Load-bearing tent stove pipes

Load-bearing tent stove pipes for backpacking- a gathering of ideas and innovations.

This post is in response to comments that I have had on my post; Stove location- optimization in pyramid tents. The efficiency of a central location was universally saluted (by those that agree). However, the issue of using a load-bearing tent stove pipe to fully or partially support a tent and or the stove was another innovation that others have raised.

I used a load-bearing tent stove pipe as a support for various tents, but discontinued the design when I had a ‘pipe melt down’ and discovered ultralight and compact roll up stove pipes that I have since improved to make them telescopic. The melt-down also led to my tent designs that could be easily pitched without the need to carry a pole for many circumstances such as camping in deep snow where we use a snow pit for extra space and comfort.

A tent stove in a snow pit under a tent with no tent pole. — A tent stove in a snow pit under a pyramid tent with no tent pole. It makes a cosy but comfortable retreat from the beautiful snowy cold winter skiing world.

I am not suggesting that any method is better or worse, I am just sharing these innovative ideas.

Unique innovations?

Innovation by its nature may make the innovator think that their idea is unique. I have a dear friend and work colleague who kindly gave me a lot of help and criticism concerning my research and scientific papers. “I found that such criticism was much better coming from a colleague before external journal referees find the faults. It was also very very much better than the fault going into print, forever, for others to discover throughout time.”

One of my frailties was to think that what I had discovered was unique. My dear colleague would look over his glasses (that I did not have at the time) so wisely and say; “Ohh……. ohh….Tim…..Tim….Tim (with much teasing pausing). Nothing is truly new it is just that your literature research has not been thorough enough.” He was so often correct.

On the other hand, I remember a patent attorney looking me in the eyes and saying that if I had dreamed up my invention without seeking outside ideas then my invention would have elements that could be covered by a patent. He explained that this is because none of us has the same way of thinking of a solution to a problem. He hastened to add that it did not mean that it would necessarily make commercial sense to apply for the patent.

Are we a rare lot?

People who go on overnight walks or ski trips are rare,

People who are prepared to travel light and camp in a cold, wet or frozen world are even rarer (But the prize is wonderful!),

People who have time to fart around with such technology and still have the energy or stupidity to backcountry walk and ski are even rarer,

Even if all these rare conditions were met, maybe the innovator has no inclination to share their ideas and this would have been highly likely if it happened to be before the age of the internet.

If we apply all these filters we may not be surprised if there is only a hand full of us who have followed this path and shared the journey with others. But we do know that we are not strictly alone on this investigative path and common themes will reoccur.

Consequently, the purpose of this post was to collect and share tent/stove ideas where the tent stove pipe has supporting roles other than just being an exhaust and a source of stove draft. It may attract some attention from other innovators who have trodden a similar path. However, I don’t expect a flood of comments or contributions, but would welcome any ideas.

The backpacking load-bearing tent stove pipe innovation list

Sami reinder herders tent with stove. Perhaps, this tent stove combination is not a full match for backpacking. However, I thought that it gave a good historical context to the saying that there is nothing that is truly new and that there should be no squabbles about who did what first. I am assuming that the Sami tent and stove was a lightweight and efficient combination that was easily transported to enable the herders (Father and Daughter in the case of this photo) to follow the herd and stay safe and warm in a cold world. “They probably cheat and use a snowmobile (snowmachine) now.”

Sami Reindeer herders tent. "It looks as though the tent is supported by a load-bearing tent stove pipe?" (Copied from a ReadersDigest article). "Not many things are truly new." — Sami Reindeer herders tent. “It looks as though the tent is supported by a load-bearing tent stove pipe?” (Copied from a ReadersDigest article). “Not many things are truly new.”

Timtinker’s tent burning wood stove. I made a series of tent stoves that had stove pipes that supported the apex of my tents. The one that I called the Stanely Stove was made from a buggered Stanley thermos flask that was given to me by a walking/skiing friend who said; “Tim, I bet you could make something out of this!”

The stove pipe was made from two aluminium vacuum cleaner pipes that also supported the tent apex via an insulting aluminium tent gland (or jack). It was my most successful tent/stove combination until it was fine-tuned for good wood combustion which made it get so hot that the pipe melted (~600C). “Hence my friends called it the tent-burning wood stove. Mostly lies of course, although it did destroy my tent companion’s air mat.”

My Stanley Stove. It was made from a 'buggered' Stanely thermos flask and the stove pipe became a substitute for a tent pole for the pyramid or bell tent. It was a thing of simple beauty until the finely tuned wood-burning stove burnt so hot that it reached the melting point of aluminium and the stove pipe (and tent pole) collapsed. — My Stanley Stove. It was made from a ‘buggered’ Stanely thermos flask and the stove pipe became a substitute for a tent pole for the pyramid or bell tent. It was a thing of simple beauty until the finely tuned wood-burning stove burnt so hot that it reached the melting point of aluminium and the stove pipe (and tent pole) collapsed.

The Stanley tent stove. Fuel blocks can be fed in through the top opening and secondary air can enter through the adjustable slit formed by the fuel port cover. The primary air hole lower down can have the opening adjusted to limit pyrolysis of the wood and the rate of production of wood gas (smoke). The secondary air opening can be opened wider to make the combustion of the smoke more complete. "It was a tricky balancing act." A threaded nut and screw is provided on the base so that the stove could be mounted on a bush pole when camping on deep snow. Just behind the stove pipe connector, there is a tube welded in place to provide a clasp for the bottom of a slim tent pole if required. The whole shebang was carried in a plastic bag tube within an old explorer sock for padding. — The Stanley tent stove. Fuel blocks can be fed in through the top opening and secondary air can enter through the adjustable slit formed by the fuel port cover. The primary air hole lower down can have the opening adjusted to limit pyrolysis of the wood and the rate of production of wood gas (smoke). The secondary air opening can be opened wider to make the combustion of the smoke more complete. “It was a tricky balancing act.” A threaded nut and screw is provided on the base so that the stove could be mounted on a bush pole when camping on deep snow. Just behind the stove pipe connector, there is a tube welded in place to provide a clasp for the bottom of a slim tent pole if required. The whole shebang was carried in a plastic bag tube within an old explorer sock for padding.

To insulate the tent canopy from the hot stove pipe, I devised a load-bearing conical aluminium stove pipe jack that could be fitted into a load-bearing hem with an adjustable drawcord. It provided insulation via an air gap and also the aluminium acted as a heat sink for the radiated heat from the stove pipe.

The conical aluminium stove jack protruding through the top of the tent. The jack was designed to support the tent apex by pole, overhead cord with a wire tracer or the stove pipe. — The conical aluminium stove jack protrudes through the top of the tent. The jack was designed to support the tent apex by pole, overhead cord with a wire tracer or the stove pipe. “The smoke is not normal but was put on for a show for the photo by excessive restriction of the air intake ports.”

The jack was designed so that it could support the apex load of the tent. It had a socket that could be used with a conventional tent pole, a wire ‘handle’ fitted to the top of the jack allowed the tent to be pitched without any pole with or without the stove, by suspending it from an overhanging branch. Eventually, I found that the load-bearing hem and an apex cord, alone, could be used to pitch the tent with a bush stick or by ‘sky-hook. “This was all discovered after I melted my stove pipe/tent pole during an extended trip. So mistakes are unpleasant at the time, but they can be good if we learn from them!”

An assortment of experimental metal stove pipe jacks. The conical one on the left was used with the Stanley tent stove to provide a load-bearing support for the tent canopy. "I discontinued the use of the stove pipe as a tent pole, but the load-bearing hems and poleless tent pitching has been a feature of all my subsequent tents." — An assortment of experimental metal stove pipe jacks. The conical one on the left was used with the Stanley tent stove to provide a load-bearing support for the tent canopy. “I discontinued the use of the stove pipe as a tent pole, but the load-bearing hems and poleless tent pitching has been a feature of all my subsequent tents.”

Arlen’s tent with a stove pipe that supports the tent and a tin can wood stove. This innovation is a low-tech combination of a real tarp tent with a tin can tent stove. The tarp is very low and I imagine would be a lot less comfortable than the pyramid tent comfort that I have grown accustomed to. Nevertheless, the stove seems to be able to run efficiently on ~400g of wood per hour (As my small stoves do.). The information about Arlen’s stove is somewhat scattered about in several forum postings and the flame baffle appears to be quite different in various stoves, depending on where you look.

Arlen's (chimpac) tarp tent with a load-bearing stove pipe that supports part of the tent and also the tent stove. — Arlen’s (Chimpac) tarp tent with a load-bearing stove pipe that supports part of the tent and also the tent stove.

Arlen's (chimpac) stove with a short load-bearing stove pipe supporting his tarp tent. The stove is supported above the ground by the stove pipe — Arlen’s (Chimpac) stove with a short load-bearing stove pipe supporting his tarp tent. The stove is supported above the ground by the stove pipe.

The stove pipe provides support for the tent canopy (I am not sure how?) and also supports the weight of the woodstove that is attached to a rectangular opening on the side of the stove pipe (Possibly held in place by a loop of wire?).

As far as I can tell, the stove is somewhat similar to a rocket mass heater (RMH) in the combustion process. The stove body is made from a tin can and forms the equivalent of a RMH bell or heat exchange surface.

The exhaust is vented from the side of the stove body or bell at a low position (And I expect that it would improve the heating efficiency and moderate the stove pipe temperature.) as is the case for RMHs. This is in contrast with most light tent stoves that exhaust from near the top of the burn chamber. The stove has a limited heat riser (baffle) inside that, unlike the RMH, is uninsulated. The riser appears to house the processes of wood gasification, charcoal combustion and presumably, most of the wood gas combustion.

The design allows a full circular cooktop. Also, one of the baffle variants focuses heat on the bell surface on one side of the stove (where the fuel is added), presumably for the benefit or favour of the stove operator, rather than all-round, as for the RMH. Apparently, the zone beneath the stove can also be used by carnivores for meat broiling (grilling?).

A view down inside Arlen’s (chimpac) tent stove showing the heat riser/burn chamber within the stove body or bell heat exchanger. The fuel slide shelf is protruding from the front of the bell.

Arlen’s tent stove showing the fully operational stove with meat broiling in a pot below the stove, cooking on top of the stove and food warming on top of that (I think).

Here are some forum posts under the name of ‘chimpac’. Chimpac please tell us about your uber tarp, New ideas for cooking under a tarp and Paint can stove.

Darren’s liquid-fueled boiler/wood stove and FTR tent (from the road tent). This is a beautifully implemented tent and stove combination by Darren Jakal. “I can see clearly that it is designed by a designer who is also an experienced committed ski tour camper and is prepared to make changes to make improvements based on that experience.” Consequently, it is still an evolving stove/tent system that integrates a load-bearing stove pipe as part of the support for an innovative pyramid tent and a centrally suspended dual-fuel stove.

Darren's FTR tent with stove pitched on deep snow. Excavation of the snow can provide sleeping benches and sitting and standing comfort for three tent occupants. The tent is designed so that the three tent occupants can each hold and anchor one of the three critical structural 'corner seams' to erect the tent quickly under adverse conditions. — Darren’s FTR tent with stove pitched on deep snow. Excavation of the snow can provide sleeping benches and sitting and standing comfort for three tent occupants. The tent is designed so that the three tent occupants can each hold and anchor one of the three critical structural ‘corner seams’ to erect the tent quickly under adverse conditions. “Each occupant has their own doorway, so there is no excuse for jumping on each other’s sleeping bag or gear. Peeing at night while keeping your feet warm looks easy too.”

The tent is designed principally to sleep three people on deep snow during snow trips on skis (From road to road (FTR) or from road and return (is that FTRAR?)).

The excavation of a central snow pit for a comfortable standing room and the formation of seating/sleeping benches are part of the design concept to increase the space and comfort of winter campers with this tent/stove system. “I know what a pleasure it is to have a snow pit with warmth for comfort and cooking after a day of skiing, it turns a tiny cramped tent into a virtual palace in a hostile but beautiful environment that so few of us have the joy of and addiction to skiing in, over and through.” Presumably, the low profile tent and forming snow walls with the excavated snow would provide good protection from strong winds if needed.

Cross sectional sketch of the FTR tent and stove set up in an excavated snow pit. — Cross-sectional sketch of the FTR tent and stove set up in an excavated snow pit. by Darren Jakal

The stove/boiler unit hangs off the load-bearing stove pipe assembly (as Arlen’s stove does). This gives unobstructed access to the boiler pot that fits down inside the stove body when the liquid fuel burner is operating. The top of the stove body becomes the cooking platform when wood fuel is used.

Darren's FTR tent stove side view. — Darren’s FTR tent stove side view.

The strength of the stove pipe is supplemented with three surrounding rods to support the apex of the tent. The apex of the tent has a strong heat-resistant and insulating disk that spreads the apex load to all tent panels and protects the tent fabric from the heat of the stove pipe.

Darren's FTR tent stove jack with load bearing tent apex. — Darren’s FTR tent stove jack with a load-bearing tent apex that insulates the fabric from the hot stove pipe.

The stove chamber can house a boiler/snow melter pot that can be heated by a pressurised liquid fuel burner or it can be used to burn wood for warmth and cooking.

Darren's FTR tent stove connection point with stove pipe,showing the holes in the stove pipe that form the spark arrestor. — Darren’s FTR tent stove connection points with the stove pipe, The holes in the stove pipe form the spark arrestor. The small pins above the opening secure the hanging stove in place.

Darren's FTR tent stove looking down into the stove body when it is in wood burning mode. — Darren’s FTR tent stove looking down into the stove body onto the air grate that is used when it is in wood-burning mode. The slots in which the above location pins fit are shown at the front of the photo.

Darren's FTR tent stove looking down into the stove body when it is in liquid fuel burning mode. This is used to do bulk snow melting to make water and to make bioling water. It provides a little heat for the comfort of the campers. — Darren’s FTR tent stove looking down into the stove body when it is in liquid fuel-burning mode. This is used to do bulk snow melting to make water and to make boiling water. It provides a little heat for the comfort of the campers.

For a more complete listing of Darren’s FTR tent and stove photos, please see; FTR tent and stove photos.

Have you made a load-bearing tent stove?

Please contact me if you have a tent/stove set up along these lines that you might like to share on this list.

The 2nd last shoutout for the evolution of poleless pyramid tents

I know that this is not strictly on topic, but the article would not be complete without it. My last three pyramid tent designs have been a delight to use on both ground and snow.

Dodecahedron pyramid. The first beautiful dodecagon tent accidentally became a tent that could easily be pitched with a bush pole or no pole at all (after the above-mentioned stove pipe/pole melting disaster many years ago).

Square pyramids. The next two tents were designed with this pitching option in mind. They were also made square so that they were ‘fiddle free’ to pitch easily under trying weather conditions ( a little more complex than Darren’s). As soon as the four corners are pegged down, they immediately provided bothy type shelter for packs and people.

The square shape also required a much smaller footprint where ground-based campsites may be limited. Lastly, the square shape was the most efficient for housing three people without packs or two people with packs and boots etc and a small central tent stove. “These tents lost the beauty of my orange circus tent, but they are so much more efficient and practical.”

The reinforced load-bearing hems and drawcords on my tents are the key to their versatility and they are so simple and strong and make the finishing of the tent apex simple and crude, but elegant for ‘crap sewers’ like me.

The simplicity of camping without a tent pole should be obvious. In snow, I prefer to camp amongst trees if possible for their wind protection and their beauty, so suspending the tent apex from a suitable snow gum branch is natural. “These Aussie snow gums are not like the treacherous snow dumping trees of the Northern hemisphere. Ours gently drop little ice cubes as they slowly shed their accumulated snow burden.”

Without a pole, the snow can be dug out and sculptured to make the tent space large and comfortable with room for a tent stove that can sit up at a convenient height on bush poles that can be driven into the snow. With this sculpturing, at the front of the tent, we can form steps for safe entry to the snow pit while wearing clunky stiff ski boots.

The tent can become a communal hot tent that can provide respite from the elements while on overnight ski trips. “We even make an outside altar to the gods of powder snow, but they never quite deliver! We can still use it for waxing skis etc.” It can make good/bad weather skiing a joy so that you can retreat for some recovery and a hot drink before going out again to make some more fresh deep lines in the freshly falling ‘not-quite-powder’ snow.

Ultralight tent stove on a bush pole above the snow. — Ultralight tent without a pole and a stove on a single bush pole above the snow within a snow pit. The 500-600g stove measures 180*140*55mm and flue pipe and all accessories fit within for backpacking.

A Y-shaped snow pit in a tiny stove in a tent without a pole.

A big communal snow pit with a wood stove in a small tent. This flexibility is made possible by having no tent pole.

Conclusion

I think this small list of load-bearing tent stoves shows that they are not new and can be configured in many ways. Probably as many ways as there are stove tinkerers. They can range from low tech to high tech and even multiple fuels. They all represent human ingenuity to keep us warm comfortable and nourished with hot food and drinks when out in the winter wilds. Thanks to Arlen, Darren and the Reindeer Herders.

Tim

Addendum

For those who love pyramid tents, you may like to read my post on my latest and largest low-condensation breathing pyramid tent with a winter weather entry vestibule with a large window for bad weather ventilation and an optional skylight or starlight for good weather.

The pyramid tent with a vestibule shows the sloping vestibule ridge line that leads down to the door opening.

Also, you may be interested in my recently discovered way of pitching a square pyramid tent squarely, first-time every-time. “It’s rather sad that a lifelong pyramid tent lover has taken 70 years and Covid to find this trick! Still never too late to learn new tricks!”