Kiss hot tent stove at night.

A tent heater in a pot?

This little tent heater is a miniature wood stick fired tent stove that is carried in its own cooking pot for ultralight winter backpacking with the comfort of hot tenting.

A view looking down on the Kiss hot tent stove cooktop at night showing off its heating power. It is sitting up on insulated wood pole legs, with a stick storage/drying rack below. "It might be small, but it is a serious source of heat for comfort and cooking in a backpacking tent."
A view looking down on the Kiss hot tent stove cooktop at night showing off its heating power. It is sitting up on insulated wood pole legs, with a stick storage/drying rack below. “It might be small, but it is a serious source of heat for comfort and cooking in a backpacking tent.”

Tent heater design

This tent heater is designed to be compact so that all the stove components, including the roll up flue or stove pipe can be fitted within a slightly larger dinner cooking pot. It makes a light and compact load that is a smooth round ‘pack-friendly shape’ to be carried while ultralight backpacking.

KISS stove parts packed inside the fire dome that then fits in the cooking pot.
The KISS stove parts packed inside the fire dome that then fits in the cooking pot.

Tent heater with cooking function

The primary function of the tent heater is to provide generous warmth to a small backpacking tent and its occupants. A secondary function is to provide a small and hot surface for cooking and snow melting. The cooking speed of the tent heater is no match for a Jetboil type stove. However, the persistent steady cooking power will be welcome for snow melting, hot drinks and gentle simmering of dehydrated backpacking meals. This unlimited heating capacity is produced by the clean and efficient gasification and combustion of only ~7g of fallen sticks per minute.

“Slow cooking is just fine when confined to a small tent in a winter wonderland on long winter evenings when the skiing is done. The wood collection and preparation is quick and easy”

Mothy The Elder

The video below shows the gentle boiling of a large mug of water accompanied by the gentle chuffing of the wood gas flame of the tent heater.

The tent heater showing the small but effective space for cooking pots on the cooktop.
The tent heater showing the small but effective space for cooking pots on the cooktop.

The large dinner pot, that the stove packs up in, can also be heated on the tent heater cooktop. The pot overhang is supported by a removable ‘V-wire’ bracket (mostly hidden below the pot) that is attached to the fire dome.

An ultralight tent heater that is mounted on two bush poles and the centre pole of the tent. The large dinner cooking pot can provide slow but unlimited cooking and snow melting while winter camping. The pot overhang is supported by a removable 'V-wire' bracket that is attached to the fire dome.
An ultralight tent heater is mounted on two bush poles and the centre pole of the tent. The large dinner cooking pot can provide slow but unlimited cooking and snow melting while winter camping. The pot overhang is supported by a removable ‘V-wire’ bracket that is attached to the fire dome.

Another cooking mode

As an added bonus, this tent heater can be transformed to become a powerful blower stove when required. In good weather, it can provide abundant outdoor cooking and fast boiling. This is achieved by flipping the tent heater fire dome upside-down to become a fire bowl for the blower stove. “With a little trickery, it can be used to cook two pots at the same time as shown in the photo below.” The blower stove components are so small that they can also be carried within the stove (with all the tent heat parts) while backpacking.

A tent heater fire dome that has been temporarily transformed into a hybrid blower stove. Rocks have been used as a support for the luxury of a second cooking pot position. "The Moroka River valley rocks were the kind that does not explode with heat!"
A tent heater fire dome that has been temporarily transformed into a hybrid blower stove. Rocks have been used as a support for the luxury of a second cooking pot position. “The Moroka River valley rocks were the kind that does not explode with heat!”

Yet another cooking mode

Finally, this tent heater can also be used with a tiny and efficient 9g alcohol burner as a backup fuel if required.

For a backup cooking fuel, the tent heater can be converted to a cooking stove that uses a 9g alcohol burner that is made from a whisky bottle lid.
For a backup cooking fuel, the tent heater can be converted to a cooking stove that uses a 9g alcohol burner that is made from a whisky bottle lid. .

Tim

For more details on the tent heater, please see the following posts:

Tent stove- a tiny backpacking stove
Part 3- A telescopic stove pipe roll up

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