Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting The Tigoat in Action

Went for an overnight snowshoe trip with my son. The Ti-goat cylinder stove is a wonder. Once you have a good load of coals it puts out a heck of a lot of heat and the damper is very effective...I got burn times in the 20-25 minute range though an occasional 2-3 stick load was needed to keep at best efficiency. Left with only a very fine ash. 20 minutes of wood collection and prep netted 2.5 hours of heat.

Next time I bring a micro-towel to wipe of the thawing frost that drips off the tarp after a night of breathing. Had a bit of rain inside for a bit. Got so hot it wasn't really a problem though as we dried out pretty well. I also discovered that I could work the door and the damper to keep the tent walls semi-frozen. Pretty precise!

A bit of a pain though...setting the tarp as smooth as possible would help as the drops collected on any crease.

Here is a you-tube presentation of the trip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d86QqKkto8

Very nice... Thanks for sharing!

No problem. Whitehorse got down to -23C last night, Carmacks -33C. We were almost half way between. Not sure what the Temp was but my feet were not warm all night. Was sure nice getting up this AM and firing the stove up!

enteresting video,music and story. thanks for shareing

Two nights later..it was cold. At about 1:00 AM the temperature went way down and I got up and got the Optimus 00 Kerosene stove going. It will burn about 3 hours on a full tank and raises the tarp temperature maybe 10 degrees. The cold trench that the stoves are in have an opening in both ends allowing for air flow to feed the stove to be contained in the cold well and not interfere with the micro-climate of the bed which is 2 feet higher. Refilled the beast once and at about 5:30 I got up and spent 30 minutes cutting wood for the Ti-goat.

At around 6:00 I had enough wood to have a good morning burn. Once a bed of coals is established this little stove is a hell of a rig. I got it hot enough to melt all the condensation of the night creating a light rain in the tarp. I guess some folks bring a towel to wipe down the walls. I played with the damper and door to get the temperature around 0C to curtail the drips.. Believe me after a night at -30 this seemed heavenly. Adding two sticks every 10 minutes keeps the fire going for a good long time and this little Ti-Goat really shines as a heater and cooker. 2 Liters of water were brought to a boil in fairly quick order and breakfast was served.

I was surprised how useful the damper gets when you have sufficient coals.

I strongly recommend the Ti-Goat stove. Putting it together was easier than I imagined when cold....most of the steps can be done with gloves on.I assembled and disassembled over a tarp on consolidated snow to make sure no parts were lost. Very efficient heater and cooker putting out a lot of BTU's in a small package. Just don't expect long burn times with no attention. Every 10 minutes it will need 2-3 sticks. Wood prep is not that bad as I just looked for small standing dead wood that required little or no splitting and could be cut to length by axe rather than saw.

As for my 9x9 Megamid clone with stove jack....I'll give it an A for portability and ease of pitch and a D+ for livability in sub zero. Another foot of space would make a big difference in avoiding the frosted sides. The coated fabric is not necessary in arctic cold. The best design to me would be a 10x10 foot square pyramid in uncoated parachute nylon in two layers. The two layers would stop the wind and reduce frost build up hile also being somewhat rain resistant in freak weather. The soft drape would pack well in sub zero weather. A four sided quadraped frame in shock coated aluminum tubing with clip in base system would allow for quick pitch. Maybe I'll build one

North, Compare it to the little takedown box stove you built awhile back. Curious as to the pluses and minuses.
Always look forward to your reports.

How 'bout putting that stove together at minus 20 F with mittens on?

That's what I was thinking. I was almost crying this weekend in the rain taking down my tent at just above freezing wearing light wool gloves (soaking).

It's not a problem...if you have practiced putting it together a few times at home. You need to take off your mitts to tighten the retaining wing-nuts only. Winter acclimatized hands can take the minute or two of exposure.

WOW... That looks to be a great time and a very cool way to make and share memories with your son!
But dang thats sounds COLD to me!.. Surely showing my ignorance but I noiticed the snow inside the tent door and reading the part about the stove trench. I am guessing that the tent is pitched directly on top of the snow thats there? I don't know why that would surprise me. I have just never lived or been where the snow and temps are such a major element. I guess when snow is measured in feet instead of inches there is not much choice!? ..Does the tent have a floor in it? I would be in big trouble haveing to try to survive in that for any time unexpectedly.....

Cool!!!!

The snow actually is a bit of an insulator and as long as you have a thermal barrier and tarp between you and the snow to stay dry you are better off on the snow than the bare ground. It's also good to have a cold well and higher sleeping platform. The tent has no floor so that the stove can be used.

I real deep snow you can dig a big opening under the tarp tent increasing your space. Very versatile not having a floor.