Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Kni-Co stoves.

Anyone ever use a Kni-Co stove. I am looking at the Packer Junior stove for my Kifaru 4-man. It is one of the few stoves with a 3-inch port so I can use my roll up pipe. The stoves firebox is 9.5 x 12 x 10. A kifaru Medium stove is 8 x 12 x 9. Thinking that it would hold more wood than my Kifaru Small stove or tinny Round stove that is a 7 x 10 cylinder. Plus it is only 89 bucks

http://www.kni-co.com/

I have their tundra take down stove but haven't had a chance to use it yet.

Now, that's something like it, this stove would be well worth having for a base camp using a tent you could actually LIVE in for a couple of weeks or so. One man requires at least 10x12 for extended stays in really harsh country, but, nobody makes a synthetic tent of that size that is light enough for horsepacking or fly-ins, at least not that I am aware of.

This looks like it would hold fire for extended periods which is a major benefit for long term camps and although it is relatively heavy, the advantages are probably worth it.

I like the cheap price. I could use my stack robber and damper and pipe system that works with 3-inch ports. The stove body is 6.5 lbs however I have lighter stoves for longer range stuff. I could toss this little stove in my Paris sled or large pod on the EMR.



Kute.

The longest I have ever been snowed in was about two days. I walked around outside to brush the snow off the tipi and get some water. A 12-man would have been nice. I am thinking this stove could run maybe 1.5 hours with damper.

I have their regular size heepherder stove that I use in my old alaknak tent. It is a well made product.

Well, I think that you gotta be one of the most useful posters on any forum due to your constant working with wood stoves and your kind sharing of the results with us. The Alaskan Junior is EXACTLY what I have been looking for to use as a main stove in my Kifaru 8-man as the Kifaru stoves are not "airtight" and although I have the "large" model, it is not quite what I want.

I was going to order a 4-dog Ti, but, the $$$$$ cost and problematical delivery, relative to the few times per year I will actually use this stove, make it a questionable investment. I can use the Kifaru stove in summer camps where a quick morning fire is often welcome and then this rig for hunting camps at this time of year, very neat and quite reasonable in price, IMO.

I was looking at a local product of this type, yesterday, but, the features of the "Deluxe Package" on the Alaskan Junior are absolutely perfect for my needs, with my Kifaru tipis. I am probably going to get the little tigoat takedown stove for my Paratipi and this will complete my hunting camp as I will use the 8-man to cook and "live" in and the PT to sleep in when solo in Grizzly country.

I like the idea of a spare shelter, available wood heat and the space afforded by this arrangement, for one or two guys, it is about perfect. It is also light enough and versatile enough to cover about any situation I will encounter anywhere I want to go.

Brilliant, WW, keep giving us these tips on this type of gear, it's "made my day"!

I think these stoves are not 100% airtight as the door will not have the gasket of those 35-50 lbs stoves but this should have little effect on the burn time. I think the roll up pipe for the Kifaru large stove is the same 5 inches as the Alaskan Junior. So you drop the weight of the segmented pipe. Also I would highly recommend the stack robber they sell. Originally this company gave me the idea for my robber. You will have zero sparks and more burntime if it works anything like mine.

Here is the Kni-co Robber.



This is mine.


I like the packer line but using the little 4-man tipi everything over the Packer Jr would be way too much. With stove,roll up pipe and homemade robber I am only looking at under 10 lbs for everything. This is way more than my Kifaru small stove being under 4 lbs or my homemade one that is 6lbs however maybe the extra comforts of a longer burning stove will be worth the extra lbs for shorter range stuff.

The mild steel could rust out over time but that would take a long long time. Also mild steel has a very good heat transfer rate. So like you this stove would not replace my take down Kifaru stove but offer a supplement.

Sometimes I pack two shelters. I cook and hang out in the paratipi and sleep in the Hennessy Hammock with 4season system. I will do this until the temps drop below 10�s than it is a larger tipi with the Downmat.

Another thing I will do if using the sled is to pack some very dry split hard wood if the woods are wet. Not much wood just enough for a few loads. This way I can mix the wet wood and let the stove build up a good base to allow the water to be boiled out of the wet fuel after my dry stuff is spent.

Woods Walker
I used that same stove with the Arctic Oven Tent from Ak Tent & Tarp. It was during a winter hunt and the temps outside were -35F , inside it was heated to 75 F. We were using the rolled fireplace logs for long term burns at nite. My chain saw took care of daytime wood needs. One of the wax logs burns for about 6 hours. I don't know if they redesigned the spark arrester or not but the fireplace logs burn dirty enough to clogg the S.A. if you don't clean it before you turn in.

Thanks Budman.

I think those logs are real messy burning. My robber cooks everything off but 6 hours of rolled logs is asking alot. I am guessing that you got the standard Packer or Alaskan? How long was the burntime with normal wood? I am going to order the Packer Jr this week. How was their robber for killing sparks are extra heat

Agreed about the wax logs, but they helped bigtime in the snow .
Spruce burns about 1.5 hrs, when damped down. I had the older model of the packer jr. , the stack robber wasn't offered then..I'll be interested in your trials with the robber. Good luck

WW,

I use the Kni stack robber with my Kni-co sheepherder stove. The spark arrestor in the robber works fine with the wood I use (dry split lodgepole pine). No problem with clogging as compared with a traditional screen on top of the stove pipe. The stove plus the damper section and spark robber is tall, won't be a problem in a tipi but the stovejack in my little tent is close to the sidewall. I fabricated some 3 inch legs for the stove to keep stack robber down away from the fabric.

I will do a review of how it worked with roll up pipe and damper. Going to test those wax logs with the robber too. I should be able to push the burntime 20% with the robber damper combo but need to find out for myself. Even still 1.5 hours is what I was looking for. Thanks for the info. I think maybe the door got changed so the newer stove should like the older one.

I am hoping you all can help me out with my stove choice. I purchased the following tent and hope to use it for the first time this winter:

http://www.snowtrekkertents.com/shortwall.html

It is 8x11 and rated as a 3-4 person tent. I am trying to decide what is the smallest stove I can get away with. Empire makes the following stoves:

http://www.snowtrekkertents.com/portablewoodstoves.html

The medium is similar in size to the Alaskan Jr. at 11x12x18 and 22 gauge steel. The entire package including shelf and 4 sections at 18" each of 5" tappering stove pipe and elbow. Price is $240 but this does not include a spark arrestor or water tank. I believe Empire recommends the medium stove for my size tent, 8x11. Empire's small stove measures 9x10x12. Empire and Kni Co seem very similar, but you get more for your money going with the deluxe packages from Kni Co. From Kni Co, it looks like the Alaskan Jr., Packer Jr, and Packer could suit my needs. So my question is:

Which brand and model would you recommend for my tent?

I should also tell you that the tent will most often be occupied by 2 people with an average stay of 3-5 nights in Northern Minnesota where it can get cold from time to time. Camping will vary from vehicle entry to dog sled and snowshoes.

Thanks.

Prewar..

Looking at the stoves they are so close to the Kni-co.

Snowtrekker� - Small
Dimensions: 9" x 10" x 12"
Stovebox Weight: 7 lbs
Damper: 7 oz.
Side shelf: 11 oz.
Folding stove snow legs: 9 oz.
3 Section telescoping 3� pipe, 20� long ea.: 2 lbs. 5 oz.
Total Stove Package Weight = 10 lbs. 5 oz.
Package Price: $175.00

It even looks the same. I have a feeling that Kni-co makes these stove for them but can't be certain.

I have heard some good things about the tents. But like the tipi do the pack down size and weight. However if I was snowed in for an extended time and packed my shelter on a sled the Shortwall Hybrid seems nice.

From the pictures, it looks to me like only the Alaskan Junior of the Kni-Co stoves can be floated with sticks, whereas all the models of Snowtrekker stoves can be floated.

Very nice looking stoves all around.

Woodswalker,

Thx for the input. So which size stove would you go with for my size tent. The small or medium in the Snowtrekker and which model for the Kni-Co.

Thanks.

Phasmid

Thanks for the info. How does their robber work for sparks? I don't think they make one for the Packer Jr but all the stoves are handmade so maybe if I ask. But then again I have a robber anyways.

Prewar70.

I am not certain. I bet the company would know better. I am going with the smallest stove because my heated shelters, Kifaru Paratipi and Kifaru 4-man tipi are small and think a bigger stove would be too much plus the Smaller size of both stoves takes a 3inch pipe. I like my 3-inch roll up pipe so that kinda forces me to get the small stove. Don't want to make a new robber and buy a new larger roll up pipe.

Husky.

I didn't even look at the snow float thing. Something to think about. But I don't like their damper. A true adjustable damper has always worked better for me than just sliding in a piece of sheet metal. Plus they don't have a stack robber (however anyone could purchase this from Kni-co). I am a big fan of the Robber.

WW
I like the Kni-co but sold it ,I now use the 4 dogs Bannerman Ti stove..It burns for about an hour with a good load of wood.Have never tried it with wax logs yet..Don got way behind the first part of the year, I hope he gets things settled because he builds a great stove.. The Bannerman fits my 12 man Tipi great with the original roll pipe from my large Kifaru stove

I was looking at the Bannerman Ti stove too. Don knows his stuff big time. The only issue was the pipe port is less than 3-inches and the pipe than tapers up. This is a great Idea however my roll up pipe is cut for 3-inches. Some guy on the Kifaru MB sold his for 250 bucks and I am still kicking my self for not jumping on it. I could have made some kinda mod to mate the 3-inch pipe to the smaller hole. The main problem is I don't have the money for a Ti stove right now and I need this stove for winter. After looking over his whole stove line I think Don is the King. Heck he even has a baffle plate inside his larger stoves. If I ever get a larger tipi and work my way into some money you can bet I will be ordering a TI stove from him but right now 100 bucks for the Packer Jr. is all I have. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Ohh the "bushcooker" hobo stove looks cool too.

I spoke with a guy last Feb while dogsledding in Ely, MN. The guy makes his living in the winter sledding groups into the Boundary Waters and Quetico. He uses the Empire Tents and steel stoves. I asked why he doesn't use Titantium. He said he had one but only used it on a couple trips and then went back to steel. The weight savings was great but as soon as the fire went out the stove went cold very quickly whereas the steel stoves retained their heat quite a while longer. So for him the extra weight was worth it. I have heard a lot about how great the Ti stoves are but never hear anyone mention heat retention and if this is one of their faults.