6 Best Tent Stoves: Keep Warm On Feezing Nights
Extend your camping season with the best tent stoves.
Have you ever spent a long night in a freezing cold tent?
You know, those times when your feet just won’t warm up.
And you dig through all your gear to find anything to wrap around your head to stay warm.
Then you know how uncomfortable and frustrating it can be.
… Morning just can’t come fast enough.
Guess what?
You don’t have to suffer anymore, with your head tucked in your sleeping bag just to keep your ears from freezing.
On your next camping trip, … bring a winter tent stove.
I know what you’re thinking – I’m suggesting you bring one of those old, heavy, barrel stoves??
Nope. Those are the old wood stoves.
The new ones are easy to pack, and easy to set up. And many are lightweight enough to carry in a backpack.
And they come with a bunch of different accessories like:
- Warming trays
- Towel racks
- Ovens
- Water heaters
Once you see the options available, a wood burning winter tent stove will change the way you camp in cold weather.
Here is what we’re going to cover in this article:
– Why You Should Consider A Wood Stove For A Tent
– The Types of Stoves For A Hot Tent
– Handy Tent Stove Accessories
Why You Should Consider A Tent Wood Stove
It’s simple.
You need to stay warm and dry when you’re out in winter conditions. It’s critical to your comfort and your very survival.
Dry Your Wet Gear
Here’s what many people don’t understand about camping in a tent in freezing conditions. Moisture doesn’t evaporate very well when the temperature falls below freezing.
And us humans, we constantly give off perspiration through our pores and through our breath – even when we don’t think we are.
That moisture builds up in your sleeping bag and on tent walls because in the cold, it just doesn’t evaporate away.
So even if you’re very careful about airing out your sleeping bag, the moisture just keeps building up.
Eventually, your sleeping bag begins to lose its ability to keep you warm because it stays damp.
Anyone with winter camping experience will tell you that you can only camp in the freezing elements for a few days before you must dry out your gear.
That’s one of the greatest things about tents with wood burning stoves. They keep in the dry heat. And the warm, dry air inside the tent will dry out your damp sleeping bag and wet, snowy clothing (and the tent itself) very fast.
And because you now have a way of drying everything out while you’re camping, you can camp indefinitely.
Warmth and Comfort
When the conditions are bad, nothing beats a tent camping stove.
Stoke the fire before you go to bed and you can sleep comfortably all night. And getting up in the morning will be a lot easier.
Just throw another log into the stove when you get up and you’ll be getting dressed in relative warmth and comfort. A great way to start the day outdoors.
Simple Camp Cooking
Nothing can be a bigger challenge than trying to cook over an open fire when weather is wet and cold (see our survival gear list for cooking gear).
But a portable camping wood stove changes all that.
Most models of tent stoves have a flat, built-in cooking surface on top. You can use the stove’s heat to cook delicious meals. All while inside a cozy, warm tent.
You don’t have to resort to eating MRE’s.
Camping doesn’t get much better than that – starting your day off with hot coffee and plateful of hot breakfast.
So remember, when the cold, wet weather is working against you, don’t underestimate the necessity for a warm, dry place where you can kick your boots off and relax.
The Types of Tent Stove (And Our Recommendations)
There are three main things to consider for wood burning tent stoves.
- The square feet of tent you want to heat – this determines the size of stove needed
- The weight – depends on design, materials and stove size
- Price – also depends on design, materials and stove size
Stoves for tents come in a variety of designs, shapes and sizes.
So, considering the three main factors above, let’s look at the different types of stoves available.
Heavy Steel Tent Stove
Heavy steel tent wood stoves are made out of rolled carbon steel (typically 10 to 18 gauge). They usually come in a cylinder or square box design in various sizes.
They typically are used to heat larger wall tents, small cabins or ice fishing huts, or even small homes.
Thicker steel has more thermal mass so it holds its heat longer than thinner-walled stoves.
Also, thicker steel warps less under high heat. That means the stove and door stay maintain a better seal so smoke doesn’t escape into the tent.
Look for better quality stoves with sealed doors. They control airflow much better, which extends burn time. You’ll also want to have a pipe damper in your chimney riser pipe to help with controlling air flow as well.
Most of these larger type tent stoves are designed with a flat stovetop cooking surface where you can use pots, skillets and kettles.
But these thick-walled steel tent stoves usually weigh considerably more. Just a stove like this plus a large canvas wall tent can be a full load for a packhorse or ATV.
And they usually cost more compared to the smaller stove designs. But these thicker walled stoves last longer because they are more durable. So, you may want to consider the investment.
These stoves will turn a canvas tent or any wall tent into a 4-season winter adventure basecamp.
Camp Chef Alpine Wood Stove CS14
When it comes to heavy duty cylinder stoves, the Camp Chef Alpine Heavy Duty Cylinder Stove is one of the most value packed options out there.
It comes with everything you need. The stove and parts are all designed to fit inside the stove for easy packing and transport, including the removable legs.
The package includes accessory shelves, spark arrestor, internal log grate and a damper.
The stove features a flat, roomy cook top. A door damper allows you to control the heat while cooking. The stove has also been designed to mount a standard wood stove water heater.
Timberline Wood Stove Package
This heavy-duty cylinder stove kit is made in the USA by Colorado Cylinder Stoves and comes with all the necessary parts including a stainless steel water tank.
The “package” includes the following:
- The stove body
- Nested 5 – 6 inches stove pipe
- Stove pipe damper
- Coal grate
- Mesh spark arrest
- Legs
- Warming tray
- 3-gallon stainless water heater
This camping wood stove is welded construction with a flat top cooking surface. There are no side racks but the cooktop extends out into a warming tray.
The ½” diameter legs are screwed in which means they can be adjusted to level the stove on uneven ground as well as being removable for transport.
This stove is built strong. It’s made from 10 gauge (2.59 mm) and 12 gauge (2.06 mm) steel with angle iron reinforcements so it doesn’t warp.
You can heat large areas with this stove because the thick material means it will hold more radiant heat for longer.
At a total weight of 92 lbs (41.7 kg), this beast will keep you warm at your basecamp in cold weather conditions.
Winnerwell Woodlander Medium Tent Stove
Winnerwell Woodlander comes in a variety of sizes. We have chosen the medium size here to provide you with a slightly smaller option camping stove for a tent.
It has an 800 cubic inch (13.1 Liter) firebox. The stovepipe comes in a 2.5 inch diameter. The cooktop is a good size for cooking and comes with drying racks on both sides.
The package includes:
- 5 pipe sections
- Spark arrestor
- Grate
- Ash scraper
- (the pipe damper is integrated with a pipe section)
All the components of this winter wood stove are made from durable 304 stainless steel so you don’t have to be concerned about rust or warping.
Collapsible Tent Stoves
These portable wood stoves for tents are made from lightweight materials – thinner wall stainless steel or titanium so they are easy to transport.
They are handy when you want a tent stove but space and/or weight is limited, like on a boat or plane, or even a backpack. (See the Survival Gear List for more essential items for your survival kit.)
These stoves are designed to fold up or disassemble so they become easier to pack. The stovepipes are engineered to be telescopic or rolled so they save a great deal of space.
Winnerwell Fastfold Titanium Tent Stove
Weighing under 4 lbs (1.8 kg), this ultralight titanium tent stove provides an incredible amount of heat to warm your tent, regardless of the temperature outside.
The stove is engineered with a fastfold design that makes it very easy to assemble and collapse.
The integrated clasps make it so you do not require any extra tools to assemble.
The stove pipe is one single sheet of titanium. You roll it width-wise for transport and lengthwise for set-up.
The pipe damper is integrated with an attached pipe section on the stovetop.
The square shape acts as a natural cooking surface to prepare food and boil water.
Seek Outside Titanium Wood Stove For Backpacking
The Seek Outside Large collapsible wood burning backpacking stove is designed for strength and durability, while paying attention to ease of use, heat transfer and weight.
The stoves are made with precision using computer controlled machines, producing a high quality product with tight tolerances.
The front intake control coupled with the damper makes it easy to control airflow through the stove. The flat top makes a good cooking surface and the titanium handles high heat very well.
Kifaru Smith Cylinder Stove
If you want a heat source that’s lightweight, easy to assemble and can pump out heat as fast as possible, then this portable wood stove from Kifaru does just that.
It has an 830 cubic inch capacity. The 9 foot stove pipe is a single piece of titanium that rolls up into a 2 inch x 14 inch tube for packing convenience.
Titanium body, legs & pipes, stainless steel front and rear plate, all weighing under 2 lbs makes this ultralight tent stove kit backpack ready.
