I currently have a 10 person TurboTent that we use for family camping and some winter hunting camp setups. I currently have 2 Mr. Heater Buddy tent heaters, and if its been really cold, we've run both of them and its done OK. I have been toying with the idea of modding the tent with a stove jack, and getting a wood stove. Ive never really camped with one, so I'm wondering, is it really more of a headache, is it worth the extra work and weight? The propane is easy, but it really just knocks the edge off the cold. Also, its such a wet heat, condensation can start to happen, where I understand wood stove heat is really dry. Just looking for anyone who may have some direct comparisons?
Wood Stove versus propane
- Thread starter Titan_Bow
- Start date
roving1
Well-known member
I have a Mr buddy and a wood stove. My only moisture problem comes from not using a heat source and then I get massive amounts of condensation and ice just from breathing. My use in in a RTT with an annex the Mr buddy sets up such a strong convection current with it being on the floor of the annex and venting out the top of the RTT it is actually quite dry.
The problem with the Mr buddy for me is I hate lugging around a 20lb tank which you need to get any kind of length of use. Also mr buddy sucks at any kind of altitude it gets finicky to light and then just quits altogether after 5-6k feet or so. So when I want it to work most on top of a cold mountain it usually doesn't work.
The wood stove is definitely a better dryer heat and works well at high attitudes. You can bring fuel but also scavenge for fuel as well offering a lot of flexibility. It's not as quick to set up or tear down but honestly it's not that much worse than fiddling with the tank. Tricky part is a morning fire for heat when you want to pack up and leave. But it's not that bad to shovel the coals into something and dump them outside and the stove cools down relatively fast while you do your other packing.
I camp remotely and usually it's wet enough to not have a fire ban. The couple times it wasn't someone was going to have to convince me how a stove with a spark arrester is going to catch 5000 Sq feet of river rock or slick rock on fire. Obviously using in a forested/grassy area during a fire ban is a no go.
But you do need to get something out of the ambience of the fire and the rhythms of collecting wood and tending to the fire. It's not set it and forget it like a Mr buddy. It takes low level continuous effort. So if you want 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep then a wood stove is not the ticket
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The problem with the Mr buddy for me is I hate lugging around a 20lb tank which you need to get any kind of length of use. Also mr buddy sucks at any kind of altitude it gets finicky to light and then just quits altogether after 5-6k feet or so. So when I want it to work most on top of a cold mountain it usually doesn't work.
The wood stove is definitely a better dryer heat and works well at high attitudes. You can bring fuel but also scavenge for fuel as well offering a lot of flexibility. It's not as quick to set up or tear down but honestly it's not that much worse than fiddling with the tank. Tricky part is a morning fire for heat when you want to pack up and leave. But it's not that bad to shovel the coals into something and dump them outside and the stove cools down relatively fast while you do your other packing.
I camp remotely and usually it's wet enough to not have a fire ban. The couple times it wasn't someone was going to have to convince me how a stove with a spark arrester is going to catch 5000 Sq feet of river rock or slick rock on fire. Obviously using in a forested/grassy area during a fire ban is a no go.
But you do need to get something out of the ambience of the fire and the rhythms of collecting wood and tending to the fire. It's not set it and forget it like a Mr buddy. It takes low level continuous effort. So if you want 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep then a wood stove is not the ticket
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