Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Looking for Stove and Compact Tent Combo Suggestions

Hi there

I had a tipi tent with a wood stove. Didn't like it because I had to get up every 1.5 hours to add wood.

Then I moved to a wall tent with a diesel heater. But it took up way too much room in my truck and I don't have the space to dry it were it to get wet.

Now I'm looking to find a compact, maybe insulated, tent that packs up nicely and fits a family of three and a dog. And also has a stove with even heat, is efficient, and is able to keep the interior temperature at least 16 degrees in -10 weather. Am I looking for a unicorn?

With my brief research, I'm thinking an artic oven with a nuway propane heater....

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

You are on the right track. The Arctic oven is a great tent. I have one and use it often in temps as low as -40. They are not any lighter than a wall tent though.

The inconvenience of adding fuel every couple hours is all about the stove, not the tent. Any tent will be cold at -10 once the fire goes out. Nothing would stop you from running a propane stove ( with ventilation from a stovepipe) in a tipi. I have the SO 8 tipi and have considered getting a larger folding shepherd stove to use when car camping. Taking along better wood or pressed wood substitute would also give a longer burn time. Arctic Ovens look great to me but as Yukon says, they're HEAVY.

Alaska tent and Tarp, the same company that makes the Arctic Oven also makes an extremely lightweight Vapex wall tent. If I had it to do over again, I would take in instead of the oven. I prefer a floorless tent.

Those thin shelters with tin can stoves are pure stupidity in real cold. You can't escape the weight of a real tent and woodstove.

I'm out all winter, running teams and camping out here in interior alaska. If a small, four dog team can haul a real tent and woodstove, I'd imagine even the smallest snowmobile should have no problem.

I use a camp chief woodstove with the grate, and side racks removed. At bare minimum, the stove is 50 lbs and will burn for 3.5 hours at 40 below zero.

I've modified the insulated quickfish pop-up to take the wood stove. I only use the hexagonal one, because each wall comes to a point with a steel eye hook to guy out the tent. There are no flat-sides on the thing. It is the only one that will survive a windstorm.

The last thing I want to do after a 30 mile run in below zero weather, is fish poles through a fkn tent. The instant part is sweet, when you're fatigued and want heat in less than 10 minutes.

I always pre-pack the stove full of wood and birch bark, in case I get into trouble, like overflow or frostbite. Second it comes out of the dog sled, a match gets her roaring.

Glad you chimed in mainer. can you post a picture of your setup ? Im with you on the light tents in winter. Ive done it, but prefer the wall tent or arctic ovens. I use a tin stove we can buy here in almost any hardware store. They are round and extremely lightweight. We call them trashburners, not sure what the real name is but they will burn for 4-5 hours or even longer and dont weigh 15 pounds.

I think we used to call them a Tin Hell.

Thanks for the feedback!

Do any of you have experience with the Russian Bear Market tents?

I have an Arctic Oven Igloo and a Nuway 4000 heater and it's small for an AO but still not what you'd call compact. Also the Propane starts to get less efficient at -35C/-30F and at -40C/F goes down to about 3000BTU from 28,000 due to the loss of pressure when the fuel liquifies. I also have the Snowtrekker system with a big wood heater. It's more work than the propane but keeps working past 40C/F and the tent itself is lighter and more compact. With the built in frame it also goes up faster.

I made this video before I bought a vented propane stove (The Nuway) I wouldn't use a non-vented system as a main heater anymore..too dangerous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6SpwV4o66A&t=14s