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Stove - Keeping it going

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Stove - Keeping it going

Postby LarryBud » 08 19, 2019 •  [Post 1]

Hello All,

We hunt from a base camp. This year we made some upgrades. A Cabelas Alaknak and a Kni-Co stove. I bought it because the morning low is around freezing when we get up and the bare bones tent gets a little chilly. Sometimes it around freezing a bedtime.

Any tips for keeping the heat going as long as possible? Im guessing it will burn out in a few hours.

Thanks,

LB
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby six » 08 19, 2019 •  [Post 2]

Been a while since I have rifle hunted and used a stove. If my memory serves me correctly the stove would be almost out of wood about 2 am. That's usually when nature called. 2 birds with one stone.
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 08 19, 2019 •  [Post 3]

Ha, got that T shirt. Sit around the warm tent in the evening, dry clothes, get your gear, game plan, etc ready for the next mornings hunt, stoke the stove and get a good nights sleep. In the morning, fire up a Mr Heater (or whatever brand) on top of a 5 gallon propane tank to knock the chill off when you roll out of the fart sack and get on with the day. Have used this method for years when we use a wall tent base camp.
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby Indian Summer » 08 20, 2019 •  [Post 4]

To answer your question I’d need to know which size stove you bought. If you go the the website for Cylinder Stoves they list burn times based on stove capacity.

But there is definitely a way to get the most time from any wood stove. If you light a fire, close the door and go to bed you’ll get about an hour and a half. The way to go is get a fire going asap as soon as you get to camp. Stack the stove full using smaller pieces of wood and give it lots of air. You may need to open the door flaps so it doesn’t get too hot inside. The idea is for all of the wood from that initial fire to burn down to a bed of hot coals. If it all burns down and you’ll still be awake for awhile add a few more small pieces. The more coals the merrier. Then before bed stuff the stove full with large pieces of wood. Put medium sized ones in once you can’t fit your biggest ones. Jam some small stuff in the upper corners making sure you max out the capacity. Then shut the stove pipe damper down and close the lower air vents on the door until the coals are barely flickering. This takes practice and every stove is different. When you first do it you’ll be on your hands and knees looking through the slits in the air vents at the coals to see if the are glowing nicely which tells you the stove is still breathing ever so slightly. My Outfitter model Cylinder stove will go about 5 hours like that and there will be enough coals even after 6-7 hours to restack it and get it going again.

Make sure you split various sized pieces of wood plus a good supply of kindling so you can efficiently stack the stove to make starting and maintaining your fire easier.
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby saddlesore » 08 20, 2019 •  [Post 5]

IS has good advice. Once you have a good bed of coals built up, you will get a longer burn.One thing to watch out for though is if you are burning pine it will sure soot up your stove pipe after dampening down several times.So you might have to clean it.
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby 7mmfan » 08 20, 2019 •  [Post 6]

These guys nailed it. If you're burning pine, you'll need to drop your stove pipe after a few days to clean the spark arrestor and maybe internal damper. I've heard from guys that have used the North Idaho Energy Logs and they say they burn all night with coals left in the morning. I've never tried them personally.

I usually have to get up around 1:30 or 2:00 to take a leak and will throw a couple pieces in. If it goes out, it goes out.
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby LarryBud » 08 20, 2019 •  [Post 7]

Good stuff Fellas,

Looks like I’ll need to pack in hardwood. Any experience with Aspen? We have an unlimited supply in our hunting area.
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby Lefty » 08 20, 2019 •  [Post 8]

Larrybud aspen burns faster than most softwoods

Unless you bring a heavyweight hardwood like iron wood red elm or oaks you my need to load it twice
My father in law use to bring coal,.. for the night,.. I dont remember how good it worked I just remember the stink

I hate burning wood for heat,.. burned 6-8 cords in my dads shop every year growing up. The house we are in had a wood stove and pellet stove,.. I put gas furnace and AC in the next summer

six wrote:Been a while since I have rifle hunted and used a stove. If my memory serves me correctly the stove would be almost out of wood about 2 am. That's usually when nature called. 2 birds with one stone.


Unfortunately Im in the two birds with one stone category ;)
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby saddlesore » 08 20, 2019 •  [Post 9]

LarryBud wrote:Good stuff Fellas,

Looks like I’ll need to pack in hardwood. Any experience with Aspen? We have an unlimited supply in our hunting area.


Aspen burns fast and hot, but not much length. If coal is used you must have a grate or it will burn out the bottom of the stove in time.
Years ago I got tired of that wood cutting, stuffing the stove during the night, getting up and having to unfreeze the coffee pot before it would perk.

I bought a 30K BTU Blue Flame heater from Northern Tool that runs on propane. You get more humidity than a wood stove, but leaving it on low all night keeps things from freezing and when the alarm goes off, you reach over and turn it up . Lay in the sack for 5 minutes and it is toasty warm.Of course a CO monitor was always in use.

Here you can see it when I was using my stock trailer for a camp.

stock trl camp.jpg
stock trl camp.jpg (169.08 KiB) Viewed 4765 times
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby Indian Summer » 08 21, 2019 •  [Post 10]

Just burn pine. I’m pretty sure mountain men didn’t search for or pack oak or maple to heat tents or cabins. Yes it builds up soot in the stove pipe but you’ll make it through an entire hunt without having to clean the pipe. I keep a pipe wrench in camp for turning threaded stove legs on and off and if I think of it I’ll bang on the pipe all around and up and down and any buildup falls right into the stove. At the end of a week or two of hunting I do that when the pipe is removed and it all falls right out.
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby saddlesore » 08 21, 2019 •  [Post 11]

We must have different pine, because it will sure enough clog a spark arrestor in short order, and on 12 day trips we had to take the pipe down about mid week to give it a cleaning.This is based on about 40 years of using wood burning stoves in tents
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby Indian Summer » 08 21, 2019 •  [Post 12]

I don’t use a spark arrestor. I want as much draw as possible and the one time I tried one it reduced my updraft so I never put one on again. I can definitely see one of those plugging up.
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby saddlesore » 08 21, 2019 •  [Post 13]

Certain areas of Colorado they are required
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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby gperdue4 » 09 02, 2019 •  [Post 14]

It isn't that hard to figure out. Several years ago I change hunting partners for one that had a small bladder. I have never had to get up and stoke the fire since. I am warm all night and I sleep like a babby.[img]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190903/0fe0cf2a26a2d0cf0154e3431e9fd545.jpg[/img]

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Re: Stove - Keeping it going

Postby >>>---WW----> » 09 03, 2019 •  [Post 15]

Smart think'n gperdue! :lol: And wELKome to the forum.
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