Stove Jack question

[catorres1]

Not sure if this is the right forum, but I have a 12x20 Alaknak tent and am wanting to get a stove to use. Considering the Nuway propane to bypass the lack of wood in my area, and it seems an economical and convenient choice, though am not completely sold on it. The main issue I am facing is that the tent has a 5" opening and the pipe for the Nuway is 3". I don't want the gap, so have been looking for converters to go from a 3 to a 5 inch pipe, or maybe a ring to fit inside the ring the tent has or some other solution. I have not been able to find any of these things....any ideas, especially with those using nuways in standard wall tent stove jack openings?

BTW, I know nothing in real life about wood or propane stoves, other than what i have read on these forums, so if I am thinking about this all wrong, please let me know. Nuway was very nice, but seemed like this was not something they usually sell their stoves for, though I note Alaska tents sells these products for their line.

Thanks!

 

[dmj]

I don't know anything about the type of propane stove you are talking about. One suggestion for the 5 inch stove jack in your tent would be to purchase a 3 inch stove jack and simply lay it over the 5 inch one and run your 3 inch pipe through both. Another thought would be to purchase one of the propane heaters that doesn't require any vent or stove pipe. Personally I'm not sure I wouldn't go with the wood stove even if I had to haul the wood from home. Good Luck

 

[catorres1]

I don't know anything about the type of propane stove you are talking about. One suggestion for the 5 inch stove jack in your tent would be to purchase a 3 inch stove jack and simply lay it over the 5 inch one and run your 3 inch pipe through both. Another thought would be to purchase one of the propane heaters that doesn't require any vent or stove pipe. Personally I'm not sure I wouldn't go with the wood stove even if I had to haul the wood from home. Good Luck

Thanks for the reply! I talked with Alaska tent and tarp, as they sell both. They like the propane solution, but they said for a regular tent (ie not one of their AO's) of the size I have, they said even the largest propane stove would be marginal in some conditions, and would have to run flat out to do that job, using probably a pound of propane per hour.

So in the end, he recommended the wood solution, even though it would mean sourcing wood. In Texas, where I live, the propane would be great and totally sufficient for our 'winters', if you can call them that. But I want a solution for more than Texas, so probably going wood. One thing T and T mentioned is that a larger wood stove in a regular tent is better for cutting humidity, something we have a lot of here.

That said, I thought about what I need for the next month, and I think to save money in the immediate, I'll probably just get a few 0 degree bags for us to use here at home for our hunts right after Christmas. Then have the year to get the stove (maybe a spring sale or something) in preparation for a hoped for trip to colorado next year. That will give me more breathing room and research time to get this right the first time, but as of now, it looks like wood is probably my only sure solution.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

If you want to do it on a budget get a 30gal barrel and a Vogelzang kit. They work great. Beat the top of the barrel flat so you can put a pot on it. Put a good layer of dirt in the bottom of the stove to insulate it. You should be able to get into this for under $100 with pipe.

Steve

 

[catorres1]

Yeah, I was thinking about one of those kits, I see they make one with a sealed door now as well.

Can you get one of those to run all night pretty easily?

 

[jaeger19]

Check out riley stoves. They have models that run on pellets as well ss wood. Its what i have. The pellets are gravity fed so there is some tweaking to get good flow ( like putting a brick on pellets in hopper). Pellets are easy to haul and one large bag will run a 0 degree day/Night.
And wood backup. Especially over 7500 8000 feet elevation. Low 02 content pellets dont work

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Yeah, I was thinking about one of those kits, I see they make one with a sealed door now as well.

Can you get one of those to run all night pretty easily?

Depending on how cold it is. They damper down well and will usually make it all night. The guy with the worst sleeping bag gets up and stokes the fire.

Steve

 

[catorres1]

Guy with the worst sleeping bag??? Nah, dad....which is me. Ha!

On the pellet deal, I really thought of that, that would be awesome, but I think those are pretty pricey as I remember.

On the wood side, I was reading that you can run coal at night and it will run all night pretty easily, especially if you get a big stove. Don't know if that is true or not.

I was looking at a 5 dog from 4 dog stoves, which it looks like they no longer make. So was considering one of the ones from the Wall tent shop (the biggest they make), or maybe one of the cylinders stoves.

In all cases, I was going to buy the biggest so I could stuff it full and run it all night tamped down. Hence those do it yourself kits that would allow a big drum...

Kwik Kamp looks nice, but that price...ouch. Plus have to add a damper.

One other thought, someone online talked about converting a wood stove to also use a propane burner in it when he wanted....so dual fuel....could use propane when it's not too extreme, wood when it is...

 

[dmj]

Do be a little careful. If things get away from you things could get a little hot on the walls of the tent. We have a Big R store where I live that sells a pretty nice half barrel stove for around the 150 mark. That includes stove pipe and everything. Good luck

 

[sedancowboy]

Get yourself a Cylinder stove from CO and be done with it. Get the grate with it and you can burn wood, Coal or about anything else you can get in it. They are heavy which helps with holding heat and cooking. I use one in a 12X17 with a 12X12 cook shack attached and it heats it all. It comes with a 5 inch pipe.

 

[CogburnR]

From what I understand an alaknak is fairly hard to heat.

I'd get a 4 dog stove and Riley pellet burner. The Riley puts out way more heat than the others. It also can be throttled well. Do not use hardwood pellets. This stove can easily burn wood or pellets.

The Nuway is only big enough for a 5 man Arctic tent when it gets cold and burns a lot of propane. When it gets cold the output goes down due to tank pressure, sitting the tank next to the stove isn't the best thing to do. I use one quite a bit when the weather is not really cold. I have both models they make.

A unvented heater uses a lot of oxygen and it also will cause a lot of condensation.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

We only used 30gal barrels. Figured the 50 was too big for tents. I would be leery of coal in the barrel, not sure if it would be too hot. Never burnt coal, I have heard that it is quite hot.

We have been out in sub zero temps with 2 wall tents end to end and been fine with one 30gal barrel stove. We always take two just in case.

$150 for the stove at BigR sounds like the deal.

Steve

 

[catorres1]

What is Big R? i'll check that deal out.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

It's a farm and ranch supply store.

Steve