Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Wood stove question

I have a small 12x12 Montana Wall Tent Alaknak style tent that is not canvas but is the lighter weight Relite or some such material. I've only ever used it for early season hunts but will be taking it for 1st Elk season. I don't have a license but my 75 year old Dad does, so I'm hoping to help him kill a big bull. My question regards use of the wood stove inside the tent. I've never personally messed with the wood stove since I've never really needed it, but the tent is made to accommodate it and the stove came with it when I bought it. It's just one of those small rectangular stoves made of sheet metal. Dad thought it might be a good idea to bring it in case it got a little cool for him during the night and suggested we use charcoal to extend the burn time at night. So, my questions are, 1) Do you put a layer of dirt down on the bottom of the stove before use? 2) any recommendations on using charcoal in this stove overnight? 3) Any other recommendations on setting the stove up for night time burning?

Thanks.

do not burn coal or charcoal in a sheet metal stove without grates. Or you'll wake up with your fire on the floor. Dirt won't cut it, unless it's thick......



Me? I wouldn't use it in ANY sheetmetal stove, period. Pressed/rolled steel or cast iron, only with grates.

Honestly with that type of stove its going to be a stretch or a lot of waking up in the middle of the night to stay warm. Even with my 3 Dog I have a tough time getting more than 6 hours burn time. With really well cured hardwood maybe more. I would not recommend the coal in a lightweight stove like that. A little dirt on the bottom will probably help with the life of the stove in the long run. There are a lot of mixed opinions on the charcoal but when in doubt I would pass. Might want to bring a Buddy Heater on a bulk propane tank if you want heat all night. You can use the woodstove to crank the heat up before you go to bed at night or when you wake up in the morning. Also works good to burn off the condensation that you are almost sure to get with that style of tent.

Good Luck!

Sheet metal is for packing in tipi tents. If you're schlepping in a wall tent, get a stove meant for that. You won't be far from the truck or horses, and warm is a damned nice thing.

This always worked for me.

I have a bit of experience with my lightweight Seek Outside large titanium stove that I use in a 6-man tipi. It is not designed for coal but rather, smaller wood sticks of no more than 2 or 3 inches in diameter. I use mine for both heating and cooking, but it requires nearly constant stoking. I do put a layer of soil on the bottom of the stove. The one and only time I've camped in a wall tent, we had a larger (nearly burned out) plate steel stove that would take split wood and we used it only for heating. It did not draft or draw well and we spent some really "smoky" evenings in the tent. I'm sure a better stove would have been much more pleasant.

Titanium is a lot more resistant to burning through than steel. I have an Ed T's that will glow all the way around so it's necessary to have something fireproof under it. It won't hold heat worth a darn either. It takes constant stoking.

Been using a foldup sheet metal stove in my wall tent (12x14) for near 20 seasons with wood. Used a friend's unit for 20 before that, and his is still fine too. We put a shovel full of dry soil inside mostly to seal the slight cracks around the bottom, and it probably does provide a little bottom insulation if one has flammables beneath. Two minutes with a shovel or spade and that can be cleared away. Actually had green grass sprouting up beneath my stove at the tail end of our last 18-day outing.

Use good sleeping bags at night, sleep soundly, and fire it up in the morning. Only takes about 5 minutes to warm a tent that size. No reason at all to stoke a fire all night unless one insists of sleeping solely beneath a sheet or he has to get up every hour to pee anyway. I really value sack time myself.

Our party actually sleeps in a second unheated tent. That way we don't have to stow gear and have plenty of room to feed or socialize a party of 5 to 6 in the heated wall tent.

Can't comment on expensive charcoal. Dry standing wood from the forest is cheap/free. Rate of burn and the associated temperature is pretty well handled by controlling air flow. If a stove is not sufficiently tight, put a damper in the chimney. I can essentially shut mine down with the chimney damper. Getting control of air flow can also extend ones burn time.

I run a vertical chimney, and have never had any smoke issues.

Mine will smoke like crazy if I turn the damper more than 45 degrees.

Thanks for the comments. I don't really anticipate using the stove too much anyways, but I didn't want to start fooling around with charcoal and end up with a mess. I do have another propane stove that will work for most heating purposes, I think, but certainly didn't want to run that all night.

A buddy of mine used a sheet metal stove for at least 10 years and this was for at least 3 weeks every year. The thing worked great. A little dirt in the bottom and some decent wood and you'll be good to go.

Bring the stove, your dad will enjoy the heat. Heck, he will probably take control of the whole stove operation and keep things plenty warm. I know my Dad enjoyed being "Stove Boss"

That mirrors my experience. One trick I have used is to make sure your partner has lots of liquid just before bedtime, so he can rustle the stove when he gets up in the night to pee!