Tent stove mounting for all seasons

This post is about tent stove mounting on the ground, rocks or snow when used in the context of ultralight backpacking tent camping in winter.

Introduction to tent stove mounting

When camping on the ground with a wood-burning ultralight tent stove, the soil, can simply be used for tent stove mounting. However, this can cause unpleasant and protracted smoke in the tent when soil organic matter under and around the stove slowly charrs and burns.

Metal legs such as those on this Gstove are often used to provide a separation between the tent stove and the supporting surface. These legs, unfortunately, add weight to a backpacking load and will not be welcome in my backpack.

If camping on deep snow, the stove will be unstable and melt into the snow. Setting the stove legs on a ‘raft’ of wood or other insulating material will reduce this problem. Even so, the radiant heat from the stove bottom will soften the supporting snow floor near the stove as described in How to live in a heated tent.

If the tent stove can be raised up above the ground or snow surface on a found non-conductive material such as bush poles, it avoids these problems. It also can allow the heat from the stove bottom to be reflected and utilized. Fuel sticks can be stored, thawed and dried on a rack, that can also be made of bush sticks. The rack can be lashed to the stove supporting poles. The raised rack can be lined with stiff aluminium cooking foil (from take away food covers) to provide additional heat reflection and hold useful small fuel sticks and tinder.

The raised tent stove mounting can provide additional advantages. It can provide better heat distribution to the tent occupants bodies and a good height for cooking activities.

Long pole legs can be used when a central snow pit is formed in a small tent. This can greatly improve the comfort in a small tent by providing seating and a standing room. “It can make a small tent feel much larger than it is and is a great situation when wearing ‘clunky’ ski boots.”

This post considers some ultralight tent stove mounting options that have worked for me. They have added to the pleasure of ultralight camping experience for me and my snowy winter friends.

Options for tent stove mounting

On ground mounting

Tent stove mounting on the ground is simple and the most obvious method. However, the heat from the bottom of the stove will build up and charr the organic matter within the soil below and around the stove. It will make persistent unpleasant smoke in the tent.

Aluminium dish mounting- a bad idea

In my early ignorant days of hot tenting, my outrageous designs had the beautiful pyramid or bell tent supported by the stove pipe. It saved weight, but was an unwise design that would be discontinued with the advent of rollup stove pipes.

Under the stove, I put a large aluminium dish and below that a foam insulator pad. This initially prevented the melting of the groundsheet and the charring of the soil organic matter to make smoke in the tent. “It appeared to work well at first. I was basking in the warmth and the vanity of apparent success when the characteristic hot smell of melting polyethene heralded its failure.”

Sooner or later the rising temperature below the stove and dish slowly melted the foam pad and then the groundsheet below.

“While damning the aluminium dish protector method, I should indicate that it could work OK if the dish was bigger and had a larger surface area to dissipate more heat into the air. It probably could prevent soil organic matter charring and making pesky smoke in the tent. However, for me, such a large dish would not be welcome in my backpack. Another option could be to fill the dish with soil or ash to act as an insulator.”

Me

Stove mounting on rock/s

A stone-age solution works well. Pebbles, rocks or preferably a rock slab can separate the stove from the ground. “The large slab is my favourite method when there is no deep snow and suitable rocks are available.”

The slab (the larger the better) can become a delightful luxury in a small tent. It will become quite hot and act as a hot table for drying fuel sticks and preparing meals and keeping drinks and meals hot. Other large stones can be uses to support and level the slab. This will mean that the space below it will also become a warm space for drying fuel sticks, gloves and socks etc.

Lastly, if the rock slab is very big, it makes a heat bank that will give out heat for some hours after the stove is allowed to run down. “Just imagine the joy that this might bring.”

While the rock slab will insulate well enough to prevent soil charring, the slab will transfer too much heat for it to be suitable as a deep snow mounting option.

Single pole mounting

Supporting the stove up on a (found) bush pole seemed to me to be an obvious ultralight tent stove mounting method. It required a suitable insulating interface between the hot stove body and the wooden bush pole.

My first Downdraft ultralight tent stoves ambitiously used a single pole. It worked well enough when used in soil or deep snow.

The pole was connected to the stove by an articulated cylindrical welded stainless steel foil cap. To get a stable fitting, the pole top needed to be ‘square-cut’, thus requiring the use of a saw. It also needed to be the same diameter as the cap (or be paired down to fit). This was a bit tedious and the wet and frozen wood would eventually shrink as it dried, leaving a loose fit.

The single mounting pole with the help of a titanium wire strut supported the stove quite well. However, when the pole supported the weight of a load of fuel sticks on the drying rack plus a big dinner pot on top of the stove it lacked ideal stability. Consequently, for my next generations of stoves, I used more poles (Typically three) to provide excellent support and an easy setup.

Stove mounting on multiple poles

I tinkered with four pole mounts to maximize the wood drying storing rack that could form a rectangular shape. Eventually, I settled on three legs as this was easier to set up the stove with a level stove top.

Using a wrap-around stove mounting clasp

I also changed the pole connection from a ‘precise fitting cap’ to ‘wrap around clasps’ so that they could fit a pole of any diameter and cope with shrinkage of the poles as they dried out.

Additionally, the pole no longer needed to be ‘cut square’ and the clasp could be adjusted up and down the pole to level the stovetop for cooking. “All this makes the job easier when you are cold and setting up camp in the snow and the comfort of the stove warmth and a hot drinks is most needed .”

Additionally, I introduced long high-tensile swing arms to connect between the pole clasp and the stove body. This provided thermal insulation. It also made the lateral fitting of the stove to the arms very easy. “It just floats between the three swing arms to find its own resting place.”

The large swing radius of the arms meant that the separation of the poles could be much wider than the stove body and the wood rack could be quite large. Very little precision is required in the location of the poles while setting up camp. The wooden pole legs and the wood rack become protectors in case of someone rolling over toward the stove in their sleeping bag.

When snow camping, I line the wood rack with thin cooking foil to reflect heat back from the bottom of the stove and prevent melting of the snowpit floor.

Lastly, a wide wood rack loaded with some long fuel sticks makes an excellent natural barrier for the hot stove. It provides a warning to a person who may roll in their sleeping bag toward the hot stove.

Stove mounting on bush poles combined with a central tent pole

To allow the tent pole to be used as a stove mount, I lined the pole clasp with studs of soft RTV silicone rubber. This enabled the clasp to grip securely when whipped to the smooth aluminium pole or similar.

An improved clasp for the stove mounting

I found that the use of the yellow cord to whip the clasp to the legs was a little tedious. Also, if the pole is wet or frozen, as it usually is, it will shrink as it dries out and the clasp may come loose.

My later success with RTV silicone rubber glueing inspired me to try using a ribbon of fine silicone rubber to whip the clasp to the bush pole or an aluminium tent pole.

I found that this stretchy rubber whipping was delightfully quick and easy to use. It formed a strong and stable grip that was easy to adjust and was superior to any other attachment method that I have used so far. The glue that I prefer to use is acetic cure RTV silicone rubber (the type that you would use in a bathroom). “Just so easy to use with cold hands.”

Mounting of a tent stove without a tent

This is slightly off-topic, but the story would not be complete without its inclusion. A tent stove can in good weather be used outside the tent for gentle cooking. A stove such as the KISS Stove can simply be mounted directly on some cleared ground where there is some provision to stabilize the flue pipe.

There is no need to fit the stove base and aluminium cover. Instead, the ground becomes the stove base and the soil and accumulated ash becomes an effective insulator that allows more heat to be distributed to the stove cooktop.

The stove base rim can be sealed by covering it with some soil or ash. Any smoke that is made from charring soil organic matter will rapidly dissipate.

The video below shows the stove gently simmering the pot that the stove ‘lives in’ while backpacking.

Alternatively, the stove bottom can be fitted normally and then it can be sat on some rocks to ‘leave no trace’ cooking.

This stove has inspired me to press ahead with an even lighter infinity stove, so please subscribe to get the latest newsletter.

Tim