A couple of things here - first I too have been able to dry clothing in a down bag. I am always amazed by how wet I can get my down bag and still have it work. Once I spent three straight days in the rain with just a bivy and the bag was SOAKED but it still worked - down bags do stop working when wet but they absorb a lot more water and still work than people generally believe.
All that said - once you've camped with a teepee and woodstove there is no going back. You can dry everything above the stove every day. Even the wet down bags. I don't need to dry my gear with body heat in the sleeping bag these days. I got a stove to do it for me.
Also the woodstove is really good for another reason that often slips under the radar. It means you don't have to eat freeze dried food. I can't believe how people have any energy to hunt after eating mountain house for days on end. I eat slow cooked on the stove rice and beans meals. REAL FOOD. No pouring the water into the bag and eating to survive and then retreat to the sleeping bag to sleep. In our teepee with woodstove we kick back and wait for our food. Dry our feet - talk - and eat eventually. Far more satisfying.
I also live on Kodiak island where it is supposed to be real wet and windy. I generally find dry willow and alder up to around 2000 feet. On a sheep hunt in the Brooks Range we found good wood up to 4400 feet. In the Brooks range we did a 10 day hunt and only used the 2 lb wood stove for cooking - it saved a serious amount in terms of propane cans.
Anyway, I guess I'm saying that if you want to improve your gear a lightweight woodstove might be a good idea! And I will add that a good tip is to bring wire - 2 summers ago I was in a place where it was too hot to cook inside a tent and so we set up the stove outside. We used the wire to fasten the stovepipe to a wood tripod. Far far better than trying to cook on a bonfire.
Patrick
Last edited by pgsalton; 11/25/14.
