Tent stove location optimization

This post describes how I optimize tent stove location in a multi-person pyramid tent. It applies to both grounded and deep snow ultralight backpacking camping.

Introduction

Once upon-a-time……many years ago. I fell in love with pyramid tents. Fine Japara (cotton) was then-the-go. It was the fabric for yacht sails and hiking tents. “Gone are the days when you could comfortably snuggle-up in many layers of soft yacht sails to sleep.”

Synthetics and tent stoves. More recently, in the age of ultralight synthetic polymers, I discovered the joys of ultralight hot tenting for alpine winter camping in considerable comfort. This combined the two love affairs of pyramids and tent stoves and alas a separation with cotton.

Success from failure. The above tent was innovative in many ways but was experimental. “While I called it a ‘wood-burning tent stove’, over the years, my friends who tell embellished tales of the disaster called it a ‘tent burning wood stove’. So here is an ode to the stove;

Half the lies they tell are not true,
The melted tent pole was also the flue,
Wood burning tent stove or tent burning wood stove.
The humour and truth may be found by you.

The tent is the subject of another post. It was made to use with a tent stove. It had a removable insulated and load-bearing fitting integrated into the peak of the tent. I called the fitting a flue gland. The fitting could oppose the strong tension of the tent canopy, in a storm, while insulating it from the heat of the flue pipe.

Although not in the same league as a luna landing it was very complex. It even had provision for a heat resistant wire to hold up the gland by tieing it up to an overhead cord and thus removing the need for a tent pole when the stove was not in use. For more details on this gland and other alternatives ones, there is my post on flue glands.

A failed flue pipe hole becomes the best tent pole mount. To make a strong attachment of the load-bearing fitting to the tent I sewed a simple re-enforced hem and drawcord to the top of the tent. When the flue pipe melted, I asked my companion to stand up and become the temporary tent pole, while I went out and grabbed a suitable dead stick to become a tent pole. The stick was passed up through the opened hem and the drawcord was tied up to the pole as a substitute tent pole.

The birth of an innovative pyramid apex anchor hem. With this arrangement, the stick does not need to be cut to a specific length as the excess just protrudes through the hole as ‘a bonus flagpole’ and the cord just closes the fabric around the pole of any thickness. “Flying a pennant flag from the pole extension is a bit of fun, but remember to remove it before starting up the stove.”

The drawcord also can be used in pole-less tent pitching, where the cord is simply pulled up to a suitable overhanging branch. “The hem closes up as tight as a ‘fishesasshole’.

This hem/drawcord arrangement is just so simple and versatile that I subsequently incorporate it in all my tents. It is a great option when snow camping with a tent stove and when using a snow pit in a tent. That’s the subject of another post stove mounting for all seasons.

As an aside, while reviewing the above post, I realised that I had ‘glossed-over’ the detail of the hem design, and its potential to be retrofitted to any pyramid tent. Consequently, the subject is deserving of its own short post titled; an innovative apex hem for pyramid tents.

Many flue pipe ports in the one tent. My immediate disappointment with the ‘melting pole fiasco’ was softened by having other flue pipe exit options. The tent canopy that was supposedly burnt in the ‘tent burning wood stove’ fiasco is shown in the photo below. It has five possible flue pipe exit ports in it. One port that is low down is out of sight. The rest are in view. See if you can find the four.

The invisible ports are in the tent canopy seams and these ‘holes’ are formed by not stitching the French seam for a length of about 150mm, with strong back-stitching either side. It meant that the flue pipe gland could be easily be put almost anywhere. The slit stretches and opens up when needed to accommodate the flue pipe gland and then snap shut when not needed. “They snap shut so nicely that they don’t let water in and I have never sewn them up. They can still be used as peepholes to look about what is happening outside the tent.”

Optimised stove location

Central flue port. Having a multitude of flue pipe ports in the one tent meant that I have tried all positions, as one does if one can. The one with the sky showing through (In the photo above.) is my favourite as it has many advantages over all others. I place the stove approximately below this hole. This means that the stove is centrally located within the pyramid.

I describe what I see are the benefits of this central tent stove location under several headings below.

Best heat distribution from the centre. Most importantly, a central stove position means that the hottest radiant heat from a small stove is safely away from the tent canopy and is most available for the comfort of the occupant. If there are two or more people then the heat can easily be shared.

“I should say that my tiny tent stove are not really tent heaters as this is a losing battle in the snow when only protected by a 0.03mm thick film of silnylon fabric. They instead are powerful infrared heat radiators that directly heat our bodies and our body blood circulation takes that heat all-over for our comfort.”

Mounting the stove on soil. When off-snow camping, the stove can be mounted on the ground that is cleared of combustible materials. However, most soil will contain a tiny amount of organic mater that unfortunately will slowly make a lot of unpleasant smoke in the tent. A good alternative is to set the stove on three or more rocks to keep it up of the ground and to set the cooktop at the prefered angle.

Rock slab soil mounting. My prefered option if possible is to set the stove on a large slab of rock that is in turn set on three or more rocks. This configuration can create a level and hot bench for the tent stove to; dry fuel sticks, keep food and drinks warm and to dry socks, gloves and hats.

Eventually, the underside of the rock slab will become quite warm and suitable for drying things below it.

The last bonus pleasure is that a large rock slab will provide is a heat bank that will gently radiate heat for hours after the stove has been put out. “This set up takes a little effort, but is very rewarding, particularly, if you are pinned down by bad weather for some time.“

Stove mounting on bush poles. Placing the stove up on bush sticks gives good heat distribution. It also provides a suitable space for drying/storing fuel sticks below the stove

On snow stove mounting. To keep the stove from melting into the snow, an insulating ‘raft’ of wood sticks with multiple layers of aluminium foil can be used as a support for a small stove.

I have found that I can add a layer of soil or ash to the bottom of the burn chamber to act as a good insulator and this can prevent the bottom of the stove from reaching wood charring temperature.

However, my favourite KISS tent stove uses an inverted J-burner that gets much hotter (delightfully so) but the downdraft blasts away the ash layer and cause the stove bottom to exceed wood charring temperature. Consequently, they will need more insulation or possibly a metal heat dissipating plate or ceramic wool padding to keep the wood from charring.

Pole mounting on snow. Mounting the stove on bush poles avoids the problem of the stove melting its way down into the snow and charring of a ‘wood raft’. It improves the heat distribution to our bodies and puts it at a perfect height for sitting around with a snow pit with snow steps formed at the entrance. Clunky ski boots work well in this situation. Also, cooking is much more convenient at this height.

Lastly, a wood rack can be tied or hung under the stove to conveniently thaw, dry and neatly store fuel sticks.

Insulated stove mounting wires. These simple ultralight wires can be lashed around bush poles to form legs for a tent stove when required. They can be used to mount the stove up above the snow surface, the bottom of a snow pit or the ground. The mounting wires make a simple stable and insulating connection between the red hot fire dome and the wooden poles.

Note. There is a separate post on various stove mounting options.

Optimised stove pipe exit location

Central flue pipe position. I consider that a central exit port for the flue pipe near the apex is the best option when the tent stove location is central. There are other compelling reasons for this and they are listed under the headings below.

Pyramid apex. The apex of the tent is the most stable part of the tent when it is being buffeted by strong winds. It is also at the location where the flue gland has the least water to shed during heavy rainfall.

Central location for good heat distribution. The flue pipe provides the maximum heat to the tent for drying clothes when it passes up to the highest part of the tent.

Minimum flue pipe chilling. The long protected path of the flue pipe within the tent will help to sustain better flue pipe draft than if it has greater exposure to the cold wind of the outside world.

Safer flue pipe exit temperature. Having the longest possible path for the flue pipe before it exits the canopy is also good for safety. This is because there is an exponential reduction in external flue pipe temperature up the length of the flue pipe. This means that the highest exit point will also have the safest flue pipe surface temperature.

Cautionary note: All my stoves are exceptionally small and very efficient. They simply run flat-out without air reduction controls, dampers or spark arrestors. They just consume, on-demand, a steady amount of the bottom of the charge of fuel sticks. Under these conditions, the temperature on the flue pipe at the exit point is stable and seldom exceeds 100C.

In contrast, most other tent stoves are much larger, more powerful and batch fed fuel so that a large amount of fuel may burn at any time. They invariably need to use air controls and flue pipe dampers to limit the fuel combustion rate. They often use spark arrestors to limit the expulsion of burning fuel particles. Some people even boast of ‘shooting flames out of the stack’. Consequently, my rules for safe flue pipe exit temperatures may be inappropriate for other tent stoves, because mine can not overburn, shoot flames or sparks out. “Their natural self-regulation makes them very hot, but rather steady and tame.”

Flue pipe away from the doorway. The tent stove location in the centre of pyramid tents will mean that the stove pipe will be a safe distance away from doorway flaps.

A winter tent can have a walk-in entry, as mine does, with a full-length doorway zipper. I often cut snow step that leads down to a snow pit. This means that the hot flue pipe can be safely away from trip hazards at the tent entry when wearing clunky ski boots.

The central position provides maximum room for people to get safely past the pipe while gaining access to the back of the tent.

Lastly, it is very suitable for the integration of the stove with a ‘sit around’ snow pit.

Flexibility around centrality. I suggest a central location for both the stove and flue pipe exit. However, there can be considerable variation from the centre that still provides most of the above-listed benefits. Being able to flexibly mount the flue pipe ‘off perpendicular’ can be an advantage

The tent pole/ flue pipe dance. If you don’t make your flue pipe a tent pole, as I did, there are a couple of interesting ways that these components can complement or not clash with each other.

No tent pole. The easiest way to avoid the clash is to not have a tent pole and instead suspend the tent apex from an overhead branch. This gives great flexibility to the tent layout and eliminates the problem of needing a tent pole extension to accommodate the use of a snow pit.

Tent pole as a stove leg. When a stove is required to support a heavy dinner pot/s I find that three support legs is better. The tent pole can become a substitute for one of the stove legs by using a twitched bracket as shown below.

One leged stove supports. For the smallest stoves, when camping on deep snow a very long bush pole can be driven into the snow adjacent to the snow pit. The stove can then be mounted on this single post as in the photos below.

Angulation of the flue pipe. If the exit angle of the flue pipe from the stove is flexible, as in my KISS stove, it can allow the stove to be mounted in a location that is somewhat away from directly below the exit hole in the tent canopy.

“This magic flexibility is particularly useful when the immovable snow pit and entry steps have been prepared with some considerable effort. Then it needs to be aligned with the; tent, stove, tent pole and the hole for the flue pipe.”

Getting the damn pipe through the hole. Getting a long flue pipe that is bristling with sharp foil edges and flue pipe holding rings into a tent and threaded out through a little hole in a stove jack or a protective gland is not easy even on a sunny day. In a blizzard, with a hungry tired body, cold hands and gloves on it’s not any easier.

Consequently, it is worth putting the flue pipe hole in the tent canopy on the side that is opposite the doorway. This means that a flue pipe of any length can start to be threaded through the hole while the remainder of the pipe is harmlessly protruding from the doorway. It also means that the elliptical hole for the pipe will have the biggest aperture facing the end of the pipe when the pipe is first threaded through the hole.

When the pipe is set perpendicular it will naturally be set back a little from the centre of the tent as previously suggested for trip stumble safety reasons.

Easy management of a central pipe top. I don’t use flue pipe ‘hats’ to keep rain and snow out of my flue pipes while the stove is running. I find that even this small obstruction interrupts the stove pipe draft too much. However, I do put a little cap, made from a piece of a soft drink can or cooking foil, over the pipe.

If you have a full-length walk-in zippered doorway, as my tents do, the central pipe can be reached to place and remove the cap from the unzipped doorway (in your tent slippers) without needing to formally leave the tent. I also use this trick to monitor the flue pipe exhaust periodically as this practice is a great way to check that the combustion within the stove is optimal. “If the stove is hot enough and there is no smoke, your combustion has reached perfection.”

If you have a double-ended zipper you can just zip down the top section of the doorway and pop your upper body out in the falling snow to perform the above tricks.

Tim