the 4 Dog Ti stoves for years...absolutely the Range Rover of portable woodstoves. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of that kind of weight (11+ pounds) so I bring a Fiat instead of a Range Rover! It still gets me where I'm going.....lol.

We went to the winter symposium in Minnesota. They had a raffle for 20$ piece and my buddy who already is a gear whore won a large titanium 4 dogs stove full kit. But ya it is about 12lbs