Wall tent stove overnight burn

[MaraviaDave]

You’d be even happier if you used a Nu-Way stove, with a stove pipe, and a 20 pound tank.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Stoves and heat contain a lot of variability as well as surprises. From a western aspect, aspen would be the last choice of fuel at least in Montana. It doesn't dry well and even though I cut it I only burn it in waste piles. Lodgepole is typically available but burns hot and fast but is easy to light. Doug fir and larch burns slower and hotter but can be hard to to light. Hardwoods like oak bring a whole differant set of rules and options into the game. It just isn't an option in most of the west. Any of that would need to be prepared and seasoned.

Stoves to burn it in is a whole differant game. Backpacking, horse packing , truck camps provide many choices and limitations. I have lived in helicopter camps where we heated our tents with jet fuel. We learned to not turn the stoves down too far or they would hickup and fill the tent with greasy soot balls. We really didn't need the heat but after working every day in the rain in southeast Alaska, you kind of liked to start each day dry.

During the Korean war the army made very portable stoves with coal grates for longer burns and higher heat. They were reasonable, dependable and portable. However you had to be careful in turning them down in warmer weather. The stove pipes could plug when turned down too low providing you with hours of sooty entertainment in the middle of the night. We quit using coal in the early 80s when it was no longer possible to by lump coal to stoke the stoves for overnight heat. The finer crushed stoker coal tended to flow through the coal grates.

There are lots of options but you need to understand both the stove as well as the fuels. We have used propane to cook with but also packed in white gas for backup since we also used that for our lanterns.

For truck camping, propane heat is a pleasant option but you need to anticipate the volume you will need, refill potential and I would also consider a backup option for when crap happens.

If you are serious about this, I urge you to fully understand all available options and cover all possible failures.

 

[taskswap]

This. Aspen is barely better than grass. If it's all you can find to burn, I'd almost camp elsewhere before I tried to improve my stove setup.

 

[il_cop]

You’d be even happier if you used a Nu-Way stove, with a stove pipe, and a 20 pound tank.

I'm about done with my Davis tent wood burner...not for the stove but for the fact that all we have easy access to burn here in CO is aspen. We get 4 hours of mediocre heat, mac.


If you don't mind, in your experience, what size Nu-way and how much propane for a 16x14 would you recommend for 5 nights?

 

[go_deep]

I'm about done with my Davis tent wood burner...not for the stove but for the fact that all we have easy access to burn here in CO is aspen. We get 4 hours of mediocre heat, mac.


If you don't mind, in your experience, what size Nu-way and how much propane for a 16x14 would you recommend for 5 nights?

Not looking to talk you into staying with your wood stove, but if you drive lower in your hunt area is there oak or cottonwood? Or higher is there lodgepole?

 

[il_cop]

No worries at all. I do love the wood burner.

Yes we have some riparian areas with cottonwood, and certainly lodge pole up high, but we don't typically stay in either location. We're right where the spruce meets the aspen usually.

That said, there is also a logistics issue. With limited time, I find myself spending a disproportionate amount behind the chainsaw and maul on what would normally be scouting days.

I really dig that for long family hunts, but it would be nice to have an option when we're in and out in four or five days.

 

[taskswap]

Not looking to talk you into staying with your wood stove, but if you drive lower in your hunt area is there oak or cottonwood? Or higher is there lodgepole?

Frankly cottonwood is worse than aspen. The chart I used to use (Woody's) is offline now but if you look at other firewood charts that show "MBTU/hr" for different species, Cottonwood is 16.8 and Aspen is 18 (and that's not saying much for either because most oaks are 26+). https://worldforestindustries.com/forest-biofuel/firewood/firewood-btu-ratings/

Here in CO the best you can get is usually D-Fir (26.5) or Lodgepole/Ponderosa (~21). They actually burn really nicely but burn hot and fast like most pines so they don't last long. If you're lucky you can find some hemlock which is like 24, but they don't grow very big so they tend to be thin and it's hard to collect enough to make a good pile.

We've started using diesel heaters for tents-near-parking-areas. For packing-in type situations YMMV but I personally started just loading up on super heavy-weight sleeping bags. I spend a little longer running a camp fire to read and chit chat before bed so I go to bed warm, and don't bother with the stove, I just go to a -15 or better bag, down booties with toe warmers, and a down hood and I'm at least no less miserable than if I had to tend a stove every few hours all night. Who was it who first said "embrace the suck"?

 

[go_deep]

Frankly cottonwood is worse than aspen. The chart I used to use (Woody's) is offline now but if you look at other firewood charts that show "MBTU/hr" for different species, Cottonwood is 16.8 and Aspen is 18 (and that's not saying much for either because most oaks are 26+). https://worldforestindustries.com/forest-biofuel/firewood/firewood-btu-ratings/

Here in CO the best you can get is usually D-Fir (26.5) or Lodgepole/Ponderosa (~21). They actually burn really nicely but burn hot and fast like most pines so they don't last long. If you're lucky you can find some hemlock which is like 24, but they don't grow very big so they tend to be thin and it's hard to collect enough to make a good pile.

We've started using diesel heaters for tents-near-parking-areas. For packing-in type situations YMMV but I personally started just loading up on super heavy-weight sleeping bags. I spend a little longer running a camp fire to read and chit chat before bed so I go to bed warm, and don't bother with the stove, I just go to a -15 or better bag, down booties with toe warmers, and a down hood and I'm at least no less miserable than if I had to tend a stove every few hours all night. Who was it who first said "embrace the suck"?

Guess my experience with cottonwood and oak in the stove have been different, but maybe it's how I'm running the dampener on the stove or it's the stove itself.

 

[huntsman22]

Surprised no one mentioned a good grate and burning charcoal overnight......