Best wood burning back pack tent stove

[BKMFR]

Looking to buy a small wood burning stove for inside tent, backpacking everything, so stove pipe and all accessories will be part of package, finding a few around 5-7 lbs. Does anyone have experience and recommendations?
Thanks,
BKMFR

[WapitiTalk1]

This is my favorite so far; has worked like a champ on some frosty hunts. 

https://www.liteoutdoors.com/product/liteoutdoors-titanium-stove/

[Mtnwalker]

5 lbs is heavy my large Seek stove is under 3 with the pipe and it’s not the lightest option out there by any means but it’s well made

[Shawn Ryan]

I have a small box stove made by the guy who used to make Kifaru's stoves.  Had it for 12 years and no issues. They don't sell the small anymore. Instead they sell a cylinder stove for that volume. The small cylinder stove with pipe weighs less than 2#'s.  https://kifaru.net/product-category/stoves/.

Seekoutside sells box stoves and the small with pipe is under 2#'s (pipe length dependant).  https://seekoutside.com/tent-stoves/.

LiteOutdoors' titanium cylinder stove is a little heavier, but just by ounces.  https://www.liteoutdoors.com/product-category/titanium-cylinder-stove/. That's WapitiTalk's stove.

Luxe sells the WWW titanium box stove that is slightly heavier at 4#'s. They don't try to be the lightest and are generally cheaper. https://luxe-hiking-gear.com/collections/tent-wood-stoves-and-accessories

Amazon sells some knockoffs.

I'm sure there are others in the market that I don't know. Titanium Goat used to make nice stoves, but the owner died. The company was taken over by his son; don't know if he's still in charge. I've read that he will make custom-ordered stoves. IDK?  https://www.ula-equipment.com/products/packs/

I've used both the Seekoutside style baffle and the Kifaru spark arrestor/baffle. I've had substantially better experience just using the spark arrestor baffle. Seekoutside sells them as well.

[Shawn Ryan]

You didn't ask, but I'll throw out this advice about stove pipes that Wayne Nicol @trueshaftarchery posted in an IG conversation. His advice mostly regards stove jack placement, but some of his advice relates to pipe length as well and is a factor you'll have to decide on. I agree with most all of his advice:

Always exit the pipe as close to the ridge line or apex of the tent as possible, for the following reasons:
1. Keep as much pipe in the tent for as long as possible, to keep as much radiant heat inside the tent, and not outside the tent.
2.keeping the pipe warmer for as long as possible will ensure the exiting smoke is warmer, it will carry up higher, and less chance of hot embers on your tent.
3. A warmer pipe and higher smoke velocity will reduce the risks of your pipe creosoting up. Especially if you have a spark arrester on the mouth.
4. With less pipe exposed there won’t be the need to guy out your pipe. If your tent shell moves in a wind, and your pipe is guyed out you will buckle and dent the lightweight pipes.
5. The greater the distance from the exit hole to the stove top will mean that in a blow, the flexion and the angle of the pipe to the stove will be less pronounced.
6.the mouth of the pipe always needs to be higher than the ridge line or apex of the structure, reason being that in a wind a negative pressure or downward rotor forms on the lee side of the ridge, that rotor can actually blow down the pipe, with the pipe higher, there is direct air movement over the mouth of the pipe, creating a bit of a Venturi effect, that if anything, will assist with the stove drawing properly.

I have a long pipe that ends almost 2' beyond my peak and I've never had flexion issues. Notice that WapitiTalk's pipe ends well above his peak, too.

[Limhangerslayer]

You can’t go wrong with the seek outside stove.  They really had baffle problems, but that was fixed this winter.  I love mine and it’s light!

[BKMFR]

Thanks for the replies!!

[pickardjw]

One other thing I saw a lot when doing my own research was the value of a larger size. For instance, a medium Seek Outside stove may be so many ounces lighter but your burn times go way down with less volume. So most people seem to go with a large for the best compromise between weight and burn time.

You can also save some weight by going with a smaller diameter stove pipe. Seek's U-turn stoves use a 2.5" diameter which is 1.5 oz/ft vs the regular stove pipe which is 3" diameter and 2 oz/ft.

[The scout]

I’m not going to say it’s the best because I haven’t used them all, but the lite outdoors is the best I’ve used.

[Karl Blanchard]

One other thing I saw a lot when doing my own research was the value of a larger size. For instance, a medium Seek Outside stove may be so many ounces lighter but your burn times go way down with less volume. So most people seem to go with a large for the best compromise between weight and burn time.

You can also save some weight by going with a smaller diameter stove pipe. Seek's U-turn stoves use a 2.5" diameter which is 1.5 oz/ft vs the regular stove pipe which is 3" diameter and 2 oz/ft.

one thing I would say to this regard is doesn't much matter how big you go, none of them have a significant enough burn time for size to be relevant.  Unless you have cut some really quality chunks as big as your stove will allow, its gonna burn for 20 or 30 min. Basically if you aren't feeding it, its not gonna last. So I guess what im saying is I wouldn't carry an extra pound of stove unless my shelter required that size of stuff to adequately heat it

[jstone]

Does anyone put something on the bottom of the inside of the stove to help burn or air flow

[Magnum_Willys]

My Seek XL will hold coals for 2 to 2 1/2 hours hours packed with 4" logs.   But that will run you out of a teepee unless really cold out. 

[ridgefire]

I recently purchased a 18" Smith Cylinder Stove from the classifieds and it works awesome in my 4 man teepee. It does not burn to terribly long but you could dry your boots and clothes if needed with it. I have not used any other type of backpacking stove but I have been happy with it so far. I would take a look at the Seek Outside U Turn stove as well. The stove I have is under 2lbs and takes up minimal room in your backpack.

[Karl Blanchard]

My Seek XL will hold coals for 2 to 2 1/2 hours hours packed with 4" logs.   But that will run you out of a teepee unless really cold out.

Are you packing a saw to cut 4" diameter chunks of wood? That xl is a big stove at 5lb plus a saw.

[444Marlin]

I pack a SXL Seek Outside.  A small foldable saw like the Gerber style (or Fiskers) does go a long way towards keeping you warm in the tent and a chance to dry out gear.

It's tough to say what is 'best' because there seems to be a give and take with all stove options.  I think a larger boxed titanium stove goes a long way to keeping a longer burn time and less time feeding it, more options for larger cuts of wood.   Subsequently, its a bigger surface to cook on if needed.