Educate me on Titanium backpacking stoves

[TRD1911]

So i'm still slowly upgrading my backcountry gear. While making changes I've been keeping in mind that I want to make changes that encourage my wife to come with. This includes a floorless shelter and stove combo. I've already picked up a Cimmaron from Seek Outside and now doing research on stoves to increase comfort and dry out cloths at the end of the day.

My questions are for those with experience on these items; Do you prefer a box stove or cylinder and why? Any issues with smoke/CO building in the tent?

I'm also open to any suggestions on brands and designs. I've looked at the Kifaru and the Seek outside but if there are better options out there then I'm all ears.

[MtnMuley]

I have the SO medium stove for my Cimarron and it's fine. I like cylinder stoves better though. Pitch your shelter slightly off the ground and you shouldn't have any smoke/CO issues. The Kifaru Smith cylinder stove or the Ti Goat  Vortex stove are both good choices.

[TRD1911]

I have the SO medium stove for my Cimarron and it's fine. I like cylinder stoves better though. Pitch your shelter slightly off the ground and you shouldn't have any smoke/CO issues. The Kifaru Smith cylinder stove or the Ti Goat  Vortex stove are both good choices.

Why do you prefer the cylinder stove? Seems like the box stove may be more useful for cooking/warming water.

[Mtnwalker]

Same boat here, just bought a cimarron a few weeks ago, no stove yet. From watching videos on youtube I had decided on the SO stove vs the cylinders but interested to hear some input that may change my mind. The SO just looked like an easier system

[MtnMuley]

Like I said mine works fine, but I prefer cylinder stoves because I think stoves that are round and roll the heat when properly dampened, burn longer. Just my 

[TRD1911]

Interesting. I didnt really think of it that way with the round shape rolling heat

What I've gathered so far with my (limited) research -

cylinder pros - significantly lighter, pack smaller

box stoves - sturdy and flat surface to cook on, thicker material radiates heat longer.

Has anyone had issues with their cylinder stove getting crushed while packing? It seems like in all the videos and reviews of the cylinder stoves there are huge dents in the cylinder and gaps around the pipe fitting.

[Tim in Wa.]

Liteoutdoors makes a good stove and is great to deal with.A good compromise between cylinder and box stove is a T I Goat WiFi .good product challenging to deal with

[Jonathan_S]

Liteoutdoors makes a good stove and is great to deal with.A good compromise between cylinder and box stove is a T I Goat WiFi .good product challenging to deal with

What is challenging about the WiFi in your opinion?

Other than the initial rolling of the chimney pipe, I can't think of a time that I thought it was a challenge?

[Tim in Wa.]

nothing about the stove.The owner of the company,not a bad guy  but a bit unusual

[X-Force]

I like cylinder over box because cylinder stoves seem to burn hotter for the size.

SO box stove dampens really well and will keep coals a long time but it doesnt seem to put off nearly the heat. I personally dont cook on stoves either so SO is not my cup of tea.

Kifaru's cylinder is super light and its kind of rickety. The legs peg straight down, the stove is held together with wire... it burns great and puts off a ton of heat.

My personal favorite is the Lite Outdoors. I like how the rods hold the stove together, How the legs tripod out, how big the door, etc. If you bring a saw you can put some good rounds into this thing. The one negative about the Lite Outdoors is that it sits so low to the ground. if there is dry grass, pine needles etc. you need to clear those out of the way before getting a fire going.

[Karl Blanchard]

Interesting. I didnt really think of it that way with the round shape rolling heat

What I've gathered so far with my (limited) research -

cylinder pros - significantly lighter, pack smaller

box stoves - sturdy and flat surface to cook on, thicker material radiates heat longer.

Has anyone had issues with their cylinder stove getting crushed while packing? It seems like in all the videos and reviews of the cylinder stoves there are huge dents in the cylinder and gaps around the pipe fitting.

box or cylinder it doesnt matter.  If you use it, its gonna get dented and dinged.  Doesnt effect use one bit.  I'll be going back to a box stove after a couple seasons on my Smith.  My issue with the cylinder is air flow around material.  Everything just rolls down the sides and piles up, cutting off air flow.  With damp wood it's hard to keep a good rager going when everything is just stacked together.  I spent half my week in idaho this year blowing on smoldering wet sticks.  Buddy in his teepee had a sauna going as he was able to crisscross his tinder and get solid air flow around his material.  It was a really solid side by side comparison.

[WapitiTalk1]

I like cylinder over box because cylinder stoves seem to burn hotter for the size.

SO box stove dampens really well and will keep coals a long time but it doesnt seem to put off nearly the heat. I personally dont cook on stoves either so SO is not my cup of tea.

Kifaru's cylinder is super light and its kind of rickety. The legs peg straight down, the stove is held together with wire... it burns great and puts off a ton of heat.

My personal favorite is the Lite Outdoors. I like how the rods hold the stove together, How the legs tripod out, how big the door, etc. If you bring a saw you can put some good rounds into this thing. The one negative about the Lite Outdoors is that it sits so low to the ground. if there is dry grass, pine needles etc. you need to clear those out of the way before getting a fire going.

Great summation X-force.  I also really like the Lite Outdoors stove (weighs and packs down to nothing; burns nice and hot).  Used it on my ID hunt (in a Luxe Outdoors tipi) this past SEP this year and it was money in temps in the teens.  Yep, it sets a bit low and a guy needs to do some grass/weed pulling before firing it up.  Also, I recommend you paint the legs a bright color as they are easy to misplace when packing up the stove (don't ask me how I know this) and obviously, the legs are crucial to the setup unless you wish to prop up one corner with a rock (yep, been there have the T shirt).  TRD, yes... when first lighting these things up (and until you have a hot fire/draft going), they tend to be a bit smoky in the enclosures but that goes away pretty quickly.  Obviously, its important to use dry wood, and, get the fire going and hot as quick as possible.   

[Mtnwalker]

box or cylinder it doesnt matter.  If you use it, its gonna get dented and dinged.  Doesnt effect use one bit.  I'll be going back to a box stove after a couple seasons on my Smith.  My issue with the cylinder is air flow around material.  Everything just rolls down the sides and piles up, cutting off air flow.  With damp wood it's hard to keep a good rager going when everything is just stacked together. I spent half my week in idaho this year blowing on smoldering wet sticks. Buddy in his teepee had a sauna going as he was able to crisscross his tinder and get solid air flow around his material.  It was a really solid side by side comparison.
[/quote]

It was wet over there? Lucky 

[TRD1911]

Interesting. I didnt really think of it that way with the round shape rolling heat

What I've gathered so far with my (limited) research -

cylinder pros - significantly lighter, pack smaller

box stoves - sturdy and flat surface to cook on, thicker material radiates heat longer.

Has anyone had issues with their cylinder stove getting crushed while packing? It seems like in all the videos and reviews of the cylinder stoves there are huge dents in the cylinder and gaps around the pipe fitting.

box or cylinder it doesnt matter.  If you use it, its gonna get dented and dinged.  Doesnt effect use one bit.  I'll be going back to a box stove after a couple seasons on my Smith.  My issue with the cylinder is air flow around material.  Everything just rolls down the sides and piles up, cutting off air flow.  With damp wood it's hard to keep a good rager going when everything is just stacked together.  I spent half my week in idaho this year blowing on smoldering wet sticks.  Buddy in his teepee had a sauna going as he was able to crisscross his tinder and get solid air flow around his material.  It was a really solid side by side comparison.

Great point. That's something that I hadn't considered which could be a huge factor considering all I hunt is we(s)tside. There still seems to be more folks in favor of the cylinder style. Too many options!

[Karl Blanchard]

Fires are easy when it's dry out but when everything is covered in wet snow or worse when the snow is melting and even the dead sticks are soaking wet it's a full-time chore. I've used both quite extensively and my personal preference is the box stove. To each their own though.