# tent stoves



## bullelk7 (Sep 27, 2007)

questions for the guys who have experience with tent stoves. I'm thinking of using coal this year in my stove. is this better than wood? and does it burn longer?. last year i was up every two hours putting wood in the stove. my boy was warm all night and slept like a rock, never realized the old man was stoking the stove all night and he wondered why I was so tired after dragging is deer off the mountain.


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## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

Coal is a tricky critter. Most burn much hotter than wood, heat slower and cool much slower (Making leaving it at camp at 4:30 AM a bit sketchy). Most stoves meant for burning coal are made of cast iron. Some stoves can't handle repeated use of coal, as the bottom will eventually burn out, again it depends on the stove. I have a 1/4" steel plate stove and a couple of Kirkham's galvanized sheet metal stoves, I use the latter more frequently. They hold more fuel and are lighter to move and pack, but I would think that the other stove would be fine with an occasional chunk to supplement the wood.

Soot rolls off of coal and isn't too pleasant and can make your tent nice and dirty. After investigating the use of coal I opted to use wood. If you use more dense wood and/or larger uncut pieces, you can extend the life of your heat. I usually stuff it full before I go to bed and give it minimal vent and it's typically good until 3 or 4 in the morning, sometimes longer.

TYPES OF COAL

*Anthracite* - or 'hard coal' - Burns VERY cleanly but is difficult to ignite and keep burning

*Bituminous *- or 'Soft coal' Burns with a number of pollutants but starts and burns fairly easily

*Cannel coal* - Lights and burns as easily as wood, but leaves huge clinkers and emits much volatile gas

*Peat* - 'Almost coal' Burns and acts somewhere between wood and coal
Numerous other sub-varieties exist in each category, each with their own names and characteristics.

I am by no means an authority on coal and I'm sure there are plenty of resources on the net to make your own educated decision, depending on the type of equipment you are using.


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## bullelk7 (Sep 27, 2007)

thanks for the info. my stove is heavy cast iron. last year i did burn all 2x4s. i think i will burn dense uncut wood like you suggested and see if that works better.


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## Deuce (Oct 18, 2007)

I tried using coal last year on the elk hunt and was disappointed. I still ended up getting up at night to stoke the fire. the coal just wasn't quite enough to shake off the cold in the tent. I'm not saying operator error wasn't involved... I could have put a lot more coal on than I did. I only put two big chunks in each night, I just didn't want to.... don't know why. Maybe it was the unknown. I just thought two BIG chunks should have done it and it didn't. My advice would be to avoid the 2x4's as your main heat source and get a nice bit of dry pine. It won't burn up as fast and light's up nicely. If you have something denser like a maple or oak they'll do great, burn hot and long, but take some 2x4's to get them up and going.


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## Elkoholic8 (Jan 15, 2008)

Find yourself some good hardwood for the nights. In my stove we burn pine during the day or to get the heat going, then before bed I cram it full of hardwood like oak or maple, or even a chinese elm (that's about the only thing they are good for) then close your air dam and it will alst for a while. Last elk season I would go to bed around 9:30 and I would get up around 4:30, just about the time the heat was going away. The warmer you keep the tent, the quicker it will burn out, so try and keep the temp down in the 50's.


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