Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Wall tent stoves which and why?

My buddy is looking at these 4 stoves in no particular order

Kwik Kamp- Blaze

Four Dog- 4Dog

Summit from Davis' Tents- Ridge

Colorado cylinder stoves - Spruce

looking for the longest burn times, weight in not an issue, neither is price.
Pros and cons of each stove. From people that own them. would you buy the same one or go a different route. I did do a search but looking at just these 4 stoves.

Rhe biggest one will burn rhe longest. Buy the next bigger size if you want long burn times ore stoke it with coal

The problem wth bigger is better is that they get the tent too warm in the early night. Look for one that is the tighest and that you can control the inlet air the best.

Most will not burn all night until you get a good bed of ashes laid down after a few days.For longer burning, get a coal grate,and burn coal that you bank down.Learning how ot properly bank the fire down will get you longer burning times rather than the type of stove as long as you can shut it down tight.

+1 on what saddlesore said. phil

Old men with failing prostates make great camp mates. They'll have to get up to piss 7 times a night and will stoke the fire each time. Works better than trying to keep one going from the start.

We used a camp stove for comfort in the community tent and kerosene heaters for sleeping tents. No temperature swings and no restocking through the night.

My elk hunting buddy bought a new "Three Dogs" model, Four Dogs Stoves, in 2004. Still works perfectly and is very efficient in wood use. That is the best stove I've been around, and I've been around more than a few in many western States, in some really bad weather.

My old Simms Folding Sheepherders stove is on its last legs (pun intended ) and I will replace it with a Four Dogs stove, "Three Dogs" model.

My take on tent stoves for hard use.

L.W.

With a little practice you can get any stove to burn all night by how you lay the wood compared to the coals.

Pull all the coals to the door/air vents and you will get a short hot burn.

Lay the wood over the coals, coals tending the middle of the stove, and you will get a few short hours with a good heat.

Rake the majority of the coals to the back of the stove and the fire will hardly burn. But will keep lite/smoldering for hours. Most of the time that is what you want during the night.

It takes practice, standing-dead, dead-leaners good seasoned dry firewood.
Practice is everything.

Just mentioning it as I wouldn't put stove before how you run it. Just get the best quality well built practical brand/model to serve your needs.

Just an idea to put under your hat when your getting the hang of your stove:

If your a Dutch-oven kind of camp?

With a slow consistent fire, take your Dutch-oven and spray it with Pam cooking spray.

Dump in a large can lf peaches (cracked me up, my spell-check tried to change that to 'leaches' ) , and mix up a batch of pancake batter and dump over the top. Set the Dutch-oven on the stove and draped aluminum foil over the oven.

If you time this to give it a couple hours of slow baking before everyone is awake, it makes a welcome breakfast side dish.

Again, practice.

thanks for the reply guys.

they are not the dutch oven kind of guys. they take their camp chefs for cooking meals.

my buddy is researching those 4 stoves. he just want to make the best decision, and hear from owners of the respective stoves.

they heat their 16x20 davis with a single burner propane heater just to take the chill off. set it on low for the whole night. they are wondering if a wood stove would be worth the hassle or keep with the propane heater.

The Four Dogs "Four Dogs" model will heat that 16'x20' tent all you'll need, and if you follow the advice by Salonek to bank the coals at the rear of the stove before sleeping, it'll still be warm in the morning.

L.W.

Our NW MN deer camp has the largest Four Dogs stove and it heats a 16'x20' old military tent fine in temps down to -10 degrees F. Haven't tried it in colder temps yet. Good design but heavy.

Do you know if any warrantee comes with the 4 Dog stoves?

We used a sims til it just died. It was replaced with a cylinder stove. If you don't have to pack it in the cylinder is a great stove. The hot water saddle tank is a nice addition. We use the model for a 12 x 14 and it does fine in our 16 x 20 wall tent. We didn't buy it for the large tent...we ordered it with a 12 x 14 we intended to use as a cook tent. When the Sims died we discovered that the cylinder worked fine in the larger tent. Depending on the number in camp we use either the large tent or the smaller but just one stove. Quality is excellent. We don't heat our sleeping tent but that may be changing as we are getting a little long in the tooth.

That's funny right there... made me laugh out loud here in the office. Even though I have to get up during the night on occasion.

I have tried several and settled on cylinder stoves (mine came from Cedar city utah). extremely well built, can get them red hot or let them burn most of the night. Only thing I would prefer would be a propane heater for times when I have areas with poor wood and it is cold.

You can build one that kicks the cylinder stoves butt. Just find an old round-door Sotz barrel stove kit......mine is on cut down 15 gallon drum for a smaller tent.




If it is bigger ya want, the square-door Sotz kit will fit a 30 or 55 gallon drum. Vogelzang also makes a cast iron door kit for the bigger barrels. Not as efficient or air-tite as the Sotz. I heated my shop with the sotz double barrel.....




Had the Cylinder Stove, it was good, buy not quite a Sotz....

I have a cylinder stove and it works well for me. Would buy another if needed. No experience with the other stoves so cant compare.


I like that idea. never thought of overnight cooking. Wake up to see a man about a horse in the middle of the night and put it on the stove.
I use the Same idea except use two large cans of peaches in the juice, top with yellow cake mix, cinammon, and a stick of butter cut into little pats.

If they already bought from Davis, support the local! I lived in MI (for school) but paid to have them ship the stuff out b/c I knew their reputation. Back in CO now and happy I did so.

I have the Kings package from them. Tent, stove, cots... ALL work great. Have kept me warm many a night. I have the ridge model and it will heat you out of the tent if you let it.

Wood stove is more of a hassle, but worth it in my opinion. I also have a propane heater to take the chill off in the morning if the fire goes out for some odd reason.

I used coal for the first time this past season and was pleased. Got a fire going well and put a couple big sized pieces in at night and close down the vents. In the morning, throw a log in, and open up the vents. The coal doesn't give off much heat over night, but starting a fire in the morning was easy - literally, throw a log in and open the vent, set percolator on stove and get back in bed for 30-45 minutes.

To me, sleeping in a wall tent heated by a wood stove IS HUNTING! My buddies all have 5th wheels w/ propane heat and sattelite TV... I'll keep my tent thank you very much.

Thanks Saddlesore and K_Salonek for the tips on moving the coals back (I pulled them forward before). I'll give this a try this year.

I bought a stove from Four Dog a few years ago. I got the 3-Dog model and used it in a 12x12 Outback Lodge from Cabelas. It would roast us out of the tent even with snow flying! But, it would not burn all night without the right wood. I think that having the right wood is more important than the stove model.

The things that I liked about the Four Dog stove were that it was airtight, had a baffle, and no sparks out the front. If you shut the stove down, the flame went out. This was handy for me and what I wanted in a stove. I never left it running unattended but that's just me. Plus, you can control the air supply when you do want the stove running. Some stoves leak a lot and even if you shut them down they keep burning.

The baffle was awful handy too since sparks can't make the path up the flue. At first I didn't believe it, but I ended up spending the first few days watching it to see if this claim was valid. The only thing I found that could snake past the baffle was burning newspaper ashes. They are light enough to allow the hot air to carry them around the baffle. Once the paper is burned, no other solids made it through. But, I still used a spark arrestor to avoid a fine. Other designs allow sparks to shoot straight up the flue. Some will make it past an arrestor.

The baffle also creates a nice hot spot for boiling water. My stove had one shelf and I would leave a tea kettle on the shelf full of water all the time. It would stay really warm and when I wanted boiling water I just moved it over onto the stove. It would be boiling in just a few moments. Handier than a water jacket and what Four Dog recommended to me in the first place. He talked me out of a water jacket, and I wouldn't go any other way. A big kettle is the way to go since you can carry the hot water where you want and its cheaper than the jacket.

Now that I can weld, I'd just make my own stove but would make something similar to the Four Dog. If you're undecided, give Four Dog a call. He's an interesting woodsman and willing to share a good deal of information and knowledge.

Now woodstove vs. propane...

Wood stoves are nice, but so are propane stoves. If you can carry enough propane, this might be best option for many people. A woodstove requires a good supply of local wood, or you must haul wood. Hauling wood from different regions might not be a good idea though. Everytime I visit Colorado I'm glad that we don't have the same problem here (beetles). Plus, the local wood might not last the night. And, if you're using local wood, who is going to gather, cut, and stack the wood? This can become a chore. I like to hunt #1, not babysit a camp. If you have less serious hunters, older guys that like to stay at camp, or a really good cook that is willing to prepare meals while others perform other chores then its no big deal. Same if you have someone that's willing to truck in a bunch of good long burning wood.

The benefits of a woodstove are DRY heat. Its nicer than propane. Plus, that kettle on the stove shelf might not be boiling but its hot. You can clean-up, wash yourself, etc. without having to fire up a campstove. I tell you what, waking up in the morning and sliding the kettle over from the shelf to the stove and you can have coffee ready quick. Or have your percolator loaded the night before and slide it on the stove and go back to bed.

One pain in the butt with the woodstove is that the spark arrestor will clog badly with certain wood. I've collected wood local to the campsite and it seemed like if I wasn't adding fuel to the stove, I was cleaning that dang arrestor. It can be a chore. Its best to run the stove hot I think. This helps keep the flue and arrestor clean, but not what you want at night.

Propane is really handy though. Its wet heat (unless its a vented heater), but there's no ashes to empty, no wood to haul/cut/stack, no bark all over your tent (not a problem in floorless tents), etc. But, on a long trip you need a lot of propane.

I downsized my tents and sold the Four Dog... and just use propane right now. But if I was thinking about a big wall tent, or had family that stayed at camp while I was away I'd either make a stove like the Four Dog, or invest in a diesel stove.

What type of wood stove might be a moot point in Colorado this year. Over 1/2 the state is in draught and by hunting season if we do not get any more moisture than what we have been getting, there might very well be a fire ban in all National Forests.
I have two wood stoves, one is a Sims fold up, butI heat with a Blue Flame 30K BTU propane heater now in a 11 x 15 tent., ora 20 ft gooseneck stock trailer that is enlclosed ,but still drafty. On low at night, it keeps the tent warm enough and will drive you out if it's on high.

I have not had am oisture problem in the tent, but on a rainy cold day, I have had moisture in the stock trailer,butI'm not convinced that it would have been dry with a wood stove.

I like a wood stove, but it's too much work to feed it and either ponderosa pine or aspen is the only wood where I typically hunt. The pine puts out too much creosote and the aspen burns too quick with no heat.Also,lung problems are aggrevated by that little bit of smoke that escapes each time the door is open or when one is starting a fire.
Just be sure to keep a CO monitor close by.