Car Camping / Trip Reports / Photos / Buildouts / “Overland” / Expedition Rigs Area (homeless?)

Ya I agree neat idea tho

 

I'm all about being innovative, but this looks like a potential ER visit!

 

Some ones head will get a lil toasty

 

Depth of field isn't apparent in pictures

Standard Big Horn 3 tent with supplied wood stove, this is between International Falls and Baudette Mn. International Falls is very often the coldest spot in the CONUS on a daily basis during the winter. It was -42 F the other day, that is without windchill. When you can hear the straight line winds blow across the muskeg's and bogs coming at you sounding like a freight train you better have a sturdy tent when they hit. The ventilator I gutted the electric motor out of, no trees to plug it into, and put it in line to capture more heat and slow down the smoke draft. When the winds hit the top of the stove pipe outside the tent it can be so strong it can prevent the smoke from exiting and even the few homes in the area lose the pilot on the furnace because of it. Can be a bit tricky at times. Works well in Co. and everywhere else I have taken it also. I normally am between the North Shore of Superior near the BWCA and Baudette, it is a lot of wild country to cover. Can't say there are many hotels either and hope there never is, but there are way too many wolves and too few moose any more.

 

How does the tent not catch on fire?

 

looks to be an open floor tent where the stove is, and special heat resistant fabric on the tent ceiling?

 

So is the ventilator like a one way valve?

 

Yes it is. Even many wall tents now are being made in synthetics or traditional canvas and synthetic blends. And instead of wood many are using electrical conduit for framing on wall tents. No matter how you construct them you still need a strong ridgepole. Heat rises and radiates from the sides but you can see the snow still under the stove, it can take a few days for the inside to warm up under it to melt. Fir and pine burns very hot but doesn't last long which is why I prefer to take hardwood when I can. Man has been building fires inside tents for centuries, at least since the Roman Legion. You can purchase tent wood stoves from many places. At one time you had to go to a specialty store or mail order. Personally I believe fourdog still makes one of the best.

Ventilation is critical in a tent with a stove. Traditional wall tents leak enough air under the bottoms to allow plenty of fresh air intake. In cold weather you want a lot of ventilation anyhow which a lot of people don't seem to understand. The human body releases a lot of moisture when you breathe and without proper airflow in the cold even without a stove you will wake up with condensation frozen to the inside of the tent. And as it warms up will start to drip like it is raining inside the tent soaking everything. I had carpet installed on the inside of my topper for the Tacoma when I ordered it to help with that and had also selected the windoors to help with air exchange. On short trips of 2-3 days I use my utility trailer which I installed an A.R.E. utility topper on and lined with styrofoam and reflectix to help insulate but crack the side windows to help with air exchange.

I wish it acted as a check valve It is a simple heat exchanger with tubes running perpendicular to the flow of exhaust gases. Basically it just increases surface area and slows down the escape of heat as it has to change direction around the tubes.

The Army has several tent stoves that you can purchase surplus once in awhile which can burn wood, coal and even kerosene. They are pretty expensive and I feel kind of thin walled. There are also quite a few outfitters in Canada that sell some pretty fancy multiple fuel tent stoves for mining operations but again they are pretty expensive.

 

^This

or maybe one of these:

http://www.adventuretrailers.com/heaters.html

 

Who needs a stove when you can bring a couple dogs with ya and let them warm the tent!

 

Two words...




Dog



hair


haha

 

If you are concerned about hair do not come near my truck or my house. With two German Shepards in our family NOTHING is hair free.

 

we have two labs..and the shop is COVERED haha but they never really come in the house much. but still..thats why never will they get to sleep in my RTT..haha

 

1 German Shepard
1 Black Lab
1 Beagle

I can make a rug and a nice border with all the hair we have, lol. My black lab sleeps in a backpacking tent with me. She snuggles in and doesn't move till I get up

 

2 thick coated huskies, have a special vacuum for the RTT

 

For a tent that wasn't designed for a wood stove like mine was I think that would be a very good option, the Army has a similar design that runs on diesel. Don't think I personally would ever modify a tent for a stove or use one if the tent wasn't built for it. I prefer propane for heating, cooking and light when possible and 20lb. tanks are easy to refill in rural areas around the country.

When it starts to get really cold though down in the single digits and teens even a 20lb. tank will start to freeze (forget about small disposable ones they become solid ice) with any high demand device connected to it. Then I switch to my old white gas stove, lantern and wood. But will use propane right up to the last minute.



I keep the tank outside where it belongs and run the hose under the floor and up through the zipout for the wood stove. I served as gas free engineer and fire marshal on the Aircraft Carrier USS America during Desert Storm and have been in fire fighting and Engineering a lot of my life so may be more cautious than most but I always use a CO and smoke detector when ever I have a heat source in a tent. It has never gone off with the propane buddy heater but CO alarm has gone off more than once with wood which is one of the reasons I haven't switched to coal. There is a much higher risk of increased CO levels with coal.

If at all possible and electricity is available, and there are a few places it is for me, I will use an electric oil filled heater and the constantly coat blowing Toller as supplementary heat. Especially if it is just him and I in the trailer with an A.R.E. utility topper.



The stuffed toy was my oldest sons about 26 years ago and the only thing the dog hasn't torn up over the years. He mouths it and his eyes roll back in his head and then he is out for the count. Which in close quarters with a dog is a good thing IMO.

 

I got a white gas stove and lantern for christmas, have to say I'm pretty damn excited about using those the next time I am out camping.

What do you guys use for cooking regarding pots/pans. I generally carry my 12" Iron skillet, an Aluminum Dutch oven and carry a metal grate to grill over a fire. That takes care of anything I could think of cooking.

 

Seems like a CO and smoked detector are really good ideas with a stove type thing in a tent.

 

Yes! Please if anyone is running any sort of heater in a confined space get a CO detector. I almost killed a real good friend, my wife and myself this year deer hunting. I, stupidly, pointed my dads generator exhaust right toward the heater fresh air intake for my travel trailer. It was a ways away, but there wasn't any wind. About an hour later, BEEP BEEP BEEP. I'm not sure if would have died, but it was scary.

 

Point well made! Glad you're OK.