Wood stove in ice tent

[Crish]

I have a quickfish 6, and right now just a Mr. heater buddy to keep it warm. A lot of the time during the day I don't set up the tent, but when we do it's because it's getting cold. I've been out a couple of times this year when it's gotten below 0, and I need something better to keep it warm. I also don't like the amount of condensation that the wet burning propane creates. I am considering a wood stove, even though it cuts down on the space inside, but I am worried about the hot chimney. Does anyone have any experience trying this, or is my best option just to get a larger Mr. heater? Thanks for the info.
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[Kent]

Wouldn't a wood burning stove be extremely heavy to drag out on the ice for a day of fishing?
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[DKStroutfitter]

Modern heaters have sensors for low oxygen. I doubt that your ice tent is ventilated well enough for a stove.

Get a bigger heater and be safe.

You can also place snow or shavings from the holes that you drill on the flaps of the tent to keep wind and cold air from entering the tent.
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[GottaBite]

Seen a guy who knew a guy, but he had a wood stove in his tent at the Gorge last wkend. He said he went to Kirkams I believe and they have the material to sew into the tent and the stove pipes that collapse into themselves. He said for around $60 he made his dbl Eskimo tent a wood burner. It was WARM in there and little if any "smoke" He welded a little small wood stove on long legs and was able to only put a couple of small logs at a time on the fire, but it was enuff. Worked REALLY WELL, to the point I'm thinking of doing the same thing
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[Crish]

As long as the stove fits in my sled it won't be heavy. The ventilation isn't a concern either, since I would be running a double wall 4" chimney through a hole I make in the top of the tent, and then put something like carbon felt or something with a high R value around the tent where it comes in contact with the tent. I'm still a little weary though, and was just wondering if anyone had tried it.
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[flygoddess]

Don't you need a significant amount of steel cladding in the fireplace or, you'll be losing most of your heat out the flue. Wood stoves need lots of steel/iron mass to absorb and release the heat as fast as it's being generated. That mass also helps prevent massive leaks in the structure due to expansion and contraction.
That could make it heavy. Unless you had some kind of fan circulating the heat.
Interesting idea however. Love to hear what you come up with.
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[Elkoholic]

The only experience I have with wood burning stoves, is the stove for my wall tent. My stove weigs about 80lbs and if you are not carefull with the air draft the tent will be 80*+ in a few minutes. They do make alot smaller stoves than the one I have, but I would be more concerned about the steel legs melting their way into the ice and just being a giant pain in the butt trying to fish around te stove in that little ice tent. Now I have considered setting up my wall tent on the ice for an over nighter. That could be fun! My tent is a 16'x 18' tent so there would be plenty of room to fish around the stove.
If I were you I would just find a different heat source. Maybe look into some fold up backpacking stoves that use gel fuel.
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[riverdog]

Look at Cabelas or some other outdoor store like Kirkham's. Plenty of tent stoves that weigh in the 20 lb range that would work well. They are very effective heating a tent in extremely cold weather. I still like a Mr. Heater better for convenience.
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[PBH]

This site never ceases to amaze me.
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[flygoddess]

The white bass at Yuba getting old?[][laugh]
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[Ngrumm]

I have a Fatfish 6 and use a Mr Heater single burner tilting heater that sits on the ground and connects to the propane by a hose. I leave the propane tank outside and run the hose under the tent. You can heat up soup or coffee or whatever in the tilted up position. It's 15000 BTU on the max setting and has always been enough for me. Staying overnight in REALLY cold weather I have to keep my coat on though. You can get a single burner 15000 BTU tank top heater for about $50. If you stay out all night and need a little more power, they make double and triple burner tank top heaters too (28000 BTU max = about $90, 42000 BTU max = about $130). You do have to make sure your ventilation is adequate with these units.
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[gonfishn]

I think it is cool that you are thinking 'outside the box' but between the space it would take up, time setting up, weight and hastle of the wood to put in it, I would just get another portable propane heater. I use the ones that screw ontop of a disposable propane bottle that you can cook on. They are only $40 each and do a fantastic job, are small, and light weight.
But that being said, I'm curious to see what you come up with.
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[Charina]

I like to tinker, but that is not one mod I am interested in trying. For a number of reasons on top of some already stated:

The nylon is not going to stand up to sparks half as well as canvas tents. I think you will have a fair number of holes after awhile, even with a spark arrestor.

I doubt the nylon and rubberized lining will like the amount of radiant heat that those stoves can put off either. With the clearance you will be needing (or at least ought to have), it will take up most if not all of one side of the tent.

Then there is the problem of the stove jack that you will need to put on the tent, and questions if your tent can fold up without removing the jack,etc.

Gotta allow plenty of time for the unit to cool down to grab it to load it into your sled.

And unless you only go to areas where you can drive right to the water's edge, it sounds like a major pain to drag back up the hill to your vehicle.

The one tent stove I have dealt with (elk hunting in a canvas wall tent) was a heavy and dirty beast even though small. Plan on getting ashes or soot on stuff, even if you are careful.
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[Crish]

Well thanks for the ideas. Glad I could get some thoughts from people with a little more experience. I probably won't be trying it in the near future, but I will still think about possible alternatives.
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[Charina]

I'm sure they cost more than I'll ever consider trying, but I wonder if those generators advertised as being whisper quiet can put out enough watts to heat a tent?

Winter campers deal with the condensation issue a lot even though not using propane for heat. Our bodies put out a lot of moisture, so I wouldn't blame the propane as the only source of the condensation. Two factors can control the condensation - ventilation and insulation. Hard to do much about the insulation without getting all redneck and draping a tarp over your tent, etc. But, if you can get a propane heater that puts out more btu's, you can vent a little more and thereby keep the moisture levels down. Plus the added btu's will keep the tent walls from getting as cold, which will also cut down on the formation of the condensation.

I want to make a ground level platform and "cage" for one of the tank top heaters and run a hose to a tank outside. My wife gets cold all too quickly in the tent when the sun goes down. With just a quickfish3, I don't want to bring in an too-large-for-my-tent easy-to-tip-over 20lb propane tank, and I don't want the burner to be able to touch the tent walls. I've already put a couple slashes in it with the auger blades, and don't need a large melted hole. [pirate] I'm thinking a wire basket turned over and attached to a board might suffice. Install the burners inside the cage on top of the board and . . .well . . . perhaps next winter.
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[gonfishn]

Just a fwiw on the 'easy to tip over' propane tanks, the plastic milk crates (that milk cartons are delivered to the store in) are the perfect size to put the propane bottle into to give it more stability.
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[flygoddess]

We have two of the "QUIET" ( I emphasize this because the 2000 rates as well as Honda or Yamaha). They are small and light and we have the connector for them.
They sale them at Cabela's for $699. but Sam's Club has it for a lot less'
Weighs 48 lb (empty) BUT, it could be iffy about powering a heater. I think it will as I power one in my trailer with it. I am able to use a nice oscillating heater with no fear of fire or carbon monoxide.

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/champion-2-...4170021.ip
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[Zfish]

That really is the sweetest idea. I have already thought about setting up a base camp tent with a wood burner for a weekend trip. But in reality that is so much stuff to pack out on the ice. You could probably get it all out there in a couple trips with the sled. I know there is a lot of different types of stoves that would work with a big tent. But those 6 or 8 man tents would be pretty crammed having any stove in it. I definitely like the idea of throwing a log in the stove while I'm sitting on the deck fishing. Sounds like a good time!
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[cpierce]

Sounds like you need better ventilation in your tent, if you have that much condensation.

Lots of problems with the wood stoves too. If you are still thinking of it look at the tent stoves at Cabelas and ask what you need to use it in an ice tent. Pipe shields etc. Another small stove is the ammo can stoves .... look them up on YouTube.
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