Tent Stove Mistakes
4 Preventable Wood Stove Mistakes

Most responsible hot tenters take steps to educate themselves on the safe and responsible use of tent stoves. There is also a lack of good information on tent stoves in one place from a trusted and experienced source. We’ve compiled years of customer feedback and our own practical experience in the field to help identify the most common tent stove problems.

Most Common Mistakes with Tent Stoves

  1. Incompatible Expectations

    Choosing the right tent stove is crucial for a satisfying experience. Avoid cheap or makeshift options. Understand stove functionality to make an informed purchase.

  2. Stove Placement

    When setting up a canvas tent with a stove, consider installing a modular stove jack yourself instead of relying on pre-installed ones. Proper stove placement depends on the stove type and desired temperature inside the tent. High-quality stoves near the side wall can efficiently heat the tent, while poorly placed stoves may leave you cold. When unsure, center mounting is a good rule of thumb.

  3. Tent Compatibility

    Almost any canvas tent can be fitted with a stove jack to accept a tent stove. The more space inside a tent, the more heat you will need to raise the temperature. Canvas tents vary in size and shape. The conical shape of a tipi or Sibley is much more efficient to heat than a boxy wall tent even when the square footage is the same. A wall tent may require significantly more heat output from a tent stove than a similarly sized Sibley. A large tent stove may produce too much heat to be placed near the steep slant of the canopy in a small tipi. When in doubt, contact your tent manufacturer and ask for a recommendation, or contact CanvasCamp!

When in doubt, put it out!

There is no substitute for personal responsibility, safety precautions, and a fire extinguisher. Never start a fire you are not prepared to attend constantly and extinguish completely. YOU, the operator of the stove and the starter of the fire, are solely responsible for putting that fire out. Even if your tent stove is defective and malfunctions in the course of normal use, that sense of profound injustice and frustration is not an effective fire fighting tool. If you are inclined to counter by arguing the finer points of civil liability torts and consumer protection laws, you may be right – and you should definitely not be starting a fire.

Context is everything but establishing a checklist of routine actions when dealing with any stove issue should include:

  • Get all non-essential personnel outside
  • Always have a fire extinguisher handy. Keep it in the same spot so you know where to find them and make sure it’s ready to go at a moments notice.
  • Glove up with thick heat resistant gloves -- keep them next to your fire extinguisher
  • Keep your stove clean. Clear your flue pipe, spark arrestor, and flue damper before every fire
  • Have and use a CO detector and educate yourself about carbon monoxide and tent stove safety.

Incompatible Expectations

Choosing the wrong tent stove to meet your expectations is far and away the most common cause of unhappy tent stove operators. Although you can make a tent stove out of a coffee can and some aluminum foil; it is unlikely that using that contraption is going to be effective or enjoyable. The same concept applies to ultra-cheap tent stoves sold on Amazon and made by manufacturers of questionable repute. Granted good quality tent stoves can be affordable, they are often made so by sacrificing performance and convenience. By understanding how a stove works and why, you can cut through the marketing buzz words and purchase a tent stove that aligns with your performance expectations.